Sarasota and Siesta Key natives team up on 'The Challenge'

Alyssa Lopez and Alyssa Snider share more in common than first names.

They are both former contestants on the reality TV series "Big Brother" and both hail from the same area — Lopez from Sarasota and Snider from Siesta Key.

And now, they represent their hometowns while playing on the same team on "The Challenge: USA." The CBS reality series brings together contestants from various other reality shows on the channel for a competition designed to test participants physically and mentally. 

The show resulted in Snider and Lopez meeting for the first time and forming a close friendship. Lopez, who appeared on "Big Brother" in 2021, was able to guide Snider through the experience of leaving that show, which she appeared on in 2022. 

Both contestants said filming "Big Brother," which involves participants being locked in a home together for 100 days, was a mentally exhausting experience. 

Not that participating in "The Challenge: USA" is anything less than challenging. The competitions on the show, which has completed filming in Croatia but is currently airing, have included hauling a 100-pound statue uphill, among other similarly grueling exercises.

Alyssa Snider

Snider said ever since she was a child, she felt she would one day appear on reality TV, but she was still intimidated joining "The Challenge."

“I didn't win a single competition on 'Big Brother,' so I felt like I had something to prove," she said.

Whenever she feels stressed, she tells everyone that she is in her “happy place,” watching the sunset in the park at Marina Jack. She recalls an answer she once gave when participants on "Big Brother" were asked to discuss what they most missed from home. 

Photo by Aaron Smith, courtesy of Paramount

“I'm like, I miss Sarasota sunsets, because there is literally nothing better than a Sarasota sunset, and I will die on that hill,” she said. 

She describes herself as “a pretty anxious person,” but said she couldn’t ask for a better companion that Alyssa Lopez.

“Having somebody who understands me, and 'Big Brother,' and 'The Challenge' is something that's irreplaceable,” she said, calling the two a team who always look out for each other and everyone else and saying that Lopez’s strong and commanding voice inspires her as well.

Snider works out six days a week, but that didn’t stop her from feeling humbled by challenges like a capsizing, which saw her swimming through ice cold water as she nearly sank beneath the weight of a helmet and boots.

“I would have to say that physically, that is one of the hardest things I've ever had to endure,” she said. “After that challenge, I just cried for like 30 minutes because I was like, I cannot believe I just did that.”

Snider said she endured by taking her “me” time, making sure she carved out an hour a day for herself. She enjoyed writing in a journal.

The best part of the experience, she said, was meeting personalities like longtime contestant Johnny Devenanzio, also known as Johnny Bananas.

In her personal life, Snider is a Pilates instructor. She also enjoys writing poetry, which she said allows her to exercise her softness and sensitivity. She volunteers with Olive Branch Animal Rescue, because she loves animals “literally more than anything.”

Alyssa Lopez

Alyssa Lopez, who hails from Sarasota, describes herself as possessing a small frame and far from an imposing figure physically.

Yet while her role pits her against contestants who have competed for many seasons, she decided to return to "The Challenge: USA" after appearing in Season 1 in 2022.

“I’m just a girl from Sarasota that likes to work out sometimes, so being able to push myself in those types of physical challenges is definitely rewarding, and meeting new people and making new relationships, and the traveling, are the main three things for me, and what keeps me coming back,” she said.

Photo by Aaron Smith, courtesy of Paramount

Lopez, who currently lives in Tampa, was born at Sarasota Memorial Hospital and spent her childhood between Sarasota and Bradenton.

“It's definitely cool to have Sarasota on the map," she said. "Whatever they ask me, ‘I’m Alyssa, from "Big Brother," from Sarasota.’ So it's cool to be able to show people where I grew up, and show people how pretty it is and how nice it is, and make it more of a staple city.”

As it has for Snider, the friendship the two area natives have formed made the trials of the experience easier.

“We already kind of had a connection and almost like an alliance within itself, to look out for each other,” Lopez said.

One of the most terrifying challenges for Lopez took place in Season 1 and involved answering questions from a platform on the side of a 30-story building. Participants who answered incorrectly would be sent into free fall down the side of the building, before being caught by a rope.

“The fact that I even went on to that platform and did it is beyond me,” she said.

Photo by Jonne Roriz, courtesy of Paramount

Lopez said she recommends the show to people who don't take things too personally, are looking to push themselves past their comfort zone and are trying to prove to themselves or others that they can physically face many challenges and obstacles.

Outside "The Challenge," Lopez manages the business she founded, Key Influencer Agency, which helps influencers reach out to brands to create partnerships. She enjoys being outside with her dogs, visiting friends, and trying to stay social. 

“With 'The Challenge,' you just never know what to expect. You just know to expect to be terrified,” she said.