Challenge Dirty 30 Episode 11: MTV needs to review how they treat alcohol on these shows

Here is the rundown of the drama from last night’s episode — the episode opens up with Hunter crying as his girlfriend breaks up with him over the phone on national television. He proceeds to win the daily mission with Kailah on his team (he hates her), and goes on to get super cocky while drunk that night at the club, telling Kailah that she’s essentially worthless. Hunter fight with Kailah goes until Nelson, Britni, and CT settle him down. Back at the house, Nelson is SLAMMERED (way beyond drunk). He starts talking shit about the veterans, Hunter hypes him up, then Derrick pokes his head in wondering where the anger is coming from. Drunk Nelson is in another world and wants to throw fists with Derrick to the point of a push and face smack. He is taken to a hotel, and they reveal he has been kicked off the show.

People are scratching their heads over why Nelson has been kicked off the show after Camila’s racist outburst only two episodes earlier. The difference is that MTV has strict rules regarding physical altercations. No fighting is their most basic rule. It also does not help that Nelson had prior moments like this where he didn’t truly get physical, but escalated the situation to the point of it being at that level.

Nelson taking out his anger on Derrick last night, Camila’s drunken and racist outburst towards LeRoy, and Tony’s two drunken nights this season all have one major thing in common. They’re all after a night at the club or an outside adventure.

From cast members, we have learned a ton about how they treat alcohol on this show.

The house allows beer if they are not competing on that day, and they don’t bring out the “harder” stuff till night time. Hard stuff refers strictly to vodka with blue food coloring. They color it blue so production can easily track what is taken. Players must also get their alcohol from a production member, and can only get a second bottle once they cash in their empty bottle. They won’t stop any fights from happening, but they make sure you don’t take any extra drinks. No hard liquor is allowed, especially after what went down with Brad on the Ruins. Dark liquors are often associated with anger and aggression. By limiting the alcohol consumption in the house, they are now able to keep situations like the Brad/Darrell mishap from ever occurRing.

The problem is this leads to a somewhat prison-like atmosphere. Older competitors who only want to drink a beer and play domino’s have no major qualms with this, they come for the paycheck and to compete, not for low rate vodka. Occasionally they will feel restrained as adults, however they know the payout for six weeks of work is too good. For the younger players whose brains go crazy in the slow paced environment of a Challenge house, they NEED their alcohol. Any young person’s life in 2017 revolves around media and entertainment. Whether they’re watching Netflix, listening to Spotify, or sliding into DM’s, there is always something to do in order to fill the free time. You get none of that in the Challenge house. Working out and drinking is the only chance you get to escape from the boring existence of the show.

These house restrictions are leading to more drama and even crazier results based on what happens outside the house. There are no drinking restrictions outside the house, the only caveat is that competitors have to pay for their own drinks. Though considering they are usually in South America and Asia instead of Europe or North America, these bills don’t hurt the wallet too bad. Being able to finally leave the house and get some good drinks is usually the most fun for the young competitors. Except this is when things get out of hand. Most of the people on this show are actually quite good at handling and managing their alcohol consumption (they do it regularly outside of the house). The problem is once in this environment where their alcohol is not completely managed, they go all in. Almost like a kid in a candy store without their parents, people are more likely to show no self-control, leading to the worse out of them.

This definitely does not excuse any terrible behavior by Camila, Tony, or Nelson. Camila remains a terrible person, Tony has an obvious addiction to sex and alcohol, and Nelson might have some deep seeded anger issues. Still, these nights are when we’ve seen people like Jordan, Aneesa, and Kailah take their intoxication to a level we never see in the house.

Production treating the players like children brings the worst out of them. It may be their choice to manufacture drama in order to create a better house environment, they should give more freedom to players. Hell, many of the competitors who are retired have stated that they dislike the way in which they are policed on these shows. MTV needs to figure out where the right balance is on these shows when it comes to how to treat alcohol.