A great triumph a reality competition contestant can achieve is becoming a champion of The Challenge — a franchise hailed as one of the most grueling and extreme shows on television.
Not considering sex, Johnny Devenanzio, the personality known as “Johnny Bananas,” holds the record as The Challenge’s most prolific champion with seven wins under MTV’s mainline series and one spin-off victory. Chris “CT” Tamburello has won the second most iterations of The Challenge with seven titles (that includes two spin-off championships).
However, let’s look at the female side’s queen. And spoiler alert: there’s a log jam.
All in all, four women have beaten out their competition on three separate occasions. Evelyn Smith, Cara Maria Sorbello, Camila Nakagawa, and Veronica Portillo are tied for being the women with the most Challenge wins under their belts. Let’s a look at each of their respective Challenge careers and how they ascended three seasons apiece.
An important note: some in the Challenge community do not view a win in any of the Champs vs. features as an actual championship due to the series’ lesser-intense games and quick filming schedule. But, because the earlier seasons of The Challenge were much easier, and since many are considering All Stars as real championships, I’m viewing Cara Maria’s Champs vs. Pros win as legitimate. And because of that, I’m giving a nod to Spring Break Challenge as well.
With that out of the way, let’s get into it.
Evelyn Smith, winner of The Inferno 3, The Island, and Rivals
Evelyn is regarded by many as the greatest female competitor to ever grace The Challenge. Unlike virtually all of the contestants from her era, Evelyn didn’t join the reality competition’s cast after a stint on The Real World or Road Rules. Instead, she took part in season 12’s Fresh Meat, The Challenge’s first season to feature a crop of never-before-seen competitors.
Fresh Meat also introduced several other future veterans of The Challenge, including Diem Brown, Evan Starkman, Kenny Santucci, Eric “Big Easy” Banks, and Ryan Kehoe.
The season’s format paired rookies and veterans, and Evelyn was matched up with The Real World: Austin’s Danny Jamieson.
Well, Evelyn’s legendary Challenge career had a rough start.
She and Danny were the first ones eliminated from the show. Luckily, Evelyn was invited back for season 14’s The Inferno 3 to compete on the “Bad Asses” team; and that’s when she began to build her legacy. She, along with five other teammates, defeated the “Good Guys” in the final and notched her first Challenge championship.
Her next outing during season 15 resulted in a podium finish; Evelyn’s “Veterans” team lost to the “Rookies” in The Gauntlet III’s final challenge. But, she bounced back by reaching the treasure chest first on season 16’s The Island alongside Bananas, Kenny, and Derrick Kosinski, marking her second championship. Evelyn was eliminated before the finale in her next two appearances: season 18’s The Ruins and season 19’s Fresh Meat II.
However, she’d make her final Challenge a big one. Evelyn paired up with Paula Meronek for season 21’s Rivals, and after racking up four daily challenge victories and one elimination win, the two claimed the championship on the female side.
2011’s Rivals is the last time Evelyn participated in the franchise, but her legacy remains well intact.
Cara Maria Sorbello, winner of Battle of the Bloodlines, Champs vs Pros, and Vendettas
There’s no denying that Cara Maria is one of the best competitors of all time; her record speaks for itself. In 14 seasons of The Challenge proper, she’s won twice and has made it onto the podium seven other times. Further, Cara Maria, along with her partner Darrell Taylor, is the champion of the spin-off Champs vs. Pros.
Like Evelyn, Cara Maria didn’t join The Challenge as a reality television personality from another MTV show. Her first season was Fresh Meat II, an iteration that ushered in the likes of Laurel Stucky, Theresa Gonzalez, and Brandon Nelson.
And just like Evelyn, Cara Maria was the first person booted from her debut season (weird, right?).
Cara Maria returned for season 20’s Cutthroat and she made it all the way to the final. Then, she completed the Rivals final challenge. What followed was a rough four-season stint. She participated in seasons 22 through 25 and was eliminated before the final in Battle of the Exes, Battle of the Seasons, and Free Agents. Cara Maria placed second in Rivals II alongside her partner, Heather Cooke.
