‘The Challenge: Ride or Dies’ Cast: Jordan Wiseley Was Not Aneesa Ferreira’s Original Choice

The Challenge: Ride or Dies is Aneesa Ferreira’s fourth straight season of competing. But, her partner wasn’t the person she had originally planned on competing with. Season 38 marks the first time players get to choose their partner — a person with whom they have strong ties. 

Originally, Aneesa was going to enter the game with her bestie James Simon. But at the last minute, she ended up being partnered with Jordan Wiseley — the ex-fiancé of her other bestie, Tori Deal.

Aneesa Ferreira originally had a different partner heading into ‘The Challenge: Ride or Dies’

Aneesa had planned to play the game with her bestie James, but some last-minute drama before filming began forced her to switch things up. Here’s how it went down.

The cast left for Argentina on May 22, but production shut down just four days later due to COVID exposure and the cast was forced back into quarantine. When production resumed on May 31, James did not return and some quick changes were made.

According to spoiler accounts, Jordan and his Real World: Portland co-star Nia Moore were “slated to enter the game as a twist, but Nia had a major health scare that forced her to drop when they were supposed to leave.” So, when Aneesa lost her partner and Jordan lost his, they ended up playing together.

Season 38 is a significant one for Jordan Wiseley and Tori Deal

Jordan has appeared in six seasons of the main Challenge series, winning three times and taking home nearly $1 million in prize money. Tori also has six seasons of the main series under her belt, including three trips to the finals.

Both have an extensive history on the show — and Tori even hosts The Official Challenge Podcast with Aneesa. But Ride or Dies will mark the first time that Jordan and Tori have competed in the same season since they called off their engagement in 2020. 

Tori announced the split on Instagram, telling fans that their “connection with one another only grows stronger and deeper” after their breakup. But according to the season 38 super trailer, the former couple still has a lot of unfinished business.

“Being with Jordan, I put my sadness on him,” Tori tells her partner Devin Walker in the clip, who says the exes never reached real closure. Later in the trailer, Tori confronts her ex and tells him, “You decided at one point in time you were done with me.”

Then, Jordan tells Tori that his decision to return to the show wasn’t to get back at her. Which prompts her to yell, “You’re a liar!”

Jordan Wiseley and Tori Deal couldn’t make it work after meeting on ‘The Challenge’

Jordan and Tori first met when they both competed on The Challenge: Dirty XXX in 2017. It appeared that they were going to be one of the show’s most successful love stories when he proposed while filming The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2. The engagement episode aired in November 2019, but just one year later the couple called it quits.

Both Jordan and Tori wrote lengthy Instagram posts to announce their split. In hers, Tori wrote that the decision to break up “was not made with malice and it does not stem from a place of anger.”

“The reality of some relationships is that there can be a lot of little things that slowly build up over time. All of those little incidents showed us that we each need our own space,” Tori wrote.

For his part, Jordan said it had been one of the toughest stretches of his life, “to silently struggle with our happiness and love.” 

“We are just two people who love each other deeply but are both battling with our own struggles and happiness. … I love Tori with all of my heart and this hurt is something I’ll never forget … and I don’t want to,” Jordan shared.

The Challenge: Ride or Dies premieres October 12 on MTV.