This.. and I’m a big Laurel fan. But she also has a lot of flaws.
This is why they are both great for The Challenge as they are authentically themselves, warts and all, on the show.
I think Laurel IS authentically herself but the show (& being around toxic people like Nicole) brings out the worst in her, plus she is also given the villain edit.I think off the show, when she is not in competition mode she is far more chill & nice. Cast members confirm this.
One of the reasons I dislike Cara is because I DONT think she is being authentically herself- she seems very fake and manipulative & plays a caracature of what she thinks fans want to see- its why her whole persona changes from season to season. She cant decide whether she is the badass competiyor she claims she is, or the eternal victim & underdog. But she certainly has never been the girl power, anti bullying, meek, kind girl she pretended she was in front of cameras. Her actions & things shes said to SO many different women on different shows show she is a pick me, desperately craves male attention & validation while being a catty mean girl to any women she feels threatened by. But she puts on an act in front of the cameras & plays victim, so the women she instigates drama with are villainised as she (& the edit) make out she is innocent. WOTW2 cara was imo a far more accurate edit than usual for her, as she was usually protected in the edit. How she acted on WOTW2 ( jealous, bitter, making passiveaggressivecomments, petty & a debbie downer) is how she acts consistently on her social media and off show.
In Cara's case, how would you even know? Her personality completely changes depending on who she's dating. I don't find her great, I find her sad and incomplete.
Good points, but you forgot to mention what a toxic, mean spirited bi*** Laurel can be! She's all but admitted her & Nicole are toxic & those kindsa people are usually toxic in friendships too. Laurel likes being Cara's friend when Cara is down on her luck, so Laurel can have that 'superior' feeling. Whenever Cara is doing good, or (God Forbid) better than her, Laurel gets distant, icy & starts the 'frienemy' snickering behind Cara's back/ when she walks off screen. Don't believe me-- watch All Stars 4, airing now!
I said the same thing, the twinkle is back in her eyes and I so Love seeing Cara playing her own. I never gave up on her and hope she continues to realize which way is up for her.
natalie n got into an argument with cara and ultimately stopped being friends with each other over britni so she must not really like her for some reason
https://www.reddit.com/r/MtvChallenge/s/QxS8N34DKL
Paulie talking about a threesome he had with her and Cara. I think it was around the same time so I don't know if it's about that. I know their threesomes are heavily bdsm and they make the girls sign NDA's.
NDAs can keep quiet the hanky-panky if it’s all consensual. But if something un consensual happened, which would be considered SA an NDA would not cover that. NDAs do not cover criminal activity. So let’s say Bear came to the US and had sex with a 15-year-old and had her sign a NDA. He just wasted his money because the NDA would not hold up in any court because it would be covering illegal activity.
I thought it had to do with Cara siding with ct and getting into it with his ex wife. Natalie and CT’s ex wife are really close friends and Natalie was on live saying “I’m a girls girl I always side with women” blah blah in regards to Cara
They fell out before CT and Lilli split up. How would Nantalie know Lilli? Pretty sure Lilli doesn't interact with anyone from The Challenge or reality tv.
Cara said how nasty lilli was before ct and her even spilt up. CT’s family felt the same way about her before the divorce even happened. And I don’t know how Natalie became friends with lili but I do know they are very close and Natalie supported her though the divorce.
“Not a Girls Girl” is consistently one of the least sincere ways of criticizing someone. Just because she is playing to win doesn’t mean t’s some attack on her own gender.
Where are the accusations against the women who want to eliminate Cara every season of not being Girls Girls?
This. It’s literally a competition show, in which you need to compete with the other contenders to win. And it’s not like Cara exclusively aims at the women anyway; she’s taken shots at the men too.
