This season of The Challenge: War of the Worlds was jam-packed with drama, and Zach Nichols found himself at the center of a lot of it. First, his longtime friendship with Cara Maria Sorbello was put to the test when she overheard him talking s*** about her to her ex, Kyle Shore. “Somebody I thought was a friend, hearing him talk like that about me…that hurt,” Cara admitted on the War of the Worlds reunion, which aired May 29. Zach explained that he got closer with Kyle throughout the show, and accused Cara of making him choose between them, which is why he got so frustrated and took his anger out on Cara. However, she denied this. “You can be friends with whoever you want,” she told him at the reunion. “I’m not going to tell you not to be friends with someone.”
In the end, Zach admitted that he should have “voiced [his] frustration a lot better than to attack [Cara’s] character,” and said that any issues he had with Cara were “squashed” after their fight aired. “I’m not looking to be best friends, but I can admit when I speak on something that I shouldn’t and I’m notorious for getting angry and saying stupid s***,” he explained. “I watch it and I’m upset with my self for letting my anger get to me and doing that. That was stupid.” As for Cara, she added, “We’re cool. I’m cool.”
Meanwhile, Zach also had to address his drama with Johnny Bananas. During the season, Johnny accused Zach of making a secret alliance with Wes Bergmann — Johnny’s number one enemy — behind his back. “After Final Reckoning, Zach told me ‘Wes is a piece of s***, I’m not talking to that guy. You’re the only one I’m working with,'” Johnny claimed at the reunion. “In addition, [he told me], ‘I can’t be on this season very long, so I will go in and take someone out for you, or, if you go in, call me out and I’ll lay one down for you.’ Unbeknownst to me, he had this exact same conversation with Wes. I got played. They can say they weren’t working together all they want, but they were.”
Zach confirmed that “a lot of what [Johnny said] is true,” and tried to defend himself by explaining that he was dealing with “a lot going on” at home. He continued to insist to Johnny that he was NOT working with Wes this season and that he did NOT cut a deal with him. However, he also knows he didn’t handle the situation correctly. “Obviously, I’d like to be friends with Bananas again, but I also understand there’s consequences to my actions,” Zach said. “I admit to f***ing him over. I lied. I lied because Zahida [Allen] and I started to work well together, and I didn’t want to f*** her over, so i was going to lose a friend either way.”
Finally, Zach was forced to address the issues in his relationship with Jenna Compono, which aired at the beginning of the season after Amanda Garcia called him out for using Bumble after being eliminated on last season, Final Reckoning. Zach continued to insist that his Bumble profile was just made as a joke, and he and Jenna confirmed that their relationship is going strong. “I embarrassed her and I’m sick about it,” he admitted. “But we worked through it and I love her. I’m really lucky that she chose to stay with me and is with me.”
Another one of the most polarizing players this season was Paulie Calafiore, who was dating Cara Maria throughout the show and after. Naturally, this led to tension between Paulie and Cara’s ex, Kyle. The guys admitted on the reunion that they still don’t “like each other,” but Kyle explained, “[We] have mutual respect. He’s a very good competitor and it’s a privilege to go up against him. I don’t think there will ever be an alliance or friendship there, but we can be civil while we try to kill each other!”
However, Johnny Bananas stood by his claim that Paulie is just “f***ing Cara for followers,” but she made it clear that she doesn’t care what people think. “[Bananas and I] have been through a lot,” she said. “I know in a weird way [he’s] looking out for me, but what it comes down to is [Paulie] is my man and I love him and I’m always going to stand by him. I don’t want a strain with Johnny and I don’t want a strain between Paulie and Johnny.” For now, though, it seems like her friendship with Bananas remains a bit rocky.
One of the most shocking revelations of the night, though, came from Nany Gonzalez, who was hooking up with Hunter Barfield throughout War of the Worlds. However, when she got home, she realized she knew very little about him, and said she began suspecting that he had a girlfriend. Her suspicions were confirmed when she received information via Instagram DMs about Hunter being in another relationship. He denied having a girlfriend while he was on the show, but admitted to not “communicating clearly” with Nany about his situation. That’s when Nany dropped the bomb — “Are you having a baby, Hunter?!” she asked. He did not respond, but did confirm that he’s with someone now, and apologized for not “communicating clearly” with Nany during their time together.
Eventually, Hunter confirmed on Instagram earlier this month that he does have a baby on the way. “We are excited to announce Baby Barfield coming soon!!!” he wrote. “I’ve always wanted to be a daddy and now my dream is finally coming true!!!”