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Seven-time champion of “The Challenge,” John “Johnny Bananas” Devenanzio, received a message from a fellow cast member ahead of the newest iteration of the reality competition staple.
“The Challenge: USA” season 2 premiered on Thursday night via Paramount Plus and CBS. This marks the second season of “The Challenge” to air on CBS, and Johnny Bananas’ first time competing on primetime network television. The cast features six MTV veterans carrying “The Challenge” flag, as well as 18 reality stars hailing from three CBS shows: “Big Brother, “The Amazing Race,” and “Survivor.”
And Dusty Harris of “The Amazing Race 33” fame apparently reached out to Bananas ahead of filming “USA 2.”
“The only person this season that DMed me was Dusty, and I’ve never even met this guy before,” Bananas told People in an interview published on August 10. “He’s like, ‘Hey man, I’m going on the next ‘Challenge.’ I’m on ‘Amazing Race.’
“I don’t know who this guy is from a hole in the wall, so I’m not going to tell him I’m going or I know anything about the show.”
Harris is joined by one “Amazing Race” alum, Luis Colon, who competed in the 34th season. Although last year’s “USA 1” only starred CBS talent, it’s Harris and Colon’s first time battling in the franchise.
Both Harris and partner Ryan Ferguson, and Colon and wife Michelle Burgos, placed third in their respective seasons.
Johnny Bananas Implored His Castmates to Let Their ‘Freak Flag Fly’
Harris and Colon aren’t the only players to don a “Challenge” jersey for the first time. The likes of former “Big Brother” contestants Tyler Crispen, Ameerah Jones and Monte Taylor are new to the show. “Survivor: Edge of Extinction” winner Chris Underwood and former castaways Sebastian Noel and Cassidy Clark are among the rookies as well.
In the interview with People, Bananas pointed to a big difference between filming “The Challenge” and a typical CBS reality show, like the live-feed fueled “Big Brother.”
“Especially on ‘Big Brother’ with the live feeds, they’re on 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so they are constantly concerned about what’s coming out of their mouth or how they’re acting or the way it’s going to be portrayed. And in this day and age, man, you say the wrong thing or do the wrong thing, it could be bad,” Bananas said.
“They are sitting there being like, ‘Dude, you’re cracking some crazy jokes and you’re acting a certain way.’
“‘The Challenge’ isn’t that. You can be yourself and let your freak flag fly and not worry about that potentially being a de-platformable offense. Only the relevant stuff is going to make it.”
Bananas Said the MTV Alumni Are Edgier Than the CBS Folk
MTV is typically viewed as a more wild-and-free network whereas CBS has a buttoned-up approach to staging reality shows. Whether it be showing drinking, fighting, or romance, MTV is the much more edgier network. And that’s not lost on Johnny Bananas.
“MTV, we’re a little more rough-and-tumble, a little more rough around the edges, spend a little more time in the principal’s office, probably getting suspended for bad behavior,” Bananas said.
“Private school kids, silver spoon.
“They just kind of have a different way of moving about, and they have a different sense of maturity and decorum.”
Still, some of the “Big Brother” and “Survivor” contestants have more experience on “The Challenge” relative to the time spent on their original shows, like Faysal Shafaat, Paulie Calafiore and Josh Martinez.