‘The Challenge USA’: Michele Shares Where She Stands With ‘Survivor’ Alliance After Intense Season (Exclusive)

Survivor winner Michele Fitzgerald came into the second season of The Challenge USA with a number of allies. Due to her connections with the other Survivor players and the MTV Challenge vets, she was covered on multiple fronts for a good portion of the game. However, after finding herself in the crosshairs with the Survivor women after not voting Tori Deal into elimination, Michele was the one who found herself fighting to stay in the game. After her elimination loss to fellow Survivor player Cassidy Clark, Michele spoke with PopCulture.com and shared where she stands with the other Survivor folks going forward.

Unlike Survivor, competitors on The Challenge have to think about how their present actions could affect their time on future seasons. Given the way Michele left things with fellow Survivor players Desi Williams, Chanelle Howell, and Michaela Bradshaw, will she have a tough road ahead of her if they’re all on another season together in the future? According to Michele, she does have a “great relationship” with Chanelle and Desi, despite some of the things she’s heard them say about her during the course of the season. 

“I think the thing is, is that I also come in with a lot of baggage and a pretty intense reputation for the way that I navigate, being a mess or being a meltdown or being snakey or whatever it is,” Michele added, “And so I’ve had their back this whole game, but then I do one thing and it feeds into the narrative that they have of me in their own heads. I, of course, would work with any of them again, but it’s whether or not they can give me a clean slate. I don’t know. I sometimes feel like I battle my own reputation in a lot of ways.”

While Michele was facing heat from all of the Survivor women, she dealt with a lot of drama with Michaela Bradshaw, in particular. Their tension even led to a major argument, an incident that appeared to have been brewing since they were both on Season 37 of The Challenge (Spies, Lies, and Allies). How are doing after all of the drama? Michele said that she has “a lot of love and respect for Michaela,” and noted that their tension developed because they “play the game fundamentally different.” Even though they “don’t always understand each other,” Michele said that she did reach out to Michaela after the episode aired to see if they could have a positive path forward.

“I had reached out to her last night [after the episode aired] and I was like, ‘I have all these interviews tomorrow. I know maybe we’re on rocky ground.’ She’s like, ‘No, I think you played an amazing game and I love you,’” Michele said. “So we are a work in progress. Me and Michaela always, from day one, Spies, Lies and Allies, have been a work in progress. But the love is there, it’s just, we need therapy.”

Michele’s time on The Challenge USA may be over, but it won’t be long before you see the Survivor icon on another season. She’s set to appear on the 39th season of MTV’s The Challenge, subtitled Battle For a New Champion. Will she be able to pull out her second reality TV win? Fans will have to tune in to find out when The Challenge: Battle For a New Champion premieres on MTV on Wednesday, Oct. 25 at 8 p.m. ET.