"Weaponized my past trauma" — The Challenge star Cara Maria Sorbello reveals Laurel Stucky "mimicked past abuse"

The Challenge Season 40 aired Episode 5 on Wednesday, September 18, 2024, and saw Laurel Stucky and Cara Maria Sorbello get into a screaming match. The fight ended with the latter in tears while security had to intervene to break the two up.

After the episode aired, Cara Maria took to TikTok to explain her emotional reaction and what wasn't shown in the final cut. In a nine-minute-long video, she explained how the fight started and what Laurel said that resulted in her crying.

"In essence, she mimicked past abuse that I have endured while towering over me and screaming at me saying "I had your back when—" she basically weaponized my past trauma, pulled it out of nowhere," Cara Maria said.

The Challenge Season 40 star added that Laurel triggered "something deep" inside of her that she didn't know "was there to set off."

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The Challenge: Battle of the Eras star Cara Maria details her argument with Laurel Stucky

The Challenge season 40 star Cara Maria Sorbello (Image via TikTok/@misscaramaria)

The Challenge: Battle of the Eras cast member Cara Maria took to TikTok to share the details of her fight with Laurel Stucky. Explaining why she started crying during the argument, the cast member said the latter weaponized her trauma and "lit" a bomb.

Cara stated when Laurel screamed at her and talked about things that happened to her in the past while "mimicking it," it "unleashed Cara Maria. She stated that she went into "another mental state."

"It's one thing to yell and say "Oh, you're worthless, nobody likes you, I'm never going to be your friend or what would I—" that's fine and I can deal with that all day," she said.

The Challenge: Battle of the Eras star stated it was another thing to "weaponize abusive trauma" from her past and use it in an argument. Cara Maria said Laurel Stucky almost reenacted it. She added that she had "blacked out" and found herself sobbing "even more uncontrollably."

She praised her fellow cast members for surrounding her with love after the fight. The Challenge Season 40 contestant said that it was "such a beautiful feeling" because she felt supported. While criticizing Laurel, she said that the cast member was "always going to be Laurel" and she thought it was "punishment enough."

The Challenge Season 40 star stated that after the fight, security followed Laurel around for days. She added they wanted to ensure she stayed away from Cara Maria. She revealed that she asked to speak to a therapist because of her "visceral triggering reaction."

Chiming in on some of the cast members' confessional about her and Laurel's dynamics and Johnny Bananas stating she and Laurel were like "sisters." Cara Maria said both of them were only children and it was not the way to treat someone they cared about. She added sisters had "good intentions" for each other which was not the case.

"Her intentions are to keep me down, to keep me below her, to play games with my head, to manipulate me, which I think was another reason why would bring up such a horrible moment in my life, one of my lowest moments," she said.

The Season 40 star called Laurel a "liar" and a "hypocrite." She commented on Laurel's comment towards Michele Fitzgerald and that they would never be friends. She said her issues with the Survivor alum rooted in Michele voting her into elimination "years ago" but in the same episode, Laurel said she didn't understand why Cara Maria was upset that she voted for her in Episode 1.

The Challenge: Battle of the Eras airs episodes weekly on Wednesdays on MTV.