Trigger Warning: This story contains mentions of suicidal ideation and sexual assault. 

Former Challenge star Kenny Santucci is claiming that sexual assault allegations made against him in 2011 by former castmate Tonya Cooley made him consider taking his own life at one point.    

Kenny recently shared on the Rare in NY podcast that the backlash from the lawsuit— which included him being “cancelled” by MTV— l led to a lot of “soul searching” and “dark nights” for him, as well as suicidal thoughts. (Kenny did not mention the incident or Tonya by name, as he is not legally allowed to.)     

As The Ashley reported in 2011, Tonya filed a lawsuit against Kenny and fellow cast member Evan Starkman, as well as MTV and Bunim-Murray Productions, claiming that she was sexually assaulted by Kenny and Evan while filming The Challenge: The Ruins in 2009. 

In the lawsuit, Tonya claimed that she got drunk and passed out in ‘The Challenge’ house one night and that Evan and Kenny proceeded to take off her bikini top and squirt lotion on her, before taking another male castmate’s toothbrush and rubbing it around and inside of her genitals. 

Tonya claimed the alleged assault occurred while she was passed out and unaware of what was going on. She also claimed that Kenny and Evan carried out the sexual assault while MTV cameras were rolling and that show producers knew about the incident but failed to tell her about it.

(Tonya also claimed in her lawsuit that other female cast members were “stripped of their bathing suits and that male cast members were encouraged by producers to inappropriately touch female cast members’ bodies, including in intimate areas.”) 

Although the case was settled out of court in 2012, Kenny and Evan have not appeared on the MTV series since the lawsuit was filed. 

In his new interview, Kenny again denied that he did the things Tonya claimed. He also revealed that the stress from the lawsuit made him consider suicide at one point.

“ … I literally wanted to f**king kill myself,” Kenny claimed. “And I’m like, if this happens, then I lose. So, I needed to figure out what could keep me going, what could keep me happy … so maybe one day, if I do get the chance to tell my story, it’s like, maybe there’s probably somebody else who could benefit from it. So for me, it was a lot of like, ‘Okay, how do I get beyond this?’” 

Kenny went on to reflect on being “cancelled,” calling it, “one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to deal with.”

Kenny explained that he could never justify someone committing the actions he was accused of on ‘The Challenge.’ 

“I can’t justify taking advantage of somebody, whether it’s a girl or a child, I think that would be the worst, but even another guy … ,” he said. “So, to be called something like that, ya know, when somebody’s like, ‘Oh, you sexually assaulted a woman,’ I’m like, ‘Okay.'”

He implied that fans wouldn’t believe him even when he denied the accusations. 

“I never wanted to feel like f**king OJ [Simpson] or somebody who’s like, ‘I didn’t do it,’ right?” he said.

Kenny went on to claim that because the allegations were made against him at a time when social media was still relatively new, he wasn’t sure how to navigate the incident or defend himself. Now, he noted, it’s common to see people confront rumors or allegations on social media and then move on. Kenny insists that this wasn’t an option for him back in 2011 for multiple reasons. 

“ … the attorneys for MTV and stuff at the time were like, ‘Don’t say anything, just keep your mouth shut,’” he recalled. “So I’m like, all right. Now I’m a 26-, 27-year-old kid. I don’t know what the f**k to say, you know?”  

Kenny insisted that he wanted the case to go to trial, but MTV and the producers wanted to settle the lawsuit and move on from the incident as quickly— and cheaply— as possible. 

“This didn’t happen, so I don’t care if it goes to court,” he said. “They don’t want to go to court because that’s a bigger bill for them. So everything, if you know anything about the court system, it’s like, ‘How do we squash this before we go to court? How do we make this cheaper and faster and effective for everyone involved?’ And through this whole time, which is a two-year process, I’m getting called every f**king name in the book, [my] character’s destroyed, I can’t get a job … .” 

While Kenny and Evan no longer appear on ‘The Challenge,’ they maintain friendships with some of the show’s cast, including Johnny Bananas, who also competed on ‘The Ruins’ in 2009.  

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Kenny and Evan last competed on The Challenge: Rivals in 2011, while Tonya did not return to the reality series after ‘The Ruins.’ 

Watch a clip from Kenny’s podcast interview below. 

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RELATED STORY: ‘The Challenge’ Star Tony Raines Celebrates One-Year Sobriety Following 2025 Drunk Driving Arrest 

(Photos: MTV; Instagram)