The Challenge featured plenty of showmances and love stories throughout its first 40 seasons, and is likely to bring a few more in future seasons.
One of the most notable recent instances involved Nany Gonzalez and Kaycee Clark. The former Real World: Vegas star and Big Brother winner met during The Challenge: Total Madness.
They bonded that season, then began dating off the show. Their relationship continued for several years, and was part of storylines in seasons of MTV’s competition series.
Viewers last saw the couple appear on Ride or Dies together, and things seemed to be going well. Nany even talked up her partner Kaycee when she returned for All Stars 5, and one of the episodes included a video call between them.
However, news emerged before the season that she and Kaycee had broken up. Most fans were already aware of this, as All Stars 5 was airing, but production kept the footage in.
While Kaycee and Nany initially shared matching social media posts to announce the breakup, they hadn’t said much else about what happened. However, Nany opened up during a Season 41 special.
Nany spoke about her split from Kaycee Clark
On Wednesday night, fans got to see a special episode for the upcoming season of The Challenge: Vets and New Threats called Day Zero.
It featured an introduction to all the rookie cast members, along with fans getting to see familiar veterans, including Chris “CT” Tamburello, Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio, Cara Maria Sorbello, and Nany.
There weren’t many details shared by the vets about the show, except for Nany. A scene at The Challenge house pool showed Nany talking about where she is at in her life with some of the rookies.
As highlights from previous seasons showed, Nany discussed her split with Kaycee during a confessional interview.
“Now I know everybody out there wants there to be some hot tea, some like major juicy gossip as far as what happened with Kaycee and I, and the truth of the matter is Kaycee and I are on such a great page today,” she said.
“We ultimately wanted different things, and that’s OK,” Nany explained, adding, “I’m here for me, and for me only.”
She became emotional while delivering her remarks, before mentioning she was “just ready to play” The Challenge again.
There had previously been rumors started up online suggesting Nany cheated with a castmate on All Stars 5, but she slammed the gossip ahead of the season’s episodes.
Nany is still vying for her first championship
As longtime fans know, Nany is still searching for her elusive first-ever Challenge championship. She’s been close a few times, with the most recent being her Ride or Dies season as Johnny Bananas’ partner.
Nany nearly reached the All Stars 5 final with her former rival-turned-friend Turbo Camkiran. However, they became a target for teams realizing they were a strong pair, and got sent home via elimination just before TJ Lavin announced finalists.
In Vets and New Threats, Nany has another chance to win a season, and this time she’ll team up with one of the rookies.
During the Day Zero special, the vets and rookies faced an early challenge, which involved a race up a mountain and then to The Challenge house. The order in which competitors finished determined the order of selection for partners.
Nany had the 12th overall pick and chose Ben Davis. Earlier in the show, Ben revealed he is one of the rookies without reality TV experience, as he comes from the world of boxing, where he works as a commentator.
The Challenge: Vets and New Threats premieres Wednesday, July 30, at 8/7c on MTV.
