The Challenge 40 Battle of the Eras Player Preview: Leroy Garrett
It’s hard to tell the history of The Challenge without Leroy. Literally, he’s a Top 5 All-Time in appearances among male competitors. From Day 1 as a Rookie, Leroy’s always been an impact player. He’s gone to multiple Finals, has won loads of eliminations, taken down multiple Champions, and he found love on this show as he’s engaged to Killa Kam. Leroy came onto this season less than two weeks after the birth of their second child! He is a pretty universally beloved character in The Challenge world and one of the best never to win.
Leroy made history on Double Agents as the first player to go to 5 Finals without ever winning, and now he extended the record to 6 Finals with All-Stars. It’s not a great record to have. Leroy has been a great competitor and such a big part of this show’s history for over a decade — he deserves to be on 40, and winning it would be a hell of a way to break his record.
Leroy’s Cheat Sheet:
Introducing Leroy:
Originally from a rough upbringing as a child in Michigan, Leroy Garrett worked as a garbage man in Texas before making his Reality TV debut on The Real World: Back to Las Vegas. Leroy stood on business this entire season. He was a cool, friendly guy, yet he was also the main person in the house who wouldn’t put up with Adam Royer’s constant bullshit. We saw Leroy form a bond/friendship with the nerdy Mike Ross and then have a showmance with his roommate Naomi.
We would then see Leroy make his Challenge debut on Rivals 1 with Adam Royer as his partner. They came out the gate strong by winning the first daily challenge of the season. Adam tried to come in stronger but went out weak after he got kicked off for mostly whiffing on a punch at Ty Ruff. They DQ’d Adam, and the assumption was Leroy would have the same fate, except production decided to bring in Mike Ross. So Leroy got to compete on a Rivals season with a friend. While Mike was definitely not a physical threat, he was a much better partner. Leroy and Mike communicated well, Mike weirdly blended into the house socially by being such a nice guy, and Mike scared people based on the idea that the elimination could come down to a puzzle.
They did not finish last in any daily challenge, and then Leroy solo won the final daily challenge to shock the house and guarantee themselves a spot in the Final. Leroy and Mike then completed 95% of what was the hardest Final in Challenge history. When Mike waved the white flag, TJ didn’t even seem upset, more concerned for their health than anything. Leroy would return for Exes 1, where he was partners with Naomi. She was not very good, and they finished last in two of the first three dailies — sending them directly into elimination. Leroy defeated Wes three times in Pole Wrestle to earn their team a victory and give him his first elimination win. Unfortunately, they lost to Emily & Ty the following week as Naomi couldn’t hold up.
Weirdly, this led to Leroy getting partnered with Ty for Rivals 2. They weren’t a particularly amazing pair as they didn’t compliment each other. All they brought to the table was raw strength. However, we saw him have his first legit Challenge showmance this season as he hooked up with Theresa. Hilariously, that showmance and his long-time RW friend Nany accidentally sent him into elimination via burn votes. Leroy & Ty got sent into two eliminations on Rivals 2 — they should have lost the first one against Zach & Trey had Zach not cheated for basically no reason. They then got beat by Jordan & Marlon in one of the best Hall Brawl eliminations in Challenge history, where they went to a sudden death round, and Ty & Leroy were inches away from victory.
After Rivals 2, Leroy returned for Free Agents. Leroy went with the strategy of throwing daily challenges because he figured he couldn’t get voted into elimination if he went into the draw every time. The plan worked for most of the season until the end game. Leroy pulled a Kill Card and destroyed Cohutta in Balls In at Final Six but then got taken out by CT in Wrecking Wall at Final Five. On this season, Leroy had an unaired bathroom hookup with Nia, which resulted in them getting paired on Exes 2.
Throughout Exes 2, Leroy & Nia were an up-and-down pair. In any challenge involving heights or water, they were susceptible to a DQ, although they did win a daily challenge where they had to jump between semi-trucks. After a last-place performance early in the season, Wes decided to pit Leroy against his best friend Bananas in elimination — here, Leroy & Nia not only beat Bananas & Nany, but Leroy had one of the most jaw-dropping elimination performances ever. Leroy got thrown in again a couple of weeks later, where he & Nia defeated the strong duo of Johnny Reilly & Avery. Now, one of the more shocking things happened on Exes 2, where after he & Nia’s lone daily challenge win, Wes somehow manipulated Leroy into throwing Zach into elimination, where if Zach got eliminated…Leroy could then take over his spot in Wes’ alliance.
