You’d be hard-pressed to find a reality competition series that has been on the airwaves as long as The Challenge, which celebrates its 40th season with The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras. The show even bests Survivor in longevity (years on TV, not seasons).
Given this season of The Challenge marks such a banner one for the series, it comes as no surprise that the competition is comprised of all show vets, from as early as season 1 to season 39. While several of them have multiple wins to brag of, they all have a desire to emerge victorious this time with a $1 million prize on the line.
With that being said, I decided to comb through the cast to see who may have the best chance of winning. Here are my four picks for who could claim victory in The Challenge 40: Battles of the Eras.
Johnny "Bananas" Devenanzio
Johnny "Bananas", aka Mr. Challenge. Out of all those competing this year, he has appeared in the most competitions, with 23 under his belt. Additionally, he has the most wins with seven. Given his resume, he has to be the odds-on favorite, as he has experience on his side.
Now for naysayers who may doubt Johnny's athleticism at the age of 42 when compared to his younger competitors, allow me to remind you that The Challenge is about more than just superhuman strength and top speeds. The game is about strategy, and when it comes to this type of reality TV play, Johnny is a strategist. He usually knows when to hold back, when to flex and who to cozy up to in terms of his competitors.
The one glaring stumbling block on Johnny's path to victory is ironically his past. When previously competing, he wasn't above double-crossing alliances, and this season's vets are likely to have a long memory. They may attempt to get Johnny out early thinking they can't trust him, so he has a lot of schmoozing to do.
Jordan Wiseley
If not Johnny, then my next pick is Jordan Wiseley. He may not have as much experience or as many wins as Johnny or CT Tamburello (who is coming off winning Peacock’s The Traitors season 2), but Jordan's time on The Challenge is very impressive. Going into The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras, he competed in nine iterations of the show and won four of those times. Beyond the win column of his scorecard, Jordan is also a seven-time finalist. He clearly plays to win.
However, due to his win percentage and athleticism, he'll probably have a target on his back from competitors trying to get him out of the competition early. For his sake, I hope he realizes he needs to make alliances in the competition quickly.
Kaycee Clark
Comparatively speaking, Kaycee Clark is fairly new to The Challenge world having appeared in only five competitions. However, during her brief stint, she's been a finalist three times and claimed victory once.
Part of her success stems from her approach to the game. While she's displayed her athleticism, it's her knack for understanding people that has served her well. She tends to keep her cards close, only showing her hand when absolutely necessary. Keeping her competitors guessing has served her well previously.
I'm not sure how her mysterious allure will fare in the competition this season. She's up against some long-time vets of the show, and they may catch onto her mental games. So she may need to switch things up a bit.
Laurel Stucky
Laurel Stucky is a former Division One athlete and fiercely competitive. Plus, she has eight challenges on her resume. Of the eight times, she was a finalist five times and a winner twice. So she knows how to get into the winner's circle.
Unfortunately, as competitive as she can be, with some calling her one of the greatest women to compete on the show, she's become a bit synonymous with drama. The vets she's going up against may not be here for any messy antics and be ready to send dramatic competitors home sooner rather than later. So Laurel will want to be careful.
The rest of The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras
If you're interested in seeing who our picks are stacked up against, here is a list of all those competing in The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras:
Challenge competitors representing Era 1 (seasons 1-10):
- Tina Barta (8 challenges)
- Katie Cooley (11 challenges, one win)
- Aneesa Fereira (17 challenges)
- Brad Fiorenza (13 challenges, one win)
- Derrick Kosinski (13 challenges, three wins)
- Mark Long (eight challenges, two wins)
- Rachel Robinson (eight challenges, two wins)
- CT Tamburello (19 challenges, five wins)
- Darrell Taylor (14 challenges, four wins
- Jodi Weatherton (five challenges, two wins)
Challenge competitors representing Era 2 (seasons 11-20):
- Derek Chavez (five challenges)
- Nehemiah Clark (seven challenges, one win)
- Johnny "Bananas" Devenanzio (23 challenges, seven wins)
- KellyAnne Judd (seven challenges)
- Ryan Kehoe (seven challenges)
- Aviv Melmed (one challenge, one win)
- Brandon Nelson (six challenges)
- Emily Schromm (three challenges, one win)
- Cara Maria Sorbello (15 challenges, two wins)
- Laurel Stucky (eight challenges, two wins)
Challenge competitors representing Era 3 (seasons 21-30):
- Tori Deal (nine challenges, one win)
- Amanda Garcia (seven challenges)
- Leroy Garrett (13 challenges)
- Jonna Mannion (10 challenges, two wins)
- Nia Moore (four challenges)
- Tony Raines (seven challenges)
- Averey Tressler (three challenges)
- Devin Walker (seven challenges, one win)
- Cory Wharton (10 challenges)
- Jordan Wiseley (nine challenges, four wins)
Challenge competitors representing Era 4 (seasons 31-39):
- Paulie Calafiore (four challenges)
- Theo Campbell (three challenges)
- Kaycee Clark (five challenges, one win)
- Michele Fitzgerald (four challenges)
- Horacio Gutiérrez Jr. (two challenges)
- Olivia Kaiser (two challenges)
- Josh Martinez (six challenges)
- Nurys Mateo (two challenges)
- Jenny West (two challenges, one win)
- Kyland Young (two challenges)
The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras airs on Wednesdays on MTV.
