The Challenge 40 Battle of the Eras Player Preview: Katie Cooley
When I started blogging about The Challenge, I never expected to be writing a Katie Cooley player preview in the year 2024. While we’ve seen Katie pop up on All-Stars in recent years, I never thought we’d see her accept a call for the commitment that is the MTV flagship show. Katie always intrigues me because she’s afraid of half the challenges, doesn’t train a ton for the show, doesn’t seem interested in the social game or political aspect, sometimes gets into crazy fights/arguments, and sometimes it feels like she’s miserable there. And yet she keeps coming back. It’s a pretty hysterical bit and also a testament to the authentic Reality TV character she is, where Katie has the guaranteed spot on the cast that others wish they had.
Katie is a verbal assassin who will angrily lash out with words. She is an icon of the game, and I believe Katie held the record for the most seasons ever appeared at one point. While Katie is not someone talked about as one of the show’s greatest players, she is undeniably part of this show’s history and deserves to represent her era.
Katie’s Cheat Sheet
Introducing Katie:
Originally from Keller, Texas, Katie debuted as a midseason replacement for Jisela on Road Rules: The Quest. The Quest has weirdly become a very notable season in recent years with standout All-Star performances from her castmates Steve Meinke, Adam Larson, and Jisela Delgado. Katie gained immediate notoriety. She moved to Los Angeles and was roommates with Trishelle; they both shot for Plaboy before making their Challenge debuts on The Gauntlet 1.
If you want to talk about true OG’s, Katie went into the second elimination in Challenge history, where she defeated Montana McGlynn in the first-ever woman v. woman elimination. Those are fun facts. Katie’s run ended after four episodes as she lost Rachel Balaband in an elimination.
The Inferno 1 is the season that Katie is most known for. She had her famous rivalry & fight with Veronica Portillo on this season. Long before Amanda Garcia, Katie was the original Pop Off Queen of The Challenge.
During The Inferno 1, Katie’s team actively wanted her out as they thought she would bring them down in the Final. It got to the point where the entire team was throwing the daily challenge to guarantee that Katie would go into elimination. With her teammates against her, Katie went into two eliminations and pulled off big wins. Her elimination against Julie Stoffer was incredible because it included Katie ripping cigs mid-elimination, cursing out Julie and the crowd, and pulling off the win in sudden death. It was pure chaos. She later beat David Burns in the last Inferno to guarantee herself a spot in the Final. Katie was then part of the winning team and earned the title of Challenge Champion. Katie gets to hold that title forever, and considering the odds she was against, she earned it.
Katie went on a bunch of seasons after, most of which were similar. She was never the first person out but wasn’t a big threat; she would curse someone out and then bow out at some point. On Batte of the Sexes 2, Katie had an unceremonious 9-episode run. Then she went on The Gauntlet 2, where Katie made her second Final and the last one of her career to date. I hate to say this, but the women’s side of The Gauntlet 2 Vet’s team was historically weak — where Katie & Aneesa were looked at on some team seasons as players you want to get rid of before the Final, whereas on this season, they were two of their better players. Their team got blown out in one of the weirder Challenge Finals ever — even if it were a traditional Final, they would’ve likely lost too.
After that, we saw Katie on Fresh Meat 1, where she was partners with Big Easy. They were allowed to coast for a decent amount of time as Wes and the Austin crew went into the first few eliminations. Katie & Easy got thrown into the first elimination, which did not involve Wes, as they lost to Kenny & Tina. It’s neat that Katie & Big Easy are still friends today. A couple of years later, Katie appeared on The Gauntlet 3 as part of the Veteran team. Kenny, Evan, and CT were running shit on their tea,m and they treated the women on their team, especially players like Katie and Coral, terribly as they were trying to get them off the team before the Final. Katie was involved in the last women’s elimination of the season, where she faced Paula in a slider puzzler, except the crowd was directing each player. Paula’s crowd was slightly better. At the very least, Katie got to relish the loss of her teammates at The Gauntlet 3, where she was able to curse out Evan.
Katie came back for The Duel 2, and an individual game like that probably wasn’t the best for Katie. She lasted four episodes before getting called out by Jenn Grijalva and losing their subsequent elimination. Right after that, Katie was on The Ruins as part of the The Champions team. On this season, she had the famous plunger tirade, where she cursed out Kenny & Evan for putting a plunger in her bed and then took her anger out on laughing and smirking rookie Sarah Rice, which culminated in them facing off in a pretty entertaining elimination that Sarah won 2–1. It’s rumored that they were going to be a Rivals 1 pair before Katie dropped out.
We would see Katie make her final MTV flagship appearance (till now) on Cutthroat. She got one of the most gnarly black eyes/bruised faces during a heights over water challenge this season that would go on to affect the rest of her Challenge career. After her breaking face, Katie won her first elimination since The Inferno by beating Ayiiia Elizaras in a unique funny fly swatter elimination. Katie also got into a massive fight with Ty Ruff this season. They both got eliminated in the same episode, where Katie got taken out by Camila and then made fun of Ty on her way out, as he had dramatically “passed out” during his loss.
Then, many years went by, literally a decade, and the assumption was that Katie would never be back. All-Stars came around, and she was a shoo-in for Season 1. Katie was quietly a very significant figure on All-Stars 1. She and Trishelle got into a late-night fight where Katie really carved up her former friend. Later in the season, Mark Long used a Lifesaver on Katie, which led to Arissa getting thrown into elimination, where she had her famous blow-up and quit. Then, we saw Katie compete with Laterrian against Mark & Kendal in an elimination. In a best of three, Katie took a round from Kendal, and the elimination was super close and tough before Katie ultimately lost.
We would see Katie again on All-Stars 2. Her run on this season didn’t last long. By Episode 4, Katie threw herself into elimination as she refused to participate in a heights/trivia challenge. Katie had to face Ayanna in elimination, where she was overmatched.
Two years later, here we are now. Katie is back for Season 40.
Skills and Physical Strength:
As The Challenge has evolved and become more of a sport, the game has moved farther and farther away from Katie’s strengths. Katie is not an amazing athlete, and she’s not someone who spends a lot of time at the gym. She is a regular 5'2 mom who works a regular job and looks phenomenal, all things considered.
There is no part of the game physically where Katie is going to overpower anyone on this cast. Ever since her fall on Cutthroat, she’s not willing to do a ton of heights challenges either. I will note that Katie has decent grip strength for her size.
SSMP (Social, Strategic, Mental, and Political) Game:
Katie has a ton of OG friends entering the house, including Derrick and Mark. That said, Katie does have a proclivity towards garnering enemies as if she doesn’t like someone, she’s more than willing to give them a tongue lashing. Katie’s physical performance is what hurts her social & political game because it is tough to align with someone when you don’t know if they’re going to give 100% in the daily challenges and is willing to basically throw themselves into elimination.
When it comes to the mental side of the game, I don’t believe Katie has ever been a puzzle expert. She seems like a smart woman, though, as she works as a Senior Finance Manager and has her own interior design business.
Eliminations & Winning Potential:
Ever since Inferno, Katie has gone 1–7 in eliminations. In any headbanger, Katie gets outsized, games of endurance aren’t her bag either…Really what Katie needs is a good old fashioned carnival game.
Can Katie win? No. Still, I’m glad to see her.
