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The Challenge: All Stars started with a fantastic idea, but the Og concept seriously fell off with the recent All Stars Rivals.

While the throwback concept brought intriguing pairings and a few returning OGs that made it watchable, it lost the luster that arrived with the first several seasons.

And when that fifth season arrived, The Challenge: All Stars aired on a different network, and producers changed what initially worked, seemingly frustrating many fans.

(MTV/Screenshot)

We received some OGs and then cast members from recent seasons of The Challenge, arriving from CBS or other networks’ reality TV shows.

However, I believe All Stars can keep going and it’s apparent that the man who brought this concept to life, The Godfather Mark Long, is doing his darndest to keep things moving in the right direction.

The White Lotus Is Slow, and That’s Not a Problemby Denis Kimathi Most...

The Challenge Og and Real World alum, Aneesa Ferreira, opened up about a difficult matter involving someone near and dear to her.

She shared an emotional video on Instagram, which included a “trigger warning” as it contained sensitive content that could be upsetting for others, too.

Aneesa indicated she had debated whether to open up about the topic for a while because it involved her father.

She revealed that her father has late-stage Alzheimer’s and dementia, which has been emotionally challenging for her.

However, she also shared that she chose to visit her father in Florida after several years were “taken away” from them due to other circumstances.

Her emotional video prompted castmates from The Challenge to share supportive messages and feedback.

Aneesa shared an emotional video with friends and fans

In her Instagram video, Aneesa appeared on screen speaking about the difficult emotions she was battling with as...

Ahead of MTV airing the finale for The Challenge: All Stars Rivals, Mark Long addressed the possible fate of the spin-off series.

Long, who initially debuted on MTV’s Road Rules franchise, became strongly associated with the cause to bring All Stars to life, and his vision ultimately worked.

The initial seasons featured the return of many of the MTV OGs that fans were interested in seeing again, including Trishelle Cannatella, Teck “Money” Holmes, Syrus Yarbrough, Ruthie Alcaide, Beth Stolarczyk, and Katie Cooley.

Additional seasons brought more returning characters, including Tina Barta, Cohutta Grindstaff, Casey Cooper, and Tyler Duckworth.

However, four years and five seasons later, the spin-off’s future seems unclear, as many fans have had less-than-stellar reactions to the latest installment.

Some have criticized the spin-off’s move from Paramount+ to MTV for the first time in five seasons. Others have blamed the cast and lack of entertainment.

Weeks ago, viewers saw Jenny West conquer brutal conditions in the final for The Challenge: Battle of the Eras to win her second season of MTV’s show.

Now, she’s on the mend after contracting an illness and suffering some rough-looking injuries while on a trip to Bali in Indonesia.

The injuries were the result of her falling off a scooter, leaving her with cuts and bruises on various parts of her body.

She shared a carousel post of photos to her Instagram in which she explained all that occurred and showed off some of the nasty cuts and bruises she sustained.

According to Jenny, she also contracted “some kind of parasite illness,” which kept her in bed for “2 days straight.”

After going through that, she indicated she fell off her scooter, requiring stitches, which she showed in multiple images in her post.

Jenny said she’s ‘briefly retiring...

The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras brought back some of The Challenge's best contestants from the first to the latest seasons to determine which era will emerge victorious. The 40th season premiered on MTV to high ratings last year and was arguably deemed the reality show's best season yet. Now, the iconic 40th season of The Challenge will be available to a large audience. According to Variety, The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras is set to debut on Paramount+ on April 23, 2025.

The Challenge brings together some familiar MTV faces, who all compete in a series of extreme challenges for a whopping cash prize. It started as a spin-off to The Real World and Road Rules back in 1998 and has become one of MTV's longest reality competition series. The show originally featured contestants who first appeared on the said shows and has since expanded into a bigger franchise,...

With the latest season of The Challenge: All Stars on MTV, some fans have complained about the arrival of cast members who aren’t among the OGs to the spin-off, including reality TV stars from other networks.

In the premiere season, viewers saw MTV legends like Trishelle Cannatella, Teck “Money” Holmes, Syrus Yarbrough, Kendall Shepard, Jonna Mannion, and Mark Long.

Additional seasons continued providing OGs but gradually sprinkled in more recent cast members.

Some of the other OGs included Tina Barta, Tyler Duckworth, Adam Larson, and Frank Sweeney Fox.

Mark, aka “The Godfather,” recently teased that one of the most significant stars of The Challenge’s early history could return to the show.

According to Mark and the Real World star herself, Coral Smith could return for another run at The Challenge.

Coral releases a surprise video to The Challenge fans

On Wednesday, Mark took to Instagram and released a...

Veronica Portillo rose to fame on MTV’s Road Rules and The Challenge with some memorable moments, including her heated altercations and a terrifying near-death experience during a daily challenge.

While fans rarely mention her amongst the show’s all-time greats, she’s a three-time winner, collecting victories in her first season, Challenge 2000, and two later seasons, The Gauntlet and The Inferno.

