‘The Challenge’ Keeps Adding New Competitors – Why Aren’t Many Sticking Around to Become Stars?

The Challenge is one of the most unique reality competition shows; it began in 1998 and has actually maintained its spot as a top-tier show by making slight adjustments over time. It originally comprised of alumni from The Real World and Road Rules, but once that pool began to run dry up, they pulled in new players from other Bunim/Murray IPs to join in the fun. It quickly expanded to global reality stars, and then extended to reality stars from Viacom/Paramount shows like Survivor and Big Brother. And yet, the more they invest in auditioning new faces, the less likely major stars will be born.

The constant revolving door of new players makes it nearly impossible for fans to find their footing, or allow the next generation of big-name players to shine. The beauty of this show is, after more than two decades, players like CT Tamburello, Johnny Bananas, and Aneesa Ferreira continue to come back, as they will for The Challenge: Vets and New Threats, maintaining the old-school sensibility. But if the roster of players from the last ten seasons only drop in for a season or two, how can we make anyone megastars if they don’t have longevity?

Why Don’t Players Stick Around?

In 2006, The Challenge launched the first iteration of Fresh Meat, which gave us rising stars like Diem Brown. Four years later, Fresh Meat II brought mainstays like Laurel Stucky and Cara Maria Sorbello. They became stars because they not only made an impact on the game, they were extraordinary personalities that created recurring storylines. Fans became invested in the new characters. Diem and CT formed the most beautiful romance in The Challenge‘s history. Cara and Laurel, after 15 years, are still feuding. There was some fan aversion when Are You the One? stars arrived, but it allowed players like Kam Williams to emerge. However, once the expansion went global, it became too big, too fast.

When a mass of new players are dropped in, it’s difficult for viewers to grasp on to a favorite. Plus, The Challenge is notorious for the vets knocking out rookies as a rite of passage, which doesn’t make it easy for new players! It worked with Fresh Meat because the new players were attached to a vet as their teammate. But the players entering as solo entities that have to maneuver through the various and ever-changing mechanics while pre-established stories play out is only setting them up for failure. Screen time is of the essence – and it’s just not happening.

So, why is it hard for new players to stick around? Perhaps it’s the difficulty of the logistics for an international cast. Or maybe it’s the ridiculously blurred line between The Challenge and its spin-off, The Challenge: All Stars. Or, it could be that everyone is keeping their schedules free in hopes of a call for The Traitors, House of Villains, or The GOAT. What worked so well about The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras was that it included only returning players to celebrate the show’s forty seasons. That’s what fans want and need. Iterations like War of the Worlds and Battle for a New Champion dropped in too many new faces to keep up with, and even the stories that did emerge were half-baked.

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Who Could Be the Next Star of ‘The Challenge’?

The cast of Season 41, 'The Challenge: Vets and New Threats.' — Image via MTV

The reality is, The Challenge is never going away – and we don’t want it to! It’s just unfortunate that megastars like Bananas and CT aren’t emerging anymore. MTV needs to double down and go all-in on potential new personalities, bringing them back more than once. That’s how it worked in the past. So, are there any new players from the upcoming season that could carry the mantle?

While we do have OG vets on the list, some recent returning players, like Turbo from Survivor Turkey and Olivia Kaiser from Love Island, have played just enough to be considered a vet. But what signifies a “vet” has been an issue for a while. However, these two have been around long enough that they are recognizable, but even with Turbo having wins under his belt and Olivia having a previous feud, they haven’t become megastars. In the New Threats, maybe the players from Survivor, like Dee Valladares, and Big Brother, like Cedric Hodges, could pop. They have the competitive spirit that’s required for this game. We have seen alumni of those shows, like Michele Fitzgerald and Da’Vonne Rogers, emerge, but it seems they’ve worn out their welcome, for now anyway.

The Challenge was established as a show for the Bunim/Murray personalities. It’s different from The Traitors, which strives on cross-pollinating reality stars. Perhaps people like me are traditionalists and wish the show could maintain the nostalgia that keeps us coming back.

The Challenge is available to stream on Paramount+.