Getty CT Tamburello
The new season of “The Challenge” is just around the corner and with it, a slew of returning veterans and rookies will be competing for their chance to become champions.
The new season, titled “Ride or Dies,” will see the return of one legend and multi-time champion in Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio; however, the cast of 34 competitors will be missing another top player, Chris “CT” Tamburello.
CT is the back-to-back male champion of the last two seasons, “Double Agents” and “Spies, Lies and Allies,” and the fan favorite has appeared in eight out of the last nine seasons without a break.
While he shared after his fifth win last season that he wanted to take a break for a bit, a recent interview with Devin Walker made it seem as though his departure might turn out to be permanent.
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CT Said He’s Not Sure If His Heart Is Still in the Show
CT appeared on Devin’s weekly show “Bet On Devin” on the VegasInsider Podcast and said, “After the back-to-back win, at this point I basically… I think it’s time to just ride off into the sunset. I always say that never say never and all that but now what, you know?” He added:
I don’t wanna go down that rabbit hole again of ‘The Challenge’ and what it is and how I’m getting older and I’ve done it for so long and I don’t really have anything to prove.
I think a lot of it also has to do with, I wanna do something else because… I don’t know if my heart’s in ‘The Challenge’ anymore.
CT clarified, “I love ‘The Challenge,’ I grew up in front of everybody on ‘The Challenge,’ but… think about it, you film two a year plus the spinoffs and whatnot, you’re gone 6, 8, 9 months out of the year, I don’t know if I can do that.”
CT Just Appeared in a Movie & Previously Said He Wanted to Spend More Time With His Son
After winning his fifth championship on “Spies, Lies and Allies,” CT said he didn’t want to ever announce his retirement but needed to take more time for his family. “My son’s five years old,” he told Entertainment Weekly. “I film two shows a year, three months a piece, that’s half the year I’m gone. I can’t do that because he’s older now.” He added, “Retire? I don’t have it in me to ever say I’m going to retire.”
At the time, he said he didn’t want to rule anything out, including the spinoff shows, and shared, “I always say, after we’re done shooting, ‘Oh gosh, I’m so tired, I don’t ever want to go back, I’m done.’ And then a couple months go by and I’m just like, ‘What I wouldn’t do to get shot out of a cannon.’”
In the meantime, the “Real World: Paris” alum is pursuing an acting career and recently had a major role in “The Most Dangerous Game.” The movie was released on August 5th and saw CT starring alongside big names like Tom Berenger, Casper Van Dien and Judd Nelson.
READ NEXT: CT Tamburello Hints at Going Head-to-Head With Johnny Bananas Devenanzio