The Challenge 40 Battle of the Eras Player Preview: Kaycee Clark
From a purely statistical standpoint, Kaycee Clark is one of the best players in Challenge history. She’s competed in five seasons, gone to four Finals, won a Championship, holds a 7–2 elimination record, won four eliminations in a single season, won the most dailies by a woman on both Double Agents & SLA, and she’s either coasted through the game socially or controlled it politically. From every angle of the game, Kaycee ranks among the top all-time.
And yet, there’s something undeniably missing there with Kaycee. Based on the resume alone, Kaycee should probably rank 3rd All-Time among competitors. Yet, would I rank her 3rd or even 4th or 5th? No. My gut says no. As good of a competitor as Kaycee has been, she still hasn’t had a moment where she’s dominated a Final or looked to be on another planet competitively. Also, entertainment isn’t everything, but it goes a long way in keeping you inspired. Kaycee’s wallpaper gameplay leads to good results; however, when we talk about the best, there isn’t much fun stuff to discuss with her. Regardless, she’s on 40, and if she can pull off the win against this stacked cast, we need to take inventory of where she ranks All-Time because it will be closer to #1 than it would be #5.
Kaycee’s Cheat Sheet
Introducing Kaycee:
Originally a semi-pro women’s football player out of San Diego, Kaycee made her Reality TV debut on Big Brother 20. This season, Kaycee played a masterful social game both within her alliance and towards her foes. All-in-all had an objectively unimpeachably phenomenal overall performance on Big Brother 20. She was part of the house major alliance that dominated the game, never had a big target on her, had a Final Two Deal with Tyler Crispen, went on a dominant comp run in the end-game, and then won the jury vote. Some people were upset that Tyler didn’t win because he played such a flashy game and was more of a puppet master. However, Kaycee also played a perfect game that deserved to win just as much, and importantly, she didn’t anger anyone on the jury, which is a crucial part of the game.
We’d later see Kaycee debut on Total Madness, where the expectations were high for her as a former football player and Big Brother winner. Kaycee settled into the game with ease; all the women were into her, and she made friends throughout the house. The only reason she went into elimination was to earn a Skull. She beat Kailah in elimination and then coasted to the Final, where she’d come in 2nd Place, although she wasn’t close to Jenny and didn’t have anyone running behind her by that point.
After Total Madness, Kaycee returned for Double Agents, where she and her Big Brother alliance teamed up with Kam & Leroy to run the game. Once again, Kaycee would’ve never seen elimination this season if she didn’t have to earn a Skull, which she did by beating Theresa (a great competitor) with ease in a reverse tug-of-war type elimination. On Double Agents, Kaycee & Leroy won four daily challenges, twice as many as any other pair/player, and it was very impressive for Kaycee, considering Leroy had only 4 daily wins across his many partner seasons in his entire career prior to the season. However, Kaycee ended up running the Final with Fessy, where she got injured while running on a mountain. It was a devastating injury that set Kaycee back for future seasons and cost them & Fessy Double Agents. Looking back, had she not gotten injured, they probably would’ve finished 2nd or 3rd.
We’d see Kaycee back for Spies, Lies & Allies, where finally, she & Nany were an official couple. This season, Kaycee was partners with Emanuel throughout the whole pair phase, where they were consistently in the Top 3 during dailies, won one together, and then when the game moved to teams, Kaycee’s team won the most dailies, in large part because of her. Kaycee had a couple of spectacular daily challenge performances this season, including a height-over-water challenge where she was the only woman to accomplish the game (most men couldn’t either) and a Hall Brawl-esque daily challenge where she laid out Tori twice. Kaycee got to the SLA Final without seeing elimination. Her performance in the Final was underwhelming. She was on the team that lost on Day 1, and because of that, Kaycee got put into a backpack elimination with Nany. While Kaycee had to eliminate her girlfriend, it was the best thing for them because the Day 1 results got completely erased, and Kaycee got to pick CT as her partner for the last portion. In the end, Kaycee took home the win. It wasn’t the cleanest win or a tremendous Final performance, but Kaycee was deserving of the title of Challenge Champion. She had been the best player up until that point.
After this, we’d get Kaycee on Ride or Dies with her brother Kenny. He was not anywhere near Kaycee competitively, yet they managed to avoid elimination in the pair portion because of her social connections. When the game went solo, Kenny lost to Horacio in elimination, then brought Kaycee down into the Redemption eliminations with him, where they lost to two better teams. To this day, the only thing that’s been able to get Kaycee Clark out before a Final is her brother.
