lwhy?

Just announced today.

Team USA
Ashley Mitchell
Cara Maria Sorbello
Faith Stowers
Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio
Jordan Wiseley
Josh Martinez
Kam Williams
Laurel Stucky
Leroy Garrett
Nany Gonzalez
Paulie Calafiore
Tori Deal
Wes Bergmann
Zach Nichols

Team U.K.
Esther Falana
Georgia Harrison
Idris Virgo
Jenny West
Joss Mooney
Kayleigh Morris
Kyle Christie
Nicole Bass
Rogan O’Connor
Sean Lineker
Stephen Bear
Theo Campbell
Tula “Big T” Fazakerley
Zahida Allen

Reinforcements

What do the Reinforcements do, you ask? Apparently, we’ll have to watch and find out. But in the meantime, here they are:

Chris “C.T.” Tamburello
Dee Nguyen
“Ninja” Natalie Duran
Turabi “Turbo” Camkiran

Bluelitespecial

Well this is something new to the Challenge formula. I had my tv on late last night apparently Banannas has some tv show he hosts on NBC. I don't know the name of it, you have to wonder how much longer he'll get to do these shows as he is well past MTV's age limit.

dex14

It's called 1st Look. He's been doing that for around a year or so.

mwbmis

Sean Duffy is resigning from congress. He says it's for family reasons, but I figure this means he's coming back to the Challenge.

Unclejosh

Spoilers are out there. I am not unhappy with the results.

Bill Needle

He's gonna come back to jack some lumber.

boogieman03

leeta

I know the Challenge part is a joke but he's retiring for serious reasons. His wife is pregnant and the baby has something wrong with its heart.

Didn't know he was a Challenge alumni.

mwbmis

RW Boston. Met Rachel Campos on the first Road Rules crossover season. Competed and won the first Battle of the Seasons (partnered with Elka).

dex14

Spiderbite

I never have understood how people can just "retire" because their kid or their spouse has a health issue??? How do you continue to pay for bills? The healthcare? The mortgage?

Seems to me that is the worst time to retire. I know I couldn't afford to retire if something happened to my kid.

Anyway...I looked his photos up from when he was on The Real World and don't even remember the guy and I heavy watched that show back then. Did he do anything memorable that could jog a memory of him?

leeta

He can probably make more (on his own time schedule) doing speeches and cable news commentaries, etc. plus investments from connections made during his time in Congress.

A lot of politicians rake it in after leaving government.

boogieman03

lwhy?

I know you can get it with Sling, but I think you have to pay $5 to add it on.

Giantrobo

It's about being present with the family. Being there for you kid or spouse . People who can afford to up and "retire" due to stuff like this are busy people and often don't have the time to spend with family. So the 'retirement" helps that.

windom

Theo Campbell, from this season and last, is now blind in one eye after getting hit by a champagne cork:
https://ew.com/tv/2019/08/28/the-cha...cork-accident/

JCWBobC

Pluto TV has a channel dedicated to the Challenge. The other day they had on Rivals 2 and yesterday they had Invasion of the Champions. I haven't checked to see of they air random episodes or show the whole season in order.

Bill Needle

I thought maybe it was just the premier but it looks like at least the first few episodes of the new season are 90 minutes.

lwhy?

I've been out of town on vacation and finally got around to watching this episode. My main takeaway is Georgia has horrible taste in men. She was with Bear and now she's with Josh? She's a good looking girl. She can do so much better. It's great to have Laurel back. I enjoyed seeing her push girls around in the Flag challenge. The US team is stacked and I don't see how they can't win even if paranoia destroys whatever team chemistry they have. Turbo, Jordan, Wes, Johnny, Zach, Laurel, Cara, Smashley, Kam and Tori that's a helluva of lineup. Also, the ratings for the season premiere were great: https://deadline.com/2019/08/the-cha...tv-1202707569/

Bill Needle

I always wondered about this but am too lazy to look it up myself. I personally have zero interest in anything that airs on MTV -- except the Challenge shows which I never miss (ETA: I do also watch Catfish with the wife). Glad to hear they get good ratings, but how do the ratings for the Challenge compare to other MTV shows? How many people are there like me who avoid MTV like an STD but come back for the Challenge?

lwhy?

I believe it's one of their top 3 highest rated shows. It usually does really well in the DVR ratings. Here are DVR Ratings from May. https://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/dv...may-6-12-2019/ Only Teen Mom II did better than The Challenge. The Challenge was in the top 10 of all Cable shows that week.

Bill Needle

Wow, that surprises me. I guess we don't have to worry about cancellation for a while.

lwhy?

It's usually the number 1, 2, or 3 cable show on the day it airs. Sometimes NBA games will move it down a notch or two, but it's been doing really well recently. I think adding the International contestants and people from other reality shows have really helped the ratings. It was the number 3 cable show on Wednesday in the 18-39 demo behind Yellowstone and Basketball Wives 8. UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY?s Top 150 Wednesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 8.28.2019 | Showbuzz Daily

Spiderbite

I am surprised by the ratings. It must be from the built-in audience because they sure don't catch any new viewers from repeats since they only seem to show Ridiculousness almost 24 hours a day.

Spiderbite

Forgot to mention that I was disappointed to see CT's shape. I was really hoping he was going to get it together and get back to his fighting weight but he looked even doughier than last time.