Two-time “Challenge” champ Cara Maria Sorbello and “Big Brother 13” winner Rachel Reilly have landed their first movie roles together.

*The Challenge *and *Big Brother *winners are teaming up for a holiday rom-com — here’s who they’ll play

Two-time "Challenge" champ Cara Maria Sorbello and "Big Brother 13" winner Rachel Reilly have landed their first movie roles together.

By Sydney Bucksbaum

Sydney Bucksbaum

Sydney Bucksbaum is a staff writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2019 and is a published author. Her work has previously appeared in *TV Guide Magazine*, E! News/E! Online, *The Hollywood Reporter*, Mashable, Bustle, IGN, DCComics.com, Inverse, *The Daily Northwestern*, and more.

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December 22, 2025 8:29 p.m. ET

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Cara Maria Sorbello on 'The Challenge,' Rachel Reilly on 'Big Brother'. Credit:

*The Challenge *winner, Cara Maria Sorbello, and *Big Brother *winner, Rachel Reilly, are trading in reality TV for scripted fiction for their next project.

* *has learned that the two reality competition veterans are starring together in a holiday rom-com movie.

Sorbello, who has won two seasons of MTV's long-running reality competition series, and Reilly, who won *Big Brother* season 13 (as well as *Celebrity Fear Factor *and* Snake in the Grass*), will play fictionalized versions of themselves in the upcoming film *Mistletoe Mansion.*

Cara Maria Sorbello on 'The Challenge'.

Jonne Roriz/Paramount+

The meta-romantic comedy takes place within a fake reality TV show called* The 12 Dates of Christmas.* Sorbello and Reilly will star as the hosts who disagree on the creative direction of the season when the bachelorette, Ava Cleary, develops unexpected feelings for her talent handler, Luke Sheppard.

According to the official description, Sorbello's character is "drama-seeking" and "pushes for a traditional reality TV ending, whereas Reilly's host is more "romantically inclined" and pushes for Ava to follow her heart instead.

Cara Maria says Laurel 'mimicked past abuse' in unseen 'The Challenge' footage

'Big Brother' star Rachel Reilly addresses controversial exit

Reilly's role draws from her real-life "showmance" with her husband, Brendon Villegas, on *Big Brother. *The couple met on their first season together, *Big Brother 12*, and their relationship made them a target early on. They both returned as a duo in season 13, with Reilly ultimately winning the top prize.

*Mistletoe Mansion* is written and directed by Candice "Candy" Cain (*A Jar Full of Christmas, A Holiday Homecoming*), and begins filming Jan. 10th, 2026.

Rachel Reilly on 'Big Brother'.

Sorbello, 39, first debuted on *The Challenge: Fresh Meat II* in 2010 as a new recruit partnered with four-time winner Darrell Taylor. She has since returned for 16 additional seasons across MTV and Paramount+, reaching the final 10 on six occasions and winning twice, becoming the first woman to win a solo season of the series. She also won the charity spinoff season *Champs vs. Pros* in 2017, and appeared on Fox's *99 to Beat* in September.

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Reilly, 41, first debuted on *Big Brother* in 2010 and returned for two additional seasons, winning once. In addition to her wins on *Celebrity Fear Factor *and* Snake in the Grass*, she also competed on two seasons of *The Amazing Race *with her husband and one season with her sister, Elissa Slater. She also appeared on *The Traitors *and* Worst Cooks in America.*

In the scripted world, Reilly has recurred as a waitress on the CBS soap opera *The Bold and the Beautiful *since 2010. Meanwhile, Sorbello has previously appeared in many of filmmaker Cain's previous projects, including *A Jar Full of Christmas *and the TV series *Welcome to Hope.*

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