Challenge Dirty 30 Player Preview: Amanda Garcia
This is going to be controversial, solely due to the fact that Amanda has become one of the most controversial modern figures in the Challenge universe. In my Invasion Preview for her, I was pretty positive, and wrote highly of her in comparison to most who only noted her as the demon freckle girl from Are You The One?
Here’s what I was dead on about: Amanda is intelligent, she is crafty, and does have heart, along with a scrappy fighting attitude.
What I was wrong about is that I called her the next Camila. Camila seems to have a stunted growth, who continues to act like the Camilanator every season. Amanda is usually being provoked by someone else, and has only reached Camilanator level, when being attacked by Camila. Even then, she’s always been smarter about it.
If there was a spectrum to describe the person that Amanda is, it’s somewhere between right under Diem and a little above Camila. She never reaches full Camila-level, but she can get there. Comparing her to Diem might offend you, but Amanda is actually a sweet, caring, and smart person. She takes care of her dad who has had triple bypass surgery and a stroke. Amanda has a nursing degree and license, which makes her more accomplished than most of this cast. Most of these people skated by in school, where being a nurse is not something you get done easily. There’s a sweet side to Amanda, one that her friends see, one that she shows her family. She’s loyal, she’s strong, and will have your back, something that’s a bit rare in the game today.
Her performance last season was strong. She did decently in the daily missions, however, she played a great political game. It was not shown much, but Amanda and Ashley were essentially the two people running the game, making decisions, all while Nelson was the public figure. They did a good job by making Kailah and Jenna the top public enemies for their alliance. Which was a brilliant move, they were two best physical athletes besides Nicole. If you are able to send them to every elimination, do it, it will prolong your game. They took shots at them with all the lower level members of their alliance. Throwing in Kailah against a checked out Sylvia seemed like a throwaway, but by beating her they had a meat-shield for another week, and kept the alliance numbers from flipping. Sylvia beating Kailah is what won Ashley the final.
At the final four, she won the first portion of the bloodbath, blowing out everyone except for best friend, Ashley. In the physical portion of the bloodbath, despite having 30 lbs less than Nicole, and 10–15 less than Ashley, she was holding her own, she kept pulling Nicole and pushing forward to her bell. I can’t comprehend that, not only due to the size difference, the pure muscle difference is massive. In the end, she lost to do being stubborn and petty. She would have rather had Ashley get to the bell first, rather than Nicole. In the second round, she was an inch away from beating Nicole 2–0, after her foot fell over the rope while going out.
Had she been in the final instead of Ashley, it would have been interesting. Maybe she would have won the season. Regardless, her showing on Invasion was incredible. Almost to the point where it feels this season that she’s either ready to push forward, or that she may fall flat. There’s a good amount of people with grudges towards her, meaning she could be a quick exit. I think she has just as good of a chance to make it to the final, as she does to be one of the first eliminated.
My problem with Amanda, is she puts a non-existent chip on her shoulder at times. As she gets older, she’ll most likely calm down.
Now here’s a review of Amanda as a competitor, as well as her social media handles for reference:
Strength & Physical Fitness: Amanda has fighter’s strength, not natural upper body strength. You know, the strength that your mom has to whoop your ass? She has that type of strength. During the physical bloodbath tug of war between her, Ashley, and Nicole, Amanda remained on her toes, fingers clutched in the sand, and kept pushing forward. Darrell is not one to mince words, and my favorite response was when he was watching all the girls being pulled by an Amanda slowly moving forward inch by inch: “goddamn, Amanda! She’s in there!” I did not see that coming from her at all.
Amanda is 5'3 or 5'4, max 120 lbs, I’m guessing between 103–115 lbs. Incredible considering she currently works at a dispensary. From her recent Instagram pictures, she looks in much better shape than she was on Invasion, a lot more tone, and even better looking. She’s not going to win physical challenges, her job is to be average and keep herself in the game so that she can take advantage when more mental stuff comes around.
Social & Mental Game: She burned a good amount of bridges on Invasion. Camila, Kailah, and Jenna are all gunning for her. Cara Maria isn’t a fan, Veronica is going to stick to herself, and we’re unsure where Marie lies.
She has Britni from her AYTO season, Simone, Nicole R, Devin, and Nelson. Yikes. It might be a rough season for the pop off queen.
Her puzzle and problem solving ability is much higher than most of her cast-mates. Going through Nursing school means a good amount of memorization, which is something you need to succeed in mental games.
Eliminations: Currently an elimination record of 1–2. I think she can beat a good amount of people in elimination. She has the craftiness and ability to snake people right in front of them.
Likewise I could see her losing many elimination. She is a small girl. Her showings can reflect heart and strength, and sometimes all that matters is who is bigger.
Final Potential & Endurance: Considering that if Amanda was in the Invasion final, she probably would have won or finished in second, as her and Ashley are pretty interchangeable. Ashley’s taller and bigger, but Amanda has more strength for her size, speed, and endurance.
Her making a final would be somewhat expected, it’s the natural progression from one season to another. If she is in a final, I give her a 5% of shot of winning, more than I’d give most average competitors. She works well with partners, doesn’t go too hard, has heart, and can do the puzzles in seconds. 3rd place is most likely, second wouldn’t be a surprise.
Amanda making the final will be extremely tough considering the barriers going into the season. She doesn’t have a lot of strong friends entering the season, and has a lot of strong enemies.
Final Score: 81/100
