The Challenge All Stars Season 2 Preseason Female Cast Power Ranking

Challenge All Stars Season 2 Episode 1 debuts this Thursday, November 11th. The premiere is loaded with as much nostalgia as Season 1, and the music will immediately bring you back to the good old days. For this article, I am simply ranking the 12 Women entering the game based on how well I expect them to do/who is most likely to win. While some players may be stronger physically than others, it’s important to remember; the Challenge is also a social/political game!

Let’s jump straight in.

12 Leah Gillingwater (Real World Paris)
1 Season, 0–1 Elimination Record
Last Seen: Inferno 1

We have not seen Leah since her sole season, The Inferno 1! Leah lost that season in one of the most entertaining eliminations ever against Kendal. Leah ranks this low because we don’t have a great grasp of what type of a competitor she is, and with her only doing one season, she lacks the social connections everyone else does. Then again, Jisela came on All Stars Season 1 without many connections and made the final. Although, she did lay a blueprint by murdering the first daily challenge to establish herself as a presence.

11 Ayanna Mackins (Road Rules Semester at Sea)
3 Seasons, 0–0 Elimination Record, 1x Finalist
Last Seen: Battle of the Sexes 2

I genuinely hope that if Ayanna goes into an elimination this season, she sleeps in her jersey the night before for good luck. Similar to Leah, Ayanna does not have as many connections as other players, though she has competed with people like Tina, Katie, Sophia, and Laterrian in the past. Ayanna has a bolder personality than Leah, and for that reason, I trust her ability to fit in a little easier. Ayanna gets an edge over Leah as she is a Road Rules person, and generally, Road Rules players are a little better at the Challenge.

10 Casey Cooper (Fresh Meat 1)
4x Seasons, 5–3 Elimination Record, 1x Finalist
Last Seen: The Ruins

Casey’s social game is her biggest strength. In terms of pure competition, Casey was not a skilled or physical athlete back in the day, scored poorly in most mental competitions, and in most cases, was an active detriment to whatever team she was on. She is a bit goofy and likable, and luckily for her, she competed with a majority of the men on this season in the past. Casey should avoid the first couple eliminations as long as she does not epically fail the opening dailies. After those first few dailies, the other women will see her as a beatable opponent in elimination, and the men may not want to run a final with her.

It helps Casey was an alternate for All Stars Season 1, and thus, was at least in quarantine/contact with others who either were on last season or were alternates (Cohutta, Ryan, Sophia).

9 Melinda Collins (Real World Austin)
4 Seasons, 0–4 Elimination Record
Last Seen: Battle of the Seasons (2012)

Statistically, Melinda might be the worst player in Challenge history. Of female competitors who have been in over 20 daily challenges, Melinda has the 5th worst daily challenge win ratio all-time, and her elimination record is 0–4. I am optimistic for Melinda this time around as she no longer has the shadow of Danny Jamieson looming over her. He really limited the way she could play socially and politically over the years. Which, I know they had gotten divorced by the time she did Cutthroat, but it was still in the air, and then she was paired with him on Battle of the Seasons.

Melinda is a genuinely fun personality who is great to party with and is an excellent addition to the house. She is also part of the show’s community, with her “Blonde Moments” podcast being part of the Challenge Mania network. Although, history and stats lead Melinda to this #9 ranking.

8 Jasmine Fougere (Real World Cancun)
5 Seasons, 1–5 Elimination Record
Last Seen: Free Agents

God, I’m so glad to have Jasmine back on the Challenge. Jasmine is a charismatic and dramatic ball of energy that brings so much every time she is on-screen. I think most people’s memory of Jasmine as a competitor is her and Jonna being a fun underdog duo on Rivals 1, winning the first daily challenge, upsetting Sarah Rice in elimination, and coming up short of the final. As a competitor, Jasmine peaked that season. Jasmine’s two biggest phobias are water and heights, and with a lot of daily challenges, including those two, she is susceptible to getting targeted for eliminations due to perceived weakness. Size-wise, she also does not stack up in a headbanger.

She needs to play to her strengths, make connections, stay loyal to her former Rivals partner and ally Jonna, and most of all, don’t get into too much drama that she’ll get voted into elimination.

7 Sophia Pasquis (Road Rules The Quest)
1 Season, 1x Finalist
Last Seen: Battle of the Sexes 2

I hope Sophia made genuine connections with the people she quarantined with during All Stars Season 1 as an alternate. She will need them as she is another person who only did one season, and that was it. Why do I have Sophia ranked 7th instead of at the bottom like the others without many connections or competitive history? Well, she made it to the Final of Battle of the Sexes 2 during her rookie season, which statistically, making it to the Final of a Battle of the Sexes format, is the hardest Final to qualify for at only a 16.66% chance (3/18).

Sophia is brilliant, good with puzzles, and if she could socially navigate the minefield of politics back in the day as a rookie, I like her chances on her sophomore season. The question is, how will she stack up physically?