Viewers have seen her return multiple times in recent editions of The Challenge, including MTV’s Ride or Dies and All Stars Rivals.

While she couldn’t effectively use her strategies during Ride or Dies as Darrell Taylor’s teammate, she’s doing an impressive job so far on Rivals.

Her ability to play the game stands out despite potentially lacking the skills to win physical daily challenges or eliminations. Her former castmate, Wes Bergmann, believes Veronica and several castmates deserve “hazard pay.”

Another former castmate recently indicated...

Brad Fiorenza and his beard returned to The Challenge in the past several years, first competing on the All Stars spin-offs before appearing in several of MTV’s flagship seasons.

He arrived at Battle For a New Champion as one of the former winners that competed in one elimination as a mercenary. Viewers saw Kyland Young defeat him.

Brad competed on Season 40, aka Battle of the Eras, where he was part of the Era 1 team with other MTV OGs.

However, viewers saw the OGs quickly eliminated from the show, except for Rachel Robinson, who won along with Jordan Wiseley and Jenny West. Brad survived until Episode 6, when Cory Wharton eliminated him.

He didn’t return for All Stars Rivals, although some of his Season 40 castmates, including Leroy Garrett, Devin, Aneesa Ferreira, and Katie Cooley, participated.

As that season airs on MTV, Brad recently surprised everyone by debuting a fresh new...

Jonna Mannion called out several of her castmates from The Challenge: All Stars for details they gave her on the Rivals season.

On the show, cast members partner with castmates who have a rivalry or feud with them. Some of these castmates are individuals they never wanted to see again.

That was Beth Stolarczyk for Jonna due to her putting Jonna’s alleged infidelity on blast during a previous All Stars season.

Despite their differences, the two-time All Stars winner wanted to try to work with Beth to win a third season of the spinoff.

In a spoiler alert, things didn’t go well for them. They were the first team eliminated, losing to Adam Larson and Steve Meinke.

Jonna recently explained that she had no idea Beth would participate in All Stars 5 due to a few castmates.

Jonna said she thought Beth wasn’t part of All Stars 5

According to Jonna,...

Tina Barta slammed Zach Nichols and his co-host for their recent podcast remarks about her friend Veronica Portillo.

On The Challenge: All Stars 3, viewers saw MTV OGs Tina and Veronica reunite as part of a strong alliance.

Unfortunately, injuries prevented them from continuing as they might have liked deep into the season.

They returned for All Stars 4, again working together as allies. While Tina went home due to elimination, Veronica reached the final and finished fifth overall.

Since then, they veered off onto separate seasons. Tina competed in MTV’s The Challenge: Battle of the Eras as part of the show’s most extensive cast, 40 people.

Veronica is currently appearing on All Stars Rivals, where her rival teammate is Katie Cooley, another Og competitor with whom she has a history.

During the premiere, viewers didn’t see Katie’s partner with the rest of the cast. She arrived later in a dramatic run-in scene.

The Challenge: Battle of the Eras season officially concluded as eight competitors ran, or swam, through the final.

It featured a dominant performance on the men’s side, as Jordan Wiseley outdid his fellow finalists every step of the way.

The women’s side also featured strong performances, including Michele Fitzgerald showing her swimming skills.

However, the Karma Vote twist came into play later, and while it didn’t affect the men’s standings, it certainly impacted the women’s.

Host Tj Lavin revealed Michele dropped from second to third place due to her Karma points. Meanwhile, Rachel Robinson’s Karma score helped her move from third to a tie for first place with Jenny West.

Following the episode airing on MTV, Michele commented about her Season 40, in which many fans believe she was “robbed” in the final.

Michele reacts to her Season 40 after loss in the final: ‘I fought...

An episode upload issue gave some viewers early access to The Challenge: Battle of the Eras reunion, which revealed who won the show and provided other never-seen-before moments.

Part 2 of the Season 40 final airs on MTV on Wednesday, January 8. The eight competitors will battle for the win, and the reunion arrives a week or so later.

End of an Era Part 1 aired on MTV on January 1, and Jordan Wiseley became the instant leader, dominating most of the other finalists.

He left fellow competitors Johnny Bananas, Derek Chavez, and Kyland Young well behind him, leaving viewers little room to wonder who could win.

Meanwhile, the women’s side of things was less clear, as Rachel Robinson and Jenny West seemed to be performing well, but nobody was counting out Tori Deal or Michele Fitzgerald.

This report will contain spoilers, as several clips have leaked online discussing The Challenge 40 men’s and women’s winners.

Fresh Meat star Ryan Kehoe managed to win an early elimination in The Challenge: Battle of the Eras, which he was forced to compete in due to finishing last place for the men on his team.

However, he avoided subsequent eliminations during Season 40 as part of his strategy to remain in the game.

While many might see this as a smart strategy to get to the final, it drew the wrath of his castmate, Johnny Bananas.

Viewers saw them get into a verbal altercation in a recent episode over this, and then Ryan volunteered to be his team’s target after the elimination event.

