Have you ever ironically loved something so much that it no longer became ironic love and it was legitimate true love? The first time it happened for me was when my uncle received a gigantic sun hat for his birthday from my aunt. I knew my uncle hated it, so I pounced on the opportunity to make it mine. It was so big and goofy that I wore it proudly to random places and when my friends first saw it, they all laughed at me. Eventually, I loved the hat enough that people began coming up to me and whispering, “hey, I think the hat is kinda cool.” In retrospect, the hat was dumb, but my ironic love was real.

Sadly, I feel the same way about one Dario Medrano. At a certain point during the Challenge Invasion, I found myself cheering for him. You could say “I stanned” Dario because it became such a fandom that I’d convince myself not only was he playing the best game out of the Underdogs, but he deserved to win the season. He’s the greatest Challenger ever, it doesn’t make sense on the surface, but here’s why:

#1 Brought his Twin on his Rookie Season

Dario’s rookie season was Battle of the Bloodlines. He brought his Twin Brother Raphy to be his partner. He established himself as a figure on the show by literally getting double the screen time of other cast members. Johnny Bananas would kill to bring a Twin of himself on the show so his big ass head could get more screen time. For god sake, he even brings his own bobble-heads on the show.

It was a real power move by Dario, he guaranteed you’d know the face of Alex Rodriguez Jr.

#2 Strong Armed Cara Maria

During the second episode of Bloodlines, Cara was considering voting Dario and Raphy into elimination. Once they found out, they intimated one of the greatest players in Challenge history into voting in their Rock/Paper/Scissor buddies (Thomas) into elimination against one of their best friends in the house (Cohutta).

Dario proved himself as a social and a political mastermind from the jump, outplaying the girl some would later follow in life as their female Jesus.

#3 Hooked up with KellyAnne

He proved himself to be a mature and suave gentleman by hooking up with the older and incredibly sexy KellyAnne Judd. Fans waited over half a decade for KellyAnne to return to the Challenge after she stopped appearing following the Ruins. When she came back, she fell into the arms of Dario Medrano.

4 Made a move for himself on Rivals 3

Dario was called a rat on Rivals 3 for siding with Johnny Bananas after winning his first daily challenge of the season. He could have nominated Bananas and his cousin, but ultimately chose Cory/Ashley and Devin/Cheyenne instead. It seemed like a poor choice, except when you consider Dario’s partner was Nicole Ramos, a guaranteed spot in the final with money involved is much better than taking a shot at Bananas and likely getting eliminated the following week. Dario tried to make the most logical move, and while it looks like a weak one, who can blame a man for being practical and enjoying the money?

5 Eliminated Wes on Rivals 3

If you include Champs vs Pros, Wes has won 8 out of his last 9 eliminations and eliminated champions like Bananas, Jordan, Jamie, and Zach. His one loss came to powerhouse Dario Medrano who physically and emotionally dominated him after he called Dario out for not throwing in Bananas and Vince. Never put Dario in a corner.

6 Won the first daily challenge of Invasion

His stinging loss on Rivals 3 before the final pushed Dario to succeed on Invasion. He came in hot and won the first challenge of the season. As a pseudo veteran, he welcomed the rest of the cast to the Challenge with his calm and dominant win.

7 Wanted a Fruity Beverage and Face Mask

Dario expected he was going to Oasis after winning the first daily challenge and wanted a fruity beverage and some spa treatment. He is comfortable in his own skin to declare his love for fruit beverages! As a man myself who loves Pina Coladas, I know I could hang with Dario.

8 Won the first team challenge of Invasion

He proved himself to the Underdogs on day one by winning the first daily challenge, but by scoring the first point in the Rugby challenge against the Champions, Dario made Darrell and CT know he’s the real top dog in the game.

9 Hook up with and then date Ashley K

I kinda feel like I’m objectifying these women by labeling them as conquests as Dario’s mating partner, except if I was making the Ashley K is the best list, I would definitely put hooking up with Dario on her list.

Regardless, Ashley Kelsey is a beautiful older woman who Dario fell for on Invasion, and they lived together for a year before calling it quits. He did stay completely loyal to her while filming Dirty 30! Ironically, Dario prefers a more slow-paced lifestyle, while Ashley being seven years his senior is into the fast paced party life. I still wish they would get back together as they were an incredibly adorable couple.

10 Picked up a sweet appearance check for Dirty 30

Dario did not want to come on Dirty 30. He had a beautiful girlfriend at home and simply had nothing to prove as a competitor left. He showed up to pick up his 20k dollar check, hung around for a bit, and then went home to make some sweet Dominican love to Ashley K. Dario chose to avoid camera time to give others a chance to shine.

Conclusion:

I am sorry if you read this, I have a serious article coming out soon that is over 3k words and I worked really hard on. Thank you.