Following Ride or Dies, Kaycee went on the World Championships . She initially got paired with Survivor winner and Challenge USA contestant Ben Driebergen. Ben’s chaotic gameplay put a target on her, forcing them into elimination against Wes & Zara, where they pulled off the win. Later, Ben had to leave the game due to illness, and since Amber B. was out due to pregnancy, they paired up Kaycee and Australia’s Troy Cullen. As a new pairing and with Kaycee still getting shrapnel from her Ben pairing, they got thrown into elimination after elimination. They defeated Jodi & Benja, Darrell & Kiki, and Yes & Emily to make it to the Final. Troy was spectacular in the Final. Unfortunately, Kaycee’s body broke down by the end, and she couldn’t keep up with Jordan & Kaz.
That was the last time we saw Kaycee as a full-time competitor, although we did see her as a Legend/Mercenary on Season 39, where she was generous towards Big T in a Pole Wrestle. For Season 40, it will be fascinating to see how Kaycee operates in a season where she doesn’t completely intimidate 80% of the female cast. While people still fear her, she’s not the house’s #1 or 2 top dog.
Skills and Physical Strength:
For starters, Kaycee is crazy fast on her feet. Whether it’s lateral movement or a dead sprint, Kaycee is one of the fastest women in Challenge history. As a former wide receiver, her hand-eye coordination and grip strength are fantastic as well. Not only is Kaycee fast and strong, but she also knows how to tackle and take a hit, which gives her an edge in most headbanger-type comps. She prefers headbanger-type stuff. Although I will note that Kaycee has a really sleek/slender frame where, even with all her muscle, she doesn’t weigh a ton, I could see certain players giving her trouble in weight-based comps.
Kaycee’s sense of balance is one of her biggest strengths. She kicks ass in heights challenges and can lift her own body weight with ease. Additionally, Kaycee has proven to be a dominant player in eating challenges.
The glaring red flag for Kaycee is cardio. While Kaycee has better cardio than the average player, she’s proven unable to keep up with the elite runners of this cast. I hope it’s something she’s been working or she’ll be considered a non-serious threat to win. A smaller red flag for Kaycee is that she’s a slightly below-average swimmer.
SSMP (Social, Strategic, Mental, and Political) Game:
I genuinely believe Kaycee is one of the best social game players in Reality TV history, not just The Challenge. Before the World Championships, where she got saddled with captain paranoia (Ben), Kaycee had never truly been targeted once in four seasons of playing on The Challenge. And as we know, she won Big Brother on the backbone of her social game. Kaycee is a beloved human in The Challenge who is full of charisma and charm, except for when the camera is on her, to which she defaults to either being wallpaper, explaining the rules to the daily challenge, or randomly yelling, “Let’s Go!”
Going into this game, Kaycee has major allies in Tori, Josh, Devin, and Aneesa (vacation alliance) — she is missing Fessy and Nany this time around, though.
In terms of strategy, Kaycee has never been one to take big risks. However, in most games, she’s always been one of the Top 3 contenders on paper, so she was always the player people should gun for, and they didn’t. If Kaycee wants to win this time, she must take big shots because we know she isn’t outrunning Jenny or Emily in a Final.
When it comes to puzzles, Kaycee is hit or miss. I’d say she’s slightly below average, yet Kaycee has won mental comps both on The Challenge and Big Brother. She is quite good at rogue memorization.
Eliminations & Winning Potential:
Kaycee holds a 7–2 elimination record, and both losses came while competing alongside her brother. She has won physical eliminations, headbangers, games of endurance, and carnival games. Kaycee stays calm under pressure and is someone who can deal with adversity. On The World Championships, Kaycee lost her initial Hall Brawl round to the Australian Olympian Emily Seebohm. Emily had a decent amount of size on Kaycee and was a natural athlete. In their sudden death round, we saw Kaycee adapt by using her football experience and prowess to get low on Emily, where she was able to push through for the win.
Not to oversimplify things, but we know Kaycee is quick on her feeta and has good hands, so in most eliminations, she has an edge, whether players are wrestling for an object or scurrying for a bell.
Can Kaycee win? Kaycee is in a similar boat to Mark Long or Cory Wharton on the men’s side, where their chances of making the Final seem very high with the style of games they typically play. Except they’re also highly likely to get outpaced in the Final by other top players. Unless Kaycee has been running miles on miles or practicing her puzzles a ton in the offseason, I don’t see her winning the Final unless her opponents fuck up or she plays a cutthroat strategic game. Kaycee is inherently a Top 7 contender to win based on the likelihood she will make the final — I just wouldn’t put her in the favorite status.
Kaycee’s Overall Rating: 92/100
Previous Ratings I’ve Given Kaycee:
Spies, Lies & Allies: 91/100
Double Agents: 86/100
Total Madness: 87/100