During a return visit to the Zach Nichols Podcast, Ryan revealed he had an unfilmed confrontation involving Bananas that the episode footage didn’t present or mention.

It was the second time in recent weeks that a Season 40 cast member revealed they had an unaired...

Darrell Taylor had his share of fights and arguments in his earlier days on The Challenge, but fans likely didn’t expect to see him get heated in his Season 40 return.

Darrell, a four-time champion on MTV’s competition series, participated in Battle of the Eras as part of the Era 1 team.

Teammates included many other OGs and champs, such as Mark Long, Ct Tamburello, Derrick Kosinski, Jodi Weatherton, and Rachel Robinson.

However, they were up against some tough competitors, and it seemed the three other teams wanted Era 1 entirely out of the game.

One of Season 40’s unique twists involves competitors who win eliminations getting to select a target player from each team.

After Darrell won, he got to select one female from each of the four teams and decided upon Laurel Stucky from Era 2, seemingly upsetting her.

Laurel and Darrell had a heated exchange in Season 40

When castmates...

The Challenge: Battle of the Eras features a cast of 40 competitors, making it difficult for episodes to show every moment fans might like to see from the filming.

MTV’s 40th season has featured some dramatic and surprising moments in the episodes, several of which surfaced online afterward.

Among those unaired moments were a “bus fight” between Ct Tamburello and Theo Campbell and an argument involving Devin Walker and Michele Fitzgerald.

Another unaired fight during the Season 40 filming involved Tina Barta and her castmate, Johnny Bananas.

The Challenge: Battle of the Eras trailer, which rolled out before the season premiered, teased Tina blasting a castmate in one scene. She’s shown seated between her Era 1 teammates, Derrick Kosinski and Rachel Robinson.

“How many people f***in’ hate you?” Tina yells at an unseen castmate during the scene.

unseen fight between tina and bananas...

Brad Fiorenza is a legend for The Challenge, but anyone could see that he struggled mightily in Season 40. This was The Challenge: Battle of the Eras, and Brad admits that he suffered through a traumatic experience while shooting that season of the hit reality TV series.

Here is what Brad said about that specific season.

Brad Fiorenza Suffered “Sleepless Nights” On The Challenge

Brad Fiorenza competed in The Challenge: Battle of the Eras, which was Season 40 of the hit MTV reality TV competition series. He was part of the Era 1 team, along with names like Chris “Ct” Tamburello, Rachel Robinson, Mark Long, and Tina Barta.

Brad on The Challenge | YouTube

This was his first full-time appearance since The Challenge: Final Reckoning in Season 32. While Brad had high hopes, things didn’t go well, and he ended up going home after Episode 6. He did last longer than Chris “Ct” Tamburello,...

Tina Barta isn’t one to hold back regarding her thoughts on The Challenge, and the Og cast member erupted on her castmate on her final episode of Season 40.

The most recent installment saw the Era 1 team targeted again after multiple injuries and eliminations had already significantly reduced their squad.

They were down to four competitors for the daily challenge, whereas other teams had multiple players sitting out to even the odds.

While Era 1 achieved the best time in the event, Tina’s unfortunate mistake resulted in a five-minute penalty for her team.

That ultimately put her and teammate Darrell Taylor up for elimination due to their poor performance, but Tina felt that the winning team’s players would spare them.

However, Era 3’s Jordan Wiseley and Nia Moore gave the daily event’s worst-performing teams’ players, Era 4’s Kyland Young and Michele Fitzgerald, the favorable matchup they wanted, sending...

The Challenge fans might’ve reasonably expected Era 1 to be the one to beat on Season 40 a.k.a. Battle of the Eras, but that has decidedly not been the case. Instead, the Challenge elders have seen their team absolutely decimated, with every single week’s arena costing them a number. In the first week of eliminations it was Mark Long and Katie Cooley who had to pack their bags prematurely. In week two, Jodi Weatherton said goodbye. In week three, Aneesa Ferreira went home. Then, in week four, everyone’s favorite uncle Chris “Ct” Tamburello lost in a shocker. Coming into week five, there were just four remaining players on Era 1: Darrell Taylor, Tina Barta, Rachel Robinson, and Derrick Kosinski. So the loss of not one but two more players — despite a college-try performance in a scary daily challenge and some light bargaining efforts in the deliberation — in...

According to Brad Fiorenza, he once again wasn’t in the best headspace when he competed on The Challenge: Battle of the Eras.

Brad was part of the legendary Era 1 team on the 40-person cast, including other MTV OGs such as Chris “Ct” Tamburello, Tina Barta, Mark Long, and Rachel Robinson.

After appearing on multiple installments of The Challenge: All Stars spin-off and his mercenary guest role in MTV’s Season 39, he appeared as part of MTV’s flagship show for his first full-time season since Final Reckoning.

However, his time competing on Battle of the Eras got cut short due to his lack of strategy and success in the elimination event.

Era 3’s Cory Wharton defeated Brad in a game that involved throwing balls at speartips pointing out from a wall. Cory managed to get more of the balls he threw to stick on spears and eliminated all...

