Laurel Stucky was one of the best female competitors on The Challenge, but now she seems to be struggling. She first appeared on the show in 2010 when she was 24 years old, and made it all the way to second place on her first season, Fresh Meat II, with partner Kenny Santucci. Laurel then followed it up with two more consecutive final appearances on Cutthroat and Rivals, before winning it all on Free Agents in 2014. More recently, however, her results have been less than stellar.
After her surprisingly early defeat on The Challenge season 33, episode 4 of War of the Worlds 2 against underdog, Natalie "Ninja" Duran, Laurel was unlikely to return to the show. When she returned in 2022 to Ride or Dies with her partner, Jakk Maddox, she believed she would return to her former glory as a past champion. Unfortunately, she and Jakk only made it six episodes before being eliminated. The reason for her recent early exits is due to MTV finally casting stronger female competitors to compete against her, as well as Laurel's personal paranoia and past demeanor haunting her social relationships.
Laurel's Past Attitude Problems Prevent Her From Progressing On The Challenge
Laurel earned a reputation for being headstrong and overbearing in her earlier seasons, but she had the performance to back it up, boasting the record for the most consecutive elimination wins for a female with nine. Since then, she has been 1-3 in eliminations, with those elimination appearances being caused by her attitude towards other contestants, like fan-favorite Michele Fitzgerald on Ride or Dies. Michele and partner Jay Starrett nominated Laurel for elimination due to her unwillingness to work with them, showing a hole in Laurel's once-dominant gameplay.
As Laurel gets older, she can no longer intimidate the other women into keeping her out of eliminations. She's no longer seen as invincible after her recent elimination losses. MTV has also prioritized strength in competitors recently, casting stronger women to compete against Laurel, instead of more party-oriented competitors as seen on past seasons of The Challenge. While Laurel is part of the powerful veterans alliance, she's been consistently deemed the most expendable, due to her outbursts of self-serving decisions and strong-minded opinions. This has shaken her and made her more vulnerable to implosion during eliminations than ever before.
It is going to take daily wins and smarter decisions once she is in power to get Laurel back to a final. With The Challenge: Ride or Dies being the hardest yet, it will only get tougher for Laurel to turn the tides on her Challenge legacy. However, Laurel is still one of the best characters on The Challenge these days, so while she may not be around for very long, she still creates memorable moments with her dynamic gameplay and arrogance.
The Challenge airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. EST on MTV.
