With the arrival of a new preview clip for The Challenge: Battle For a New Champion, some fans are calling out cast member Moriah Jadea.
She’s featured in a sneak peek video with Ride or Dies finalist Olivia Kaiser, where they discuss Moriah’s relationship with Johnny Bananas amid her new Season 39 showmance with James Lock.
Olivia also appears in a confessional interview discussing her struggle over whether Moriah is on the same page with her or letting her showmance boyfriend James lead the way.
Moriah and Olivia were castmates during Season 38, aka Ride or Dies, when Moriah’s showmance with Bananas happened.
During that season, Moriah nearly reached the final alongside her teammate, Faysal “Fessy” Shafaat, but the duo lost a late-season elimination to Bananas and Nany Gonzalez.
Based on comments in the new clip and previous episodes, Moriah and Bananas continued dating or hanging out with one another after filming Ride or Dies. Still, it’s unclear if they were committed.
In the new preview video, Moriah seems conflicted over potentially hurting Bananas by informing him of her new showmance.
Moriah says she doesn’t want to hurt Bananas with a call amid Season 39 showmance
With Moriah and Olivia tanning and relaxing poolside, a camera filmed them conversing about Bananas, James, and their goals to win Season 39.
“That’s what everything’s about here. In this game, I trust him 100 percent,” Moriah tells Olivia.
“I’m already making someone else look bad. I’m also making myself look bad,” she also says.
Olivia explains in a confessional interview that “Moriah and Johnny had their romance last season, and it obviously has continued up until this- moment.”
She adds that Moriah’s “obviously OK with those consequences” since she and James probably “aren’t stopping anytime soon.”
During their chat, Olivia and Moriah agree that Johnny isn’t the person for her based on the quick connection Moriah formed with James.
Moriah also appears in a confessional, indicating that many people told her to “call Johnny and let him know” what’s happening during the Season 39 filming.
“I don’t want to rip someone’s heart apart and then have to hang up the phone,” Moriah confesses, adding she will wait until after the final when she can “come clean” and apologize.
Moriah has previously opened up on social media to explain why she didn’t call Bananas during Season 39’s filming.
In addition, it seems she and her castmate Olivia may have had a falling out as she called out Olivia on social media partly for her remarks about the showmance in a previous episode.
Fans call out Moriah and The Challenge for ‘cheating’ story
Over 400 comments have arrived on The Challenge video post as of this writing. As one might expect, there was a mixture of reactions, with more than a few individuals blasting Moriah over the situation with Bananas.
“Normalizing cheating is crazy,” one commenter wrote, with another writing, “Moriah is sofake.”
“Wow should of broke it off in person before the show. Not on TV. S*** move!” another wrote.
Yet another commenter said they “lost full respect for Moriah” based on what was presented.
In another comment, someone suggested, “Fessy rubbed off on Moriah more than we realized. She’s being messy.”
Another said that Bananas could do better than his Ride or Dies showmance.
It’s still unclear what the extent of Moriah and Bananas’ relationship was after filming for Ride or Dies, as the multi-time Challenge champion has remained quiet about it, much like his other relationships.
As Moriah appears in MTV’s Battle For a New Champion episodes, Bananas appears in E! ‘s House of Villains episodes, where he has some flirty moments with his castmate Corinne Olympios.
Bananas and Corinne have also been seen hanging out since the filming of the reality TV show. While they aren’t officially dating, Bananas said they are more than friends.
Monsters and Critics reported Bananas appeared with Moriah in a pre-Season 39 promotional clip when host TJ Lavin made a video call to tell her she was part of the cast. It was also mentioned online that Bananas unfollowed Moriah on social media, suggesting they might not be on friendly terms now.
While that doesn’t prove they were committed, Moriah, Olivia, and The Challenge producers are making it seem that what happened during filming was story-worthy. A Season 39 reunion might bring more insight into the situation, should Moriah and others involved attend.
The Challenge: Battle For a New Champion airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on MTV.