As The Challenge: Ride or Dies season continues airing, fans are watching two former champions at their best.
Seven-time champion Johnny Bananas and three-time champ Jordan Wiseley were revealed among the season’s eight finalists, with their championship experience making them favorites to win it again.
Both competitors won recent elimination events to keep themselves in the game to compete for their share of $1 million in Argentina.
Ahead of the Season 38 final airing, a fan shared an interesting stat on Twitter indicating that there have only been five seasons of The Challenge since 2011 that weren’t won by Bananas, Jordan, or Chris “CT” Tamburello.
The fan tweeted at two-time finalist Paulie Calafiore, mentioning he “thinks he can take these 3” with crying, laughing emojis.
That prompted Paulie to respond to the fan’s remark and also criticize recent casts of the MTV competition series.
Paulie comments about Challenge champs and recent seasons
While he’s been away from MTV’s The Challenge since War of the Worlds 2, Paulie might be keeping an eye on things from afar. He called out Bananas for not bringing the drama with his return on Ride or Dies and has criticized former castmate Laurel Stucky, a rival of Paulie’s girlfriend, Cara Maria Sorbello.
In his reply to the fan tweet above, Paulie mentioned that he previously lost to a team with both CT and Jordan on it. He also reminded fans that he “almost died” during that WOTW 2 season.
“So yeah, I’ll take my chances, all things considered. There’s no shame in losing to them. At least I take swings at them compared to recent casts,” Paulie said.
Paulie famously sent Bananas into WOTW 2 elimination
Following his CBS Big Brother appearance, Paulie joined The Challenge with other BB stars, including Da’Vonne Rogers, Jozea Flores, Josh Martinez, and Natalie Negrotti.
He made quite an impression, reaching the final in his rookie season, Final Reckoning, alongside fellow rookie Natalie. However, they finished among runner-ups to winners Ashley Mitchell and Hunter Barfield.
Paulie returned for War of the Worlds, where he teamed with “Ninja” Natalie Duran, but he failed to reach the final, losing in a daily challenge purge just ahead of it.
His return on War of the Worlds 2 featured him and his girlfriend, Cara Maria, orchestrating a strategic alliance on Team USA, with ties to castmate Kayleigh Morris on Team UK.
During the season, Paulie had a backstab move where he’d shaken hands with Bananas, promising not to put him into elimination. However, when Paulie was part of the troika with his girlfriend Cara Maria, they both said Bananas’ name.
The multi-time champ was then eliminated by Team UK’s Theo Campbell, ending his chance to win The Challenge. Meanwhile, Paulie and Cara advanced to the WOTW 2 final, where Paulie also famously became gassed out during the endurance portion of things.
During his hiatus from The Challenge, Paulie’s continued to suggest he’ll be back, but fans are still waiting to see if that ever happens and if he can back up all the talk by winning the show.
The Challenge: Ride or Dies airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on MTV.