Tonight on “The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras,” a challenger must decide between righting their past wrongs or creating a new divide. Another player tries to protect a “friend” in their relationship, but only creates a problem for themself. An entire era grasps at anything to turn the game around.

This year, the longest-running reality competition series embarks on its monumental 40th season. “The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras” features 40 legendary competitors from the series’ 26-year history representing their “Challenge Era” in an epic battle for the ages where legends will collide as they strive to immortalize their names as Challenge 40 Champions and earn their share of the one million dollar prize. As usual, “The Challenge” is hosted by T.J. Lavin.

See MTV’s ‘The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras’: Cast, elimination order and everything you need to know

Here are the contestants still in contention...

Cara Maria Sorbello said her castmate, Laurel Stucky, apologized to her following The Challenge: Battle of the Eras, but apparently for self-preservation in the game.

In Episode 5, viewers saw Cara and Laurel get into a heated argument, with the latter screaming at Cara and leaving her in tears.

According to several cast members, the episode didn’t show everything, including the most extreme parts of the argument, which Cara alluded to online later.

A sneak peek for Episode 6 shows Era 2 standing together, including Laurel, Cara, Johnny Bananas, Ryan Kehoe, and others.

The group is preparing for the newest daily challenge, and this time, Laurel appears ready to work as a team.

“There definitely has been some turmoil. I’ve been the center of it. I apologized to my whole team for what happened. I did not want it to get to that level. The most important thing moving forward today...

Although Zach Nichols considers Laurel Stucky among his good friends, he said he had an issue with her behavior during The Challenge: Battle of the Eras.

Zach, who formerly appeared in multiple seasons of MTV’s competition series, was last on War of the Worlds 2 as a competitor, featuring Laurel.

Since then, he’s been away from the show, indicating issues someone involved in the show’s production has against him have prevented him from returning to the show.

However, he regularly makes his thoughts known on his Zach Nichols Podcast along with co-host Pierre Bacall.

The recent focus is on Season 40, which features many of Zach’s former friends and rivals from MTV’s 39 seasons of The Challenge.

He addressed Laurel’s behavior during the season, including her heated argument with castmate Cara Maria Sorbello in Episode 5.

Zach explains his ‘issue’ with Laurel in Season 40

“My issue is that...

The Challenge: Battle of the Eras featured the return of former winner Emily Schromm, someone many fans saw as a favorite to reach the final due to her previous success on the show.

However, her teammate, Laurel Stucky, revealed during Episode 5 that she viewed her castmate Emily as a threat to her winning the final and strategized to get rid of her.

Due to this, Laurel intentionally threw the episode’s daily challenge since Emily was one of the potential elimination candidates.

Emily went home earlier than anticipated after losing an elimination to Era 1’s Tina Barta.

She opened up about her castmate Laurel’s surprising plan to throw the daily challenge while on Johnny Bananas’ Death, Taxes and Bananas podcast.

While Emily said she wouldn’t play “victim” regarding how things worked out, she still had some things to say about their teammate and castmate’s plan against her.

The Challenge: Battle of the Eras features a star-studded cast of 40 competitors selected from the 39 seasons of MTV’s competition series.

Many of the more entertaining personalities in the show’s history are there, including Johnny Bananas, Jordan Wiseley, Amanda Garcia, and Cara Maria Sorbello.

Cara’s full-time return to Season 40 arrived after briefly returning as a mercenary on MTV’s Battle For a New Champion and had a run at the final on Paramount+’s All Stars 4.

However, her rival, Laurel Stucky, returned after winning All Stars 4 and is one of Cara’s Season 40 teammates.

An explosive scene from Episode 5 seems to show the feuding castmates in a heated altercation, with Cara on the receiving end of Laurel’s tirade.

During a recent live video chat, Nia Moore and Tina Barta defended their Battle of the Eras castmate and explained why they liked her.

Nia and Tina defend Cara...

Tonight on “The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras,” the eras must now work together to keep their team safe. A gross feast is prepared, and Tj’s new twist puts two members of each era at risk of elimination. The winners make things difficult for themselves as they struggle to agree on a decision.

This year, the longest-running reality competition series embarks on its monumental 40th season. “The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras” features 40 legendary competitors from the series’ 26-year history representing their “Challenge Era” in an epic battle for the ages where legends will collide as they strive to immortalize their names as Challenge 40 Champions and earn their share of the one million dollar prize. As usual, “The Challenge” is hosted by T.J. Lavin.

See MTV’s ‘The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras’: Cast, elimination order and everything you need to know

Here are the...

MTV’s longest-running reality competition series, “The Challenge,” embarked on its monumental 40th season on Wednesday, August 14 at 8Pm Et/Pt. “The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras” features 40 legendary competitors from the series’ 26-year history representing their “Challenge Era” in an epic battle for the ages where legends will collide as they strive to immortalize their names as Challenge 40 Champions and earn their share of the one million dollar prize.