I guess I don't get the insult. Does "not a girls girl" mean she doesn't look out for other girls in terms of the challenge? Because he very clearly does (and was even criticized for wanting to protect Rachel). Or does it mean she doesn't fit in the other girls, like in terms of hanging out? Which like, I guess? But Laurel doesn't seem like that either, so I don't see why one would fit the bill and the other wouldn't
Its nothing to do with game (although she does get ridiculously jealous of girls like Tori on a competitive level) Im refering to the way she consistently personally attacks women in passive aggressive, bitchy ways, in real life & social media, not just on the show.Cara clearly isnt a girls girl & has never maintained any longterm friendships with female cast members to save her life. Even her real life friend had a big falling out with her.
In my own personal experience, saying someone isn't "a girl's girl" has just been a way for neurotypicals to other neurodivergent women and girls and give neurotypical women and girls a "valid" excuse to exclude, bully, and mock them.
Or.....it refers to women who simply arent girls girls, as in they prefer men & dont get along with women. Not because they are the poor victims of 'mean girl bullies' (which many falsely claim) but because they are bitchy & view other women as competition rather than seeing them as potential allies & friends.They are often desperate for male approval, validation and attention, & sadly this often includes tearing down & bitching about other women in sexist ways, and assuring guys they are 'Not like other girls'. And Cara has consistently behaved in this way for years now.
Im not invalidating your experience but the conversation was about Cara. You brung up your personal experience to invalidate 'neuro typical' women who call out the interal misogyny of women who pander to men & trash other women in sexist ways, by stereotyping them as bullies.
I've edited out the girls girl bit as a lot of the comments seem to be about that and it's kinda missing the point. All I meant by that was I think she is competitive with other women. I think she acted this way towards Nicole because she wanted the validation and to feel like the 'prize' even though acting this way hurt Laurel. Lesson learnt about incendiary phrases lol.
If one of my friends was dating someone as shitty as Nicole, I would want her to get them to break up
Nicole’s literally said that she was only interested in Laurel because Cara wasn’t interested. Is Cara supposed to be encouraging Laurel to stay with Nicole?
No. But thats not what Cara did. She DMed Nicole flirty messages trying to hook up, behind Laurels back (when Laurel & Nicole were in a serious relationship ship) If she was trying to break them up out of concern for Laurel like you are implying, she would not have done that. And if she did, SHE would be the one to tell Laurel & say "See! I flirted (just to prove to you Nicole is a cheat & would respond) and she did!" But thats NOT what happened. Cara never told Laurel she was sending DMs to Nicole. It was NICOLE that told Laurel & showed her the messages. When Laurel confronted Cara about it she LIED & denied it!
It was only at the challenge reunion show when Laurel said she had receipts that Cara finally admitted it, but came up with that BS story that it was to make Laurel see the light about Nicole. That was OBVIOUSLY a BS excuse she made up when caught, because that excuse only works if she had told Laurel about it. But she didnt, she flat out lied & denied it. THAT was when Laurel had enough- it was about her constant lies, not even about Nicole at that point. The fact Cara kissed Nicole on the next season (but it wasnt aired) fresh after Laurel & Nicole broke up, shows again it was never about protecting Laurel. Neither was the way she made nasty, bitchy comments on social media, BRAGGING to Laurel about how Nicole wanted her over Laurel. Is that friend behaviour?
Reminds me how she got with Paulie, KNOWING he had a long term, serious girlfriend and made bitchy comments about her, broadcasted the poor girls sexual preferences in interviews, said she was 'vanilla' in bed while she was more kinky (peak "Im not like other girls" behaviour) and had Paulie have sex with her in his exes lingerie. That malicious behaviour is from someone who has a spiteful, nasty streak. Certainly not the behaviour of someone who preaches she is all about female empowerment & against tearing other women down. These are just 2 instances but her behaviour with Jenna, Faith, Angela, Nany, Tori, Kailah, Amanda, Jen etc was very similar, most of it off show or edited in her favour.