6 Katie Cooley (Road Rules The Quest)
9 Seasons, 4–6 Elimination Record, 1x Champion, 2 Finalist
1 Spin-Off, 0–1 Elimination Record
Last Seen: Cutthroat/All Stars Season 1

Katie basically opted out of multiple daily challenges last season and avoided eliminations based on her social connections. Entering this season, there are fewer people with her relationships, and she trained a bit this time around. Katie is a dynamo where I like her to sneak into a final if she can do the bare minimum in daily challenges. Do I think Katie would do well in a Final? Probably not.

-GAP-

5 Janelle Casanave (Real World Key West)
2 Seasons, 0–1 Elimination Record, 1x Champion, 1x Finalist
Last Seen: Inferno 3

We have hit a clear gap in these power rankings. At this point in the blog, any women from here on out are players I believe could win this season. Janelle competed on back-to-back seasons, The Inferno 3 and The Gauntlet 3. She won The Inferno 3 as part of the Bad Asses squad and then lost an early elimination on Gauntlet 3 to an elite competitor in Jill Zoboroski. On The Inferno 3, Janelle was very competent in the daily challenges, though she was not on the level of her teammates Evelyn and Tonya. She was also lucky that Jenn Grijalva went into a majority of the female eliminations for her team that season.

Janelle won a decently challenging final and was more well-regarded on her team than Jenn & Aneesa, two solid competitors. She also won a life shield during Inferno 3, which is impressive. The two biggest things going for Janelle are that she looks fantastic and as though she has never aged, and she is super close with Darrell, one of the strongest players in the game. If someone like Darrell says they want to run a final with you, other people will listen.

4 Tina Barta (Road Rules South Pacific)
5 Seasons, 3–1 Elimination Record, 2x Finalist
Last Seen: Duel 1/Cutthroat (Mercenary)

I want to get the negative out of the way first with Tina. Her cardio is terrible, and she actively held her team back during the Inferno 2 Final. She did come in 2nd Place of the Fresh Meat 1 Final and won two exiles alongside Kenny (one against a power duo of Theo & Chanda). You need good cardio to win a final, and maybe Tina deserves to be ranked lower on this list; however, Tina is pretty damn solid at everything else.

Tina is competent in daily challenges, has a good elimination record (3–1), has made it to two finals in five seasons, is a cutthroat political player, and most importantly, she is hyper-intelligent. If Tina can kill a puzzle or two early in the game, she will establish herself as someone you want to play the game with.

3 Jonna Mannion (Real World Cancun)
5 Seasons, 2–5 Elimination Record
1 Spin-Off, 1x Finalist
Last Seen: Exes 2 & All Stars Season 1

Jonna went entirely under the radar last season, made it to the final, and then tied for first place among females in it alongside KellyAnne. Going into this season, it looks as though Jonna is in much better shape, which makes me think she is even more capable of winning this time around. Jonna’s biggest strength is she has no fatal weaknesses; she is competent in almost every facet of the game. You’ll never be putting a majority of the blame as to why your team lost on Jonna, which is crucial in a Challenge house. People love to point fingers, and Jonna can go under the radar. Likewise, in a Final, having one major weakness can end your entire season full-stop.

By coming in 1st Place in the Final last season, the men in the game will have her back. Jonna has always been one of my favorite Challenge competitors, and I’m glad to have her back in my life.

2 Kendal Sheppard (Road Rules Campus Crawl)
1 Season, 1–0 Elimination Record, 1x Champion, 1x Finalist
1 Spin-Off, 2–1 Elimination Record
Last Seen: Inferno 1/All Stars Season 1

Kendal struggled to fit into the house environment last season. This time around, I like her chances of going far because the men would want to run a Final with her, and most of the men/women who were against her last season are not there. Interestingly, Kendal is good friends with Tori Hall, and Brad Fiorenza has blasted her on Twitter in the past. It will be fascinating to see if they go at one another.

I rank Kendal so highly because, in terms of physical fitness, Kendal has what you want for a final. Her cardio is excellent; as a nurse, her memorization and problem-solving skills are much better than the average competitor, and she has the drive to win. Kendal is someone who just wants to go out there and compete. She won the Mini Final last season, two eliminations, and an additional lifesaver to boot.

1 Jodi Weatherton (Road Rules X-Treme)
3 Seasons, 0–1 Elimination Record, 2x Champion, 2x Finalist
Last Seen: The Duel 1

If you were expecting someone that wasn’t Jodi to get ranked as the #1 Female going in, I don’t know what to tell you. Jodi is a 2x Champion and the first Solo Female Champ in Challenge History. On the Duel 1, Jodi put up one of the most dominant performances in this show’s history. She won 5 out of the 8 female immunity day daily challenges on the Duel 1, including the final three in a row. Jodi not only dominated the entire field of competitors, she literally did not give them a chance by the end of the game to even consider calling her out for elimination.

You look at photos of Jodi now, and she seems to be in the same shape she was back in the day and currently works in health & fitness. Jodi is bigger, stronger, and faster than most other girls; she is an elite swimmer, and frankly, is just intimidating. For newer fans of the show, Jodi was the original Jenny West. People will be quick to point out that Jodi won against a somewhat weak Duel 1 female cast; however, the way she won was such sheer dominance that she never left actual doubt as to how good she was. The funniest stat about Jodi is her elimination record is technically 0–1. In my mind, the main plot for this season on the female side will be, “how do we knock out Jodi?”