MTV The cast of "The Challenge: Total Madness."
The king of MTV’s “The Challenge,” John “Johnny Bananas” Devanazio, apparently had his grandma teach him a lesson back in the day.
“My grandma taught me how to French kiss,” he said in an interview with Us Weekly published on September 2. His bizarre comment was part of a “25 things fans don’t know about” Johnny Bananas series.
He shared several other nuggets from his past. “I had a ghost named Peter follow me from a travel shoot I did at the Deering Estate in Florida to my house in California,” the “1st Look” host said. “For weeks, [Peter] haunted my house.
Among his revelations, Johnny Bananas said he graduated with an economics degree from Penn State University, and that he had two sisters and 11 nieces and nephews.
He also explained the origin of his “Bananas” nickname. ” I got the nickname Johnny ‘Bananas’ because I shoved bananas in my mom’s tailpipe [as a kid] to get out of going to school.”
Johnny Bananas Had No Interest in a Showmance During ‘The Challenge: USA’ Season 2
The rest of the article contains spoilers up to the most recent episode of “The Challenge: USA” season 2, which was released on August 31.
Well, Johnny Bananas had no interest in using the lesson his grandma taught him while competing on “The Challenge: USA” season 2. He told the outlet in August that he knew heading into the CBS spin-off show — which is airing Thursdays on the network and Paramount Plus — that he had no intentions of falling into a showmance.
“Fool me once, shame on me,” he said. “Fool me twice, you’re not gonna fool me again.
“You know, they say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result. Well, call me insane. I think one of the issues with [a showmance] is there’s just a lot of [questions about], ‘What is the actual intention here behind — is this for show? Is this for likes? Is this for clout?’ And unfortunately, more often than not, that tends to be the case.”
Johnny Bananas has kept his word through seven episodes of “USA 2.” And unlike “Big Brother” stars Tyler Crispen and Alyssa Snider who’ve cozied up on the show, love doesn’t seem to be on the horizon for the 41-year-old reality TV legend.
And that’s okay with him as he’s solely focused on picking up another “Challenge” crown.
“Once you kind of start getting distracted [and] once you lose focus on what the ultimate goal is, it’s sure to not end well,” Johnny said. “But I encourage everybody else to continue on with these meaningless, nonsensical showmances, and then I’ll just be there to pick up the pieces when it all falls apart.”
Johnny Bananas Has Picked Up 1 Elimination Win Thus Far
“USA 2” hasn’t been a smooth ride for Johnny Bananas or the rest of the MTV veterans who are representing the flagship series, including Tori Deal and Wes Bergmann.
Johnny Bananas found himself in the “Arena” — this season’s elimination grounds — opposite “Big Brother” and “The Challenge” alum Paulie Calafiore during episode 3.
After the dust settled from their “Fire & Ice” loser-go-home showdown, Johnny Bananas rejoined the cast in pursuit of his share of $500,000.