Challenge Dirty 30 Player Preview: Camila Nakagawa
The Camilanator act is tired. Last season, I wrote Camila shouldn’t come back for anything more than one season if she does not make a final. Now, I think MTV has to stop casting her. Camila has done every single Challenge from Cutthroat to now, except for Exes 2 (where she didn’t have an eligible partner), and it’s not that I am hating, it is that she needs a break.
It’s easy to understand that doing the show is an incredible experience, getting traveling the world, getting to test yourself, pushing your boundaries, and having fun. The problem is, if you do every Challenge for 8 years in a row, your life becomes the Challenge, you’re no longer trying to get a challenge, you’re just depending on it.
I’ll give Camila props where props is due. She co-owns a few spas that are doing well, recently expanded to a new one, she is in the best shape of her life, and kicked ass last season from a physical standpoint. She even beat Laurel in an elimination. LAUREL. The most dominant girl in Challenge history, the only person to have ever won 9 eliminations in a row. Camila defeated a person that nobody had ever been beaten. Queenslayer move right there.
While she did do impressively in the final individually from a physical standpoint, it was a bit of an embarrassing finish. The way she blew up and devolved with her partner, the fact she lost to Ashley, and that she was a veteran running a final against two girls who had never run a final and lost. In the history of pair/individual finals, it’s closer 0 than even a 10 percent chance that someone ever wins running their first final, not rookie season, their first final. And Camila still lost. It was the perfect format for her to win if she made the final.
For Camila, what’s worrisome is the moral character that she has been on the Challenge. She is still young, and what she wants to do in terms of partying, hooking up, and wearing is all up to her. However, I think her, Bananas, and others are killing the Challenge. Back on Fresh Meat 1, the veterans put the Austin and Fresh Meat cast through the ringer. Except they were still good veterans who taught the kids how to play the game, how to act, and how to have fun. In the modern Challenge, Bananas is focused on spoon feeding this mentality that you need to pay your dues, and after X many Challenges, maybe you can win one when he retires, until then, he deserves to eat. Camila is part of that mentality.
Whenever she gets voted in, Camila acts as if it is the end of the world, that you have put a plague upon her and her family, and that you must now pay for your crimes, preferably by death. On Bloodlines, she campaigned all up and down the block trying to get everyone to not vote for her. Why? Because she was a veteran, thus they should not vote for her sister. Except her sister is a rookie, in a game where half the players are inherently rookies. By using the veteran claim, she actually ruins it for her sisters, as her sister was the only “rookie” on the Blue Team (other females being Jenna, Nany, Aneesa, and KellyAnne). When she cheated on Rivals 3 and was automatically sent into elimination, she made a fuss against TJ, when she cheated…and it was caught on tape. Even Zach made less of a fit than that.
Camila can’t claim she is a veteran and deserves respect if she is going to act like a child. Though her views are a bit skewed. She went to three eliminations her first season when she was killing it in daily missions for her team, then won really early, she was vindicated too soon.
Now here’s a review of her as a competitor, as well as her social media handles:
Skills & Physical Strength: At 5'0 tall, Camila has always had to overcome a lot physically due to her height. She’s lost in size battles a few times to Laurel and Theresa, not been able to have good a connection with partners who were mismatched due to size, and even though she has done well in many missions, she’s often had to use her own makeshift strategies in how to compete. My favorite example was during the rope cutting elimination on Rivals 2. She too small to grab and cut the rope. Jemmye lifted the rope with her hand, while she dove in to cut with vigor.
Camila can carry her body weight, can carry a decent amount of weight herself, good runner, great endurance, one of the best swimmers, has some speed, and is agile. Camila is the greatest Challenge competitor ever when it comes to heights, she has a fearlessness that is hard to quantify. It is when near death that she becomes normal.
Mental & Social Game: For a long time, Camila has not had a ride or die friendship that has helped her throughout the seasons. Bananas was somewhat that on Rivals 2. After that, she’s seen eliminations on every single season that she has been on, aside from Bloodlines (her sister went to elimination), and on Rivals 3 (9th place Disqualification). This season she goes in with Cara Maria being her #1. Both are not political players usually. They are two most experienced competitors in the game, two of the few champions who are still in their physical primes.
Her mental strength is only strong in that she’s good at Challenge events, bad at the house elements. You know, actually being a nice person.
Eliminations: Her elimination record is an impressive 7–4. Camila’s biggest wins are against Laurel, Robin, and Diem. She has won in physical games like handcuffs and pole wrestle, then in endurance games like Knot So Fast. She is a fierce competitor who will bite someone’s ear off in elimination if it means she gets the win. That’s the difference between her and someone who has never been in, or win high pressure eliminations.
Final Potential & Endurance: We know that Camila can win a final from the physical standpoint as an individual. She has all the tools to be successful. Her biggest weakness is being a good teammate or partner. Either Camila gets mad that her teammate cannot keep up with her, or she gets mad about the lack of help, or maybe she wants to do it all on her own. It feels like a ton of excuses. She lost the Invasion final because she was a bad partner towards her teammates, and was part of costing Nelson the win.
Final Score: 92/100
