The Challenge All Stars 3 Player Preview: Jemmye Carroll
One of the Challenge’s foremost tea spillers coming off maybe her best season ever is back for another All Stars season, this time with a whole lot more friends in the mix. Jemmye Carroll might give her an easy path to the Final or put her in some interesting predicaments.
Introducing Jemmye: Since debuting on the Real World Back to New Orleans, Jemmye has been known for her candid reactions and confessionals. The beginning of Jemmye’s Reality TV career is in large part linked to ex-boyfriend Ryan Knight.
Which is a bit wild as they were literally already broken up during their first Challenge season together (Battle of the Seasons), and yet, they were always an item. They were up and down, dysfunctional, and still, they were their most entertaining when together and deeply cared for each other. Jemmye’s first season was BOTS 2012, and she made it decently far alongside Knight until having to face Zach & Sam in elimination, where they got taken out. In her second season (Rivals 2), when paired with Camila, Jemmye would have her best performance competitively, winning two eliminations, a daily challenge, and making it to the Final.
On Jemmye’s next season, Free Agents, she became victim to the Kill Card. She was the first player ever to pull it and then lose an elimination, going down against LaToya in one of the most underrated elimination match-ups the Challenge has ever seen. She went back for Exes 2 alongside Knight; they again made great television whenever on-screen together. So it goes, they end up in elimination after coming in last place during a daily, Knight gets hurt in their elimination, they go home…and months later, Knight sadly passes away. It was a heartbreaking loss for many reasons. Their identities in the franchise had always been connected, and for a while, it looked like Jemmye might never return to the Challenge.
Jemmye finally returned to the Challenge with Dirty 30. She relied on her social game to keep her under the radar, and it worked until the final seven, when she got thrown into elimination and taken out by Camila in a Hall Brawl type elimination. To be frank, Jemmye wasn’t in the best shape for Dirty 30, and she’s also admitted the same. Jemmye had one of her most memorable moments on Dirty 30, double-crossing Jenna and throwing her into elimination to face Kailah after Jenna had “saved” her from getting purged earlier in the game. When Jemmye came back for Vendettas, she was in better shape and again killed the social game as she got to the Final 5 without seeing an elimination. Sadly, Jemmye got taken out in a purge where she lost to stronger physical players (Cara, Kam, Kailah, Nicole). Final Reckoning was a mess where Jenna couldn’t find Jemmye’s coffin in the opening challenge, which led to them getting purged and not even receiving an actual shot at redemption.
It looked again as though Jemmye’s Challenge career was over. Then All Stars came into play, and she made the cast for the first season. A decent amount of OG fans were not happy with Jemmye’s inclusion as she was much younger/recent than a majority of the cast. Going into All Stars 3, Jemmye doesn’t have to worry about that anymore as they’ve integrated cast members younger and more recent than her. On All Stars 1, Jemmye came ready to play; she had trained hard coming in and was cognizant of what the game would be before all of the OGs caught back up to speed. Jemmye made it to the Final, never sniffing an elimination and consistently impressing the other competitors in the game.
Player Vitals & Stats
Jemmye Carroll: 33 Years Old, 5'5, 7 Seasons, 2–4 Elimination Record, 1x Finalist, Highest Finish: 3rd Place Rivals 2, 1 All Star Season, 1x All Star Finalist
Skills and Physical Strength: Statistically, Jemmye is one of the worst daily challenge competitors ever, although, on All Stars 1, she came on the show in great shape and performed well in most of the challenges. The guys in the house were cool running with Jemmye in the more physical portions of the Final, which is vital for the social/political aspect of the game.
Her biggest strength has always been her swimming; as a former lifeguard, Jemmye is a natural in the water-based challenges. Jemmye’s main weaknesses are heights-based challenges (which there are many) and anything that involves eating. She was doing fine in the All Stars Final until the Carolina Reaper peppers completely ravaged her entire body. After that, the massive “BBQ” eating portion was even more challenging, especially as Jemmye is a vegetarian in her everyday life.
SSMP (Social, Strategic, Mental, and Political) Game: In 8 seasons, Jemmye has only seen 6 eliminations, and of those 6, she only got voted into 2 of them, 1 of which was the last elimination of Rivals 2 when there were only two options. As long as there are no twists, Jemmye can coast on through because she navigates the social game as well as one can. You see her potential alliances going in, and Jemmye has multiple people who will/can be her number one ally: Jonna, Veronica, and Kailah. Those aren’t her only friends either. Hilariously, Jemmye has so many connections that it may put her in some difficult positions when picking and choosing sides in the long run.
When it comes to politics & strategy, she mostly takes a backseat because you need to win dailies to make big moves, and also, Jemmye constantly tries to make moves that create the least amount of ripple effects to preserve herself. An example of this was on Vendettas; she threw in long-time friend Marie into elimination to protect herself and avoid conflict with a strong rookie in Kam. The same season she had the chance to side with her friends Shane/Devin for a crucial vote where they were going after Johnny Bananas. Instead, Jemmye saved Bananas despite actively disliking him because she knew he wouldn’t affect her game negatively. Jemmye is okay with conflict as long as she can maintain it; essentially, she would rather spill one cup than potentially spill an entire tray of drinks.
When it comes to the mental aspect of the game, Jemmye is a smart girl. She is a good student in that she’s well-spoken, has a good memory, and does research for the show before going in, knowing that it could come in handy. In terms of problem-solving, Jemmye has never been a puzzle person. While she is competent with puzzles, she isn’t usually the first or second person to finish.
Eliminations & Winning Potential: I’ve never seen Jemmye have a killer instinct in the elimination arena. She is someone who, if the elimination is a puzzle, I like her chances because she stays calm. If it is physical, I don’t know if she has an extra gear in her to play dirty and go all-out. Jemmye smartly stays out of the elimination arena for a reason.
Can Jemmye win? There’s not a zero percent chance, but I’d bet against her winning and feel comfortable about it. Jemmye has improved greatly cardio-wise, is solid mentally, and has always been good in the water. It comes down to the fact that I know she is set back massively if there is any eating portion. To win a Final, you can’t have any significant weakness, and when facing people who have no weaknesses and better cardio, it’s hard to project someone to win. Regardless, I think Jemmye’s chances of making the Final are excellent as she has such a firm grasp on the social game. She just needs to make sure not come in last in any daily challenges.
