The tension between longtime rivals Cara Maria Sorbello and Laurel Stucky came to a head on this week’s episode of The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras, with the two veteran competitors engaging in an explosive fight that ended with Cara Maria in tears.
While longtime fans of the show have seen the two competitors go at each other many times over the years, Cara Maria revealed on social media that her emotional reaction during Wednesday’s episode was the result of something fans didn’t see on TV.
— MTVexposed (@wedontknow36) September 19, 2024
In a TikTok posted after Wednesday’s episode aired, Cara Maria filled viewers in on “what exactly happened” during the heated argument that led her to break down in tears, though she first reminded fans that ‘The Challenge’ is a “one-hour show with a whole lot of commercials in between,” and given the amount of people on the cast, there are always going to be things that happen that aren’t shown on TV.
Something viewers did see on this week’s episode, however, was Laurel getting into an argument with Michele Fitzgerald, followed by Cara Maria attempting to comfort Michele by giving her a pep talk that was ultimately overheard by Laurel. According to Cara Maria, this incident is what ignited her and Laurel’s massive blowout.
Cara Maria went on to discuss the moment on Wednesday’s episode when Laurel claimed (mid-fight) that she “had [Cara Maria’s] back.” After Laurel made this comment, viewers saw a flashback of the frienemies having a heart-to-heart on 2011’s “Rivals” season, suggesting that conversation was what Laurel was referring to. However, Cara Maria claims Laurel was actually referring to a personal matter that was never shared– or filmed– for MTV.
“What she had actually said is something I have to dance around here and something they cannot legally put on TV,” she claimed. “In essence, she mimicked past abuse that I had endured while towering over me and screaming at me, ‘I had your back when … .’ She basically weaponized my past trauma, pulled it out of nowhere. What she did do was absolutely trigger something deep inside me that I didn’t even know was there to set off.
“… It’s one thing to yell and say, ‘Oh, you’re worthless, nobody likes you, I’m never going to be your friend.’ It’s fine, I can deal with that all day, I’ve dealt with that in the past,” she continued. “It’s another to weaponize abusive trauma from my past, pull it out of nowhere, and use it in an argument while you’re screaming at me and almost reenacting it. That’s really what happened.”
Cara Maria said that while her tears were largely a response to Laurel’s comments, they were also a reaction to the amount of love she was shown by her castmates after the fact.
“ … That was such a beautiful feeling because I felt supported,” she said, adding that, “at the end of the day, Laurel is always going to be Laurel and I think that’s punishment enough.”
Cara Maria explained that she was sharing what happened in order for fans to understand why she became so upset during the argument, while acknowledging that some viewers were confused by her reaction. She also said that, while fans saw security step in to diffuse the heated exchange on Wednesday’s episode, security actually stuck around much longer as a result of Laurel’s actions.
“After that, security basically followed Laurel around for several days to make sure she stayed away from me,” she said. “And I asked to speak to a therapist because of the visceral triggering reaction that pulled out of me when she brought that up.”
Regarding how both she and Michele were treated by Laurel, Cara Maria said her ‘Challenge’ nemesis has a way of bringing people close so that she can then “stab you right back down.”
“ … She finds the people that have the most-sensitive heart or [those who are] really people-pleasers and those are the ones that she’ll go after …,” she said.
Cara Maria concluded her TikTok by stating that she doesn’t know what Laurel’s “thing is” with her, nor does she need to know what it is, she just wants whatever it is “to be gone.”
On Thursday, Paulie Calafiore added his thoughts on what happened in a series of posts to X.
“Laurel is a known liar and gaslighter who will take low blows whenever she can,” he wrote. “We saw it with Darrell getting a massage from Emily. That’s not what set Cara off and that’s all I’m gonna speak on in regards to that….
“The looks we saw on the cast mates faces during the argument is all that really needs to be said,” he added. “As challengers, we see a lot of crazy s**t so it takes A LOT to have those faces looking the way they did. Thank you to the cast mates that had her back, I wish I was there to help.”
As for Laurel, she has yet to respond to Cara Maria’s comments or share her thoughts on Wednesday’s episode.
Click here to watch a clip of Laurel and Cara Maria’s big blowout and watch Cara Maria’s full TikTok response below.
@misscaramaria I am clarifying my personal experience as it happened to me. Thats all. #thechallenge
(Photos: MTV; TikTok)
5 Responses
Cara has always gotten on my nerves but my heart goes out to her after watching and then reading this. Laurel is a brutal, jealous, pathetic bully of a human being.
Laurel been bully from her first season. Why mtv keeps bring her back beyond me. Show will survive without her. Then during all stars rigging her t win was disgusting 🤢 one step to far now this.
I disagree, Cara is as much a BACKSTABBER as Laurel. If you watched all episodes you will see Cara and Paulie can’t keep up with their own lies.
I’ve seen every episode and I couldn’t disagree more. Cara has alot of faults but backstabber isn’t one of them and there’s no world I’d liken her to Laurel in any fashion.
Laurel is a bully. She always has been and always will be. There is nothing endearing about her. To me she acts exactly like Camilla. I don’t know why they bring Laurel back. The franchise will not collapse without her. And it would save other people from her bullshit.
The sad part is that Cara is very much a people pleaser. When Laurel cries on her shoulder and pretends to be nice to her you can almost see Cara’s eyes light up with hope. I can’t count the times Laurel has gotten into Cara’s face and screamed. Laurel will end up doing it to the wrong person one day and she will have her ass laid out. Hopefully that time comes soon.