Find out everything you need to know about “The Challenge: Battle of the Eras,” including who is in the largest cast ever, below — and scroll through the cast gallery above to see the elimination order.

When does “The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras” premiere?

This monumental season kicks off Wednesday, August 14 at 8Pm Et/Pt on MTV.

Who is in the cast?

Here is the breakdown of who will represent each era:

Challenge Competitors representing Era 1 (Seasons 1-...

The Challenge typically includes many traditions, including cast members running into the house to fight over which rooms they get and a celebratory toast to kick off each season.

Fans were likely surprised when Johnny Bananas, who was in the cast of Season 40, Battle of the Eras, didn’t give the toast he typically does when on the show.

Instead, returning MTV Og and two-time champion Rachel Robinson gave the toast and celebrated the women at the start of the epic new season.

Meanwhile, production filmed another toast that didn’t appear in the Battle of the Eras Launch Special or the premiere episode.

However, Bananas shared that footage, which he somehow obtained to reveal during the season.

He called it the “best 70 seconds of television to never make air” as it focused on his speech.

Bananas gave a toast celebrating The Challenge’s 40 seasons and former castmates

Taking to his Instagram,...

After 26 years of making its players endure some of the most physically demanding competitions in reality television history, “The Challenge” is officially over the hill.

In honor of its milestone 40th season, MTV is bringing back a record-breaking 40 contestants to face off in “The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras.”

Starting this Wednesday, the competitors will be evenly split into four eras depending on when they were introduced to the franchise — Era 1, Seasons 1-10; Era 2, Seasons 11-20; Era 3, Seasons 21-30; and Era 4, Seasons 31-39 — competing for their share of the $1 million prize.

As always, the fan-favorite veterans include representatives from “The Real World” and “Road Rules,” as well as “Fresh Meat,” “Survivor,” “Big Brother,” “Love Island,” “Exatlón,” “Survival of the Fittest” and “Are You The One?” Plus, longtime host T.J. Lavin once again returns to simultaneously encourage and berate the hopefuls, this time from Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.

The Challenge will feature multi-time champions, fierce finalists, and seasoned veterans on its epic 40-person cast for Battle of the Eras.

Johnny Bananas is among the show’s biggest stars, so it’s only fitting he’ll be one of those 40 stars competing for a share of the $1 million prize.

He’ll face other top-notch competitors and longtime castmates, including Darrell Taylor, Derrick Kosinski, Mark Long, Ct Tamburello, and Jordan Wiseley.

The cast includes other notable MTV stars such as Amanda Garcia, Aneesa Ferriera, Cara Maria Sorbello, and Leroy Garrett.

However, more than 40 people appeared on The Challenge over its 39 seasons, and fans have already mentioned significant snubs.

Bananas recently revealed one castmate he wished was part of the cast because he felt their presence was missing.

Bananas missed seeing castmate on Season 40

While speaking to US Weekly, Bananas said he missed one specific castmate most during The Challenge: Battle of the Eras filming.

Amanda Garcia has seemingly turned over a new leaf upon her arrival for The Challenge: Battle of the Eras.

Her returns come after a brief hiatus of a few MTV seasons, as she last appeared on Spies, Lies & Allies and got eliminated by rival Tori Deal.

In a Season 40 Launch Special, Amanda is among the featured cast members presented as part of the Era 3 team. However, that team also features Tori.

From the start, Amanda reiterates that she’ll never be able to like or be friends with Tori on or away from the show.

However, a few interesting segments and storylines featured The Challenge’s “devil” Amanda.

That included confessing her admiration for two of her Og castmates, Tina Barta and Rachel Robinson. She considered them the original mean girls on The Challenge who paved the way for her.

She also seemed to patch things up with another castmate...

As The Challenge: Battle of the Eras premiere approaches, multiple fans suggested that cast member Aneesa Ferreira should hang up her gear.

The MTV Og will participate with the Era 1 team in an epic cast for Season 40 of the competition series.

Other longtime MTV stars from Road Rules and Real World are among her teammates, including Chris “Ct” Tamburello, Mark Long, Rachel Robinson, Tina Barta, and Darrell Taylor.

Aneesa, 42, originally appeared as a cast member in The Real World: Philadelphia before joining The Challenge.

She’s since appeared in 17 MTV regular seasons, two of MTV’s Champs vs. Stars seasons, and the debut season of The Challenge: All Stars spin-off on Paramount+.

While she’s never won a final, she’s competed in multiple finals, with Season 38, aka Ride or Dies, her most recent. However, more than a few fans claimed it was time for her to leave the...

Cara Maria Sorbello revealed which of her castmates on MTV’s The Challenge bring the most “drama and entertainment.”

The two-time Challenge winner makes her return to MTV’s version of the competition show on Battle of the Eras.

Cara previously surfaced in Battle For a New Champion as a mercenary, appearing in just one episode for an elimination.

She then appeared in The Challenge: All Stars 4, where she was among OGs competing for prize money on the Paramount+ spinoff. Her return to competition featured several elimination wins and a runner-up finish at the final.

