Challenge Invasion Preview: Kailah Casillas
Real World Go Big Or Go Home might have been the worst season of the Real World that we have ever had. Often when a season ends people like to declare it as bad, but in actuality they have not had time to let the season cool off. Many seasons get better with later re-watches and challenge appearances allow for certain people to be fleshed out better. But in reality, RW GBOGH was just a terrible season in almost every aspect. The season attempted to cast for a different demographic while trying to hit their normal stereotypes, but it failed. The guys were all duds, Chris had a great storyline in theory though struggled as a character and on camera. Dione was ready for the camera, but was a terrible person, and Dean was just a normal dude who probably should’ve focused on his divorce instead of coming on the Real World. Sabrina was a singer and being a performer is cut from the mold of the original Real World, but she was just bland and not that likable. I would rather not talk about Jenna or CeeJai, however I was very glad that CeeJai smushed Jenna on the finale.That leaves us with one last original cast-mate, the one coming on this season of the Challenge, Kailah Casillas.
Kailah was the best cast member from RW GBOGH simply due to her fitting into the stereotype she was cast for too well. The show likes to add a girl or guy every season who will add drama, have sex and attach to multiple people, and intensify almost every situation because they just cannot do something quietly. We have seen it many times before: Tony and Sylvia(RW Skeletons), Ashley and Jenny(RW Explosion), 1/2 of Nia and Averey(RW Portland), Nany(RW Las Vegas). The perfect casting example is Nany of course. She was a normal young Latina girl coming onto a show not expecting to be the big party who ends up in a relationship with a psychotic man child. Nany came from a great season and went on to become a Challenge staple, hooking up with a good share of guys and girls, getting into some historic drunken fights, shedding a ton of tears, and best of all putting the hurricane and mess that she was on the show and in the house together and actually doing well in many of the challenges. Nany is currently retired, and the Bunim-Murray Challenge Universe is desperately looking for her replacement, many are claiming that Kailah could be it.
On Kailah’s resume is that she hooked up with two guys from her RW season already, and according to her has a “golden pussy”. She has the sexual promiscuity, is down to party and have fun, plus has a little Latin flair. A lot of girls have that, maybe not to the same magnification as Kailah, but we need to see more of her before she fills into that role. She wants to be famous(which I am not sure if Nany ever wanted that) but doing well in the Challenge also requires you to make friendships and bonds, and of course being an actual athlete. Nany came into the Challenge with bonds and support from one of the greatest Real World casts for the Challenge that we’ve ever seen — Dustin Zito was runner up on BOTS2, LeRoy is the greatest guy to never win a challenge finishing second on Battle of the Exes and third on Rivals I, Mike Ross made it to the final his lone season, Cooke is historic for only going on one season and dominating eliminations and challenges to finish second on Rivals II. She had the benefit of her first season being Battle of the Seasons 2 where most of the competitors were rookies and she was able to make those connections to ease her in for future challenges. Kailah does not have that, she is the first person from her Real World season to show up on a challenge, and I get the itch that there really won’t be a rush for her cast-mates to become regulars either. Nany was also an athlete growing up, competing in track and field in high school and had years of experience in dance. Kailah does not have that background, and in order to be that character for the challenge, you’re going to also need to compete with heart.
Now here’s my review of Kailah as a competitor:
Skills/Physical Strength: There are no indications that Kailah is spending a massive amount of hours in the gym. Scrolling through her Instagram you see the opposite, she is spending her time modelling and in night clubs working events or just having fun. The positive is that her body looks great, so maybe she’s putting in the gym hours at home for the model body. Though you can see she definitely focuses less on muscles and better aesthetic pieces of the body. I do not remember if she comes from an athlete background specifically, but I expect her to not just be the strongest on the physical side this season.
Mental Game/Politics: Keep clear of drama as much as you can Kailah, there are a ton of alpha girls who are ready to pop off this season: Marie, Amanda, Camila, LaToya, etc. You need to make sure to be a good rookie, stay quiet and make friends, keep yourself as far away from being a target as possible. Maybe hooking up with a power playing guy would also really be helpful.
Eliminations: In the scenario that Kailah ends up in an elimination, I think she will fight until the game is over. She does not stack up well with half the girls on this season of the challenge, but with her a lot of it is that we need to see more of her before we can properly analyze her ability to compete in eliminations. She is probably more ready to toss hands than to fight in an elimination.
Final Potential/Endurance: I do not believe that Kailah will finish higher than third on a Challenge final as an individual. She just does not seem like that strong of a competitor, I think she won’t give up, but she just is not a super athlete. With a good partner I can see her finishing in second, but she will not dominate physically. She needs to make friends and win with her mouth and body to make finals.
Final Score: 60/100
