The Challenge (TV series)
The Challenge is a reality competition show on MTV that is a spin-off of two of the network's reality shows, The Real World and Road Rules and originally featured alumni from these two shows. Casting for The Challenge has expanded over the years to include contestants who debuted on The Challenge itself, and other MTV franchises. Starting in 2018, new contestants were chosen outside of the MTV network programming. The contestants compete against one another in various extreme challenges to avoid elimination. The winners of the final challenge win the competition and typically share a large cash prize. The Challenge is currently hosted by T. J. Lavin.
The series premiered on April 20, 1998. The show was originally titled Road Rules: All Stars, and had notable Real World alumni participated in a Road Rules style road-trip. It was renamed Real World/Road Rules Challenge for the 2nd season, then later abridged to simply The Challenge by the show's 19th season. Since the fourth season, each season has supplied the show with a unique subtitle, such as Rivals. Each season consists of a format and theme from which the subtitle is derived.
The show's forty-first season, titled Vets & New Threats, premiered on July 30, 2025.
Overview
The Challenge casts are season-specific as the cast varies from season to season. The casts are made up of contestants originating from one of The Challenge's related TV programs and, in a few seasons, previously unknown contestants. The cast usually contains both "veterans" and "rookies". Veterans are thought of as players that have won at least one Challenge season or have appeared on several seasons of the show; Rookies refer to newer players. Many recent alumni come from various reality shows including [Survivor (franchise)|Survivor], The Amazing Race, Are You the One?, Big Brother, Ex [on the Beach (British TV series)|Ex on the Beach], Vanderpump Rules and Love Island as well as non-reality entertainment and sports programs.A season's typical multitude of cast members are usually divided up into separate teams or pairs according to a certain criterion, which varies from season to season. The criteria that teams have been arranged by over the show's history have ranged from: gender, the contestants' original show, heroic or villainous status, rivals, countries, family members and ex-romantic partners. Contestants compete in numerous missions in order to win prizes and advance in the overall game. The format of the competition varies by season. In elimination rounds, contestants or teams compete against each other to determine who is eliminated from the season. Each season has its own, distinctive elimination round, distinguished from those of other seasons. Sporadically throughout the course of each episode, various contestants are seen privately expressing themselves through reality TV confessionals about the events taking place on the show.
Some seasons, however, have used entirely different formats from the typical ones: The Island is one Challenge in particular that adopted many features atypical to Real World/Road Rules Challenge, instead taking concepts like that of another reality television game show Survivor; as another example, the first season ironically, only included contestants from The Real World and consisted of a much smaller cast before the show was completely restructured in its second season. Except for season one, a monetary prize has always been the award for winning the final mission.
Hosts
The series initially used no hosts but instead a former cast member who had been kicked off his or her season, providing assignments as "Mr." or "Ms. Big". After one season without anyone in this role, the series began using hosts: Eric Nies and Mark Long co-hosted a season, and Jonny Moseley and Dave Mirra hosted various seasons before T. J. Lavin became the show's regular host by the 11th season.History
Over time, a playful rivalry developed between the cast of Road Rules and The Real World, with the former occasionally attempting to prank the latter while it was in production. During the filming of The Real World: Boston and Road Rules: Islands, the two casts met while the Real World cast was vacationing in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Producers set up a face-off where both teams would compete for a cash prize. The episode brought in high ratings and this set ideas in motion to produce the spin-off series. The series started airing in April 1998 as Road Rules: All Stars, and featured cast members from five seasons of The Real World. Another face-off called AquaGames, hosted by Kit Hoover and Mark Long, was between The Real World: Seattle and Road Rules: Down Under and aired as part of those shows later in 1998.After Road Rules: All Stars, producers decided to include former cast members of Road Rules in the series as well. In the next season, two six-member teams were sent around the world in a competition to see which show could best the other in head-to-head competition. The series followed the format for three years. Following the successful boom of reality television in the new millennium, from shows like Survivor, producers decided to add new elements to the series. 2002's Battle of the Seasons was the first season to depart from the previous six-member structure and brought in a large group of former cast members to compete in one location. The show added in eliminations, with earlier season incorporated voting off by majority, that eventually changed to elimination competitions between cast members.
