The Challenge rumor mill is swirling as Season 39 is currently filming episode footage for the next installment of MTV’s longtime competition series.
It will be the follow-up season to The Challenge: Ride or Dies, which featured 21 episodes and finished airing on MTV with a two-episode reunion this past March.
Monsters and Critics reported ongoing spoilers about Season 39, which features a unique cast and format that some fans may embrace and others may not like.
The show has also spawned several spinoff shows, including Paramount Plus’ All Stars and The Challenge: USA, which will begin airing a second season in August.
MTV has been the flagship competition show’s home since its inception, but there may be growing speculation that the 40th season could be the final one on the network.
An insider and superfan recently shared insight into the upcoming season and addressed the potential final season on MTV.
Remember that this report may contain minor spoilers about The Challenge Season 39 and 40, which have yet to air on MTV.
Insider reveals potential spoilers for Season 4 and rumors about MTV show
On Instagram, @mtvchallengeinsider, aka GamerVev, shared a post mentioning the upcoming seasons of MTV’s The Challenge. As mentioned, Season 39 is filming footage, and fans hope their favorite show returns before the end of 2023. However, there could be an epic 40th season coming to the network.
Monsters and Critics revealed spoilers for Season 39, in that the cast features only non-winners of the show. There were just three former finalists in the cast and many returning rookie competitors from the past few seasons.
With that, a first-time champion will be crowned for The Challenge. That winner will likely return for Season 40, which GamerVev suggests will be an “all champs/finalist season.”
However, GamerVev shared that The Challenge is only renewed through Seasons 39 and 40 for MTV. For that reason, “multiple cast are speculating (& being told)” the 40th season will be “the last season” for MTV.
MTV’s flagship show debuted as Road Rules: All Stars in 1998, then became Real World/Road Rules Challenge before taking on The Challenge name ahead of different seasons’ titles.
In June 2022, Variety reported that MTV’s show was renewed for Seasons 38 and 39. Season 38 was Ride or Dies, which finished airing this past March, while Season 39 is filming and on the way next.
Monsters and Critics reported in April that several OG cast members speculated that Season 40 would be the final season for MTV’s version of The Challenge.
What’s next for The Challenge?
While there is speculation the show will no longer air on MTV after Season 40, @GamerVev suggested the show will still get renewed for the network.
“It’s all they have tbh & it’s the most successful version currently,” GamerVev said in their remarks on social media.
However, GamerVev also said “multiple people” have indicated that Season 39 is “extremely boring and an overall horrible season.”
As the spoilers mention, it won’t feature all the popular cast members that fans have become familiar with on the show over the years. However, a twist will bring in some veteran stars as “mercenaries” to compete in elimination events.
Meanwhile, The Challenge: USA 2 recently dropped its trailer and cast photos. Already, the trailer appears to promise a good amount of drama, some hookups, and familiar faces from MTV. These things were absent from the first installment of USA on CBS.
Along with that, fans are continuing to anticipate the arrival of The Challenge: All Stars 4 on Paramount Plus. Based on spoilers, the fourth season will feature several popular cast members returning to compete among the MTV OGs.
With that in mind, it will be interesting to see if the flagship show continues on MTV beyond Season 40 or if the competition series switches to CBS for TV and Paramount Plus for streaming.
The Challenge: USA 2 premieres Thursday, August 10 at 10/9c on CBS. The Challenge Season 39 is TBA for MTV.