The Real World/Road Rules Battle of the Sexes

"Battle of the Sexes" is the sixth season of the "Real World/Road Rules Challenge", airing in 2003. It took place in Montego Bay, Jamaica. In this show, each challenge gave points based on finish, either with a partner or alone. After each challenge, the top three from each team became the "Inner Circle" and voted off whoever they wanted to. The winner of each challenge would earn a "lifesaver" which could be given to a member of either team; the recipient of the "lifesaver" would enjoy total immunity from being voted out, which created many interesting situations.

Cast

Host: Olympic skier and Nagano gold-medal winner Jonny Moseley.

Game summary

*¹ Quit instead of being voted off
*² Refused to accept Lifesaver

Scoreboard by episode

Bold indicates Inner Circle

*^? Contestant was in the inner circle but their score for the episode is unknown.

Memorable moments

* Before the show even began, Puck and David Edwards, both of whom were kicked out of their house by their roommates during their respective seasons, got into a verbal squabble. This squabble ended with Puck spitting in David E.'s face. David E. demanded Puck be ejected, but producer Jon Murray negotiated an end to the squabble without resorting to Puck's ejection. Half of the cast rallied to keep Puck on the show, while half of the cast did not care if he went home. David later quit the show.
* Rachel was voted off by the Inner Circle, which many (including herself) believed to be unfair. She then proceeded to deliver a rant in which she declared, "This game is ugly, the inner circle is ugly, and I don't want to be a part of it anymore.....Peace!"
* Puck and Ellen were constantly arguing during the show. Puck had physically threatened her, telling Ellen that if she doesn't beat it, he's going to "kick her ass".
* A feud erupted between Veronica and Emily because Veronica allegedly slept with Emily's boyfriend James while he was helping her move into her apartment.
* Emily's desire for revenge against people she had clashed with caused both Veronica and Rachel to be voted off, which caused controversy on the women's team. Ellen and Ruthie took the downfall of the Rachel vote-off, which made them very upset.
* Puck married his girlfriend, Betty, and mother of his infant son, Bogart, during the show. A special episode was aired that depicted the wedding, without any challenges or eliminations. Ellen, Tonya, Melissa, and Amaya were the only players in the game at that point who did not attend the wedding, abstaining out of protest after Ellen claimed that Puck threatened her.
* There was controversy in the final mission caused when the men completed their puzzle by observing the one the women were working on, but this was not considered cheating under the rules, and was therefore not disallowed.
* Melissa had developed a deep animosity toward her former roommate Julie over speaking arrangements that the cast performed outside the series. Melissa claimed that Julie misrepresented her services to schools and thereby prevented her from being booked. Upon arriving to the show, Melissa made it clear that they were no longer friends. This argument continued onto MTV's website for the show and their own respective websites, where each aired her side of the story.
* Puck left after trashing the residence when his wife was detained at departure from Jamaica for not having her green card. Because the teams had to be symmetrical, the previously voted off male, Dan, was put back in the game. The women were thrilled to see him return, but he only lasted one round before getting voted out again.
* David Edwards, Jake, Puck and Emily were not voted off. David E. left because of Puck, Jake got tired of the challenge and quit, Puck left as described above, and Emily left when James was voted off.
* During one challenge, Antoine began to hit on one of the judges while still involved with the competition. He was lying down in a pool of water, so he was wearing his challenge issued speedo. The revealing swimsuit led the judge to tell Antoine "nice boner" while she couldn't stop laughing.
* In the final mission, titled "It Takes Three", the men had an early lead until they got to the second part of the challenge: a puzzle. Their difficulty with it led to the women catching up and figuring it out quickly. The men went over to the women's puzzle and took it apart piece by piece, since it was still intact and put theirs together using the portions of theirs that had already been completed. Once finished, the men caught up with the women and won by an hour.
*Gladys was pregnant and was voted off episode 5 because of that.

Trivia

* The Round Hill Hotel and Villas, the hotel where the Challenge took place, was also the site of a Pit Stop in the seventh season of CBS's "The Amazing Race".

External links

* [http://roadrules.mtv.com MTV's official "Road Rules" website]
* [http://www.mtv.com/onair/realworld/ MTV's official "Real World" website]