I love the casting reactions to the Champs, mostly because a lot of people go: ?who is Ashley Kelsey?? In all honestly, I do not blame them. Ashley was only on one season of the Challenge prior to Invasion, Battle of the Seasons 2. Her team, RW San Diego was the villain of the season, and the tension was brought with Hurricane Frank Sweeney who demands screen time wherever he is, hotheaded Thor Zach Nichols who is Ashley?s ex, and solid competitor Sam McGinn who dealt with the ire of emotional maniacs Zach and Frank who constantly berated her. Her team filling up the drama and the air time really assisted in her being forgotten. It did not help that she was mostly just very joyous and somewhat wallpaper for reality television. I am sure Ashley is super cool and interesting, but she isn?t a drama queen, so half congratulations on being a person I would enjoy in real life, but I want some crazy drunken yelling and fighting. One negative take-away for Ashley is that maybe she did not defend Sam enough from the attacks of Zach and Frank, but that could have been editing.
Ashley is also forgotten as her season of the Real World, San Diego 2, is one of the worst seasons of the Real World. While San Diego is nice to visit, it?s mostly boring, and having a 19 year old girl in a country where she couldn?t drink was restricting. Nate was annoying, Ashley was quiet, Frank over emotional, Zach a meathead, Alexandra was interesting but wallpaper, and Sam tried too hard. On top of that there was too much homophobia and moments that would either get heavily censored or played up today.
The good part is that everyone loves Ashley, she is seriously beautiful and her hair looks better than ever. She might be the prettiest girl on the show with the best attitude. If she was able to avoid the crazy on her season of the Real World and the Challenge, you would like her chances to avoid the crazy on this season of the Challenge. Ashley has some fun this season as she has two of her exes on, rookie Bruno Bettencourt and her Real World housemate and former teammate Zach Nichols. It also has been teased that she hooks up with Dario based on them hanging out together on their Snapchat and Instagram story videos. I like Dario a little bit, so in the end I am very cool with the pairing and am interested to see how it happens.
Now here?s my review of Ashley as a competitor:
Skills/Physical Strength: I do not know if you noticed during Battle of the Seasons 2, you probably didn?t, but Ashley Kelsey was the original barbie beast. On all of the daily challenges she excelled helping their team win 4 daily challenges and never brought them down. She was a solid swimmer, an incredible runner, and a good amount of strength with good size. That was the old Ashley. She takes being a model and her body seriously now. From her Instagram she hit the gym often doing 2 a day workouts, and her body looks impeccable. I watched a couple videos of her working out from some Challenge focused Instagram?s and she is in way better shape than anybody is probably expecting. She may be the least known champion girl, but she is not a pushover. Ashley commonly does a lot of lifting, her thighs and calves look strong, and the biggest psyche out is that her hair and face are perfect all while being a true barbie beast. What may hold her back is that she is so nice and perky, I am scared she won?t have a crazy gear and be able to actually go at some events as physically as she can.
Mental Game/Politics: Who doesn?t love this girl in the house? If you want to drink and have fun, she will go along with it. If you need someone who can be wallpaper and not start a fight, I think she is perfectly fine without the drama. If you have noticed from Jenna, not starting shit or drama in the house is the best way to keep a target off of your back and to go far into the game when you are a female competitor. I have no clue about her education level or whether she can do puzzles, but she seems like?. Okay, I have no clue, but she is super beautiful and a champ, so a lot of strong guys will cling to her, unless Dario gets there first. If that is the case, then I am not the biggest fan of her chances. I think she may fill the Jenna role a little bit better than Jenna(with Jenna there), but she is a strong girl to add to an already strong cast.
Eliminations: She played in one elimination ever ? water torture. If you do not remember water torture, it was one of the most physically intensive challenges ever for male competitors. The men had to submerge themselves under water as long as they can in order to lift their partners up as they memorize and finish a puzzle. They stopped doing this elimination as it was very dangerous, and did something similar last season except not under water. Ashley was able to memorize the pieces and work well under pressure. If she saw another elimination today I figure she could do well, as she has done a good job with pressure, she also is not that short and with all the lifting she has done in cross fit, can probably just knock over most of the girls on the show. I am sure Ashley could tackle down half the girls in the cast, she?s just so sweet that it might not happen.
Final Potential/Endurance: This is where Ashley Kelsey gets way scarier for all of the other girls on the show. On the two day desert final of Battle of the Seasons 2, Ashley killed it, she was always running and ready to go. She kept a good attitude and focus even when her dysfunctional teammates were not. She is in 3x better shape than the last time she showed up on the Challenge, if she is able to get to the final, Ashley has much more of a legitimate chance to win than anyone expects. Ashley is a good competitor and it will be fun to see how she does.
Final Score: 88/100
