MTV’s The Challenge continues to tease fans with the possibilities of a popular season theme returning for the competition series.
With some fans seeming to be over the spies themes of recent seasons, MTV may be going back to the drawing board and creating a new season based on heated rivalries.
Their latest social media post hints at a potential return for The Challenge: Rivals, and it seems more than a few fans are ready for it.
MTV’s The Challenge teases Rivals return?
On Saturday, December 11, MTV’s The Challenge social media shared a highlight clip from a previous Rivals season. That clip featured Challenge champions Cara Maria Sorbello and Laurel Stucky in an elimination matchup.
Their opponents were two of the current All Stars 2 spinoff’s cast members, Jonna Mannion and Jasmine Reynaud. The Real World: Cancun stars, who are now good friends, were once rivals on MTV’s show.
“Soooo.. what do you guys think about another ‘Rivals’? ?,” the caption in The Challenge’s IG post reads. It also offers viewers a free month of Paramount Plus to watch old seasons of The Challenge, including Rivals, Rivals II, and Rivals III.
The first Rivals season arrived 10 years ago as The Challenge Season 21. It featured a total of $300,000 in prize money. The teams of Johnny Bananas with Tyler Duckworth and Evelyn Smith with Paula Meronek finished in first place. Other rival teams included Wes Bergmann with Kenny Santucci, Adam King with CT Tamburello, and Camila Nakagawa with Theresa Jones.
A follow-up season took place in 2013 with $350,000 in prize money. This time, CT and Wes Bergmann won along with the team of Emily Schromm and Paula Meronek. Frank Sweeney with Johnny Bananas, Aneesa Ferreira with Diem, and Jonna Mannion with Nany Gonzalez were among other Rivals teams.
It became a trilogy with a third season filmed in 2015 and aired on MTV in 2015. The prize money was $350,000 again. This time around, teams consisted of one male and one female who were rivals. The first-place team was Johnny Bananas and Sarah Rice and featured that infamous moment where Bananas chose to keep all of the prize money for himself.
Fans comment about potential Rivals 4 season
In the past week or so, MTV’s The Challenge has teased the return of a few different formats, including Battle of the Exes, and now, Rivals. While it could mean they’re gauging interest for bringing one or both back, it could also be a promotional tactic for Paramount Plus signups.
However, many fans are showing their support for the concept of another Rivals season for The Challenge, or at least a major change to the show’s format.
“Exes or rivals fine by me… But real rivals not fake ones,” one fan commented, referring to some of the fake TV fights that may have taken place in recent seasons.
“I love Rivals, but we need an EXES 3 before we get a Rivals 4 just saying,” a fan said in their comment on the IG video post.
Another fan said they’d be fine with anything besides the spy themes that MTV’s The Challenge has used the past few seasons.
One fan jumped in to call out MTV’s The Challenge for a potential PR stunt to get more social media views and interaction. However, they suggested the show needs to go “back to the basics” to regain strong ratings like it previously had.
Just last week, MTV’s The Challenge teased a Battle of the Exes return, which would be the third installment in that popular season format. Various cast members have since reacted to the potential for Exes 3, including Paulie Calafiore, Amanda Garcia, Theo Campbell, and Fessy Shafaat.
The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on MTV.