Challenge Double Agents Player Preview: Aneesa Ferreira
Aneesa’s appearance on Total Madness was a breath of fresh air early into the season. Her reaction faces and quotes regarding some of the more modern cast members were hilarious and authentic. Not only that, but Aneesa, from a competitive standpoint, was pretty solid all season, including an impressive win in the freezing water/puzzle challenge. She beat Jenna in elimination and put up a great fight against a young Bayleigh, coming up just a bit short of the final. I’m not sure if I’m excited to see Aneesa on Double Agents, but I do know I loved her on Total Madness and voted for her for Female Personality of the Year for the Challenge Mania Awards.
If you want the Quick Scoop, watch the Video Breakdown instead, or read and watch, there are little gems in each. As a whole, I’d appreciate if you click through the link and Subscribe to my new YouTube Channel. I plan to put up a ton of Reality TV content.
Introducing Aneesa: Her first season was Season 6, Battle of the Sexes. Rookie Liv Jawando was only three years old when Aneesa debuted on the Challenge. Aneesa is now tied with Cara Maria for most appearances on the Challenge among females with 14 seasons. If you include spinoffs, Aneesa has the most appearances at 16. Last season, she tied Laurel and Camila for second-most female elimination wins with 9. Sadly, she was also the first female with 10 elimination losses and the second competitor to achieve the feat (Bananas the first). Should Aneesa see another elimination, she will have seen 20 career eliminations, the most of any female. Another accolade she holds is being one of only two females to win three eliminations in two different seasons (Duel 1 and Duel 2), the other being Kam (Vendettas and Final Reckoning).
In her 13 previous appearances, Aneesa had loads of ups and downs. On the one hand, she was, at one point, the female elimination win record-holder. On the other, she’s gotten treated like deadweight by men and women on the show, and as a whole, a bit disrespected. At the same time, Aneesa’s also never committed herself to winning this show. Winning is something she would like to do, yet, she hasn’t been willing to make the plays or train in such a way that winning would be a possibility. She’s only made it to two finals, one being a team season, and the other the Duel 2, where she came in last by over an hour. I don’t think Aneesa can win a season at this point, and I haven’t thought so since I wrote my first player preview of her on Dirty 30. Yet, I found myself cheering for her at times on Total Madness.
I think Aneesa holds a special place in this franchise, where once you beat Aneesa, you become recognized as a solid player. She’s the measuring stick for the franchise, and it was a big win for Cara, Kailah, and Bayleigh. Even Laurel was shocked by how strong Aneesa was during their elimination back on Free Agents.
Player Vitals
Aneesa Ferreira: 38 Years Old, 5'6, 13 Seasons, 2x Finalist, 9–10 Elimination Record, Highest Finish: 3rd Place The Duel 2/Losing Team of Gauntlet 2
Skills and Physical Strength: Her career record in daily challenges is near the bottom all-time. Daily challenges are not her forte. She isn’t the fastest player, or great with heights, or some fantastic swimmer. Aneesa’s strength is her size and physicality in headbangers. Her most comfortable place is a wrestling match. She will surprise you with some endurance competitions, like the opening challenge of Dirty 30, the final five daily challenge of Bloodlines, and her elimination against Jenna last season. At the same time, Aneesa has also dragged in the longer-distance endurance competitions. Aneesa has 3–5 mile endurance, not 7–12 mile endurance.
Aneesa generally avoids last place in most challenges, which is good for purges, though I would rate her as more susceptible to them among this current cast.
SSMP (Social, Strategic, Mental, and Political) Game: For years, Aneesa’s game has struggled since she tries to be friends with everyone and always gets caught in the middle, where these friends have to throw her into elimination in favor of those they have alliances with. This season, Aneesa has a few friends she can rely on. She and Tori have become incredibly close and even will be hosting the Double Agents podcast together. Theresa is back this season, and they aligned on Free Agents half a decade ago. Along with that, she has a brother-sister relationship with Cory and Nelson, two players who fought/vouched for Aneesa late last season when nobody else was. If Aneesa can stick to this group, be friends with everyone, and make intelligent plays, she can make the final. The issue is, Aneesa is famously not a political/strategic player. She doesn’t want to snake anyone.
When it comes to puzzles, Aneesa likes tangrams and has shown an ability to solve them (though she’s blanked on them completely before as well). I’d say she’s a middle-tier to slightly below average mental player.
Eliminations & Winning Potential: Before beating Jenna on Total Madness, Aneesa had been in a bit of a rut with a 4 elimination loss streak. One of the things that hurts Aneesa’s career elimination record is she generally only goes into them later in the season and thus, faces strong players. There a lot of bad players Aneesa could beat, especially if it’s a physical game. That’s what makes her battles with Cara and Laurel impressive because she pushed those elite competitors to be better, even if Aneesa herself wasn’t on their level. In theory, she can be competitive with anyone and could lose to anyone as well. It’s why she is a career 9–10.
Can Aneesa win? I don’t think so. It’s been over a decade since she’s seen a final, and they’ve gotten harder. Could she make the final? It would be difficult as this cast is even better than the previous one. However, if she were to make it, it would be a massive accomplishment and is something I’m pulling for.
Aneesa’s Overall Rating: 77/100 (+2 from Total Madness)
Total Madness Rating: 75/100
Dirty 30 Rating: 75/100