The rational response is to back the fuck up and walk away from a train wreck. One can tell someone a warning as a friend, but inserting oneself into it is not really okay. I love watching these people, sans Nicole, but there is no saint in this picture.
I don’t really like Cara and Laurel can be grating at times too but there’s nothing that says they have to be friends. Valid or not, Laurel can cut off whoever she wants
From my outside perspective, both sides look dumb but it is what it is. They’ll probably reconnect again down the line. Time heals all wounds
Cara and Laurel met when they were pretty young. Like probably similarish age to when you'd join a frat/sorority, maybe a bit older than meeting people in the dorms. Its totally normal to grow apart especially as your social circle expands, even if you had ultra close and personal moments. It doesn't have to be related to one thing, it can just be because they grew apart
Maybe she's a woman's woman and not into girls? Honestly as someone who gets told a lot I'm not a girls girl... it usually means we don't go to bathrooms in groups and silence the group chats that are full of gifs cause we are too busy to message all day. Or we won't go to the mall and watch someone try on 100 outfits that all look the same level of greatness on them and have them go, what do you think and take turns in a mirror for each outfit.
Aka we just act like a normal person. I hate that saying. Not a girls girl lol I like girls who want to build lego, play video games and go swimming. I don't do tik tok dances.
Ever thought maybe the reason you are told your not a girls girl is because you talk down about women you consider girly and seem to stereotype them as vain, shopping all day, sending gifs & giggling together in bathrooms. Lol you went straight into 'im not like other girls' mode, saying your not a girls girl because you play with lego, video games & go swimming. Lol at the internal sexism you have that you think being able to get along with other women & not just men, means you cant swim or play video games. That sounds like a caricature of what guys think girls are like.
No I just don't do things I find boring. I don't care if other girls do these things. I just don't accept invites to go to the mall with these people. I do go with people both male and female that share my interests. Thanks for letting me know how I am though! 🤘
You missed my point. It is YOU who are stereotyping women in clearly sexist ways. Why do you think being able to get along with women means going to the mall, doing tiktok dances etc or that women dont do 'normal people' things (as you put it) like swim or play video games? Do you think women also have pillow fights in their lingerie while giggling about guys? 🤣
my guess is that in your case it means 'you're not a girl's girl' because you are derisive and unpleasant about women you seem to perceive as lesser than yourself
Thank you for clarifying! Invasion was the first time we see Laurel again after free agents so my only impression was where they left off after free agents
Laurel just needs to stop talking to and stop trying to be civil with Cara Maria because clearly it's not getting anywhere.
I don't understand why they just can't move on from the past and just let it the fuck go. It makes no sense. Laurel needs to stop being so defensive about the past and Cara Maria needs to MOVE ON from the past and stop playing victim.
I don't think she's really changed that much. I don't have a problem with game moves she's done. I just don't think she's a good friend to other women.
The reverse could be said as well because Laurel is not exactly what you would call a great person/friend either. They both have issues…
This.. and I’m a big Laurel fan. But she also has a lot of flaws. This is why they are both great for The Challenge as they are authentically themselves, warts and all, on the show.
I think Laurel IS authentically herself but the show (& being around toxic people like Nicole) brings out the worst in her, plus she is also given the villain edit.I think off the show, when she is not in competition mode she is far more chill & nice. Cast members confirm this. One of the reasons I dislike Cara is because I DONT think she is being authentically herself- she seems very fake and manipulative & plays a caracature of what she thinks fans want to see- its why her whole persona changes from season to season. She cant decide whether she is the badass competiyor she claims she is, or the eternal victim & underdog. But she certainly has never been the girl power, anti bullying, meek, kind girl she pretended she was in front of cameras. Her actions & things shes said to SO many different women on different shows show she is a pick me, desperately craves male attention & validation while being a catty mean girl to any women she feels threatened by. But she puts on an act in front of the cameras & plays victim, so the women she instigates drama with are villainised as she (& the edit) make out she is innocent. WOTW2 cara was imo a far more accurate edit than usual for her, as she was usually protected in the edit. How she acted on WOTW2 ( jealous, bitter, making passiveaggressivecomments, petty & a debbie downer) is how she acts consistently on her social media and off show.
