Tonya Cooley Alleged in 2011 That She Was Assaulted While Filming 'The Challenge'

MTV's The Challenge has delighted viewers for years, pitting reality stars against one another in a variety of, well, challenges. The story of Tonya Cooley and her experience on the show is much more tragic, though, and involves some incredibly serious allegations.

After more than a decade of appearing in a variety of reality TV shows, Tonya was kicked off of The Ruins season of The Challenge and filed a lawsuit over her dismissal. Here's what she claimed in the lawsuit.

In 2011, Tonya filed a lawsuit claiming sexual harassment, wrongful termination, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, and sexual battery. The lawsuit alleged that Kenny Santucci and Evan Starkman, two fellow contestants on the show, had raped her with a toothbrush when she was passed out.

The lawsuit also made other allegations, saying that the show's producers “encouraged and condoned male contestants to mistreat females, usually in a sexually offensive matter.”

It also said that producers plied contestants with a lot of alcohol and only a little food to “encourage the participants to engage in scandalous behavior that would increase viewer ratings. Participants were encouraged to be more outrageous than others so that they would be filmed more often. Participants who were more often filmed were more regularly called back for subsequent seasons.”

The case never went to trial and was settled in 2012 for an undisclosed amount. BuzzFeed spoke with Tonya after the settlement, and she explained that she was unable to discuss anything that happened on The Ruins, but said that she was being self-destructive at that time.

“I was drinking too much and it … stopped being a game of sport for me and I [made] some unhealthy choices,” she explained.

BuzzFeed also spoke to other cast members on that season of The Ruins who were around for the alleged rape, and those contestants say that Tonya's lawsuit may have misrepresented events to some extent.

“My bunk bed and Tonya’s bunk were basically right next to each other,” Johnny "Bananas" Devenanzio said. “Tonya was laid out, passed out on the bed, the toothbrush was brought out.”

Johnny said that, while a picture was taken of Kenny and Evan with the toothbrush and Tonya passed out, the implement never actually came close to her. “They were guilty of hijinks and playing pranks, but nothing even close to what they were accused of," he added.

Sarah Patterson also weighed in, saying that while the actions were inappropriate, they probably didn't constitute the kind of assault that Tonya was alleging.

“I, as somebody who is an advocate for sexual abuse victims, would not call that sexual violence. Nobody ever penetrated anybody with a toothbrush. That didn’t happen. Were the actions inappropriate? Yes. Were they illegal and rape? No," she said.

Tonya now owns a salon and said that she struggled with alcohol abuse after her time on the show. Now, though, she is apparently clean and sober.