However, it feels like forever since she’s done an MTV season, having last appeared in War of the Worlds 2 with boyfriend Paulie Calafiore.

Interestingly enough, several individuals she said provide the most drama on The Challenge will appear as her castmates in MTV’s upcoming Season 40.

Cara Maria shares which castmates bring The Challenge...

While he’s no longer competing, Zach Nichols continues to share commentary about The Challenge’s past and present.

His Zach Nichols Podcast features guests stopping by to share their thoughts about previous MTV appearances and more recent seasons.

Zach’s friend and former castmate, Brad Fiorenza, appeared in a recent podcast episode to discuss All Stars and the upcoming Season 40.

While there, they both seemed to agree on what they felt was “one of the most iconic seasons ever” for MTV’s The Challenge.

Brad mentioned The Duel as a “classic” season he loved participating in.

Zach also mentioned the season’s “historic” cast and storylines that appeared throughout the season.

Here’s why Zach calls The Duel ‘one of the most iconic’ seasons

The Duel was MTV’s 13th season of The Challenge and aired from October 2006 into January 2007.

During a podcast clip, Brad mentioned loving The Duel,...

The Challenge: Battle of the Eras looks to revive the competition series following a season of primarily newcomers competing for the win.

While viewers saw OGs and former winners appear as mercenaries to battle main cast members in Season 39 eliminations, many legendary players return to compete for the entire Season 40.

The new installment features a cast of 40 competitors selected from the 39 seasons of MTV’s The Challenge.

Some of the heavy hitters and superstars include Cara Maria Sorbello, Chris “Ct” Tamburello, Jordan Wiseley, Johnny Bananas, Rachel Robinson, and Laurel Stucky.

Some of the cast from Season 39 also returns, including fan favorites like Nurys Mateo, Horacio Gutierrez, and Kyland Young.

While a recent trailer revealed plenty of intriguing scenes in its footage, some fans mentioned they felt it needed to show a bit more.

Fans react to Season 40 trailer’s lack of ‘drama’

On X, formerly known as Twitter, The Challenge...

The Challenge Season 40 will unleash a starstudded lineup of cast members representing the extensive history of MTV’s competition series.

Appropriately named Battle of the Eras, four teams represent four eras, each featuring 10 cast members picked from the show’s 39 seasons.

On Tuesday, the first official trailer for the new season arrived with hard-hitting moments featuring the show’s significant stars.

“We’ve chosen the toughest players in 40 seasons,” host Tj Lavin says as images of the various competitors arrive on-screen.

In the footage, viewers see the 40 stars who will step onto the playing field, including Johnny Bananas, Chris “Ct” Tamburello, Jordan Wiseley, Cara Maria Sorbello, Amanda Garcia, Tori Deal, and Tina Barta.

The trailer also teases plenty of exciting situations viewers will see, including one superstar’s potential season-ending injury and a possible heated moment as an Og calls out a castmate.

The Challenge: Battle of the Eras trailer...

The all-vets season of “The Challenge” is officially here. In the exclusive first trailer for Season 40, “Battle of the Eras,” host Tj Lavin returns to present new twists and tougher competition than ever.

“Era I started it all. Era II introduced Fresh Meat,” Lavin says in the video below. “Era III elevated rivalries and romances, and Era IV brought the game global.”

This season, kicking off on Wednesday, August 14, at 8 p.m. Et, features four groups of competitors from the past 39 seasons of the MTV reality series, produced by Bunim/Murray Productions. The cast must first compete at the Era Invitational, eliminating the weakest players within their own era to earn a coveted spot on their team. Per the press release, “with relentless new challenges and twists, these seasoned veterans are perpetually kept on their toes in the game they thought they had mastered.”

In the trailer, it proves the...

The Challenge Season 40 features a star-studded cast of 40 competitors, including promising newcomers, former finalists, and multi-time winners.

However, not all former winners or MTV OGs could be included in the cast, and some were unhappy about this.

Fans have already mentioned major snubs such as Ashley “Millionaire” Mitchell, Zach Nichols, and Wes Bergmann.

Several other individuals are likely considered snubs by longtime Challenge viewers: Sarah Rice and Susie Meister.

Susie is amongst MTV’s OGs after appearing on one of the network’s early reality TV shows, Road Rules.

From there, she competed in four seasons of The Challenge, reaching the final each time and winning twice.

She’s been away from the show for 14 years, and while she may have wanted to participate in Season 40, production decided not to include her in the cast.

Susie details getting called for the Season 40 cast

While on the Zach Nichols Podcast, Susie...

The Challenge: Battle of the Eras features an epic cast of 40 competitors divided between four groups.

Each group features 10 iconic stars from an era of the MTV competition series, many of whom are Challenge legends.

They include multi-time champions and finalists who have performed well on the show, such as Veronica Portillo, Mark Long, Cara Maria Sorbello, Jordan Wiseley, Chris “Ct” Tamburello, and Johnny Bananas.