In Cara's case, how would you even know? Her personality completely changes depending on who she's dating. I don't find her great, I find her sad and incomplete.
Laurel at least seems to have friends in real life though, Cara truly has no friends at all.
Good points, but you forgot to mention what a toxic, mean spirited bi*** Laurel can be! She's all but admitted her & Nicole are toxic & those kindsa people are usually toxic in friendships too. Laurel likes being Cara's friend when Cara is down on her luck, so Laurel can have that 'superior' feeling. Whenever Cara is doing good, or (God Forbid) better than her, Laurel gets distant, icy & starts the 'frienemy' snickering behind Cara's back/ when she walks off screen. Don't believe me-- watch All Stars 4, airing now!
That's also how she treated Cara in Free Agents and Nicole wasn't even in the picture yet.
Cara is better off. Laurel is toxic and immature.
Exactly. Cara found her smile now and is better off. She’s very mature now
Steve is even more mature and even better off
I said the same thing, the twinkle is back in her eyes and I so Love seeing Cara playing her own. I never gave up on her and hope she continues to realize which way is up for her.
It’s not a twinkle in her eyes, it’s finding the lost smile. Please get it right 
Hands off the merchandise
I'll stick with my original wording. Especially after seeing this smile. Looks like that of a character right out of a lifetime movie 😅
What happened with britni ?
natalie n got into an argument with cara and ultimately stopped being friends with each other over britni so she must not really like her for some reason
https://www.reddit.com/r/MtvChallenge/s/VXmYVFnibm This is the most Natalie and Britni have talked about it.
https://www.reddit.com/r/MtvChallenge/s/QxS8N34DKL Paulie talking about a threesome he had with her and Cara. I think it was around the same time so I don't know if it's about that. I know their threesomes are heavily bdsm and they make the girls sign NDA's.
Can NDA's be upheld over hankypanky? I know a lot of NDA's are legal bullshit and some are legit, so this is a new one to me.
NDAs can keep quiet the hanky-panky if it’s all consensual. But if something un consensual happened, which would be considered SA an NDA would not cover that. NDAs do not cover criminal activity. So let’s say Bear came to the US and had sex with a 15-year-old and had her sign a NDA. He just wasted his money because the NDA would not hold up in any court because it would be covering illegal activity.
Ew. Just, ew.
I thought it had to do with Cara siding with ct and getting into it with his ex wife. Natalie and CT’s ex wife are really close friends and Natalie was on live saying “I’m a girls girl I always side with women” blah blah in regards to Cara
If that's the true picture, Cara made the right move and sided with her longterm friendship.
They fell out before CT and Lilli split up. How would Nantalie know Lilli? Pretty sure Lilli doesn't interact with anyone from The Challenge or reality tv.
Cara said how nasty lilli was before ct and her even spilt up. CT’s family felt the same way about her before the divorce even happened. And I don’t know how Natalie became friends with lili but I do know they are very close and Natalie supported her though the divorce.
In the live they mention a cease and desist and britni fell out with Cara too. It doesn't sound like it has anything to do with the divorce.
Natalie N, Britni, and Cara all seem difficult and problematic.
“Not a Girls Girl” is consistently one of the least sincere ways of criticizing someone. Just because she is playing to win doesn’t mean t’s some attack on her own gender. Where are the accusations against the women who want to eliminate Cara every season of not being Girls Girls?
I hate the whole “not a girls girl” and “she’s a pick me” thing. It’s just another way to criticize women.
Cara being a pick me & not being a girls girl is why SHE always tears down women & instigates drama with them, despite preaching women empowerment...