Cast members
Contestants are various reality television cast members from different television shows. Originally the cast consisted of The Real World and Road Rules alumni, and cast who debuted directly on The Challenge, but eventually MTV expanded it to other alumni from other reality shows and networks.Seasons
| Order | Title | Format | Original Release | Location | Champion |
| 1 | Road Rules: All Stars | 1 team of 5 | April 20, 1998 - May 18, 1998 | Road trip: Montreal → Lake Placid → Wellington → Auckland → Los Angeles | Cynthia Roberts, Eric Nies, Jon Brennan, Rachel Campos & Sean Duffy |
| 2 | Real World vs. Road Rules | 2 teams of 6 | November 9, 1999 - December 14, 1999 | Road trip: San Francisco → Los Angeles → Las Vegas → Los Angeles | Road Rules |
| 3 | Challenge 2000 | 2 teams of 6 | January 17, 2000 - April 3, 2000 | Road trip: Las Vegas → Nashville → Miami | Road Rules |
| 4 | Extreme Challenge | 2 teams of 6 | January 9, 2001 - May 22, 2001 | Road trip: Portland, ME → Montreal → Boston → London → Hamburg → Prague → London → New York → Los Angeles | Real World |
| 5 | Battle of the Seasons | 2 teams of 8 pairs | January 28, 2002 - May 27, 2002 | Cabo San Lucas, Mexico | Real World |
| 6 | Battle of the Sexes | 2 teams of 18 | December 30, 2002 - May 12, 2003 | Montego Bay, Jamaica | Guys |
| 7 | The Gauntlet | 2 teams of 14 | September 29, 2003 - January 26, 2004 | Telluride, Colorado | Road Rules |
| 8 | The Inferno | 2 teams of 10 | February 2, 2004 - May 31, 2004 | Acapulco, Mexico | Road Rules |
| 9 | Real World/Road Rules Challenge: [Battle of the Sexes 2|Battle of the Sexes 2] | 2 teams of 18 | October 4, 2004 - January 31, 2005 | Santa Fe, New Mexico | Guys |
| 10 | The Inferno II | 2 teams of 10 | March 7, 2005 - June 20, 2005 | Manzanillo, Mexico | Good Guys |
| 11 | The Gauntlet 2 | 2 teams of 16 | December 5, 2005 - March 27, 2006 | Tobago, Trinidad and Tobago | Rookies |
| 12 | Fresh Meat | 12 pairs | May 29, 2006 - September 11, 2006 | Myocum, Australia | Darrell Taylor & Aviv Melmed |
| 13 | The Duel | Individual | October 12, 2006 - January 18, 2007 | Armação dos Búzios, Brazil | Wes Bergmann |
| 13 | The Duel | Individual | October 12, 2006 - January 18, 2007 | Armação dos Búzios, Brazil | Jodi Weatherton |
| 14 | The Inferno 3 | 2 teams of 10 | April 10, 2007 - July 3, 2007 | Somerset West, South Africa | Bad Asses |
| 15 | The Gauntlet III | 2 teams of 16 | January 23, 2008 - March 26, 2008 | Puerto Vallarta, Mexico | Rookies |
| 16 | The Island | Individual →2 teams of 4 | September 10, 2008 - October 29, 2008 | Colón Island, Panama | Red Boat |
| 17 | The Duel II | Individual | April 8, 2009 - June 17, 2009 | Queenstown, New Zealand | Evan Starkman |
| 17 | The Duel II | Individual | April 8, 2009 - June 17, 2009 | Queenstown, New Zealand | Rachel Robinson |
| 18 | The Ruins | 2 teams of 14 | September 30, 2009 - December 23, 2009 | Phuket, Thailand | Champions |
| 19 | Fresh Meat II | 13 pairs | April 7, 2010 - June 9, 2010 | Whistler, British Columbia, Canada | Landon Lueck & Carley Johnson |
| 20 | Cutthroat | 3 teams of 10 | October 6, 2010 - December 22, 2010 | Prague, Czech Republic | Red Team |
| 21 | Rivals | 14 pairs | June 22, 2011 - September 7, 2011 | Dominical, Costa Rica → Buenos Aires & Bariloche, Argentina | Johnny Devenanzio & Tyler Duckworth |
| 21 | Rivals | 14 pairs | June 22, 2011 - September 7, 2011 | Dominical, Costa Rica → Buenos Aires & Bariloche, Argentina | Evelyn Smith & Paula Meronek |
| 22 | Battle of the Exes | 13 pairs | January 25, 2012 - April 4, 2012 | Sosúa, Dominican Republic → Reykjavík, Iceland | Johnny Devenanzio & Camila Nakagawa |
| 23 | Battle of the Seasons | 8 teams of 4 | September 19, 2012 - December 19, 2012 | Bodrum, Turkey → Swakopmund & Windhoek, Namibia | Team San Diego |
| 24 | Rivals II | 16 pairs | July 10, 2013 - September 25, 2013 | Phuket, Thailand | Chris "CT" Tamburello & Wes Bergmann |
| 24 | Rivals II | 16 pairs | July 10, 2013 - September 25, 2013 | Phuket, Thailand | Emily Schromm & Paula Meronek |
| 25 | Free Agents | Individual Pairs Teams | April 10, 2014 - June 26, 2014 | Punta del Este, Uruguay → Pucón, Chile | Johnny "Bananas" Devenanzio |
