‘The Challenge’ Star Paulie Calafiore Details How His Body Shut Down During The ‘War Of The Worlds 2’ Final

Three-time The Challenge competitor and Big Brother alum Paulie Calafiore had a not-so-great final experience this season on War of the Worlds 2, to say the least. During the first episode of the final over a week ago, viewers saw Paulie completely crash during the race, as his team members watched him crumble right before their eyes. There was a mixture of responses on Twitter from viewers, some who felt Paulie wasn’t as strong as he claimed to be, while others felt like something wasn’t quite right with the Team U.S. member. It looks like it was the latter, as Paulie is now clarifying that his body completely failed him during the final.

In a slew of Twitter posts, Paulie let his followers in on what happened during that brutal first-leg run.

“Through athletics I adapted the saying. Eye of the tiger, mentality of a lion, heart of a champion. All athletes know that sometimes your body will fail you. That’s ok, you can train the body to be better. As long as you have those three things, over time, success is inevitable,” he wrote.

Later Paulie went on to describe what exactly shut down. It appears as if his kidneys were giving up on him.

“Thanks to everyone who has supported the journey so far. If I thought the way last season ended for me was scary, having my kidneys start shutting down due to heat stroke was even scarier. Thank god in life or death situations the mind is powerful enough to save you. I’ll be back.”

Lastly I want to thank everyone who rolled with me this season. My heart breaks for those who got purged, everyone gave it their all and left it on the field. Even though my team lost, that’s the name of the game. I respect everyone who competed and those who won! #TheChallenge34 pic.twitter.com/pWcVsvJqaC

— Paulie Calafiore (@PaulCalafiore_) December 12, 2019

Later in a third post, Paulie shared some behind-the-scenes pictures from the show where he thanked his co-stars in his house who stuck by him all season. Some of his closest alliance members and friends on Season 34 included girlfriend Cara Maria Sorbello, Kam Williams, Rogan O’Connor, Joss Mooney, and Kayleigh Morris.

While it wasn’t evident in the episode, Zach Nichols also allegedly had some body failure while running the final. In reunion spoilers for Season 34, it’s revealed that Zach only had seven percent liver function by the end of the competition. Zach’s physical limitations were not shown at all during the two-part finale episodes, but he did get a jab from some viewers wondering why he didn’t carry the gurney as much as some of his teammates like Leroy Garrett. This may or may not make it on the actual reunion show, but insiders claimed it was discussed during the taping.

The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2 reunion begins next Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET on MTV.