Jordan Wiseley has officially returned to MTV’s The Challenge.
After taking several seasons off, Jordan was cast on The Challenge: All Stars season 3, which premieres on Paramount+ on May 11, 2022.
Variety was the first to break the news on the cast and if you were surprised to see Jordan back on the show, you weren’t the only one.
Many fans believed that Jordan had been banned, or at least suspended, from the franchise due to racist and problematic comments he made towards fellow co-star Nia Moore.
The incident in question occurred in 2013 on The Real World: Portland, in which both Jordan and Nia appeared.
During a drunken night, the two got into a fight which quickly escalated into Jordan calling Nia the n-word and imitating monkey sounds at her.
Of course, this happened in 2013 and Jordan has appeared on six seasons of The Challenge since then (winning three).
So why would Jordan only be suspended now?
It all started in the summer of 2020 during the George Floyd protests when MTV felt pressured into finally facing a racial reckoning. They cut ties with several of their reality stars, including former Challenger Dee Nguyen, who made offensive comments about the Black Lives Matter movement.
It was around this time that rumors began spreading that Jordan was suspended.
Jordan insisted that he wasn’t suspended, responding to a fan on Instagram,
“There’s never been a suspension. At the time, Tori wanted to get a few more shows in before having kids. So we discussed that we’d go back together and secure the bag before leaving for good. Priorities change.”
(Jordan and fellow Challenger Tori Deal had ended their engagement a few months prior to this comment).
He reiterated those sentiments in a comment to another fan, in which he insisted he was taking a break from The Challenge to focus on scripted projects (he’s made appearances on TV shows like The Blacklist and S.W.A.T.).
And apparently, Jordan was right. His appearance on The Challenge: All Stars makes it clear that MTV has no issues with Jordan and what went down back in the day.
For what it’s worth, Nia has come out in defense of Jordan and said she does not believe Jordan ever had racist intentions.
In an Instagram Live in June 2020, Nia and Jordan discussed the incident to clear up any misconceptions. Nia told fans,
“I was using the N-word towards [Jordan] and [he] used it back at me. Even then I didn’t feel like it was coming from a racial/racist place.”
She continued,
“As the argument progressed, he started mimicking a monkey. Even then I didn’t attach it to a racist gesture, I just wanted to kick his ass because we were arguing about something stupid… It wasn’t heavy for me.”
She later added,
“What we both did on both parts was tacky, distasteful, and immature. I just felt like it wasn’t [racist]. I knew it didn’t come from that place.”
Nia confirmed that she and Jordan made amends and have been close friends for years. Viewers of the show also saw Nia and Jordan take their friendship to the next level on The Challenge: All Stars 3 as the two hooked up. So it’s fair to say it’s all water under the bridge for both of them.
Unfortunately, that was not the only time that Jordan did or said something controversial. During The Challenge: Battle of the Exes 2, Jordan told fellow Challenger Jemmye Carroll that she had “Down syndrome face.” Many were surprised that Jordan would make such a comment since he is disabled himself (he was born without part of his left hand).
The rest of the cast consists of Brad Fiorenza, Cynthia Roberts, Darrell Taylor, Derrick Kosinski, Jonna Mannion, Kailah Casillas, KellyAnne Judd, Kendal Sheppard, Laterrian Wallace, Mark Long, Melinda Collins, MJ Garrett, Nehamiah Clark, Roni Chance, Sylvia Elsrode, Syrus Yarbrough, Tina Bridges, Tyler Duckworth, Veronica Portillo, Wes Bergmann, and Yes Duffy.
The Challenge: All Stars 3 currently airs on Paramount+ on Wednesdays. The streaming platform releases each new episode at 3 am EST that morning.
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