During a dramatic scene on The Challenge: Vets and New Threats, Johnny Bananas informed all nearby castmates of his importance to MTV’s reality competition franchise.
“I am The [expletive] Challenge,” he declared in a brash statement during a team nomination ceremony in Episode 3, prompting disgusted looks and replies from other cast members.
Among them were rookies Adrienne Naylor and Izzy Fairthorne, and veteran castmate, Cara Maria Sorbello.
Cara could only say “Wow” after hearing Bananas’ remarks during Episode 3, which seemed to indicate she was in disbelief.
With more time to process things after filming Season 41, she shared a hot take about her castmate Bananas and his ego-driven statement.
That included her blasting the seven-time champ, claiming he doesn’t want the show to succeed in the future.
Cara Maria slammed Bananas’ ‘I am The Challenge’ statement
Cara appeared on a recent Challenge Mania Podcast where she spoke with host Scott Yager and co-host Derrick Kosinski, who is also her Season 41 castmate.
She claimed that people wanted Bananas to become a “hangnail,” so that moment was really all about him in a way. However, she also shared a hot take about Johnny Bananas saying, “I am The Challenge.”
“As cringy as it is for him to be like that, that’s just Johnny,” she said, adding, “That’s what makes it entertaining.”
Cara explained that cast members like herself, Derrick, and CT Tamburello all know what they’ve done, who they are, and new people can’t replace them or their legacies on The Challenge.
“We can’t be doing Challenges when we’re 60 years old, let’s be real,” she said.
“You guys have carried the show on your back until it needs surgery,” Cara said, explaining that it will need to continue without them.
She also admitted that the vets are “getting outshined by 20-year-olds” now on The Challenge and suggested that maybe Bananas wants the show to die when he leaves it.
“Johnny wants the show, I believe, to burn in hell when he’s not a part of it anymore. When he is no longer on the show and doesn’t want the show to survive,” Cara said, adding, “I feel like everyone else wants The Challenge to continue and be great.”
Here’s what The Challenge fans think about it
On Instagram, many fans weighed in with their own takes about Bananas being The Challenge, and how they feel about watching the competition show without him or other OGs.
“Bananas is good tv, he knows how to stir the pot and make some commotion but as long as there are still vets on every season ima keep watching no matter if Bananas is on or not,” one IG commenter wrote.
“I like a lot of the rookies. Give them a chance. We still need vets but let’s face it. They are getting older,” another commenter wrote.
One individual commented, “The Challenge was on before Johnny and will be on after Johnny.”
Others wrote, “Well with bananas gone, I’m done watching for the season,” and “Johnny’s the reason I started watching the challenge🔥.”
In a spoiler alert, viewers saw the man claiming to be The Challenge lost to Father Time and rookie opponent Gabe Wai. It made for a historic event as a rookie eliminated Bananas from a season for the first time in a long time, if ever.
Episode 4, which saw Bananas sent home by Gabe as castmates watched, brought in the most viewers of any episode so far, with 590,000.
The next highest, Episode 3, had 320,000, which is when Bananas declared he is The Challenge, so perhaps his remarks carried some weight.
The Challenge: Vets and New Threats airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on MTV.
