The Challenge cast list: Vets and New Threats who will contend on MTV

The Challenge cast list: Vets and New Threats who will contend on MTV
MTV's wildly popular reality show The Challenge is returning for its 41st season, and it is bringing some new talent into the fold. The new season will feature 16 returning veterans against 16 newcomers, or "New Threats." The Challenge: Vets and New Threats will premiere on Wednesday, July 30 at 8 p.m. ET and air every Wednesday night.
The veteran team features 22 Challengers and welcomes back iconic competitors like Johnny Bananas, Derrick, Cara Maria, CT, Aneesa and Leroy. The New Threats include contestants from reality shows like Love Island, Big Brother, The Amazing Race, Survivor and more.
The Vets:
Michaela Bradshaw (2 Challenges)
Theo Campbell (4 Challenges)
Derek Chavez (6 Challenges)
Johnny "Bananas" Devenanzio (24 Challenges, 7 Wins)
Aneesa Ferreira (19 Challenges)
Leroy Garrett (15 Challenges)
Nany González (13 Challenges)
Olivia Kaiser (3 Challenges)
Derrick Kosinski (14 Challenges, 3 Wins)
Aviv Melmed (2 Challenges, 1 Win)
Ashley Mitchell (10 Challenges, 2 wins)
Nia Moore (5 Challenges)
Rogan O'Connor (3 Challenges, 1 Win)
Cara Maria Sorbello (16 Challenges, 2 Wins)
CT Tamburello (20 Challenges, 5 Wins)
Turbo (4 Challenges, 1 Win)
The New Threats:
Jake Cornish (Love Island: All Stars)
Ben Davis (Boxer)
Leonardo Dionicio (Love Island USA)
Izzy Fairthorne (Too Hot Too Handle)
Will Gagnon (Are You The One)
Justin Hinsley (Cheer)
Cedric Hodges (Big Brother 26)
Yeremi Hykel (The Amazing Race 35)
Blue Kim (Big Brother 25)
America Lopez (Big Brother 25)
Adrienne Naylor (Married at First Sight UK)
Sydney Segal (Survivor 41)
Leka Sodade (Canada's Ultimate Challenge)
Dee Valladares (Survivor 45)
Gabe Wai (Former WWE)
Tay Wilcoxson (Big Brother Australia 15)
When will the new season of The Challenge premiere?
Again, that'll be on Wednesday, July 30 at 8 p.m. ET.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Buzz Feed