Considering Leroy could’ve thrown Wes in to face Jordan & Sarah, the move was critically dumb. While Zach lost the elimination, we would see Leroy’s game altered as Bananas & Nany re-entered the game via Redemption. We’d see Leroy & Nia get thrown into a final five elimination against Wes & Theresa, where they overpowered them in a Hall Brawl. After this, Leroy had one of the best daily challenge performances of his career as he completed a terrifying comp that included having to scale down 50 feet of rope down the side of a skyscraper at night. He was the only player to accomplish the feat, except Leroy couldn’t celebrate because Nia’s performance put them in last place and the last elimination of the season. Nia proceeded to DQ following her outburst after Sarah decided to throw Bananas & Nany into elimination to face them. Once again, it looked like Leroy would be out, but MTV brought Theresa back. This was a big win as Theresa was a much better competitor than Nia. They defeated Bananas & Nany in a Pole Wrestle to go to the Final. It marked Leroy’s 4th elimination win of the season — which made him only the third man in Challenge history at that point to win 4 in a single season. Not only did that, he did it against Bananas (twice), coming off a win on Free Agents, against Wes, coming off a win on Rivals 2, and against Reilly, coming off a 2nd Place Finish on Free Agents.
In the Final, Leroy & Theresa finished 2nd behind Jordan & Sarah. They started slow in the opening water portion and never caught up. For many years, Exes 2 would mark the best season of Leroy’s career. He’d return for Bloodlines and Rivals 3. His cousin Candace on Bloodlines did not seem like a Grade-A competitor, and the highlight of her career was completing a heights daily challenge in Episode 3, yet she broke her toe in the process, DQing the both of them. On Rivals 3, Leroy walked in with a back injury, leading to both his and Averey’s DQ after the first daily challenge of the season.
We wouldn’t see Leroy on Invasion, and he’d have to wait till Dirty 30 to return. Dirty 30 was a notable season for Leroy, but not for a great reason. We saw him endure and show so much restraint during Camila’s racist tirade. To this day, I cannot fathom how patient Leroy was and the fact that MTV didn’t DQ Camila on the spot. Leroy went decently far into this game, except he got killed by a burn vore for a second time, as Britni Thornton threw a vote at him errantly, then Veronica and later Tony capitalized on the misstep. We’d see Leroy get upset by Hunter in a Hall Brawl elimination, then lose in Redemption.
Following Dirty 30, Tony went on Vendettas. He did not win a single daily challenge this season and only saw elimination at the end when Tony & Cara threw him in rather than Kyle. Leroy was irate that these long-time friends betrayed him over a rookie — he then took out his frustration by beating Brad in the last elimination to get to the Final. In the actual Final, Leroy & Tony got sidetracked sabotaging one another (more Tony’s fault), and in the process, they both got purged before Part 2. Most notably, in Vendettas, we saw the beginning of Leroy’s relationship with Kam Williams.
Leroy didn’t get the call for Final Reckoning but was back for War of the Worlds. It was an uneventful showing for him. He had a wallpaper partner in Shaleen Sutherland and they lost in a boring elimination to Bear & Da’Vonne. The only storyline for Leroy this season was that Kam began a showmance with Theo Campbell.
We saw signs of life from Leroy again on War of the Worlds 2. This season, Leroy became a true swing vote once Bananas exited the game. Leroy chose to align with Kam, and thus Cara & Paulie, giving them the numbers they needed to control the game. In Leroy’s mind, his goal was to get to the Final without him or Kam seeing elimination, and he thought that as they had the stronger team all season, they would have an excellent shot to win the Final. To Leroy’s credit — he and Kam got to the Final without seeing elimination. Unfortunately, the WOTW 2 Final was formatted awfully, and Team USA was punished for winning throughout the entire season and having more players in the Final. Even with all the bullshit, Leroy & Kam were probably the standout players for their team on Day 1 of the Final as they continually pushed through, which made the fact that they both got purged before the last part of the Final feel very painful.
Leroy & Kam’s relationship became serious after WOTW 2. They took Total Madness off and returned for Double Agents with total power couple status. With no Bananas and no Cara, it was a golden opportunity for them to dominate the game. Going into this season, Leroy said from Day 1 that he would be retiring after Double Agents no matter what — so you knew he’d be going all out. Kam & Leroy formed a bond with Kaycee and the Big Brother alliance, where they all controlled the game politically. With Kaycee as his partner, Leroy set a personal record by winning four daily challenges in a single season — the same amount he had won in all his other paired seasons combined. The biggest thing with Leroy is we saw demonstrative improvement compared to the player he had been for a decade. Finally, we saw him improve his swimming skills and solve some puzzles. Additionally, Leroy destroyed Jay Starrett in an elimination to earn his Gold Skull, but he never saw elimination again.
