‘The Challenge’: Ashley Mitchell Says Hunter Drama Began When He Tried to Hook up With Her Before the Show
The Challenge champ Ashley Mitchell etched her name in franchise history when she kept the million-dollar prize for herself instead of sharing it with teammate Hunter Barfield, citing his treatment of her as a reason. She has since revealed the origin of their disagreement.
Ashley Mitchell considered the million-dollar prize in ‘Final Reckoning’ her ‘opportunity’
After quitting The Challenge: Dirty 30 almost as soon as it began, Ashley Mitchell returned for Final Reckoning alongside Hunter Barfield in episode 8 as Mercenaries.
The two went on to win, and she memorable kept the entire million-dollar prize for himself due to his treatment of her. In a February 2023 interview with the podcast Most Likely Two, the two-time champ detailed her decision to take the money and run.
She explained that she wasn’t ecstatic over the choice, as some viewers believe, but doesn’t think anyone would share the money with their “enemy.” Ashley continued and noted that she’s from West Virginia and grew up without much money.
Therefore, she considered it her “opportunity” and is apologetic that it affected Hunter. Later in the podcast, she went into more detail. According to the reality TV star, she “manifested” her spot on the season and got upset when producers called her to inform her they didn’t cast her. However, Ashley said she received another call about her status as a mercenary.
Ashley says beef with Hunter Barfield began before the season
Before the opportunity arose, the West Virginia native remembered telling herself she would take home a million dollars and rehearsed her speech several times. Even though the Real World star said she didn’t want to, she knew she needed to, so she wasn’t hesitant when it happened.
When asked if she would have followed through if Hunter treated her well throughout the season, Ashley admitted she didn’t know what would have happened. She thinks she would have taken it due to the rare opportunity but conceded it wouldn’t have been as easy.
Additionally, the two-time champ detailed the origin of their beef. According to her, they still had their phones when they arrived in South Africa to begin filming.
She claims he wanted to have sex with her while still in the hotel, but she declined. Ashley points to that as the start of their clash because he got notably upset with his teammate for hooking up with co-star Kyle Christie in the house. He thought that her lack of focus would cost him the win and memorably called her names and berated her throughout their partnership, which Ashley cited as her reason for leaving him empty-handed.
Ashley hasn’t won a season since ‘Final Reckoning’
Following their win, they returned for War of the Worlds, where Hunter got revenge by personally eliminating her and then-partner Chase McNary.
He put up an impressive performance alongside UK native Georgia Harrison as they won three daily missions together. Additionally, he made the finals, finishing sixth.
After the appearance, Hunter hasn’t returned, as he’s since become a father. On the other hand, Ashley returned for War of the Worlds 2, where she made the finals alongside her massive alliance.
However, many of her teammates memorably gassed out and lost to underdogs Team UK. Following two back-to-back early exits, Ashley appeared to turn her luck around for last season’s Spies, Lies, and Allies until an off-camera interaction between her and veteran Josh Martinez resulted in her disqualification.