It wasn’t until her eighth campaign that Cara Maria became a Challenge champ. She competed in season 27’s Battle of the Bloodlines with her cousin Jamie Banks and they claimed gold as a family. The victory then stamped her ticket to next season’s Invasion of the Champions, but she was eliminated pre-final. That was the last time she fell short of finale night.
After placing second in season 30’s Dirty 30, Cara Maria was the sole winner of season 31’s Vendettas.
She then participated in season 32’s Final Reckoning, season 33’s War of the Worlds, and season 34’s War of the Worlds 2. She made it to the final every time was but unable to close the show with a win.
She hasn’t been cast on a season since War of the Worlds 2. As I previously mentioned, she won 2017’s Champs vs. Pros alongside Darrell — which was a storybook way for the two to redeem themselves after being eliminated together first on Fresh Meat II.
Camila Nakagawa, winner of Spring Break Challenge, Battle of the Exes, and Dirty 30
Known for her fiery and controversial personality, Camila is another woman on this list who came onto The Challenge in an unorthodox way. She was a part of the Spring Break Challenge spin-off show in 2010 as a member of Challenge veteran Susie Meister’s team. And unlike Evelyn and Cara Maria, Camila wasn’t eliminated first. In fact, she won the season.
As history has it, Camila was the only person from the spin-off to join the mainline cast. She debuted on Cutthroat but was eliminated in episode 7. Her time on Rivals didn’t go any better, however. She was taken out in episode 3.
It was in her third season when Camila had the success she hoped for. She notched her second trophy when she and Johnny Bananas placed first on Battle of the Exes. Veronica would go on to appear in Battle of the Seasons, Rivals II, Free Agents, Battle of the Bloodlines, and Rivals III, but she only made it to the final once, placing third in Rivals II with partner her, Jemmye Carroll.
Besides Champs vs. Pros and Champs vs. Stars 1, Camila would only compete two more times on the show. She battled on Invasion of the Champions and placed second. And in her final appearance on The Challenge proper, Camila became a three-time champion by winning Dirty 30.
In a YouTube video a few years back, Jemmye said Camila had been banned from The Challenge after she made “a very inappropriate comment to” Leroy Garrett, who is Black. During Dirty 30, she called him a “Black, motherf****** p****,” among other racially-charged comments. A few years after the incident, Leroy took to Instagram to explain how Camila’s words deeply affected him, prompting MTV and Bunim/Murray Productions to issue a statement apologizing to the Challenge veteran. Leroy’s video post also led to another apology from Camila, who she said did “not condone racism” and was taking “anti-racism courses.”
Veronica Portillo, winner of Challenge 2000, The Gauntlet, and The Inferno
Veronica is one of the OG’s of The Challenge. She’s not typically discussed in the pantheon of Challenge world-beaters, but nonetheless, she’s come out on top in three seasons.
A Road Rules: Semester at Sea alum, Veronica earned his first championship when she debuted in the Real World/Road Rules Challenge 2000 — the franchise’s third season. After dealing with elimination in season 5’s Battle of the Seasons and season 6’s Battle of the Sexes, Veronica became a two-time champion by besting her Real World opponents alongside her Road Rules counterparts in season 7’s The Gauntlet.
Veronica then cemented her legacy by winning her second consecutive title and third overall on The Inferno, the competition show’s eighth installment. Her Road Rules team once again picked up a “W” against the Real World contestants.
However, her championship-winning effort in 2004 would be her last. After departing season 9’s Battle of the Sexes 2 when the show was nearing its finale, Veronica’s “Bad Asses” team placed second in season 10’s The Inferno II. With seven seasons under her belt and three championships, Veronica took a four-year hiatus from The Challenge. She returned in 2009 as part of the “Champions” squad on The Ruins but was eliminated halfway through the show.
The loss sent Veronica on an even longer hiatus. She made her grand return around eight years later on Champs vs Pros. However, the hype surrounding her comeback was quickly snuffed out when she was the first champ kicked off the show. However, her time on the spin-off signaled her rejoining The Challenge.
Veronica went on to participate in Dirty 30, Vendettas, and Final Reckoning, but she wouldn’t see the final in any of the three shows, nor did she find success in appearing on Paramount Plus’ All Stars 3 and MTV’s most recent offering, season 38’s Ride or Dies.
Still, Veronica resides on the Mount Rushmore of women with the most wins ever.
