The Real World Chicago premiered on January 25th, 2002. This series is famously known as the season where the cast watched what happened during the 9/11 attacks. From that season we got two major figures in Challenge history. One being Challenge Champion, the infamous Tonya Cooley. Tonya was the sheltered who went wild once exposed and given too much freedom. She is especially infamous now within the Challenge world for other reasons, but let’s talk about the other Challenge character who is the subject of this: Aneesa Ferreira.

The mixed Jewish African American female who was once a lesbian, and now it is unclear whether she is now heterosexual or bisexual. It’s confusing, just know she can fuck and be whatever she wants. Almost like a baseball utility player, some days she will be playing left field, other days she will be over at 3rd base, and in the end we’re never sure what she personally identifies with, and that is fine.

However, Aneesa has been the center of a lot of accidental racist and homophobic accidents. As a strong minded and passionate liberal, she’s always been quick to jump down the throats of anyone using improper language and speaking the wrong way. Sometimes it can be a real party downer, though as a person who is also liberal and believes in not stepping on the cultures and rights of others, I can get behind Aneesa.

Now what I do not like about Aneesa is that she is a bad competitor — yes, SHE IS. In 11 past appearances (the most by any female), Aneesa has never won a Challenge. Making it even worse, she has never even come close to winning. She has only made two finals ever, Gauntlet 2 and Duel 2. For the Gauntlet 2, she was part of the Veterans team that lost a final due to a weirdly scaled eating/betting game. In the Duel 2, she made the final after winning 3 eliminations, fighting her way to the end, and once she got there, she died. Aneesa finished a deep 3rd place, finishing in almost double the time it took Rachel, ruining the fate of Mark Long in the final, killing his chances of winning.

Duel 2 was filmed in 2008 and was Aneesa’s 6th Challenge. It is 9 years later, Aneesa’s been on 5 Challenges since, and she still has not touched a final. She talks about how she does not care about the game, but she also gets paranoid whenever her name is coming up for elimination. She gets butt-hurt after being thrown in, has gotten into fights, and cried after losing. If you cared about the game, trained for it, and stopped pretending like you are above this game, that would make Aneesa so much more likable. If you are going for fun, then be fun, do not be whiny and complain about everything.

Now here’s a review of Aneesa as a competitor, as well as her social media handles for reference:

Skills & Physical Strength: Aneesa looked to be in better shape after Rivals 2 and Free Agents, when she was on Bloodlines. She has not been on TV since, while many of her social media posts are highly filtered. I would think she is much thinner based on the look of her face, it is hard to tell, and we may have to wait until she shows up on our screen for Dirty 30 to discern it. Her endurance was the best it has ever been on the show during Bloodlines.

She’s dealt with a plethora of issues. Ranging from being hooked to nicotine and smoking, to possibly being an alcoholic (hinted at during a Bloodlines after-show). I hope she’s doing better, and she looks healthier. This may not be the healthiest environment for someone with these problems. The Challenge environment can truly make a person go postal.

From what we have seen from Aneesa over the year is that she has become a competent swimmer, before she was terrible, now she is decent. Not the fastest, and does not have good upper body either. She would not be able to lift herself up for long if it was only arms. Her core is solid, her lower body is the strongest part about her. She has a build with a bigger bottom, having a lot of weight on other girls, she can physical with others easily. Wrestling is forte as she can use her size to her advantage.

Daily missions have far from been her forte. In the 54 individual and pair daily missions that Aneesa has been in, she has won 1. That game was in Rivals 2 when you and your partner were blindfolded, and had to pass through a simple maze to the finish line, only caveat was that you get shocked as you get closer. For Aneesa to make it to the final, it’s REQUIRED she goes the elimination or floater route, as she will not be winning challenges.

Social & Mental Game: When they left for Season 30, the reunion for Season 29 was a few days before. After the Reunion, all the cast members were spamming social media with pics of them turning up in New York. Who was there to hang out with Shane and the lavender ladies? Aneesa! She then went and filmed the greatest epic fails special with Cory and Jenna.

She may have originated with the ancient times, but don’t get it twisted, Aneesa is still in touch with the new generations of the Challenge. Then again, Aneesa playing a good social game is difficult to expect. At the end of the day, people never have a strong enough bond with her to keep her around over their friends, while they also do not fear her enough to actual be able win challenges, to the point where throwing her in is safe. She finds herself in the middle, and that is where you do not want to be. The one season where she was in an actual alliance (Duel 1), she finished in 3rd, losing to her friend in elimination. Politics and alliances work, Aneesa needs to get into the game.

In terms of the mental game, she falls in the water every season on trivia, usually taking a hard hit. Not a puzzle person, but she loves tangrams.

Eliminations: Once titled the elimination queen, the title may not have been apt. Aneesa has been to 15 eliminations, and currently holds down a record of 8–7. Almost a coin flip between winning a losing. Aneesa on Duel 1 and Duel 2 won 3 eliminations each of the seasons, impressive to say the least. Outside of those seasons, she has a 2–6 elimination record with her only wins coming against Jonna and Jasmine/Tyrie. The Jasmine/Tyrie win was more Rachel than her, as she fell off her box in X Knocks the Spot first out of anyone. So essentially, the only person she has beat in elimination since Duel 2, is Jonna, a good competitor who is not built for eliminations whatsoever.

Aneesa has the size to get physical, she does not have the speed and skill to be quick on her feet. Yes, she will beat most girls in Hall Brawl, and she will lose to most top competitors at the same time.

Final Potential & Endurance: It’s been 9 years since Aneesa has seen a final. She might be in better shape now, however, with that time gap she is a rookie again. Famously she is never a runner. She made it a point to run a couple times with Diem when they were partnered on Rivals 2, as Diem was a runner. Imagining Aneesa in a final feels like a guaranteed 3rd place finish. She plays with the idea of finishing during anything instead of winning. That puts the nail in the coffin for you as a competitor.

Final Score: 75/100