A couple of things in the game went wrong near the end for the final two eliminations that hurt Leroy’s game — most notably, Fessy took Kaycee as his partner after the final elimination. In response, Leroy chose to run the Final with Nany, which led to CT getting Amber. In the Final, Leroy & Nany were outmatched both puzzle-wise and cardio-wise. While they never gassed out in the Final — they couldn’t keep pace with CT & Amber at all, and in the end, Cory & Kam passed them up for 2nd right at the end. Also, if we’re being honest, had Kaycee’s leg not snapped in half, there would’ve been a decent chance that Leroy & Nany would’ve gotten purged before Day 2. All in all, Leroy finished 3rd, and it was underwhelming, considering it was far and away the best season of his career prior to that Final.
We saw Leroy break his retirement by appearing on All-Stars 4 alongside Kam. It was a shock to see Kam as she was not far removed from giving birth to their first child. With an extremely weak male cast on All-Stars, I thought Leroy was in a prime position to win and dominate the season. He didn’t. Leroy didn’t do so hot in the daily challenges and he was openly hard on himself about his performances. He did defeat his friend Brandon Nelson in elimination to earn a Star and was able to maintain it until the Final. Unfortunately, Kam was not able to join him in the Final this season. In the Final, Leroy was the second player to get purged after losing in a carnival game comp where he couldn’t get a rhythm. In a blink, his season ended. Once again, it was a disappointing outcome.
Leroy is back for 40, and I don’t know what to expect as he will come in solo for the first time in a while.
Skills and Physical Strength:
I feel like we’ve seen a few different versions of Leroy over the years. In his initial run, Leroy’s raw athleticism and physical strength carried him through the game because people wouldn’t want to face him in a physical elimination. Following his back injury, Leroy was never quite the same athlete, so he fell into this mid-tier of players. On Double Agents, we saw Leroy improve as a swimmer; his cardio was great, and he seemed better than ever. Then, on All-Stars 4, it felt like he had regressed , which isn’t shocking as he had taken three years off the show. Still, if the goal were for Leroy to win it all, you’d hope for positive momentum.
Leroy’s biggest asset has always been his grip strength and explosiveness. He’s not someone you would ever want to see in a Pole Wrestle. Leroy’s speed has declined in recent years, where he’s more beatable in any headbanger where you’re running. Across the board, Leroy is average to above average in most parts of the game physically. Even though he’s deathly afraid of heights, Leroy has crushed multiple heights comps partly due to his fear pushing him.
If his swimming is as good as it was on Double Agents, then it won’t be a red flag for him. He’ll never be an elite swimmer, but it’s not a potential game-ending weakness like it once was.
SSMP (Social, Strategic, Mental, and Political) Game:
Historically, Leroy has an excellent social game. He’s the house barber, and everyone gets along with him. His social game, mixed with the fact he’s an intimidating elimination opponent, typically allows Leroy to go deep into the game before hitting any adversity.
The political & strategic game is where Leroy often gets criticized — mainly because he acted as a loyal number towards Bananas for most of his career. When Kam has played with Leroy, we’ve seen him play a more active game and healthily play more selfishly for himself. I hope Leroy brings that same mindset now that he’s playing on his own for 40 — especially because if Leroy wants to win, he’ll need to take some shots at the bigger threats.
Leroy has dramatically improved as a puzzle player since the beginning of his career. I would say he’s average when it comes to mental comps, but back in the day, he would purely rely on a partner.
Eliminations & Winning Potential:
Leroy is one of the best elimination competitors in show history. However, production has generously given Leroy a ton of physical eliminations, to which he’s lost a couple. Headbangers and physical eliminations are where Leroy thrives, and it’s likely where he’s most likely to eliminate some of the bigger threats in the game. Leroy was basically a physical mercenary on Exes 2, taking out Wes and Bananas. Looking back, that might’ve been his role as a competitor on the show.
Can Leroy win? I hate to say it because I love Leroy, but I’m saying no. I’ve got the utmost respect for him. I just think Double Agents and All-Stars 4 were the perfect opportunities, and if he wasn’t able to get it done, then it’s hard to imagine Leroy getting to the Final and taking down a CT, Jordan, Darrell, or Bananas. Still, I think he’s someone who can holds his own with elite Challenge competitors and he’s playing better in recent years than he did in his physical prime.
Leroy’s Overall Rating: 86/100
Previous Rating’s I’ve Given Leroy:
Double Agents Rating: 85/100
WOTW 1 Rating: 83/100
Vendettas Rating: 85/100
Dirty 30 Rating: 87/100
