Don’t call it a comeback, as he’s been there for years. The Challenge legend Johnny Bananas recently reacted to a fan’s reaction to the possibility of the seven-time champion returning to the MTV series.
Bananas hasn’t been on the show for two seasons, with his last appearance coming for Season 35, Total Madness. However, with ratings slumping, many fans feel some major star power is needed.
According to Bananas, he’s just what the franchise needs in a time of desperation as fans wonder how long the show can last without headlining stars.
Johnny Bananas teases his return for Challenge Season 38
While away from The Challenge, Johnny Bananas has been involved with projects on TV, including 1st Look and Celebrity Sleepover, as well as his Death, Taxes, and Bananas podcast on The Ringer. The latest podcast episode featured The Challenge host TJ Lavin.
Near the end of the episode, Bananas asked TJ his thoughts about the new cast of Challengers and what’s going on with The Challenge: CBS show. TJ praised the new international cast members, including Emanuel Neagu and Emy Alupei, and also said he had no clue what was going on with CBS yet.
“I love that they’re trying new things. I love all these experiments they’re trying, but I think you and I can both agree that they don’t make them like they used to,” Bananas told TJ during their chat.
TJ mentioned the importance of keeping things safe with cast members these days to protect them from severe head injuries. While Bananas agreed, he brought up a tease for a potential return.
“I love that they’re trying all these new things, but the way that I see it is, taking a few seasons off, I think a lot of the vets have kind of taken a backseat, and we’ve handed the keys to the car over to some of the new kids. I think they drove the car off the cliff, so it’s time to bring the keys back,” Bananas said.
“TJ, I know that you’ve missed me here the last few seasons, and I think that this next season coming up, we’re gonna have a pretty strong veteran presence back on the show, so hopefully we can right the ship,” he said.
A recent article via Stop Being Polite brought up how Johnny Bananas teased his return for Season 38 of MTV’s The Challenge. A fan reacted to Stop Being Polite’s article in a tweet, saying Bananas “can’t help himself” from returning to The Challenge because he needs the “publicity and talk.”
“You spelled ‘To save the franchise’ wrong,” Bananas wrote in his retweet of the fan’s comment.
When is The Challenge Season 38 coming out?
Details have been scarce about Season 38, which has apparently had filming pushed back for the new series The Challenge: CBS (working title), which TJ Lavin will likely host.
The new CBS series is one of four Challenge spinoffs coming out, with three others in different countries. They include The Challenge: UK, The Challenge: Argentina, and The Challenge: Australia.
The four series will produce finalists who will move on to compete in The Challenge: War of the Worlds, a two-part tournament set for Paramount Plus. A premiere date for these shows has yet to be announced, although The Challenge: CBS is tentatively set for this summer.
In addition to that, Paramount Plus will premiere The Challenge: All Stars 3 this May. A cast list hasn’t been revealed for the third season of the spinoff series featuring Fresh Meat, The Real World, and Road Rules stars.
That said, more than a few fans are desperately wanting to see Johnny Bananas back on MTV’s The Challenge to help reinvigorate the series after several lackluster seasons. Along with that, Bananas wants to make sure he has enough distance between his number of championships and castmate CT Tamburello’s.
The Challenge Season 38 is TBA for MTV. The Challenge: All Stars 3 premiere date is May 11 on Paramount Plus.