The Challenge 40 Battle of the Eras Player Preview: Michele Fitzgerald
Season 40 of The Challenge is a historic season that has brought many legends back to the flagship. At the same time, while we have all the Real Worlders and Road Rulers, we also have new-generation players, and only one of them has played Surivivor before: Michele Fitzgerald.
Not only that, Michele Fitzgerald won Survivor and appeared on Survivo’s historic All-Winners 40th season. To be included in the 40th season of both Survivor and The Challenge is very cool in itself.
Michele is a polarizing Challenge cast member. Some fans despise her and what she represents as a new-generation cast member. I personally love Michele and think she checks all the boxes you want in a Challenge cast member because she’s a good confessionalist, typically has a showmance going, and can compete, even if not at the most elite level. Michele always brings something to the game, and on 39, she was inches away from getting to the Final and having a masterful season. Every season Michele has done, she’s shown massive improvements; now the question is, can she keep it up while going against one of the best casts ever?
Michele’s Cheat Sheet:
Introducing Michele:
Michele made her Reality TV debut on Survivor Kaôh Rōng, aka Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty. As a former Olympic Powerlifter, Michele settled into the Brawn Tribe. Just kidding, Michele was part of the Beauty tribe, and that Beauty Tribe kicked ass in the challenges, as did Michele’s second tribe, as she didn’t have to see a Tribal Council for half the game during her first Survivor experience. From there, Michele played a strong social game, a solid strategic game, and then won 2 out of the last 3 immunity challenges & a powerful reward challenge to help get her to the Final Tribal Council, which she won. At 24 years old, Michele was a Sole Survivor, shoutout Jeezy.
There were rumors that Michele (& Jay Starrett) were supposed to be on The Challenge War of the Worlds 1, except they got dropped about a week before filming. She would later appear on the prestigious all-winners 40th season of Survivor, where she again made it to the end. It was a rocky game; she was on the wrong side of multiple votes, yet she always stayed tough and won a couple of clutch immunities to keep herself in the running. To play 78 days of Survivor is crazy impressive. Is it more impressive than when I ate three Popeyes Chicken Sandwiches in one sitting? Most likely, yes.
Michele finally made her Challenge debut on Spies, Lies & Allies. Rookies were pigs for slaughter this season, and Michele (along with Corey Lay) got thrown into the first elimination against Survivor’s Michaela Bradshaw & the Dutch Renan. They played a two-on-two variation of the backpack elimination, where Corey’s giant giant giant body gave them the edge. After this, Michele settled into the house a little bit and had a showmance with Emanuel — he said he loved her, which he obviously meant, because why else would he be banging Tori less than three days after Michele got eliminated? Michele’s run on this season lasted only four episodes as she & Corey later lost to Hughie & Amber in an elimination. During the abbreviated run, I was impressed by Michele’s performance in a swimming challenge from this season, where she had a bloodied nose from a cliff jump yet still finished in 2nd Place Overall. To me, it showed heart.
Her impact in The Challenge world was also felt in that she hooked up with Fessy in the offseason, and it pissed off Amanda Garcia, which led to a rivalry/beef between the two. In reality, it’s more Amanda in her free time when she’s not torturing Tori; she tortures Michele’s life. Anyone who follows me knows I love Amanda, but I will also say that the stuff she says about Michele is very mean and often crosses the line.
Moving on, we saw Michele return for Ride or Dies with Jay. Together, they were a good pair in daily challenges because they both had brains, were both strong in the water, and communicated very well when competing. In terms of the political and social game, they were fucking awful. After they won a daily challenge, Jay & Michele’s initial goal was to make a big move and nominate some vets for elimination. However, Michele was too much of a lover and did not properly understand that although she had become friends with people, those people did not necessarily reciprocate the same type of care regarding the game. So Michele kept Jay from them nominating Nany & Bananas because she thought she and Nany were super close, except when Michele nominated Nany’s friends, Nany was equally pissed as if she had been nominated.
Along with that, Michele and Jay had a whole group of people she nominated who were super angry with them, including Laurel. That itself is a whole other can of worms because, man, Laurel just despises Michele. Laurel and Amanda might become best friends over their hatred of Michele.
What’s funny is that the next week, Jay & Michele won again and finally committed to their big move against all the Vets, including nominating Nany & Bananas. After this, the whole house was against them, and they got thrown into elimination with Horacio & Olivia, where the crowd was able to interfere, and Jay & Michele had no shot because of this. Losing to the crowd is a shitty way to go out, plain and simple.
We then got to see Michele on Challenge USA 2. She won the first elimination of the season against Ameerah. Then Michele settled into the Survivor/CBS alliance, where she coasted into Final 6, got thrown in against Cassidy, lost the elimination, and that sums up her run on the season.
After getting eliminated from Challenge USA 2, Michele went home to go to a Taylor Swift concert, then packed her bags for Battle For A New Champion. In my opinion, Michele played Battle For A New Champion to perfection. Michele entered with a massive alliance consisting of the Ride or Die ladies; she had Jay and his allies and people in her back pocket like Corey, Berna, and Emanuel. In a game with a one-winner format, Michele smartly directed the house towards going at the biggest Final threats in Horacio, Kyland, and Zara. It’s the type of gameplay that makes sense. Fans somewhat unfairly grouped Michele with her #1 ally, Jay. To me, this was bullshit because Michele wasn’t the egomaniac asshole that Jay was. She consistently cleaned up after his messes, and Michele worked the house to ensure the bonds between her and her allies remained strong. Michele took in distressed assets like Corey and Berna and turned them into allies who would take a bullet for her. She got in Olivia’s brain right before Olivia’s controversial play to turn against Nurys.
