Diem Brown Knew She Had Colon Cancer Before ‘The Challenge’

This is just devastating. As most fans of ‘The Challenge’ know, contestant Diem Brown was struck with cancer for the third time while she was competing on the show. What they might not know, though, is that the bubbly blonde was aware of her illness before the show began filming– and she went for it anyway. Talk about bravery!

The Jan. 20 episode of The Challenge, was one of the most difficult to watch, as it was the last time cast member Diem Brown would be featured on the series. Diem’s fight with cancer had been well known to fans when the star sadly passed away in November of last year, however, Diem herself knew of the uphill battle in front of her long before that.

Diem Brown Knew She Was Sick Before ‘The Challenge’

The Jan. 20 episode of the challenge will stand out to fans of the show for a long time to come due to the fact that it was just so heartbreaking.

The episode marked the last time Diem would appear on the show, before being taken to the hospital where she would ultimately lose her life. The lesser known fact of the story, though, is that Diem was aware that she was sick when The Challenge: Battle of the Exes 2 began shooting at the end of the summer.

Fellow cast member Johnny ‘Bananas’ tells Zap2it that, “I was actually there on her birthday [in June] when she found out that [the cancer] had come back for a third time,” Bananas said. “That was before this challenge.”

Well, fans have always known that Diem was a fighter.

“Diem is a firecracker,” Bananas added, also sharing a story about how their friendship went far beyond MTV’s reality series. “She was always this ball of energy that got the party started. It was just so strange to be in a challenge where she was there but she was up in bed writhing in pain.”

“That night they took Diem to the hospital — I have never seen Johnny that emotional ever,” Bananas’ partner on Exes 2 Nany said. “Johnny was sitting there and telling me how the cancer came back — I had no idea, but he knew. [He] had tears in your eyes. I had never, ever seen [him] like that before.”

Diem’s Heartbreaking Plans

The fact that Diem was aware of her diagnosis before filming becomes more devastating when looking back upon her opening commentary for the show.

Diem told audiences in her opening that she wanted to use the prize money so that she could pay for surrogates to have a baby– something she could not do on her own since her ovaries had been removed to fight her ovarian cancer. She said this, all the while knowing that she was fighting for her life.

This whole story remains beyond sad. Sending love to Diem’s family and friends who are still coping with the horrifying loss.

— Casey Mink