Challenge Invasion Preview: Jenna Compono
This girl is both a fan favorite and hated by fans of the older era. In general, Jenna is a beloved fan favorite who is probably the favorite competitor of the new female competitors in recent years. Mostly from males due to her butt. Jenna has impressively made it to the final in all 3 seasons she has been on, trying to make it a 4th this year and hopefully her first win. In Jenna’s first final she dqed’ along with her cheating boyfriend and lay-up Jay. On the second final Jenna led her whiny cousin Brianna to a final where they finished in third, but actually finished in first during the most physically intensive portion. They got torched last season by Sarah and Bananas, but Jenna was able to hold the team together and get them a second place finish. Does she have it in her to finish in first?
The ire amongst Jenna haters is that despite always making it to the final and having a perfect 3–0 elimination record, she is not elite because she has not faced any real female threats. I am someone who often likes to take shots at the old era of the Challenge, mostly because in the old era on big teams the best people could make it to a final very easily. In the new system, it’s much more difficult, politics, challenges, and eliminations mean so much more. The paired or individual system has created it that power is so strong, but not having power makes you so weak. On top of that, strong team when they don’t have power is a major weakness and makes them a large target for opponents. Battle of the Exes had a great female bracket of Sarah, Nany, Nia, Theresa, and Averey. Jenna made it to the final that season as her team was seen as the lay-up in the final, and Zach hooking up with Jenna also helped. For Bloodlines there was really only Cara Maria, Nany, Camila and I guess KellyAnne who could have been major threats to her. Jenna dominated the pit by beating Christina(weak), Larissa(weak), and lucking out against KellyAnne in a game that was all about who is better at not getting dizzy. Rivals 3 had a little bit better of a group with Sarah, Nany, Ashley, Camila, and KellyAnne, but she was ultimately helped the most by the most dominant team Bananas and Sarah carrying them to the final with Jenna’s partner being cousin Vince. It’s a real toss up of whether or not Jenna is elite, but she has won daily challenges and eliminations, and whatever way you cut it, making a final is just tough.
Now here’s my review of Jenna as a competitor:
Skills/Physical Strength: Plainly, Jenna sucked on her first challenge. She was a decent swimmer, decent at the weird challenges, a bad motor, and was not very good at endurance(walked too much too early in the final). Her time on the Challenge and the Real World gave her more exposure for her modelling career. This had led her to put more time into working out for both her body and booty, but also the Challenges. On Jenna’s second appearance she was much improved when it came down to swimming, in terms of strength, and her endurance greatly improved as she looked fitter. She looked great on Rivals 3, the endurance challenges became easy for her, she did well when on heights and balance, and the best sign of a competitor in the Challenge is that she was spending time in the gym. Girls on the Challenge are notorious for just laying around by the pool or napping, the girls that work out (Emily, Paula, Ev, Cara Maria) are always the ones doing better in the Challenge. Jenna’s size has made her a strong competitor, the extra 6 inches of height gives her so much more mass over the smaller females and allows her to dominate. Many daily challenges also help taller and lengthier people, and Jenna fits that well. Her obvious weakness is eating Challenges. It was the reason her and Jay disqualified during the Exes 2 final, and it put her and Brianna out of the competition for first or second during the Bloodlines final.
Mental Game/Politics: Jenna does not really play politics, but she does a great job of not making waves. She always seems to make friends with all of the important players, nobody sees her as a threat mentally, but they usually wouldn’t want to face her in an elimination or go after her. This season she is the biggest vet out of all of the underdog females, none of the other female underdogs have more than 1 season under their belts or a final, while Jenna has 3 seasons and 3 final appearances. It’s crazy to think this girl is so ahead the rest of her fellow competitors, she is so young and feels innocent, but she really just know what to do more than many of her fellow challengers. One of the fun factors of this season is Jenna’s ex Zach is on this season and the way they interact will be fun. He cheated on her and broke up with her, so it would be really fun to watch Jenna go after him and align the house against his sexist ass. I would also enjoy watching Jenna hook up with a nice guy, not a loser like Jay, or a jerk like Zach, just a nice guy.
Eliminations: Jenna currently holds a perfect 3–0 record in eliminations, and that is a fun subplot to watch. I hope to see her maintain it, but I think it would also be just as fun to watch her go up against Laurel, Cara Maria, Ashley Kelsey, or Nicole. She did well under pressure in all of her eliminations, and the common thread between all of them is that she begins a bit poorly but quickly figures out what to do and sets off running. Jenna is much smarter than anyone gives her attention for, and she does well in the Challenges because she stays under the radar. It will be interesting to see if she has a target on her back this season.
Final Potential/Endurance: We have seen it in the last two seasons, Jenna can definitely finish a final. Last year on the endurance challenge she was in first before her and Vince took the wrong mattress, which was funny because the mattress was already a dumb decision. Her and Vince had no chance against Johnny and Sarah in the final, but Jenna did well and did not complain except during the food challenges. Food will be what keeps her from winning a final, but everything else should be cake for Jenna at this point.
Final Score: 91/100
