Filming for The Challenge Season 39 is underway to get footage for the next installment of MTV’s popular competition series.
This will be the follow-up season to Ride or Dies, which featured pairs of male and female teammates who shared a bond of some sort, whether husband and wife, friends, or family members.
The cast was a mixture of rookies and veterans, with MTV vets Tori Deal and Devin Walker winning their first season.
With online spoilers for Season 39’s cast, many of the show’s fans got an early idea of which individuals would be competing for the latest championship.
The cast reveals brought mixed reactions since they featured newer cast members and lacked any veteran stars in the game.
This report will contain spoilers for the upcoming 39th season of MTV’s The Challenge.
The Challenge Season 39 to bring a major twist for the cast
Several weeks ago, online spoilers revealed that The Challenge Season 39 cast had few veterans in the game. The cast members with the most experience were Jay Starrett, Melissa Reeves, and Michele Fitzgerald, with two to three seasons each.
That initial reveal had some fans guessing that maybe MTV was planning a season similar to Invasion of the Champions, where veterans showed up to the game at a later point.
On Monday, The Challenge insider @GamerVev, who regularly releases spoilers for the upcoming season, dropped the reveal of a significant twist.
Based on Gamer’s tweet, “Mercenaries will be entering the game in some capacity,” with expected cast members to include Tori Deal, Jordan Walker, Devin Walker, Laurel Stuckey, Johnny Bananas, and Kaycee Clark.
Fans and critics react to The Challenge 39’s twist
Many fans and critics reacted to the reveal of the potential twist for Season 39 in the comments for an Instagram post from Challenge insider @jaychallenge1. As one might expect, there were a lot of unhappy fans due to the cast members being brought onto the show.
“OH. MY. GOD. PRODUCTION NEEDS TO STOP THIS BULL**** RIGHT NOW,” one individual commented.
Another suggested that bringing Ashley “Millionaire” Mitchell or Cara Maria Sorbello would’ve been better choices for the mercenaries than Tori.
“We all predicted this but would have been nice if mercenaries were people we actually cared about or not the vacation alliance,” another fan commented.
“Why are they inviting the same people who come back every season,” one individual said, adding, “we need people who the fans actually like.”
The Vacation Alliance refers to the group of cast members from recent seasons, including Tori, Devin, Kaycee, Nany Gonzalez, and Faysal “Fessy” Shafaat, who generally go on a trip somewhere during The Challenge offseason to bond and strengthen their alliance.
Many of them reached the final in the past few seasons, with Tori and Devin reaching the last two Challenge finals and winning Ride or Dies. However, this twist could make things more challenging for these vets if they’re brought in as mercenaries.
Will Season 39 be like Invasion of The Champions or Vendettas?
Based on the above tidbit about Season 39, all individuals mentioned are former champions of MTV’s The Challenge.
Tori and Devin won the most recent season to capture their first championship, while Kaycee won the prior season with CT Tamburello.
Bananas is the winningest of Challenge cast members wi]\\=th seven seasons won, while Jordan has three, and Laurel has one.
MTV’s Invasion of The Champions was the 29th season of the competition series and aired in early 2017. It opened with 18 underdogs competing in the game in Thailand.
In Episode 5, eight champions of the show were introduced to the cast to make things more interesting. Among them were former winners Bananas, Cara Maria Sorbello, Darrell Taylor, Laurel, CT, Zach Nichols, and Ashley Kelsey.
CT went on to claim another championship for the men. However, a new champion emerged on the women’s side when Ashley Mitchell achieved the first of her two Challenge wins.
Season 31 brought in mercenaries to the game. These eight competitors included Derrick Kosinski, Tori, Jordan, Aneesa, Laurel, Darrell, Tori, and Frank Sweeney. These competitors were part of a double elimination twist for the season, and none competed in the final.
It’s currently unknown if Season 39 will be Invasion or Vendettas, but based on the recent spoilers, a very similar format could be on the way for MTV’s upcoming installment.
The Challenge Season 39 is TBA for MTV. The Challenge: USA 2 premieres Thursday, August 10 on CBS at 10/9c.