by Gina Scarpa

 

It now seems like so long ago that Jasmine and Jonna struggled to find common ground on The Challenge: Rivals. By the time Battle of the Seasons came along one year later, their feuding was a distant memory. The Cancun cast worked well together and were arguably the leaders of their superalliance that's been running the game all season. When they were put up for elimination, Jasmine stepped up to keep Jonna safe but it ended up coming back to bite her, as she and CJ were eliminated. We caught up with Jasmine today to hear more about her relationship with her Cancun cast, her issues with Team Brooklyn, and what she's focused on now.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: You and Jonna have been such a great duo since Rivals. What was the turning point for your relationship?
A. Jasmine: I think the turning point for our relationship was definitely during Rivals. We realized that we hated each other for the same qualities that we had and we were fighting over childish, dumb things. We put it all aside and wanted to start fresh and get to know each other. That's what we've done and I think it's really helped with this Challenge.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: The Cancun cast seemed extremely tight this season. What have your relationships been like since your season of The Real World?
A. Jasmine: We definitely worked really well together. We're all really close. All eight of us still get along, we still see each other, and we really consider ourselves a family. We can call each other at any time. We're really close and if you get all eight of us together, we're just as close now as we were the first time we walked in the door in Cancun.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Having so many rookies or young players on The Challenge this season was a definite advantage for many teams and you seemed like the head of the superalliance. How did you decide who to work with?
A. Jasmine: Well you know, definitely before The Challenge, everyone talked so you had an idea of who was going to be there. I had known Jemmye, Frank and Zach so we knew we all wanted to be in the same alliance and play the game together until the end. When we realized it was Battle of the Seasons, it was perfect. It definitely was a smart move we made. I was glad to finally be inside a real alliance. It was really different because I've played two games with Wes. On my first challenge, Wes wasn't letting me and Jonna be part of any alliance. It was definitely funny to see the game twisted and we're dominating the house. There was nothing he could do but bow down gracefully.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Your alliance targeted Fresh Meat, for understandable reasons. They came into the game late and are not from The Real World. You also went after Brooklyn, though. Was that a personal thing or was it strategic?
A. Jasmine: I think it was a mixture of both. There were some personal issues. Me and Jonna don't really get along with Sarah much. I don't really care for her, we're not the best of friends. I handle myself as an adult, I don't like the way she handles herself. We agree to disagree on everything. The fact that Chet and CJ had gotten into it, I was like, "You're attacking my brother, so I have to hit you where it hurts." It was personal but it was a game as well. Brooklyn is a good team and they can sneak up on you, which we've been seeing lately.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Was it your fault your team didn't eat enough baklava or was it tough for everyone to get them down in such a short amount of time?
A. Jasmine: The whole thing is when they came up with the number 51, I said, "There is no way in hell we're going to eat 51 baklava." I'm not a sweets person at all. We had tried it before but I knew I didn't like it. I said, "I'm [probably going to eat 3 or 4," and for some reason, Jonna decides to write 51. I definitely ate my share, don't know what happened. It really sucked.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Do you regret your decision to step up for Jonna and compete, since you're not the one sitting at home?
A. Jasmine: I still stand by that choice to do that. It actually took us two days to decide that. We had decided who would take what and I had said I would do physical, but Jonna said, "I'm not going to let you take that, that's something I should do." We always agreed that CJ and Jonna would do the games together, and Derek and I would do them. When Jonna said she didn't want to go in, I didn't want it to be a huge issue for our team.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: How do you feel about Derek and Jonna's chances from here?
A. Jasmine: I'm really confident in Derek and Jonna, they've known each other for a really long time. I'm really confident in them, I think they're going to do really great. I'm Team Cancun all the way, I can totally see them winning it. They just really need to stick together because everyone is going to be after them. The girls were not happy that Jonna did not step up.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What are you up to now?
A. Jasmine: I actually am getting ready to graduate with my Bachelor's this December and I definitely want to get into my career. I have my degree in Mass Communications. I work for a modeling agency in Houston right now and I want to be more career oriented from here.

 

 

The Challenge: Battle of the Seasons airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on MTV.

 

(Image courtesy of MTV)

 

 

Follow Gina @ginascarpa