For those who thought The Challenge: All Stars was just about a fun reunion of former OG cast members to battle each other and move on, think again.
Mark Long, an executive producer for the show and one of the 22 competitors, has quite the vision for the future of the competitive reality series.
The 49-year-old MTV OG recently spoke about having All Stars cast members take on some of the more recent competitors appearing on The Challenge in what he considers a “Super Bowl of The Challenge.”
Mark Long believes he could take on Fessy
While Mark Long debuted on MTV’s first-ever Road Rules season back in 1995 and appeared on six seasons of The Challenge until 2012, he’s still ready to compete in 2021 at nearly 50 years old.
Long will be up against many of his former cast mates from over the years as they battle for $500,000 in Argentina.
The 22 cast members include a who’s who of OGs such as Derrick Kosinski, Eric “Big Easy” Banks, Darrell Taylor, Trishelle Cannatella, Ruthie Alcaide, Aneesa Ferreira, and more. They’re all older and more experienced in life now, but it’s been a while for most in terms of competing.
They’ll face daily missions or challenges that are just as tough as those on MTV’s regular-season editions of The Challenge. Mark also believes he, and others from the All Stars, could still compete on newer shows.
“I don’t know if it’s because I’m crazy but I still watch today and think, ‘Man, I think I could do that. I think I can be very competitive in there,'” Long said in an EW exclusive. “Even though I’m 49, I think I could whoop Fessy’s a** in a Hall Brawl. [Laughs] I say that to myself all the time.”
Mark’s joke refers to Double Agents cast member, Fessy Shafaat, a former college football player and Big Brother star who is in his second season of The Challenge. During the early part of the Double Agents season, he was able to defeat Nelson Thomas, a tough Challenge competitor in his own right.
“He’s kind of like the physical big dog these days in terms of height and weight so I’d like to see him go against me rather than Nelson who is half his size,” Long told EW. “That’s me being an egomaniac too, thinking I’m still 25 and can kick anyone’s ass. But only time will tell and we’ll see, baby!’
Mark wants a ‘Super Bowl of The Challenge’
In terms of how he sees All Stars going beyond Season 1, Mark wants more than two or three seasons. He actually wants at least seven or eight for the OGs, and then a huge event featuring All Stars versus newer competitors.
“My perfect dream of this, if I could script the future for the OG All Stars, would be that we probably do multiple seasons and then at some point have the biggest moment of reality television when the OGs go up against the new kids that’s airing now,” he says.
“It’s like the Super Bowl of The Challenge and it’ll be the biggest thing that you’ve ever seen from The Challenge, that is that for damn sure,” Mark added.
The spinoff’s executive producer and competitor replied to a tweet where he elaborated a bit about the format of The Challenge: All Stars and his Super Bowl concept.
Mark explained that All Stars seasons will always consist of competitors from the Real World, Road Rules, and Fresh Meat in future seasons. He also said his Super Bowl idea is a “one-off” event.
In the tweet, he also mentioned wanting that big Super Bowl type event to happen 15 seasons later, which shows Mark’s optimism for the OG spinoff’s future. Hopefully, The Challenge fans get much, much more of their favorite show to enjoy in the years ahead.
The Challenge: All Stars premieres Thursday, April 1 on Paramount Plus.