6 hours ago

• Buzz Feed

JoJo Siwa Talks Lesbian Identity Pressure: Opinion

JoJo Siwa discussed feeling "pressure" to identify as a lesbian, so let's talk about it. When JoJo first came out in 2021, she generally used the term "gay" as more of a synonym for queer. "I don't know, bisexual, pansexual, queer, lesbian, gay, straight. I always just say gay because it just kind of covers it or queer because I think the keyword is cool, she told People. "Technically I would say that I am pansexual because that's how I have always been my whole life is just like, my human is my human." She even made headlines for not liking the word "lesbian." In the years that followed, JoJo did occasionally use the term "lesbian" and was publicly in relationships with women and nonbinary people. During her stint on Big Brother earlier this year, she ultimately concluded, 'I feel, like, so queer, do you know what I mean? I think that's the thing, I've always told myself I'm a lesbian, and I think being here I've realized: 'Oh, I'm not a lesbian, I'm queer,' and I think that's really cool.' She is currently dating co-star Chris Hughes. JoJo is currently set to be on the cover of the Daily Mail's YOU Magazine this weekend. Ahead of the full interview, the tabloid ran an excerpt with a headline beginning, "I was pressured into calling myself a lesbian." In the interview, she said, "When I came out at 17, I said: 'I'm pansexual, because I don't care [about gender].' But then I kind of boxed myself in and I said: 'I'm a lesbian.' And I think I did that because of pressure." 'In a weird way, I think it came a little bit from inside the [LGBTQ] community at times,' she continued. 'From people I know, from partners I've had. You just get put in this world where you feel like, because you now have said, 'Oh, I'm a lesbian,' you have to be a lesbian. And the truth is, sexuality is fluid.' Now, I know that weird straight people will jump on the headline as evidence of some gay conspiracy. But all this does is ignore the evident biphobia that underpins JoJo's story. And yes, this can come from people who are queer themselves! In fact, I am almost certain that any bisexual person you ask will say they've experienced some form of biphobia in LGBTQ spaces — there's even a term for it, "double discrimination." When someone so young is being told by both straight and gay people that their sexuality isn't legitimate, can you blame them for going with what feels more right to them in the moment? I'm using "biphobia" here as a blanket term for "anti-fludity." It's a problem that's been around for eons. Years ago, I asked a leader at a company I worked at about the prevalence of bi-erasure. In response, he, a man in his 60s, said that he likely would have identified as bisexual if he were coming out now, but instead went with "gay" because he felt that people wouldn't have believed him. Such is the double-edged sword with biphobia: Whether you're a man or a woman, it's assumed that you're simply into men. Plus, as JoJo says, sexuality is fluid. I can't help but wonder if the people making the biggest deal over this have an internal abhorrence over someone, well, expressing that fluidity. I'm just an idiot with a keyboard, but it really bothers me 0% if someone updates their preferred terms. It's all very "backlash at Demi Lovato for using she/her pronouns again," even though they are still nonbinary and their point was completely missed in that discourse. There's also the frustration from people who say things like, "Well, why did JoJo have to make being a lesbian such a big part of her brand?" For one, JoJo said that she "basically got blackballed" by Nickelodeon after she came out (Nickelodeon has denied this). It's possible that the decision to pivot so hard into the queerness of it all may not have been driven just by her. This is 2025: I have to write a defense piece about JoJo Siwa. In short, don't aim your hate at JoJo. Aim it at the biphobic system, and, instead, let us unite about the 11-year age gap between her and Chris. Looking for more LGBTQ+ or Pride content? Then check out all of BuzzFeed's posts celebrating Pride 2025.

Boston Globe

16 hours ago

• Boston Globe

Our weird reality is killing reality TV

Now, you might be asking yourself, who cares? And I get that. But I think the reason reality TV is dying is interesting. It reveals something deeper about how our society might be unconsciously metabolizing the seismic political shifts in the last year. Get The Gavel A weekly SCOTUS explainer newsletter by columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr. Enter Email Sign Up Reality TV originally thrived because it offered an escape from everyday life. We indulged in epic rollercoaster romances, shameless debauchery, petty entanglements, and the guilty pleasure of rooting for 'shade-throwing' self-obsessed villains who seemed hellbent on taking someone down each season. For roughly 43 blissfully chaotic minutes, we entered a world where the worst of human behavior could be enjoyed safely, from a distance, and, most important, turned off at will. In the end, it perversely left us feeling better, even relieved, about the predictable ordinariness of our own lives. Advertisement But our current political reality — starring its own egotistical villains running amok and creating havoc — has become so chaotic and theatrical that reality TV now feels dull by comparison. Sigmund Freud, in 'Civilization and Its Discontents,' argued that our primal instincts, driven by sex (pleasure/procreation) and aggression (power/survival), are in conflict with the external demands of civilization — the social order that keeps us functioning as a collective society. In short: Our rawest individualistic urges are always brushing up against the demands of civilized living. To manage this conflict, we rely on outlets like art, literature, film, and television — forms that allow us to sublimate (to unconsciously and symbolically indulge) our primitive urges without destabilizing society or our own psychological well-being. Reality TV — because it features 'real people' in dramatized settings — gives us permission to flirt with our more primitive impulses: envy, competition, cruelty. It lets us vicariously indulge in dysfunction and chaos from the safety of our couches, without breaking social rules or causing lasting harm. And then Donald Trump, a former reality TV personality himself, made every day a real-life spectacle. Trump entered both terms of his presidency by shattering the protective barrier of the screen and displaying all the hallmarks of reality TV's genre's most notorious villains: narcissism, manipulation, performative cruelty, engineered tribalism, and unchecked grievance. What was once safely held in the collective unconscious and expressed through art now plays out in the real world — unfiltered, uncontained, and unrelenting. The primal chaos we once safely indulged in during 43 minutes of petty drama and escapism now spills into our news feeds, our laws, and our wallets. There's no off switch. The conflicts on 'The Real Housewives' and the scheming on 'Survivor' now feel like the ones between Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd: cartoonish, low-stakes, and recycled. They're dull compared with our real 'reality.' Advertisement In lieu of reality TV, I've turned to British mystery series, like 'Midsomer Murders,' where the world may be grim, but order is restored and justice usually prevails. With each episode, the bad guys are caught and the community heals. It's the kind of resolution I no longer trust reality TV, or our real lives, to deliver.

