The Challenge: Officially, Fessy changed his name so that people could learn to pronounce his actual name, but fans and trolls have speculated other reasons for his name change.
MTV’s The Challenge has returned with its thirty-eighth season themed “Ride or Dies”. This is a first for the reality show as it saw returning contestants being able to choose their own partners to compete with during the competition.
While the season already started with drama with the exit of vet Kaycee Clark and her brother, another dramatic moment was when vet Fessy was credited with a different name.
The reality star took to social media to claim that this was so that fans and trolls would “know the correct way” to pronounce his name. But trolls have other ideas why “Messy” Fessy would do this.
How many seasons of The Challenge has Fessy been on?
Fessy is now considered a vet on The Challenge. The Big Brother 20 alum has been part of four seasons of the reality show, in which reality television alumni compete for prizes during a range of gruelling challenges.
His first season on The Challenge was with “Total Madness” and his second was the “Double Agents” themed season.
Both seasons having reached the final, but unable to compete in the finals of “Double Agents”, he returned in season 27 themed “Lies, Spies and Allies” before returning for the fourth time in the current season.
The Challenge: Why did Fessy change his name?
Throughout his four-season run, Fessy has been considered one of the biggest physical strength threats in the competition due to his physique and athletic ability.
He has also garnered a reputation as an instigator and a gaslighter, which had earned him the nickname “Messy” Fessy.
Hence, when he returned in “Ride or Dies” and was addressed as Faysal Shafaat, instead of his established name, Fessy, viewers were quick to take to social media to ask why this was the case.
Fessy addressed the matter himself via his Twitter account with a slightly passive aggressive retort to the question.
His retort was seemingly addressing cyberbullies on social media as he started the tweet by writing, “Figured since all y’all be having my name in your mouth going on 5 years…”
He then asserted that Fessy was a name that he promoted because it is synonymous with his fitness app, Fessy Fitness. But now he was ready for the general public to “know the correct way to pronounce” his real name, Faysal.
While his intention may have been to address the matter head on, it seemed to only fuel the continued backlash he received on social media from cyberbullies, especially since he is still referred to by his nickname in the two episodes of “Ride or Dies” that have aired to date.
Social media speculate on the real reason Fessy changed his name
After Fessy addressed why he is being called a different name in the new season of The Challenge, social media users on Twitter took to the comments section to speculate on the real reason.
The biggest retort to his tweet was the suggestion that he was attempting to distance himself from his contentious nickname, “Messy Fessy”.
Moreover, fans highlighted that his first name was actually Shawn and not Faysal, and that maybe that is the name that he should have gone by if his intention is to distance himself from the “Messy” Fessy nickname.
What are the names of Fessy’s allies?
In returning to this season of The Challenge, Fessy already has a couple of allies with whom he had established a relationship during his previous appearances.
The first was with fellow Big Brother 20 alum, Kaycee Clark, who won season 37 and returned a champion with her brother as her “Ride or die” Kenny Clark.
The second was with fellow vet, Nelson Thomas, with whom he had formed a friendship during his previous season.
However, Fessy lost his friend and trusted ally, Kaycee, early in the season as she exited the season during the season premiere episode.
Why did Kaycee Clark leave?
A fan-favourite and vet, Kaycee Clark came back to The Challenge after winning season 37.
What was her chance to claim a back-to-back championship win turned into one of the biggest surprises, as Kaycee and her brother Kenny Clark left during the season premiere episode.
While the show skimmed over the details of her departure, Kaycee has addressed the matter, stating that she left because she tested positive for COVID-19 when she travelled from the US to Argentina to be part of the new season.