‘The Challenge’: A Past Contestant May Have Insinuated the Show’s Paying Her Whether She Wins or Not

MTV’s The Challenge: Total Madness is over, and fans are ready for details regarding the next season. Now, past contestants are answering fan questions and (possibly) prepping to appear on the show in the future. And it seems one star from Total Madness has high hopes of returning to the show eventually, though it may not be to win. Here’s why fans think she only wants to come back to the show for a consistent paycheck.

Melissa Reeves competed on ‘The Challenge: Total Madness’ while pregnant

Melissa Reeves is a tough competitor, and while she’s never won a season of The Challenge, she’s physically and mentally a contestant to watch. Reeves made it quite far in Total Madness as well. She competed in the final, though she did end up quitting midway through, as it dawned on her that she may have been pregnant.

The Ashley’s Reality Roundup reports Reeves took to her YouTube channel to answer some questions about competing while pregnant. “I did not conceive this baby whilst filming The Challenge,” Reeves confirmed. “I was pregnant before I got to The Challenge, I just didn’t know. I also didn’t know I was pregnant whilst we were filming.”

Reeves then noted that she didn’t have any traditional symptoms of pregnancy, so she had no idea. “I was on the contraception pill which does alter my periods and makes them very irregular, so me missing a period wasn’t a surprising thing for me; it was just pretty normal,” she continued. But it was during the final when it became much too difficult to carry on.

Reeves said she’ll ‘definitely’ come back on the show

Reeves has since had her baby, and she’s sharing plenty of photos and videos of her child with her fans via Instagram. Now, everyone’s wondering what she’ll get up to next. And it seems Reeves is still planning on participating in The Challenge in the future.

Reddit users noted one fan asked Reeves during an Instagram Q&A, “Will you eventually go back on The Challenge when Vienna is older?”

Reeves wrote back, “100%. I love being on The Challenge so I will definitely go back when she’s older. Plus, mama’s gotta work!”

Many fans are excited at the prospect of Reeves rejoining the cast. “I would love to see Melissa return in the future,” one Reddit user commented. “We need more Challenge moms … on future seasons.”

Some fans think she’ll just return for the consistent paycheck

While Reeves made it to the Total Madness final, many fans knew that the more athletic competitors, like Jenny West, would win. And given how Reeves responded to her fans via Instagram, it seems she’s also not looking to take home a Challenge win. Instead, the show might be paying her quite a lot just to show up and be a personality that fans want to root for.

“I really love Melissa on the show, but her line is what separates The Challenge today versus 10 years ago,” a Reddit user commented. “While a lot of the people on the show may have been caricatures or exaggerated versions of themselves, at their core they were people with real life goals outside of the show. Now The Challenge just goes to cast people who make their job reality tv and slowly the authenticity of the cast dwindles every season.”

“Before, people used to build who they were and did The Challenge as extra in their life,” another wrote. “Now, people know they’re getting paid to show up.”

“I wish it wasn’t considered ‘work’ for her because it just shows these people think they’re actors or just trying to get followers,” yet another commented. “Miss the days of people competing for glory.”

All in all, we’ll have to wait and see if Reeves actually comes back to the show!

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