Business Wire

a day ago

• Business Wire

Bloom Energy and Tarana Wireless Stars & Strides Run and Walk

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Independence Day holiday kicks off early with the 5th Annual Bloom Energy and Tarana Wireless Stars and Strides Run, a 5K–10K run/walk and Kids Fun Run that benefits Valley Health Foundation. The event takes place in Discovery Meadow in Downtown San Jose. For media assets—including a powerful video chronicling former patient Bastian Michel's remarkable recovery after a life-threatening accident, and images from previous Stars and Strides events—please click here. WHAT: Opening Ceremony (7:30 AM) – Features opening remarks from local elected officials, a costume contest, and a performance of the national anthem by 16-year-old Siena Alexandra Guardino to kick off the festivities. 5K-10K Run/Walk (8:00 AM, sponsored by First Citizens Bank and Amazon) – Santa Clara County Sheriff Bob Jonsen and Sheriff's Office recruits will lead the official start of the race on a flat, fast, and fun course for people of all ages and fitness levels and abilities. Double Helicopter Arrival (9:35 AM, sponsored by HP Inc.) – The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office and Calstar helicopters land in the festival area with superheroes and special guests onboard, kicking off the Kids Fun Run with a grand entrance. Special Guest & Healthcare Heroes Ceremony: Following the helicopter landing, we will honor special guests Bastian Michel (former SCVMC patient) and Susan Benton, RN (Assistant Nurse Manager, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center), recognizing all Healthcare Heroes who make a difference in our community, as they kick off the Kids Fun Run. Kids Fun Run at Discovery Meadow Park (10:00 AM, sponsored by Sanmina Corporation) – A ¼-mile course for children between the ages of two and seven, with parents welcome to join with their children. Live music from Idol Hands, (comprised of talented Santa Clara Valley Medical Center/Valley Health Foundation personnel), a beer/mimosa bar courtesy of Hapa's Brewing Company and Joseph George Fine Wines (a free drink for participants 21+), lawn games, food trucks, face painting, bubbles, pictures with superheroes, and more. Join the Contests: Race participants can take part in the following: Alaska Airlines Costume Contest: 2 free roundtrip airline tickets awarded to the "Best Independence Day Theme," 2 free roundtrip airline tickets for the "Best Non-Independence Day Theme" and gift baskets for the best 'Group Costume Contest.' Luxury Tropical Getaway: Team members from the top three largest teams will be entered into a drawing to win a 5 day luxury tropical getaway. For more details, click here. WHEN: Saturday, June 28th. The 5K-10K Run/Walk starts at 8:00 AM, and the Kids Fun Run starts at 10 AM. The Sheriff's helicopter will land at approximately 9:30AM with our special guest introduction at 9:50 AM. WHERE: Discovery Meadow in Downtown San Jose, ​​adjacent to the Children's Discovery Museum. WHY: Proceeds from this year's race will benefit Valley Health Foundation, a nonprofit leader in community health and healthcare that fundraises to support, innovate, and advocate better health for residents in Santa Clara County. In the first four years of the Stars & Strides run, nearly $1.2 million has been raised and donated to the Valley Health Foundation, which supports our four public hospitals and 14 Speciality and Primary Care Health Centers, which collectively serve more than 1 million of our neighbors each year.