Challenge Total Madness Player Preview: Bayleigh Dayton
I put in a crazy amount of effort researching to find out whether or not Bayleigh Dayton was supposed to run Track and Field at Baylor University. While investigating, I read many different articles and websites linking her accomplishments, and all I must note is: Bayleigh Dayton is an impressive human being. Regardless of whether she is “good” on reality television, her life is already quite fantastic.
While in college, Bayleigh was a 2x recipient for a distinguished minority scholarship at Baylor University. At Baylor, she was a letter winner in the Athletic Department for her work she completed as a student. She was the first African Miss Missouri USA and won Miss Congeniality at the national level. Some fans have a negative perspective of Bayleigh because of the way her final week in the Big Brother house went down. She had a very public blow-up/breakdown where she accidentally her tongue while arguing with another cast member, leading to her bleeding out the mouth while yelling at a person, which is not a great look. Then again, if CT did that in his prime, we’d all champion it. They also don’t harbor great feelings towards her husband, Swaggy C. However, if you look at her accomplishments off the show, she is a top tier human being. The Big Brother house is not the healthiest environment and is incredibly toxic for people of color historically. I’m not saying to take her entire Big Brother run with a grain of salt; I just believe her experience on the Challenge will likely be vastly different.
Introducing Bayleigh: She made her reality television debut on Big Brother 20 in 2018. In the house, she became friends quickly with Swaggy C, then started a showmance, and on finale night, the two became engaged. They eloped at some point in 2019. Together, they are an inseparable pair (well, I guess separable by eliminations) who will enter a Challenge house as a married couple. Brad and Tori were on multiple seasons before they were married, and Danny/Melinda each had an appearance or two on their belts before they were officially married on the show. Will people view them as a pair they have to put into elimination automatically? Or will people see them as an asset as if you align with one, you get the other? Being a co-ed pair is more beneficial than same-sex pairs because you can’t be put against one another in elimination, at least.
On Big Brother, Bayleigh came in 11th place out of 16 people and was the first member of the jury. She won a Head of Household competition in a somewhat random game and had no other significant victories. Bayleigh was a member of an alliance known as “The Hive.” Her alliance was the laughing stock of Big Brother as they made bad decision after bad decision. It was almost like they were trying to one-up one another. Bayleigh and Swaggy will benefit from the fact the Challenge is less secretive. Big Brother is a game of voting, deceiving, and trying not to be a big threat. On the Challenge, CT is the biggest threat, and people are terrified to go against him. You can just vote someone out on Big Brother, but on the Challenge, if you put them in elimination and they win, that person can come right back and go for you. I am excited to see what they can do in a more athletic game.
Player Vitals
Bayleigh Dayton: 26 Years Old, 5'9, Rookie, Yoga Enthusiast
Skills and Physical Strength: I concluded that Bayleigh did not run track in college, but she did in high school. She is incredibly fit as she was a yoga enthusiast before Big Brother and has since transitioned into becoming a yoga teacher. At 5'9 with an athletic frame and likely tons of cardio, Bayleigh has the potential to be a stellar competitor. When I look at her body, I think of someone like Theresa Gonzalez. However, nothing from Big Brother gives us a good glimpse of what she will do physically on the Challenge.
Knowing she does do yoga is a good indication of her sense of balance and flexibility. The Challenge has many heights challenge where balance matters, especially in purge challenges where clumsy people have seen their games end in an instant. The fact she ran track also makes me optimistic as having a good running stride is vital in eliminations and for simply going long distances.
SSMP (Social, Strategic, Mental, and Political) Game: I am going to mention once again the fact she is married. Being married means, she loses the flirting/polidicking aspect of the Challenge. Swaggy and Bayleigh must spend their daytime hanging out with other people. They can fall asleep in each others arms, but if they close themselves off like Wes/Johanna and Danny/Melinda did on Fresh Meat 1, then they’ll get sent into multiple eliminations.
And while they are a couple, Swaggy’s best friend and their BB alliance member Fessy is also on this season. In terms of the game, they are a trio. As I mentioned in Swaggy’s preview, their goal should to be leach onto a more prominent power player and make themselves useful numbers instead of Big Brother outsiders
Her mental game should be decent. She was a good student in college and got awarded scholarships. Then again, Tori Deal lost a puzzle to Rogan last season, so we don’t know when it comes to puzzles sometimes.
Eliminations & Winning Potential: The girls this season are tall. There was a point in time were Nany, Jenna, and Sarah were the biggest girls on their season, and now I look at this whole cast, and half the girls are bigger than current Nany. At 5'9, Bayleigh looks like an athlete, has the size, and is a hard-worked based on all the accomplishments she achieved.
If she is Miss Congeniality, then she has the potential to go far.
If Swaggy gets eliminated early, I could see Bayleigh going very far in the same way Tori Deal did on Dirty 30. As long as they are together, they should have a massive target as Big Brother rookies. The one saving grace for them is the fact everyone has to see an elimination this season. Players throwing themselves into elimination is a real possibility, and we could avoid seeing one player/team getting thrown in multiple times like Theo last season.
Can Bayleigh win? I could see her finishing as high as second place among females. The female cast of this season is pretty stacked, and you don’t know what a final is like until you are there. Also, I do worry if Bayleigh won’t eat some of the gross things they make players eat on the Challenge as she is a Vegan. Could I see her making the final? Yes. I believe Bayleigh has legitimate potential to succeed on this show. As I write this, I feel as though she’ll get eliminated episode one. I did, at one point, think Anthony Bartolotte was going to be the next face of the Challenge and rated him higher than/just as high as Hunter and Nelson.
