The OG Mean Girls Are Bringing Drama to ‘The Challenge All Stars 4’

The Big Picture

• The OG Mean Girls of The Challenge trio reunited after decades, proving their tight bond and dominance.
• The Challenge: All Stars brings back legends from the original show, honoring its reality TV history.
• The reunion of Tina, Rachel, and Veronica made for great TV, showing their growth and wisdom in the game.

After a brutal elimination that saw two Challenge champions battle to stay, the OG Mean Girls of The Challenge have officially been broken up. Uniting on the show for the first time in decades, Rachel Robinson, Tina Bartaand Veronica Portillo brought the nostalgia factor back to the show. Picking up where they left off, watching these three play for another season together after so long was the best casting choice The Challenge: All Stars 4 has made. The trio showed their growth since their first appearances together but also displayed how a game of politics and social prowess can’t break up their tight bond.

The Challenge: All Stars is a spin-off series of the long-running The Challenge on MTV. While it is also hosted by TJ Lavin and features challenges and eliminations, the season strays away from the flagship program because of the casting. Filled with legends from the past, The Challenge: All Stars captures the heart of what the original series used to be. For some players, it’s been literally decades since they last appeared on the show. For others, they’ve had a storied career thanks to their time on The Challenge. Bringing past and present together has made The Challenge: All Stars a smash hit.

The OG Mean Girls Are Friends First and Foremost

In the early days of The Challengethe show solely cast individuals from MTV’s hit shows The Real World and Road Rules. Throwing the twenty-somethings into a competitive game against the backdrop of a stunning resort town, The Challenge became one of the biggest and longest-running programs the network has ever had. Despite not having the current moniker in the early days, the show has essentially remained the same. Well, except the level of difficulty. That gets harder and harder. Thanks TJ Lavin! Through the art of casting, each new season united friends and foes alongside the newest faces to the series’ family. Part of the excitement about how The Challenge has progressed is retaining some cast members that will intertwine with new cast members. There is a familiarity that keeps the show consistent yet allows each season to be new and refreshing. So, when new players are introduced, new dynamics are formed. And one of the most beloved, by the fans, certainly not by their rivals, friendships turned alliances was the Mean Girls. Comprised of Rachel Robinson, Tina Barta, and Veronica Portillothe trio, plus some occasional guests, rocked the game because of their powerful hold on the game. They instantly found united targets and caused drama within the house. And that’s exactly why fans were thrilled to see them back together after all these years!

While the trio haven’t always competed in the same seasons, when they’re together, players beware. The first time they found themselves in the same season was The Gauntlet. Fresh off her run as a replacement on Road Rules: South PacificTina Barta was immediately invited into an alliance with Veronica Portillo, from Road Rules: Semester at Seaand Rachel Robinson, from Road Rules: Campus Crawl. Just a season before, Rachel and Veronica made a strong bond during Battle of the Sexes. It was thanks to that season that Rachel would forever be known for her infamous rant regarding the Inner Circle. The format for The Gauntlet remained The Real World vs Road Rulesso for the three ladies, being a part of the same team helped form the relationship that would grow into the menace that tormented the game during Battle of the Sexes II and Inferno II. But it was their time on Inferno II that solidified their status as the Mean Girls.

Rather than the previously formatted The Real World vs Road Rules teams, Inferno II split the alum into Good Guys or Bad Asses. And of course, Rachel, Tina, and Veronica were on Team Bad Asses, which really went to their heads. Oh, and Veronica and Rachel secretly dated during the season! For some, there is a negative aura that surrounded the Mean Girls during the season. Some viewers saw them as bullies. Tonya Cooley had a reputation since her time on The Real World: Chicago. She was not necessarily the best in the sense of competition. She took her time on The Challenge to have fun. Following her altercation with Beth StolarczykTonya became the target of the girls. Partially due to her performance, Tonya became the focus of antagonization as it allowed them to keep the themselves safe from being called into elimination. Their torment of Tonya did go to an extreme as they allegedly took photos of Tonya while she was sleeping. While the clip did air in real time, when the season was added to Netflix, that episode was not included. Whether this moment had anything to do with future seasons’ casting, this would be the final time this trio would appear together until The Challenge: All Stars 4.

The Legends are Keeping The Challenge: All Stars Alive

A big reason the spin-off of the flagship series came to fruition was the desire from both the fans and former players to give them their time to shine again. Despite having similar elements to the MTV series, the Paramount+ edition was a way for the older generation of Challengers to get back in the game. It set a precedent of welcoming back players who have lived a brand-new life post Challenge careers. Not everyone is a life-long reality star like Johnny Bananas. Some challengers who came onto the show in the early days have families and careers that they put on hold in order to play again. It’s like watching the best high school reunion from afar!

The Challenge: All Stars has almost exclusively only included former cast members who originated on The Real World, Road Rulesor through the Fresh Meat seasons of The Challenge. With the sole exception of Kam Williams this season, The Challenge has been honoring the programs that helped launch it into reality television history. Longtime fans of The Challenge clamor at every cast announcement to see who is returning. Whether you liked them or not, the OG Mean Girls appearing together again gave fans a reason to tune in. The game did get the best of them as Rachel did find herself eliminated in a shocking elimination against Dear Maria Sorbellobut to see the trio have power in the house was just like watching reruns of their original run. They brought their wisdom and life experience into the new versions of themselves. They learned from their past. They didn’t go hard into being Mean Girls, yet still established their dominance over the players in the house. They looked out for one another, even allowing one another to do what was best for their games. And they still managed to make good television.

By continuing to reunite the past with the present, The Challenge: All Stars could overtake the flagship show as the new fan-favorite. Despite a short run as a trio, having Tina, Rachel, and Veronica is the best blast from the past viewers could ask for. There are certainly other friendships, couples, and rivals that deserve a chance to return and reignite their past highlights. If there’s a fifth season on the horizon, beg the show to bring back more fan-favorites!

The Challenge: All Stars 4 streams Wednesdays on Paramount+.

Watch on Paramount+