The Challenge is losing a legend, as Wes Bergmann seemingly confirmed he’s done appearing on MTV’s competition series after devoting 18 years of his life to it.
If true, the 38-year-old’s career didn’t end on MTV, but on a CBS spinoff, The Challenge: USA 2, as he was sent home due to several of the show’s Big Brother and Survivor stars.
However, one individual seemed to surprise Wes as he said farewell to his castmates and announced he wouldn’t be back on the show.
That was none other than Josh Martinez, someone who was previously Wes’ rival and said he’d become a closer friend to him in recent seasons.
Wes’ potential farewell episode featured multiple castmates in tears throughout the show, including Josh, but not necessarily due to Wes leaving.
In a recent interview, the three-time Challenge winner addressed Josh’s “pathetic” tears during the episode, calling him out for the vote.
Wes Bergmann speaks about Josh’s ‘pathetic’ tears
MTV star Wes Bergmann talked about his retirement and the realization he had that this would be it after finishing filming for The Challenge: USA 2 spinoff.
In Episode 10, viewers saw Wes go into elimination against Survivor’s Chris Underwood and lose a close battle, potentially ending his time on The Challenge for good.
Chris was nominated by daily challenge winners Michaela Bradshaw and Faysal “Fessy” Shafaat to go into elimination. However, Wes’ fate came due to three castmates voting for him by placing balls with his name on them into The Hopper.
In a confessional during the episode, Wes realized someone he thought was an ally had lied to him about how they voted.
One of the yellow balls was put into The Hopper by Wes’ rival-turned-friend, Josh. The former Big Brother winner felt Wes would be a significant threat for him to go against in the USA 2 final.
During the voting, Josh’s vote was shown as emotional, as he was in tears while deciding if he should do it and while speaking about it in a confessional interview.
When Golden Derby asked Wes about Josh’s crying during the USA 2 episode, the MTV star called him out.
“Sometimes I’m okay with the crying,” Wes said, adding, “You know, because he’s a passionate man.”
“If you’re gonna get to a point where you are weeping over a decision that you are making, then like, you know you’re wrong, or you’ve made a bunch of missteps to get there,” the MTV star said.
“It was pathetic to watch,” Wes said before mentioning it’s unclear if it was Josh’s ball or someone else’s that got him put into the elimination. He suggested that it could’ve been Chris or fellow Survivor star Cassidy Clark’s ball that was pulled from The Hopper.
Following Wes’ elimination event on USA 2, he hugged his castmates goodbye and learned that Josh had secretly voted for him. While Josh apologized and was in tears, Wes wondered in a confessional if the Big Brother star might see “any repercussions” now for voting against another Challenger.
Wes indicated that his retirement from The Challenge is for good
As mentioned, Wes battled Chris in a super-close elimination event, much like Wes’ previous battle with Dusty Harris. However, this one didn’t go in Wes’ favor, and ultimately, he delivered an emotional farewell speech at The Arena.
“I just want to say I’m not coming back, and it’s been a privilege,” Wes told his castmates, the crew, and host TJ Lavin while standing next to Chris on the ground level.
“To everyone making this, playing with y’all, like, I’m gonna miss it all. I love you. Thank you,” he said before waving to castmates and leaving The Arena.
Wes received cheers and well wishes from his USA 2 castmate, with several of his MTV co-stars part of that.
“We love you, buddy,” a teary-eyed Josh yelled from the spectator stands at The Arena.
Wes, who debuted on MTV’s The Real World, appeared in 14 regular seasons of The Challenge and multiple spinoff seasons, including the recent USA 2, World Championship, and All Stars 3. In a previous USA 2 episode, he became emotional as he spoke about leaving the show to embark on his journey as a new parent.
As Monsters and Critics previously reported, Wes confirmed his retirement online. He indicated his reasons included raising his first child with his wife and focusing on his business. Wes also suggested there had been castmates trashing his name in interviews, and he seemed to be done with dealing with that narrative.
During USA 2’s episode, TJ expressed he hoped Wes would “reconsider.” The show host told Wes was welcome back anytime after he’d seemingly announced his retirement, so “never say never” lingers when it comes to seeing The Challenge legend back on screens.
The Challenge: USA 2 airs Thursdays at 10/9c on CBS. The Challenge Season 39 premieres Wednesday, October 25 at 8/7c on MTV.