The only time Michele went into elimination was when the bitter mercenaries came in, and Cara called her out. Except the house had Michele’s back, so Michele was able to win that elimination (again, testament to her social game). Also, I will note that even though Michele had the crowd’s help, she did figure out the puzzle with relative ease herself. I would say the only messy part of Michele’s game was her showmance with Callum.
At the end of the day, Michele went into the last daily challenge with Kyland, Horacio, Ed, and Zara all not in the game — she put herself & Jay in a great position to win. If Michele had not gotten purged in the final daily challenge, she would’ve gone to the Final. When you watch the Final back and you see how heavy it is on puzzles and swimming/water-type events… You realize Michele could’ve actually won this Final and the whole season. Unfortunately, the girl could not run a rotating log, and that was that. It’s a shitty way to go out. Yet, I can honestly say there was a realistic world where, if, literally, one thing went differently, Michele Fitzgerald might have won an intergender individual season of The Challenge. Which is something I never would have imagined.
Now, this time around, things are going to be tough. People do not trust after watching Season 39, and her biggest opps from 39 (Horacio, Kyland, Nurys) are all back. Laurel is on her neck. Amanda is on her neck. Fessy likely sent her a “you up?” text, forgetting she was on this season. It’s going to be an uphill battle for Michele.
Skills and Physical Strength:
Michele’s biggest physical strength is her swimming skills and aptitude in the water. If Michele wins a non-mental daily challenge, it will 100% be in something involving water. Also, Michele needs to give 110% in any of these water challenges because it’s her best opportunity to win and gain power in this game.
Her weaknesses when it comes to physicality are agility, explosiveness, and raw power. Michele isn’t super quick on her feet, and it’s partly why she got purged on 39 and why we’ve seen her struggle in certain challenges that come down dead sprints dating back to Survivor. Additionally, Michele cannot lift much weight or overpower her opponents. There are very few players on this cast that Michele would beat in a size-based game or headbanger.
That’s not to say Michele is a complete physical lay-up. She’s proven competent in most daily challenges — her cardio is average, and she’s got decent core strength and balance.
SSMP (Social, Strategic, Mental, and Political) Game:
The social, strategic, and political game is generally thought of as a strength of Michele’s as she comes from Survivor and is a former winner of that game. Except on the MTV version of The Challenge, everyone inherently distrusts Survivor players because of the background of their game. Michele has also already had rude awakening moments where she’s learned that how MTV vets play the game/maintain relationships is not what it’s like on Survivor.
We saw Michele play an elite game where she ran a big alliance and tended to smaller alliances/interpersonal bonds masterfully — except she did that against a primarily inexperienced cast. It will be difficult for Michele to play a game like that in a house with vets. Additionally, Michele walks into this game with enemies in Laurel, Amanda, Cara, and Horacio. It’s never great to walk into a game with a handful of people who want you out.
Now, a positive outlook for Michele’s social game is that she is dating Devin Walker, one of the most influential players in the house, socially and politically. Being under Devin’s umbrella should make Michele’s game much easier for at least the first half portion. Well, that’s hoping they link up immediately. If not, it will be a giant uphill battle for Michele.
The mental game is Michele’s biggest strength. Puzzles have been the key to multiple of her big Survivor immunity wins. On top of that, we saw her solve a puzzle to win the Mini Final on Season 39 and beat Cara in elimination. Whether it’s a tangram, a memory game, or a 3D puzzle, Michele ranks above average to elite. I’d also like to note that Michele is an excellent communicator, which is an underrated quality when it comes to competing on this show. Michele is someone who, when she gets put into team or pair settings, she knows how to organize, delegate, and be the person to get her team in line. Having a partner who is easy to work with goes a long way. Michele has a skill set that is more complementary to half the men on this cast than those who might be more of a physical juggernaut like Jodi or Kaycee.
Eliminations & Winning Potential:
Michele’s elimination record is 3–3, yet I still feel like I have no grasp of how good of a competitor she is in them. I felt like both her win elimination and loss on SLA largely depended on Corey Lay, and then her elimination on Ride or Dies had massive crowd interference. So, really, we’ve mostly only seen Michele beat Ameerah in a game of cardio/endurance and then lose to Cassidy in a game of endurance/raw strength.
Based on what we’ve seen from Michele, my gut says she isn’t the type of person to thrive in a Pole Wrestle or Hall Brawl. She might be a little tougher than we expect, but I wouldn’t see her beating anyone except for one or two of the lay-ups on this cast. If the eliminations are carnival games and puzzles, that’s where Survivor Michele thrives.
Can Michele win? Historically, the track record among players who have never run Finals against those who have run them/won before is not great. Michele is facing a cast stacked with Champions. I do think Michele’s puzzle skills, ability in the water, and her baseline cardio indicate that she would be someone who would thrive in a Final. On a season like this, though, where I’m not even sure if players like Tori or Kaycee rank in the Top 5 among contenders — it’s difficult to expect Michele to be able to win. Plus, when you consider that Michele has so many enemies coming in, I think expecting a victory out of her is unrealistic. I’d love to see Michele do well because I believe she got unfairly grouped with Jay on Season 39 — however, it’s going to be a slog.
Michele’s Overall Rating: 81/100
Previous Rating I’ve Given Michele:
Spies, Lies & Allies: 77/100
Ride or Dies: 79/100