While 2012 Battle of the Seasons winner Zach Nichols reacted to potentially being the “biggest snub” from the cast, he’s also reacting to the cast list.

In a clip on social media, he criticized Amanda Garcia as part of the Season 40 cast, leading to her firing back with remarks about him and his wife.

In another series of comments, he discussed one era’s “weakness” and revealed several women from the cast he would want as a teammate for a final.

Zach called out Season...

The Challenge has seen many competitors come and go over the years, but some have stood out as fan favorites and fierce competitors. The Challenge season 40 will feature 40 competitors all from different eras of the series. The cast of The Challenge season 40 is the biggest cast in Challenge history.

The Challenge season 40 will be a battle of the eras, bringing together a cast of Challengers from four different eras of the series to compete for a prize and bragging rights in a milestone season. Beginning as The Real World/Road Rules Challenge in 1998, The Challenge has become a staple of reality TV competition. Creating stars from memorable reality TV faces, The Challenge has changed the game for decades. Originally, the show invited stars from The Real World and Road Rules into a brand-new competition to face off, but over the years, its morphed into a different beast.

While The Challenge...

The recent reveal of The Challenge: Battle of the Eras cast has fans excited for the upcoming season.

It will be the 40th installment of MTV’s competition series and, therefore, features 40 stars from the show’s 39 previous seasons.

Four teams feature 10 cast members from a particular era of the show’s history.

Era 1 features the earliest Og competitors, such as Rachel Robinson, Tina Barta, Chris “Ct” Tamburello, and Mark Long.

Each era moves through the show’s history, with Era 4 featuring the show’s newest competitors.

While the cast is stacked, there will always be some individuals who fans demand to see back, and this is the case with The Challenge Season 40.

Fans call out Season 40 cast for missing competitor

Over several days, The Challenge’s social media revealed all the cast members who will appear in Season 40, Battle of the Eras.

Fans are arguing over which era is the best,...

The Challenge: Battle of the Eras marks the exciting 40th installment of MTV’s competition series and features an epic cast of 40 competitors.

Among those competitors are cast members from the show’s 39 seasons, including former champions, multi-time finalists, and newer stars who emerged in recent seasons.

Production divided the cast into four groups based on the era in which the cast members appeared for MTV’s show.

Several promotional teaser clips revealed the first two groups, Era 1 and Era 2, which included show winners Chris “Ct” Tamburello, Johnny Bananas, Laurel Stucky, and Cara Maria Sorbello.

In those clips, MTV briefly showed each iconic cast member and listed their accomplishments or stats for the show, such as their number of seasons, finals appearances, or championships won.

Following the clip’s release, Cara Maria and several fans reacted to the show, potentially making a mistake with her stats.

The Challenge 40 teaser clips...

More than 25 years later, some of the biggest names in The Challenge history are going for gold once again to celebrate a major milestone for TV’s longest running reality competition series.

Marking the show’s 40th season, MTV announced the cast of The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras on Monday, featuring 40 legendary fan-favorite Challengers who will compete for their share of $1 million when the season premieres Wednesday, August 14.

The Challenge‘s largest cast yet includes Kaycee Clark, Tori Deal, Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio, Aneesa Ferreira, Brad Fiorenza, Leroy Garrett, Mark Long, Rachel Robinson, Cara Maria Sorbello, Laurel Stucky, Ct Tamburello, Darrell Taylor, Devin Walker, Jenny West, Cory Wharton, Jordan Wiseley and more.

This season, “the path to glory is far from easy, as they must first compete at the Era Invitational and eliminate the weakest links from within their own Challenge Era for only the best will earn a coveted spot on their team.

Today, MTV announced that The Challenge, the longest-running reality competition series, will embark on its monumental 40th season beginning Wednesday, August 14, at 8 p.m. Et/Pt.

The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras will feature 40 legendary competitors from the series’ 26-year history representing their “Challenge Era” in an epic battle for the ages where legends will collide as they strive to immortalize their names as Challenge 40 Champions and earn their share of the one million dollar prize.

This season’s stacked roster features the most Challenge champions ever including 7x winner Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio, 5x winner Ct Tamburello, 4x winners Darrell Taylor and Jordan Wiseley, 3x winner Derrick Kosinski, 2x winners Mark Long, Jonna Mannion, Rachel Robinson, Cara Maria Sorbello, Laurel Stucky, and Jodi Weatherton, and 1x winners Kaycee Clark, Nehemiah Clark, Katie Cooley, Tori Deal, Brad Fiorenza, Aviv Melmed, Emily Schromm, Devin Walker, and Jenny West.

They will compete alongside fan-favorite Challengers Tina Barta,...

Cara Maria Sorbello respects many of her castmates from The Challenge but shared she is “uncomfortable” around one in particular.

That’s because the two-time champ called her castmate “paranoid” about how she acts when they play a game.

Cara recently appeared in The Challenge: All Stars 4 on Paramount+, where she was a finalist in her full-season return for the competition series’ spinoff show.

Throughout the season, she was mostly alone in the game, with very few allies to work with.

