‘The Challenge’: M.J. Garrett Referred to Ayanna Mackins as ‘Extra;’ She Clapped Back
After not appearing on the flagship franchise in over a decade, Veterans Ayanna Mackins and M.J. Garrett returned for The Challenge spinoff and All Stars. While the season hasn’t shown any bad blood between the two, he seemingly threw shade at her in a recent post. Ayanna has since responded.
Ayanna Mackins created drama over a Greek salad in ‘The Challenge: All Stars’
During the Dec. 30 episode of The Challenge: All Stars 2, Ayanna Mackins cleaned up the house, annoyed, as she thought the other cast members should pick up after themselves.
Meanwhile, Jodi Weatherton told her roommates that she went to eat her Greek salad and realized someone else had already consumed it.
When she asked Ayanna about it, Jodi claimed the veteran dismissed it and asked her to clean up before commenting on her being “privileged.” In a confessional, the two-time champ explained Ayanna apparently didn’t like how Jodi approached her about the salad.
After hearing the story, Jasmine Reynaud confronted the veteran about the “privileged” comments, leading to a heated exchange. During deliberations, Ayanna dramatically owned up to eating the salad, claiming Jodi left it out for too long.
M.J. Garrett referred to her as ‘extra
Following the episode, a fan asked The Gauntlet 2 champ, M.J. Garrett, his thoughts about “#saladgate.” The three-time competitor answered on his Instagram story, “gotta be careful with this one,” alongside a still shot from an episode featuring him and Ayanna.
He also described her in “one word,” calling her “extra.” A viewer took a screenshot of his answer and uploaded it to Twitter, where the user tagged Ayanna and asked her for details.
She replied with a picture of a hot sauce bottle claiming not everyone eats it. “I gotta question, though. What do they say about folk who live in glass houses?”
The veteran clarified her answer in another tweet using a GIF of Isaiah John as Leon in FX’s Snowfall in which he tells Damson Idris’ Franklin to “put the stone down” because he’s in a “glass house.” It’s unclear exactly what Ayanna means, but viewers might see it play out in the coming episodes.
He previously won ‘The Challenge: The Gauntlet 2’
After appearing on The Real World: Philadelphia in 2004, the Tennessee-based collegiate football player debuted on The Challenge for its 11th season, The Gauntlet 2.
He went on to have one of the best seasons as a rookie, winning several daily missions with his team. M.J. advanced to the finals, where he won, walking away with $26,666. The Tennessee native returned for The Gauntlet 3 as a replacement but was quickly eliminated.
In 2009, he made his latest appearance in the flagship franchise for The Duel 2, again as a replacement. Although he put up a decent fight by eliminating two players, M.J. eventually went home before the finals.
Following a 12-year break, he returned to the spinoff, All Stars 2 on the outs of the main alliance, King’s Palace. However, he and season-long partner Jonna Mannion work well together and have remained off the chopping block. The Challenge: All Stars 2 airs on Paramount+.
