The Challenge: USA’s Michele Fitzgerald has no plans to make amends with costar Amanda Garcia after their heated exchange earlier this season.
“I don’t foresee us ever talking outside of the game. Listen, inside the game, I respect the fact that she’s a mom and I always ask how [her son] Avonni’s doing, whatever, I keep it simple,” Michele, 33, exclusively told Us Weekly on Tuesday, October 3. “But yeah, we’re apple and oranges. We’re never going to be friends.”
Prior to her elimination during the Thursday, October 5, episode of The Challenge: USA, Michele had a fight with Amanda, 29, during episode 2, which aired in August. “F—k you, Amanda cause I know you navigated this vote,” Michele told Amanda after receiving three votes for elimination. “Prove it, bitch,” Amanda shot back.
Michele ultimately survived the elimination after beating Ameerah Jones in the Arena, but her beef with Amanda continued back in the house. During the fight, Amanda brought up the pair’s shared history with fellow competitor Faysal “Fessy” Shafaat. (Amanda and Fessy, 31, had a fling in 2021, the same year that Fessy and Michele sparked romance rumors after hitting it off on The Challenge: Lies, Spies and Allies.)
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“You were big dog out there [in the Arena], be big dog in here,” Amanda said. “I’m sorry Fessy didn’t want you and he dropped you when he saw me. I’m sorry you hate me for that.”
“You’re so petty, Amanda,” Michele replied. “You’re so hung up on Fessy.”
Michele told Us that she believes Amanda enjoys the drama. “I think that Amanda does things for shock value. I think that she likes having beef with people,” she said. “I think that she wants to stir the pot. I think that that’s how she, I don’t know, secures her callback [for future seasons], I guess.”
In addition to her bad blood with Amanda, the Survivor alum also butted heads with Michaela Bradshaw during her final episode of the season.
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Michele Fitzgerald. Jonne Roriz/Paramount
“That fight was actually, like, 45 minutes [long],” Michele told Us of the heated conversation, in which Michaela, 32, accused Michele of “unraveling” and criticized her gameplay. (The drama began after Michele went against Michaela and their allies Desi Williams and Chanelle Howell by voting to keep Tori Deal safe from elimination.)
Michele continued: “I think that I play a very social game and I play very emotional and Michaela takes all of her emotions out of everything that she does and she plays so logical. … So, it’s hard for her to understand the type of game that I play. It’s hard for me to understand the type of game that she plays. And because we tried to work together for as long as we did, obviously you just start grating, grating, grating on each other until it obviously explodes.”
As for where she stands with Michaela now, Michele told Us that she sees it as part of the game.
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“I’m on my fifth season [of reality competition shows]. … If I took everything personally, I would have no friends and I would be sitting in a dark room in a corner somewhere,” she said. “I think Michaela is a very different person than I am and I don’t think that [she’s] necessarily a bad person.”
Despite her elimination from The Challenge: USA after losing to Cassidy Clark in the Arena, Michele has a shot at redemption on The Challenge: Battle for a New Champion, which premieres on MTV October 25.
“There’s fights, there’s hookups, there’s drama,” she teased about the upcoming season.
The Challenge: USA airs on CBS Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET.
