Rachel Robinson explains why she finally came back for The Challenge: All Stars 4

Warning: This article contains spoilers for the first two episodes of The Challenge: All Stars 4.

The Challenge legend Rachel Robinson is finally back.

The two-time champion has long been regarded as one of the best to ever compete on MTV's long-running franchise, but it's been more than 13 years since she was last seen exiting Battle of the Exes early. It was an unfit ending for the fan-favorite champ. But after an extended time away, Rachel has returned to reclaim her title as the best of the best on The Challenge: All Stars 4.

"It definitely feels meant to be," Rachel tells Entertainment Weekly. "One of the reasons why I wanted to come back is because I wanted to show and prove to myself that I am still at the top of my game. This is an important statement for women in their 40s, because I was an amazing competitor in my 20s, but I firmly believe I'm actually a better competitor now."

That's a bold statement for someone who was already at the top of the game back in the 2000s, but she's standing on business when she says it now. "At this point, there's nothing that this game is going to do to make me question who I am," Rachel says. "I am definitely still one of the best competitors in the game, period. I'm talking past, present, and future. And that's cool to come back after a decade and still feel like you are still one of the top in the game."

It's not hard to imagine that, if Rachel had continued to compete on The Challenge over the past decade, she'd have a lot more than two championship titles. And she admits she's been called for basically every season since her last appearance. "I'm pretty much on the automatic dial list for all the Challenges," she says. But she explains that real life always came first for her. "I never made any grand statement of retirement," she adds. "I always imagined, once my children were old enough and my life was more in the position for me to come back to The Challenge, that I would. And all the cards aligned and all the stars aligned for All Stars 4."

As for what finally got her back after all these years? Dipping her toes back into the Challenge community by hosting The Challenge Workout series the past two years definitely helped. "It brought me back into the umbrella of working with friends again, seeing the crew, and I started getting the itch," Rachel says. "And then I have to give credit to my best friends, Veronica [Portillo] and Tina [Barta] — seeing them on All Stars 3 together didn't really feel complete. I was like, 'I've got to complete the circle.'"

Seeing the iconic BFF (or "mean girl," depending on who you ask) trio back together again for the first time in almost 20 years since their last shared appearance in 2005's Inferno II is something that even Rachel knows is a huge moment for the franchise. "When we had such a hold on the game 18 years ago when we did it together, it was such a special time," she says. "But I don't think any of us envisioned that that would be the last time we were all together for the next almost 20 years. For sure, having Tina and Veronica there was absolutely a selling point, 100 percent."

She smiles as she adds, "And you guys will see what happens — we definitely don't skip a beat in the sense of how we align with each other and we'll go to bat for each other. We definitely do come out swinging. Fans are going to get everything they want out of the three of us, and they're definitely going to see it right away."

But it wasn't as easy for the trio to run the game like they had in the past. "There's a lot of different kinds of people in the game, and there's a lot of more newer age people on All Stars 4," Rachel says. "Kam [Williams] being there did add an element of this newer gameplay mentality where it's less about riding it out with your ride or die till the end and more about winning at all costs. You will see how that plays out."

Looking at all the power players assembled on this season's cast, many fans might think that Rachel would want to target specific people from the jump. But that's not how Rachel played in the past, and it's definitely not how she's playing now. "I'm a woman's woman, so I'm not going to come in and be like, 'I want to take out Cara [Maria Sorbello],' or, 'I want to take out Laurel [Stucky]' — I didn't come in trying to take out the strongest competitors," she says. "And once we learn there's only one winner, I, just as the woman I am, want a woman to win. So I wasn't trying to set up the strongest women in the house to fail. I felt that if we could all work together, we could settle this in the final."

And she put her money where her mouth is right away. "In fact, I actually said that to Cara and Laurel the first week in the house," Rachel says. "And their history is obviously extremely complicated and I don't need to get involved in it, but I basically sat them both down and said, 'I'm happy to settle this in the final if you both are,' and of course, we all looked at each other and shook hands and winked and went on. Now, if that lasts or not, we'll have to see. But that was where my head was at."

Having competed on some of the more controversial seasons of The Challenge, Rachel is no stranger to seeing how women take a back seat to the men in this franchise. And she's determined now more than ever to switch that up. "The men get all of the glory from the show, and the women get the backlash," she explains. "The, 'You're too strong, you're too loud, you're too bitchy, you're too victimized,' whatever it is, it's always 'too something.' So my mission now is to make sure that women get their credit when it comes to The Challenge, because the truth is that on our backs, the ratings have soared. And you will see, hands down, when you watch All Stars 4, why the women deserve their flowers when it comes to the success of The Challenge, and that's something I'm super proud of."

The first two episodes prove Rachel already has a lot to be proud of in her return. She's one of only three women to have won a star, which makes her eligible to run the final. But it was a hard-fought win in that first endurance/puzzle daily challenge.

"Let me tell you, I came back from f---ing down, too," Rachel says. "That first [puzzle piece] took me all eight tries. I was going back and forth just for that first one to work. It's only because of my in-shape endurance that I was able to catch up to everybody, because I was really one of the only people able to run the hill. A lot of people were walking. It was like a 20 incline. And it was the hottest day. It was like heat stroke, crazy s--- happening to cast members. But we made it through."

Will she continue to make it through to the end of the season? Find out as new episodes of The Challenge: All Stars 4 debut Wednesdays on Paramount+.

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