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The face of “The Challenge,” John “Johnny Bananas” Devenanzio, admitted to skirting the rules during “The Challenge: USA” season 2.
The following article contains spoilers up to the most recent episode of “USA 2,” which premiered on August 31.
Johnny Bananas spoke with fellow MTV veteran and “USA 2” competitor Cory Wharton on his “Death, Taxes, and Bananas” podcast during an episode released on August 29. During their discussion, they revealed that Johnny Bananas had eavesdropped on the nomination discussion during episode 3 — the time when he was voted into the “Arena” by Wharton’s Blue team.
According to Bananas, he knew what his upcoming fate was as he could hear the private meeting from his bedroom. “You know how my room, the dungeon, was like right outside where the votes took place?” Bananas said.
“Oh yeah,” Wharton interjected. “Talk about when you yelled at our vote. Johnny’s room is right by where we vote. This fool was listening to our whole nominations. Yells something —
our producer’s like, ‘Johnny, get the hell out of your room.'”
“I said, ‘You’re all dead to me,'” Bananas laughed.
“Yeah, he said, ‘You’re all dead to me,'” Wharton continued. “For the rest of the season, no one was allowed in that room because Johnny was smart enough — one thing you’ve got respect about Bananas is that he’ll always find a way around the rules. Right? He’s like, if you’ve ever watched this Bishop Sycamore documentary on HBO, the team that got on ESPN that wasn’t a real school, you remind me of that guy. Ron Johnson is you. You guys are con artists at the finest.
“No one could go into that room for the rest of the season while voting happened.”
Johnson was the coach who headed the football team in the viral Bishop Sycamore scandal. The team represented a non-existent school which was eventually exposed after their lopsided loss to IMG Academy in 2021, a game that was featured on ESPN.
Leaning into his “all is fair in love, war and and ‘Challenges,'” mantra, Johnny Bananas responded: “Cory, rules are made to be broken. Bro, listen. I’m an ask for forgiveness not permission person, always been.
“I’ve learned,” Wharton said. “I mean, you learn from the best.”
Johnny Bananas Survived the Elimination Round By Besting Paulie Calafiore
Blue’s attempt to send home the seven-time “Challenge” champion failed. After he officially became the male nominee and the rest of the cast anonymously voted to place a name in “The Hopper,” Bananas found himself squaring off against Paulie Calafiore.
Bananas and the “Big Brother” and several-time “Challenge” competitor faced off in “Fire & Ice,” a loser-go-home game that forced them to hold their hand in the air as long as they could while a block of ice melted below them.
After Bananas bested Calafiore, he defected from the Red team to Blue by switching places with Wharton.
The MTV Veterans Were Targeted By the CBS Players From the Start
Six MTV stars representing the franchise’s flagship series descended on CBS and “USA 2,” including Bananas, Wharton, Wes Bergmann, Tori Deal, Jonna Mannion and Amanda Garcia. And unlike past seasons, the veterans were targeted early as they were in the cast’s minority — the 18 other contestants represented three CBS reality competition shows: “Big Brother,” “Survivor” and “The Amazing Race.”
That led to Mannion and Garcia’s early exits while every other MTV player had seen the elimination grounds (besides Wharton) through the first seven episodes. Bananas defeated Calafiore, Deal beat Mannion and Bergmann sent “The Amazing Race” alum Dusty Harris home in the Arena.
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