Cara Maria Sorbello‘s dream of a fourth championship came to an end on Wednesday night’s episode of The Challenge: Battle of the Eras. The Era II veteran was taken out by Era III’s Tori Deal in an elimination that lasted nearly three hours, treading water in the ocean off the coast of the Philippines. It was the last elimination before the this season’s epic final.
“I’m stubborn and I just wanted to survive,” she tells Gold Derby. (Watch Cara Maria’s full exit interview above.) “I wanted to make it through and I wanted to get to that final. Everything happens the way it’s meant to and, at the end of the day, Tori just pulled it out. She had a great season and she definitely earned it.”
Throughout the grueling challenge, Cara Maria says they were being eaten alive by mysterious sea creatures. “I didn’t know if it was jellyfish, I didn’t know what it was, but every time my ears went under the water I heard [what sounded like] electricity or something. Things were floating into my bra, and biting, and staying in there. When I got out, my hair was blonder than Tori’s. It had been totally bleached out and matted. It was not a comfortable experience.”
Throughout her Challenge career, Cara Maria has often been an outcast despite her all of her success. This season, the Challenger was able to mend certain relationships and bury others. Life got easier after her nemesis, Laurel Stucky, left the game. “It was like a breath of fresh air,” she explains. “I started making friends on Era III and Era IV. I think the format had a lot to do with it. The women weren’t voting in the women. The women’s game was against the men. That helped friendships be a little easier. It helped squash what could be intense drama and fights. But for me, it made a better living experience. It was a much more laid back, chilled out version.”
Cara Maria first appeared on the show in 2010 during Season 19’s Fresh Meat II. Since then, she has competed in 15 seasons, won three championships, and made 10 finals. After revealing her three favorite career highlights, she admits she has no idea where she would be in life without The Challenge.
“At that time, I was wearing white contacts, I was bartending at a fetish bar in Hollywood, and I had never done sports,” she recounts. “I rode horses my whole life. I was an arts and crafts kid. A total weirdo. Coming into this competitive world, not only did I not fit in physically, I didn’t fit in mentally. I wasn’t an athlete. I had never been around big groups of people like that. I’m an only child. I was so out of my element. I don’t know where my life would be without The Challange. I had no confidence. I doubted everything I ever did. I was the last one picked for anything, athletically. I’m so thankful for what I’ve been able to accomplish and prove to myself.”
Cara Maria also reveals why she wouldn’t want to be Challenge partners with her longtime boyfriend Paulie Calafiore. They’re too big of targets together, and she likes their odds better apart. But if given the chance, she’d love to team up with CT Tamburello or Tori Deal in a future season.
And who is she rooting for to win Season 40? Derek Chavez. “He’s going against Jordan, who’s the GOAT of GOATs. He’s going against Johnny, who has rings upon rings. And then Kyland, this newcomer whose just been dominating every challenge. Derek has also earned his way there, but in a way that is so understated. He didn’t sneak his way in, he earned his way in, but he didn’t sabotage anybody, he didn’t fight with anybody, he didn’t strategically plot against people, he just genuinely played a clean game. He was my buddy in the game too.”
The Challenge will air next on Jan. 1, 2025 on MTV with the final eight competing for the ultimate prize.