According to Cara, a lot of that may have been due to her castmate Laurel Stucky, who worked to turn castmates against Cara.

Cara didn’t realize what Laurel was doing until she could watch the episodes herself. While Cara no longer wants anything to do with Laurel, she also dislikes being around Laurel’s ex.

Cara calls out ‘paranoid’ and ‘weird’ All Stars 4 castmate

During her recent appearance on the Zach Nichols Podcast,...

Derrick Kosinski knows a few things about winning multiple eliminations and competing in finals on MTV’s The Challenge.

The Og initially appeared on Road Rules and later won three seasons of MTV’s competition series. He returned to compete in the first three seasons of the All Stars spinoff.

Derrick reached the final in that first season but was eliminated during the event’s first leg due to struggles steering a kayak or canoe.

While he’s not part of the All Stars 4 cast, he and Challenge Mania podcast host Scott Yager have been reviewing the season.

They recently highlighted the show’s eight finalists, which Episode 11 revealed, with Derrick praising a former All Stars castmate.

He shared that he felt that individual could become a more worthy All Stars winner than Yes Duffy in Season 1.

Derrick praises his former All Stars castmate as finalist

One of the eight...

Fans are sharing their thoughts as the first elimination officially happened during filming for The Challenge: All Stars 5.

Online spoilers revealed the spin-off show’s new cast last month as the competitors departed for Vietnam.

There was a significant change regarding the shows and networks the All Stars 5 cast members came from, as it’s no longer just MTV OGs.

The unique cast seemingly pointed to an intriguing All-Stars format that hasn’t been part of the Og spin-off yet.

It also revealed some cast members reuniting for the show, which many fans seemed quite excited about, but now one individual is out of the game.

This report will contain spoilers for The Challenge: All Stars 5, which will air later on Paramount+.

All Stars 5 spoilers revealed the first elimination

On Wednesday, online spoiler accounts revealed the first All Stars 5 elimination, reducing the cast down by one.

According to the Instagram spoilers account @mtvchallengeinsider,...

The Challenge wouldn't be The Challenge if there weren't some fights! Throughout the course of the 39 seasons of the flagship program, fans have seen some major blow-ups in the house that have led to instant dismissals, while others have had lingering effects that lasted for seasons. Remember when Julie Stoffer tried to undo Veronica Portillo's safety harness? How about when Tanya Cooley tossed Beth Stolarcyzk's suitcase in the pool? Or Tina Barta and Beth? Beth and everyone really! Cousins Jenna Compono and Brianna Julig hurled insults at one another for the pettiest fight. Oh, and how many slots are we allowed to give Ct Tamburello and his handful of fistfights? These are just some of the most explosive fights in the history of The Challenge.

Paulie Calafiore is known for calling out castmates from The Challenge and defending his girlfriend, Cara Maria Sorbello, from those against her.

Paulie, a cast member on several MTV seasons, last appeared in CBS’ The Challenge: USA 2 as one of the former Big Brother stars competing on the show.

Cara returned as a mercenary in MTV’s Battle For a New Champion and then as a full-time cast member for Paramount+’s All Stars 4 spin-off.

With All Stars 4 currently airing, many viewers have noticed Cara is at odds with multiple castmates who seem to be working against her.

Some have made remarks about her during confessional interviews or in other footage. Just recently, her castmate Adam Larson appeared on a podcast.

Adam spoke about comments he made on an All Stars 4 episode in which he called Cara “shady.” Paulie has since fired back.

Paulie blasted Adam for ‘tiny d energy...

Kam Williams could probably foresee that once she got her coveted star on The Challenge: All Stars, she’d have to defend it against those who also wanted a ticket to the final. But perhaps she wasn’t expecting to have to return to the arena quite this quickly. On Wednesday’s episode, Kam and the rest of the cast learned that it’d be a back-to-back women’s elimination night after the day’s challenge, which saw them tip-toeing across a high platform over water to latch onto a rubber ball and lower a puzzle. Kam came into the game on a bit of a high, after successfully winning her elimination bout with Tina Barta and making good on her promise to take Cara Maria Sorbello‘s star. However, things went sour for her as soon as the anxiety kicked in, and she wasn’t able to complete the...

While many fans have celebrated Cara Maria Sorbello’s return to The Challenge, she’s found herself at odds with multiple castmates in All Stars 4.

In a recent episode of the spinoff show, many cast members worked together to ensure that she couldn’t win the daily challenge and that Kam Williams could take her Star.

While Kam masterminded the plan, others involved were Leroy Garrett, Averey Tressler, Nicole Zanatta, Laurel Stucky, and Adam Larson.

Throughout the episodes, several of Cara’s castmates made remarks about Cara being “selfish” or “shady” in the game.

In addition, Cara became stuck in the middle of Laurel and Nicole’s emotional relationship as they began rekindling their romance following previous issues.

Following the recent episode on Paramount+, Cara shared her thoughts on how viewers should see things from her perspective.

Cara addresses her situation with All Stars 4 castmates

Taking to her Instagram Story recently,...