‘The Challenge’ Couple Welcomes Baby Girl

The Challenge family is growing. Jenna Compono and Zach Nichols, stars who met on the reality competition series, recently welcomed their third child, a daughter they named. Carmella Jean. 

“We would like to introduce Miss Carmella Jean Nichols, who came into this world on 2/24/24 at 11:45PM,” Jenna captioned a post of the newborn on Instagram wearing a pink bow and pink long sleeve onesie. “Let me just say we only got to the hospital at 11:30 PM, where I was fully dilated and didn’t have time for an epidural. A few minutes later there she was. What an experience. She weighs 7 lbs 2 oz and was 20 inches long.” 

The natural birth wasn’t an easy feat for the third-time mama. Her husband made sure to give some behind-the-scenes jokes in his own post to his Instagram Story. “Jenna was out of commission due to the shock of natural birth,” he wrote. “So I had to step up and give the little lady skin-to-skin she so desperately needed. Personally, I just think all nurses wanted to see me with my shirt off.”

The couple announced they were expecting for the third time last summer just eight months after their second child, another daughter Liliana Marie, was born. The post included their two oldest children in a row with a board and sonogram next to Liliana. Their son Anthony was born in September 2021. The couple wed in 2021.

Jenna shared a Reel of Anthony and Liliana meeting their new baby sister, and their reviews were hilariously mixed. While Anthony seemed in awe of the new baby, Liliana wasn’t a fan. “Anthony seems to like his new sister!” she captioned the Reel. “Liliana not so much!” 

Social media users had harsh criticism for Zach after he made some controversial remarks about his laid-back parenting method. “[Motherhood] is one of the hardest jobs in the world and I’m very lucky that I don’t have to wake up at night to do anything,” he said on the podcast. “If [Jenna is] home, I’m not changing poopy diapers, unless like, I’m in a REALLY good mood or there’s two at the same time. If there’s two poopy diapers at the same time, I will do the male poopy diaper because I know the plumbing better.” 

He added: “That’s the best part about being a dad: you’re not the mom! You get to do all the fun stuff, and see all these awesome things but at the same time, everyone’s like, ‘How are the kids doing? Are they sleeping through the night?’ and I’m like, ‘I don’t know.’ I get my sleep every night. I get my five hours, that’s all I need. And it doesn’t get interrupted.” Hopefully, he’s more hands-on this time around.