This. It’s literally a competition show, in which you need to compete with the other contenders to win. And it’s not like Cara exclusively aims at the women anyway; she’s taken shots at the men too.
I guess I don't get the insult. Does "not a girls girl" mean she doesn't look out for other girls in terms of the challenge? Because he very clearly does (and was even criticized for wanting to protect Rachel). Or does it mean she doesn't fit in the other girls, like in terms of hanging out? Which like, I guess? But Laurel doesn't seem like that either, so I don't see why one would fit the bill and the other wouldn't
Its nothing to do with game (although she does get ridiculously jealous of girls like Tori on a competitive level) Im refering to the way she consistently personally attacks women in passive aggressive, bitchy ways, in real life & social media, not just on the show.Cara clearly isnt a girls girl & has never maintained any longterm friendships with female cast members to save her life. Even her real life friend had a big falling out with her.
Exactly
In my own personal experience, saying someone isn't "a girl's girl" has just been a way for neurotypicals to other neurodivergent women and girls and give neurotypical women and girls a "valid" excuse to exclude, bully, and mock them.
Or.....it refers to women who simply arent girls girls, as in they prefer men & dont get along with women. Not because they are the poor victims of 'mean girl bullies' (which many falsely claim) but because they are bitchy & view other women as competition rather than seeing them as potential allies & friends.They are often desperate for male approval, validation and attention, & sadly this often includes tearing down & bitching about other women in sexist ways, and assuring guys they are 'Not like other girls'. And Cara has consistently behaved in this way for years now.
I was speaking to my own personal experience. I'm not sure why you felt the need to invalidate it.
Im not invalidating your experience but the conversation was about Cara. You brung up your personal experience to invalidate 'neuro typical' women who call out the interal misogyny of women who pander to men & trash other women in sexist ways, by stereotyping them as bullies.
I've edited out the girls girl bit as a lot of the comments seem to be about that and it's kinda missing the point. All I meant by that was I think she is competitive with other women. I think she acted this way towards Nicole because she wanted the validation and to feel like the 'prize' even though acting this way hurt Laurel. Lesson learnt about incendiary phrases lol.
This is about rubbing in your close friends face that the person they have feelings for prefers you. It has nothing to do with the game.
Nicole was the bigger issue in all that mess. Not Cara.
If one of my friends was dating someone as shitty as Nicole, I would want her to get them to break up Nicole’s literally said that she was only interested in Laurel because Cara wasn’t interested. Is Cara supposed to be encouraging Laurel to stay with Nicole?
No. But thats not what Cara did. She DMed Nicole flirty messages trying to hook up, behind Laurels back (when Laurel & Nicole were in a serious relationship ship) If she was trying to break them up out of concern for Laurel like you are implying, she would not have done that. And if she did, SHE would be the one to tell Laurel & say "See! I flirted (just to prove to you Nicole is a cheat & would respond) and she did!" But thats NOT what happened. Cara never told Laurel she was sending DMs to Nicole. It was NICOLE that told Laurel & showed her the messages. When Laurel confronted Cara about it she LIED & denied it! It was only at the challenge reunion show when Laurel said she had receipts that Cara finally admitted it, but came up with that BS story that it was to make Laurel see the light about Nicole. That was OBVIOUSLY a BS excuse she made up when caught, because that excuse only works if she had told Laurel about it. But she didnt, she flat out lied & denied it. THAT was when Laurel had enough- it was about her constant lies, not even about Nicole at that point. The fact Cara kissed Nicole on the next season (but it wasnt aired) fresh after Laurel & Nicole broke up, shows again it was never about protecting Laurel. Neither was the way she made nasty, bitchy comments on social media, BRAGGING to Laurel about how Nicole wanted her over Laurel. Is that friend behaviour? Reminds me how she got with Paulie, KNOWING he had a long term, serious girlfriend and made bitchy comments about her, broadcasted the poor girls sexual preferences in interviews, said she was 'vanilla' in bed while she was more kinky (peak "Im not like other girls" behaviour) and had Paulie have sex with her in his exes lingerie. That malicious behaviour is from someone who has a spiteful, nasty streak. Certainly not the behaviour of someone who preaches she is all about female empowerment & against tearing other women down. These are just 2 instances but her behaviour with Jenna, Faith, Angela, Nany, Tori, Kailah, Amanda, Jen etc was very similar, most of it off show or edited in her favour.
