The odds were not in Cara Maria Sorbello’s favor on this season of The Challenge: Vendettas. She came in with vendettas against some strong competitors, like Tony Raines and Kailah Casillas, and gained even more enemies, like Kam Williams and Marie Roda, as the season went on. Kam even used TWO grenades against her. Still, Cara persevered. She was a solid competitor in the male-favored challenges throughout the season, and came out on top as the sole winner, beating out even the boys — Tony, Zach Nichols, Leroy Garrett and Kyle Christie — in the final challenge.
This was Cara’s third Challenge win (she was previously victorious on Bloodlines and Champs vs. Pros) and her seventh time running a final. She’s also been a rockstar in elimination rounds, winning 12/17 throughout her Challenge career. Despite these stats, Cara is still the subject of major criticism online, both from fans AND her fellow castmates. She’s often slammed as a “cocky” veteran who thinks she’s “above” the newer competitors. This season, she was called out for making it to the final without ever having to win an elimination round. Ummm..WTF? Zach, Kyle AND Kailah (the other three finalists) also avoided The Ring this season…and I didn’t see nearly the same amount of hate directed toward them.
Bottom line: This has GOT to stop! What else does Cara have to do to prove that she’s a legitimate competitor who’s allowed to have confidence in her game if she wants to?! Vets on The Challenge have operated under the same idea for years: Rookies have to prove themselves. Why should Cara be penalized for doing what Johnny Bananas, Zach, Tony and others also tried to do all season long? And SHE did it without ever being in the Troika until the final week of competition.
As Cara herself has pointed out on Twitter and at the Vendettas reunion show — she is never the person to put down an opponent when she’s showing confidence in herself. She complimented several eliminated castmates on Twitter as Vendettas aired, and goes against everyone with the same fierceness and competitiveness. She’s proven herself time and time again, and that’s that. Step aside, haters!