When did Michael “Eyebrows” Guerriero leave Tough as Nails?
Mikey left sometime between the second and third episodes of season 2. While he was there for the first Overtime Challenge of the season, he did not join his team of Savage Crew when they arrived at the Team Challenge the next day.
Why did Michael “Eyebrows” Guerriero leave Tough as Nails?
Tough as Nails has yet to make a statement about Mikey’s departure. On the show, host Phil Keoghan simply told the contestants that he “had to go home,” without any further detail or mention of the subject. That being said, here are some theories that fans have come up with:
He had an issue back at home.
When Phil said, “He had to go home,” he could have literally meant that something came up in Mikey’s family. Considering how much he has talked passionately about his family, especially his four children, it makes sense why he would leave at the first sign of there being trouble at home. However, you would think the show would make mention of that if he chose to leave for a personal matter.
He was removed for pushing a contestant.
Mikey drew his own eyebrows when, during the Team Challenge in Episode 2, he shoved the other team’s lobster traps and incidentally sent fellow contestant Patrick “Freight Train” Hargan into the water. In the moment and on social media, people were not happy with Mikey’s behavior, and fans speculated that he was removed off-camera for the incident. But if that was the case, Phil could have made more mention of it, using him as a lesson to the other contestants to keep their hands off each other.
He was removed due to an injury.
Mikey’s fellow contestant Tara Alverson was not allowed to continue on the show after a previous hand injury flared up. The last episode saw Mikey take a hard fall on his back during the Individual Challenge, leaving him physically winded. It is possible that, like Tara, he was checked out by the doctors and wasn’t medically cleared to continue. However, considering Phil made mention of Tara’s injury when announcing her departure, you would think he’d do the same thing with Mikey if that was the case.
He broke the show’s COVID-19 protocol.
Tough as Nails had to create and enforce an incredibly rigorous set of COVID-19 rules to protect the health and safety of the cast and crew while filming the season. As such, any small slip-up would mean expulsion from the show, since they stand a chance of putting the whole production in danger. It’s possible that Mikey broke the quarantine “bubble” the cast was part of in some way, leading to his forced removal from the show.
What did Phil Keoghan say about Michael ‘Eyebrows’ Guerriero’s departure?
During an interview on “Rob Has a Podcast,” Phil spoke up about Mikey’s off-camera departure from the show, saying that he had broken a production rule off-camera. “It’s very important for us to have a respectful environment on the set,” he said. “That’s a priority for us. We do have some zero-tolerance rules. Behind the scenes, he unfortunately broke one of those rules, and that’s why he’s not competing on the show anymore. That’s really it.”
Who else left Tough as Nails season 2?
Mikey was not the only one to depart the show this season. Mariner Tara Alverson became the first person eliminated from the individual competition last week after her hand injury prevented her from finishing the Overtime Challenge. After her elimination, she was checked out by the show’s medical staff and was not cleared to continue, even in the team competition. She left the show alongside Mikey. Next, did Mike Rowe’s mom get him a Facebook TV show?
