‘The Challenge’: Is Natalie ‘Ninja’ Duran Banned and What Is She Doing Now?
The Challenge alum Natalie “Ninja” Duran has placed in the finals both times she competed but hasn’t returned since 2019’s War of the Worlds 2. Therefore, many viewers are sure she’s banned. What has Ninja Natalie been up to since seemingly leaving the franchise?
Is Natalie ‘Ninja’ Duran banned from ‘The Challenge?’
Following an impressive run on American Ninja Warrior, Natalie “Ninja” Duran competed in The Challenge: War of the Worlds and the following season, War of the Worlds 2.
Despite good performances, she never returned, leading viewers to believe she got banned. MTV hasn’t announced its decision to part ways with her, as it did Dee Nguyen.
Still, it’s assumed that she hasn’t returned due to offensive resurfaced tweets. While her rookie season aired, fans found inappropriate content she posted to her Twitter account as recently as 2017.
One 2009 post, which would’ve been uploaded at the age of 18, asked if “Tishiana sounds like a ghetto black name,” and another included alleged advice from her parents: “stay away from the Mexicans.” Additionally, one tweet claimed that every person of Indian descent who made her sandwich at Subway had messed it up. “No racial,” she added.
What is Ninja Natalie doing now?
Shortly after earning her neuroscience degree from the University of California, Riverside, in 2013, Ninja premiered on the obstacle-based sports reality competition show American Ninja Warrior in season 5.
She returned for season 8, made it to the qualifying round, and became one of the first women to make it to the 14-foot Warped Wall, advancing to the finals.
Following her record-tying performance, she competed in The Challenge for two seasons before disappearing from the community. Ninja Natalie currently appears to be single and is a fitness model.
She frequently posts pictures of her climbing and hanging off structures around Los Angeles, including several where she hangs from the street lines in Spiderman costumes to her over 100,000 Instagram followers. The professional rock climber still appears to be good friends with Challenge allies Cara Maria Sorbello and Paulie Calafiore, as they frequently comment on each other’s social media.
Did Ninja Natalie win ‘The Challenge?’
In War of the Worlds, the rookie teamed up with Paulie, and they won three daily challenges in a row. Additionally, they sent home formidable duo Kam Williams and Ashley Cain, adding an elimination win to their resume.
They split up, and she went on to win another daily alongside eventual winner Turbo Çamkıran and defeated Hunter Barfield solo in the finals.
However, she placed fourth, finishing as one of the only finalists to walk away empty-handed. Ninja Natalie immediately returned for War of the Worlds 2 as a Reinforcement and sent Free Agents winner Laurel Stucky home by episode 4 in a controversial elimination.
As part of Cara Maria and Paulie’s dominant alliance, she made it to the finals, but they lost to Team UK, again going home with nothing. Despite advancing to the finals in both seasons, she hasn’t returned since the 2019 finale.
