Reality TV stars Johnny Bananas and Wes Bergmann are synonymous with MTV’s The Challenge, as the two have nine championships combined.
While neither cast member returned for Season 37, aka Spies, Lies & Allies, they’re both giving their reactions and reviews as the episodes unfold.
After the second episode, both legends discussed key mistakes or red flags that rookies should avoid when competing in their future seasons.
The Challenge champ Johnny Bananas talks about rookie’s mistake
Seven-time Challenge champ Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio offers his weekly thoughts about the show on his new podcast series with The Ringer called Death, Taxes, and Bananas.
On Thursday, August 19, the latest episode arrived to discuss Spies, Lies & Allies Episode 2. Bananas was joined by Ringer Head of Production Juliet Litman as his guest to discuss everything.
At one point, she asked Johnny who he thought was playing the best game so far in Season 37. Bananas told her, “the people who are playing the best game are the people we haven’t heard from yet.”
He went on to explain that the best game plan tends to be remaining in the shadows, not showing off your strengths too readily, and letting others become targets. That may have been rookie Kelz Dyke’s mistake.
“The more attention you put on yourself, especially while you’re winning, it’s not necessarily a good thing. This is, I think, the mistake Kelz made,” Bananas said.
“I think Kelz should’ve known coming into the game what a force he was…and instead of almost taking a back seat, I think what happened is he let his competitive edge and his ego…or his…that macho bravado that he had, he let that fly…I think you want to keep your strengths a secret,” The Challenge OG revealed.
Bananas effectively did his best to form strategic alliances and play a strong social game in several of his winning seasons. However, he did fall to getting called out or thrown into elimination several times by savvy competitors making moves.
That included Paulie Calafiore and girlfriend Cara Maria Sorbello masterminding an alliance in War of the Worlds 2, which sent Bananas into elimination and home from the show.
Nonetheless, one has to wonder how Kelz might approach the game differently if and when he returns. He’s clearly one of the biggest competitors on the show, which made him a threat and a target for other competitors.
Wes Bergmann reacts to Episode 2: ‘When are people going to realize’
Wes Bergmann doesn’t have a weekly podcast, but something similar. He continues to give his thoughts to fans via his subscriber-based Patreon account. Ahead of his latest recap episode, Wes fired off a tweet in which he called out others for failing to see what a certain cast member was up to.
“When are people going to realize WHOEVER SAYS ‘he’s making deals with everyone in the house’, is typically THE ONE making deals with everyone in the house?” Wes tweeted.
“Have they never heard, ‘whoever smelt it, delt it’?” he also said in the tweet.
Wes’ tweet seems to refer to veteran cast member Josh Martinez who took the opportunity to target rookie Kelz Dyke during a deliberation for votes. The rookie stood up to Josh, though, calling him out for a “fake lie” after Josh said Kelz was going around making deals with rookies and vets in the house.
Unfortunately, Kelz and his partner Tracy Candela still ended up getting voted in, thanks to Josh’s sneaky plan. They’d get eliminated in Flipping Agents, ending their time on Season 37. However, Kelz tweeted he plans to return to The Challenge, so he’ll likely be looking for some retribution.
Hopefully, current cast members and prospective Challenge rookies are paying close attention to Johnny and Wes’ thoughts so that they can refine their gameplay for upcoming seasons.
The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on MTV.