The Challenge: All Stars 4 officially crowned a winner, but many fans felt the final wasn’t fair to all the competitors involved.
The final aired in Episode 12, with eight cast members remaining to compete for the $250,000 prize.
Among them were several former MTV Challenge winners: Cara Maria Sorbello, Laurel Stucky, and Veronica Portillo.
Steve Meinke, Ace Amerson, and Derek Chavez, who had never won a final on MTV’s The Challenge, were also competing.
When all was said and done, there was a winner and second and third-place finishers, but fans blasted the show for how production set the final up.
Get updates on the latest posts and more from Monsters and Critics straight to your inbox.
This report will contain spoilers from The Challenge: All Stars 4, including the winner and runner-up results.
Who won The Challenge: All Stars 4 final?
The spin-off version of The Challenge brought another unique final for the competitors to participate in, with checkpoints that tested them mentally and physically. Throughout the event, competitors who came in last at checkpoints were eliminated.
A twist also came with those eliminations. Since everyone had earned Stars to compete in the final, eliminated competitors had to give their Stars to another player still in the game.
That twist came into play, giving whoever had the Stars added advantages later in the final. Derek got eliminated first and handed his Star over to Laurel. Leroy was next to go and gave his Star to Steve.
However, Laurel received an added advantage when Nicole and Veronica got eliminated in the same round and awarded her their Stars.
Per the twist and rules, Laurel ended up with four Stars, while Steve had two. Cara and Ace had only the one Star they each had before the final.
During the last portion of the final, viewers had to race down a dirt trail using foot-powered scooters they rode. Then, they had to complete various checkpoints, which included puzzles and skill-based tasks.
Competitors could use a Star to pass a checkpoint automatically, so Laurel’s four allowed her multiple passes when it mattered most.
In the end, Steve was right behind Laurel in second place. However, he screwed up on a checkpoint and tried to advance with his Star option. A producer told him he could only use one Star per checkpoint and sent him back to start over on the game.
Meanwhile, Laurel completed or Star-passed her checkpoints and took off running. The former MTV winner reached the finish line first, with Cara Maria in second place. Steve eventually crossed the finish line in third.
At the finish line, Laurel said the “genuine personal relationships” she developed during this spinoff season helped her win. She congratulated the runner-up contestants and vowed to return to compete for a third win on The Challenge.
Viewers blasted an ‘unfair’ final and All Stars 4 winner as ‘not a legit winner’
Many of the show’s fans took to the Instagram comments of @thechallenge’s recent carousel post, which said, “One hell of a final” in the caption.
“One hell of a joke. The final was a scam and we all know @misscaramaria was the real winner,” one commenter wrote.
Another called out how “Laurel couldn’t win without not just 1 persons help, everyone’s help.”
“It was a s****y unfair win by someone who hardly did anything to earn it,” a commenter wrote.
Another posted that “Cara deserved the win” and is “the people’s champ!”
“Laurel was not a legit winner,” a commenter wrote, suggesting she “was handed a win” and that the top two should’ve been Steve and Cara Maria.
During All Stars 4, viewers saw Steve win three eliminations to stay in the game, including wins against Challenge winner Brad Fiorenza and Jay Mitchell. Cara Maria won eliminations against former show winner Rachel Robinson and multi-time finalist Kam Williams.
Laurel didn’t compete in any eliminations throughout the season. She nearly decided to go against Cara Maria but opted to stay out of the battle between her and Kam.
Several episodes later, host TJ Lavin presented the remaining competitors who didn’t have a Star with a final daily challenge, where the two winners got Stars. Derek and Laurel earned their Stars, becoming the last two competitors to qualify for the final.
The All Stars 4 results arrive months after MTV crowned a new champion in Season 39, aka Battle For a New Champion. Viewers also called out that season since many of the finalists never went into an elimination. That included the winner, Emanuel Neagu, while the runner-up, Nurys Mateo, competed in multiple eliminations.
The Challenge: All Stars 4 episodes are available on Paramount+.