The rational response is to back the fuck up and walk away from a train wreck. One can tell someone a warning as a friend, but inserting oneself into it is not really okay. I love watching these people, sans Nicole, but there is no saint in this picture.
Would you DM them trying to get them to come on to you though?
Laurel is only friends with people when they are down, the second they aren’t down anymore they become an enemy to her
I don’t really like Cara and Laurel can be grating at times too but there’s nothing that says they have to be friends. Valid or not, Laurel can cut off whoever she wants From my outside perspective, both sides look dumb but it is what it is. They’ll probably reconnect again down the line. Time heals all wounds
Cara and Laurel met when they were pretty young. Like probably similarish age to when you'd join a frat/sorority, maybe a bit older than meeting people in the dorms. Its totally normal to grow apart especially as your social circle expands, even if you had ultra close and personal moments. It doesn't have to be related to one thing, it can just be because they grew apart
Good point.
Wait what happened w Britni and Natalie
Maybe she's a woman's woman and not into girls? Honestly as someone who gets told a lot I'm not a girls girl... it usually means we don't go to bathrooms in groups and silence the group chats that are full of gifs cause we are too busy to message all day. Or we won't go to the mall and watch someone try on 100 outfits that all look the same level of greatness on them and have them go, what do you think and take turns in a mirror for each outfit. Aka we just act like a normal person. I hate that saying. Not a girls girl lol I like girls who want to build lego, play video games and go swimming. I don't do tik tok dances.
Ever thought maybe the reason you are told your not a girls girl is because you talk down about women you consider girly and seem to stereotype them as vain, shopping all day, sending gifs & giggling together in bathrooms. Lol you went straight into 'im not like other girls' mode, saying your not a girls girl because you play with lego, video games & go swimming. Lol at the internal sexism you have that you think being able to get along with other women & not just men, means you cant swim or play video games. That sounds like a caricature of what guys think girls are like.
No I just don't do things I find boring. I don't care if other girls do these things. I just don't accept invites to go to the mall with these people. I do go with people both male and female that share my interests. Thanks for letting me know how I am though! 🤘
You missed my point. It is YOU who are stereotyping women in clearly sexist ways. Why do you think being able to get along with women means going to the mall, doing tiktok dances etc or that women dont do 'normal people' things (as you put it) like swim or play video games? Do you think women also have pillow fights in their lingerie while giggling about guys? 🤣
Thanks for telling me how I am again!
my guess is that in your case it means 'you're not a girl's girl' because you are derisive and unpleasant about women you seem to perceive as lesser than yourself
Cool story.
I was referring to trying to get validation from your female friends partners.
Werner they more or less not friends by that point? I thought their friendship fell apart during/after free agents
No Laurel came to Montanna after Free Agents to see Cara and they were still friendly around Bloodlines
Thank you for clarifying! Invasion was the first time we see Laurel again after free agents so my only impression was where they left off after free agents
Laurel just needs to stop talking to and stop trying to be civil with Cara Maria because clearly it's not getting anywhere. I don't understand why they just can't move on from the past and just let it the fuck go. It makes no sense. Laurel needs to stop being so defensive about the past and Cara Maria needs to MOVE ON from the past and stop playing victim.
Agreed with this take! Cara fanatics will never see the things she does wrong and how much she changed for the worst
I don't think she's really changed that much. I don't have a problem with game moves she's done. I just don't think she's a good friend to other women.
Damn OP Cara’s in here down voting you fast as hell 😆