The Challenge will return for its 39th installment on MTV, featuring a cast of competitors who have never tasted victory on the show.
Some faces familiar to recent Challenge viewers might be Horacio Gutierrez, Olivia Kaiser, Jay Starrett, and Chauncey Palmer, all of whom appeared in MTV’s Season 38, Ride or Dies.
However, Battle For a New Champion also brings in less familiar individuals, including one-and-done episode star Asaf Goren from Total Madness and many one-season cast members from international spinoffs.
Host TJ Lavin refers to it as the season he’s “been waiting for,” as it will do what the title suggests and crown a first-time champion of MTV’s competition series.
The game won’t be just between the winless players, either. A new trailer for The Challenge Season 39 also features show winners, including Chris “CT” Tamburello and Cara Maria Sorbello.
While they won’t be participating in daily challenges or living at The Challenge house, they will make it more difficult for some competitors to remain part of the game.
CT and Cara appear in The Challenge Season 39 trailer
A new trailer that clocks in just over a minute and a half features early highlight teases and sound bites from MTV’s The Challenge Season 39, Battle for a New Champion. As an alternate version of the Delfonics’ Ready or Not plays, the text “A New Era of The Challenge” appears on-screen.
Viewers get an early glimpse of competitors in action in a daily challenge where they’re in large circular cages full of colored balls they have to throw to the outside. Ride or Dies finalist Olivia is inside along with Michele Fitzgerald and new MTV star James Brody.
“For the first time ever, 24 contenders return to prove themselves. They’ve known battle but never victory,” a voiceover suggests.
The footage highlights the daily challenges that will put these individuals to the test on land, in the water, and in the air.
Olivia claims she’s ready to be a champ and will “stab you in the back” if that’s what she needs to do to win. Her Ride or Dies partner, Horacio, says in a voice clip, “This time I’m here to win.” The duo reached their first final as rookies in Season 38, with Olivia suffering an unfortunate mishap leading to an injury and their exit from the game.
Others appearing in the footage include returning finalist Melissa Reeves, fan-favorite Tula “Big T” Fazerkley, and several international spinoff stars. USA’s Kyland Young, Australia’s Jessica Brody, and Argentina’s Sofia “Jujuy” Jimenez are among them.
See the full trailer below, and check out who’s in the Season 39 cast for more details about the familiar and less-familiar cast members featured.
Battle for a New Champion trailer showcases returning winners
As mentioned, former show winners are also part of the game, and they’re all shown in some capacity in the trailer. Each player is believed only to have a one-episode appearance to compete in an elimination against a main Season 39 cast member.
CT Tamburello emerges with a maniacal laugh and is shown throwing a medieval weapon down on the elimination venue’s sand. For the five-time show winner, this is his first time back on the show since taking a break after his Season 37 win.
Darrell Taylor, Laurel Stucky, Jordan Wiseley, Devin Walker, Tori Deal, and Kaycee Clark are other MTV stars who pop up with footage or confessional highlights.
The most significant return is likely Cara Maria Sorbello, who has not been featured in an MTV season of The Challenge since War of the Worlds 2. Following that season, rumors swelled whenever other seasons arrived that she and her boyfriend, Paulie Calafiore, might have been “canceled” or blacklisted from getting on the show.
However, Paulie made his return on the spinoff show, The Challenge: USA 2, and now Cara will make her return as one of MTV’s mercenary elimination competitors for Season 39.
“Do you want to make it to a final?” the two-time Challenge winner says in her brief on-screen appearance during the trailer.
While the mercenary competitors won’t get to take a spot in the game if they win, Cara’s return definitely has many fans stoked about future possibilities. With rumors of Season 40 calls currently underway, there remains hope she’ll appear in a full MTV season again, possibly in 2024.
The Challenge: Battle For a New Champion premieres Wednesday, October 25, at 8/7c on MTV.