This will be an interesting return. After the passing of Ryan Knight, Jemmye stated that she would be retiring from the Challenge, as she could not imagine doing one without him. Even though they had broken up by the time the two of them first showed up on a Challenge, the two were famous Challenge couple and duo. Their season of the Real World was almost like the beginning of a new era.

New Orleans 2 was a sloppy season, due to the people. There was a guy named Ryan Leslie on it, who was a pathological liar, and possibly Bi-Polar. He’s either a true asshole, or had serious problems. The season felt harassed by him and his personality. However, the season was still pretty sloppy, between the budding romance of two hardcore party people in Jemmye & Knight, and then dick of Preston swinging around. A city based on partying put two people who loved the party lifestyle together, it also was filmed during Mardi Gras, the party holiday. These two got sloppy on a daily basis. The will they/won’t they hookup story-line was cute and their eventual relationship was a main focus by the end of the season.

Sorry, if I focus too much on their relationship, but when I got into the Challenge universe, RW New Orleans was the first show I ever watched, Ryan Knight was the person I was introduced to on the show, he was playing hockey with his boys. The relationship between the two of them is beginning of my fandom.

Here’s some good and bad:

I forgot who said it on Exes 2, but even when Jemmye and Knight were arguing, yelling at each other, and fighting, it still felt like they were together or they were flirting. Regardless, there was always a spark between the two, always a bit of sexual tension, and in terms of Challenge OTP’s, they were kind of on that CT-Diem level of on-off relationship. I always felt the two were meant for each other, good or bad.

It will be interesting to see how Jemmye does back on her first Challenge. She only did one Challenge without him, Free Agents, where she lasted one episode. Jemmye was partnered with Knight on both Battle of the Season and Exes 2, then were closely aligned on Rivals 2.

In terms of being a competitor, Jemmye’s history on the Challenge is not the best. She has made a final, finishing 3rd on Rivals 2 with Camila. Camila did a lot more of the heavy lifting, though it’s impossible to get completely carried to a final. She was a big part of their 2 elimination wins, and also won the swimming daily mission with Camila. Jemmye has two paired daily challenge wins in her career, which might not sound impressive, then you have to consider that it’s the same as Jenna Compono, who has done the same amount of seasons as Jemmye.

The last two seasons that she has been on has totaled about 5 episodes in appearances. Hopefully, the NOLA girl can do better this time around.

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

Skills & Physical Strength: As a former life guard, Jemmye does have skill as a swimmer. She’s decently tall around 5'4-5'6 range, pretty good considering the amount of girls under 5'6 this season. Knight would love to mention the thickness of her legs, which is a bonus when she will try to tackle down another girl if push comes to shove. Jemmye is, and always has been a scrapper. This is a girl who will throw a punch if she has to.

Compared to Exes 2, the photos that Jemmye has posted of herself on social media has shown a good improvement when it comes to personal fitness. I do not believe she is in the best shape, but has improved herself, and looks hot. It will be fun to see if it is all glamour (which is fine), or if it’s serious functional muscles.

Social & Mental Game: This is where she excels, this is what Jemmye needs to focus on. The key to her game is being as social-able as possible. Knight and her always had this ability to stay in the game the longest out of any of the lesser teams. Mostly due to the fact that they would have friends who enjoyed their presence, kept them around for safety, or figured they were no threat. They took advantage of this, and would usually see elimination due to being last place. Out of the five times that Jemmye has seen elimination, only once has she been voted in. Her and Knight were last place in BOTS and Exes 2 when they got eliminated, she was last with Camila on Rivals 2, pulled the first kill card in Free Agents, and only got voted in on Rivals 2 when it got down to the final four teams, and their 3 team alliance had to encompass two slots.

Jemmye has used her Twitter fingers the past couple seasons to display her own favoritism, gain friends and enemies. She’s been supportive of Jenna and Kailah, is already friends with Camila, and has worked with Marie Roda. Those are some of the strongest physical girls in the game, being friends with them could take her far in the game.

When it comes to puzzles, trivia, and actual mental games, Jemmye has always sucked, or at least on the Challenge. Being unable to do the puzzle during the Rivals 2 final is what lost it for them.

Eliminations: Her elimination record currently stands at 2 wins and 3 losses. I usually get excited when someone has an elimination win under their belt, and Jemmye has more than one! Being ready to go into that arena and competing is something that’s hard to define. Some people have it, and others don’t.

Jemmye has lost her last two eliminations, both to rookies. She is best to avoid this arena as long as she can.

Final Potential & Endurance: She is not big into the whole long distance running thing. It angered Camila a bunch on Rivals 2 that she’d often have to stop and wait for Jemmye to walk until she is ready to run again.

I can see Jemmye in a final if she politics her way there, uses her friendships to positively affect herself, then lets the bigger players take each other out, she could get some money out of this competition. I don’t see her doing better than 3rd with some of the girls on this cast.

Jemmye is around to have fun.

Final Score: 65/100