Reality TV shows are meant to be authentic, but sometimes that isn't the case. On The Challenge, the producers have a lot of leeway to manipulate each scene and incite drama, arguments, and gossip. This has led to some shocking twists in the past and even some deactivations, like Nam Vo's during last season.
This year's premiere episode of The Challenge: Spies, Lies and Allies saw a few surprise departures as the series got underway. The show's host TJ Lavin announced that both Nam Vo and Lauren Coogan were being "deactivated." However, he didn't provide any additional information.
Coogan is a reality star who appeared on Love Island USA and has since competed in other MTV series. She partnered up with Josh Martinez in the challenge and did pretty well together. However, she was largely edited out of the premiere episode. Fans noticed and were curious why MTV would digitally remove her from the footage. It brought up comparisons to the treatment that was given to Dee Nguyen during Total Madness, where MTV also digitally removed her from footage after she made inappropriate comments about Black Lives Matter.
As the season continues, fans will be interested to see if MTV decides to make an official announcement regarding what exactly happened to Coogan. Sources claim that she said something inappropriate to another cast member which led to her deactivation, but that hasn't been confirmed yet.