| 25 | Free Agents | Individual Pairs Teams | April 10, 2014 - June 26, 2014 | Punta del Este, Uruguay → Pucón, Chile | Laurel Stucky |
| 26 | The Challenge: [Battle of the Exes II|Battle of the Exes II] | 13 pairs | January 6, 2015 - March 24, 2015 | Pedasí, Panama → Ørsta, Norway | Jordan Wiseley & Sarah Rice |
| 27 | Battle of the Bloodlines | 14 pairs → 2 teams of 12 → 5 pairs | December 2, 2015 - February 17, 2016 | Bodrum, Turkey → Berlin, Germany | Cara Maria Sorbello & Jamie Banks |
| 28 | Rivals III | 13 pairs | May 4, 2016 - August 3, 2016 | Huatulco, Mexico → Mendoza, Argentina | Johnny "Bananas" Devenanzio & Sarah Rice |
| 29 | Invasion of the Champions | Individual → 2 teams → Individual | February 7, 2017 - May 16, 2017 | Krabi, Thailand | Chris "CT" Tamburello |
| 29 | Invasion of the Champions | Individual → 2 teams → Individual | February 7, 2017 - May 16, 2017 | Krabi, Thailand | Ashley Mitchell |
| 30 | XXX: Dirty 30 | Individual Pairs Teams | July 18, 2017 - November 28, 2017 | Cartagena, Colombia → Salta, Argentina | Jordan Wiseley |
| 30 | XXX: Dirty 30 | Individual Pairs Teams | July 18, 2017 - November 28, 2017 | Cartagena, Colombia → Salta, Argentina | Camila Nakagawa |
| 31 | Vendettas | Individual Teams | January 2, 2018 - April 17, 2018 | Gibraltar, BOT & Marbella, Spain → Prague, Czech Republic | Cara Maria Sorbello |
| 32 | Final Reckoning | 17 pairs | July 10, 2018 - December 4, 2018 | Hermanus, South Africa | Ashley Mitchell & Hunter Barfield |
| 33 | War of the Worlds | 16 pairs → Individual | February 6, 2019 - May 29, 2019 | Swakopmund, Namibia | Turabi "Turbo" Çamkıran |
| 34 | The Challenge: [War of the Worlds 2|War of the Worlds 2] | 2 teams of 16 | August 28, 2019 – December 18, 2019 | Chiang Mai and Phuket, Thailand | Team UK |
| 35 | Total Madness | Individual Pairs Teams | April 1, 2020 – July 29, 2020 | Prague, Czech Republic → Central Eastern Alps, Austria | Jenny West |
| 35 | Total Madness | Individual Pairs Teams | April 1, 2020 – July 29, 2020 | Prague, Czech Republic → Central Eastern Alps, Austria | Johnny "Bananas" Devenanzio |
| 36 | Double Agents | 15 pairs | December 9, 2020 – April 21, 2021 | Reykjavík, Iceland | Amber Borzotra & Chris "CT" Tamburello |
| 37 | Spies, Lies & Allies | 17 pairs → 3 teams of 6 → Individual → 3 pairs | August 11, 2021 – December 22, 2021 | Vrsar, Croatia | Chris "CT" Tamburello & Kaycee Clark |
| 38 | Ride or Dies | 17 pairs → 2 teams of 8 →7 pairs | October 12, 2022 – March 1, 2023 | Buenos Aires, Argentina | Devin Walker-Molaghan & Tori Deal |
| 39 | Battle for a New Champion | Individual Pairs Teams | October 25, 2023 – March 6, 2024 | Pula, Croatia | Emanuel Neagu |
| 40 | 40: Battle of the Eras | 4 teams of 10 → Individual | August 14, 2024 – January 22, 2025 | Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam → Palawan, Philippines | Jenny West |
| 40 | 40: Battle of the Eras | 4 teams of 10 → Individual | August 14, 2024 – January 22, 2025 | Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam → Palawan, Philippines | Jordan Wiseley |
| 40 | 40: Battle of the Eras | 4 teams of 10 → Individual | August 14, 2024 – January 22, 2025 | Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam → Palawan, Philippines | Rachel Robinson |
| 41 | Vets & New Threats | 16 pairs | July 30, 2025 – December 17, 2025 | Santiago & Andes Mountains, Chile | Olivia Kaiser & Yeremi Hykel |
| 41 | Vets & New Threats | - | - | - | - |
| 41 | Vets & New Threats | - | - | - | - |
Spin-offs
''The Challenge: Champs vs. Stars''
The Challenge: Champs vs. Stars is a special recurring mini-series of The Challenge. In each multi-week event, alumni from The Challenge compete against celebrities to win money for charity.| Order | Title | Host | Format | Original Release | Location | Winner |
| 1 | Champs vs. Pros | Victor Cruz | 2 teams of 10 → 3 pairs | May 16 – June 20, 2017 | Los Angeles, California | Cara Maria Sorbello & Darrell Taylor |
| 2 | Champs vs. Stars I | Mike "The Miz" Mizanin | 2 teams of 10 | November 21, 2017 – January 9, 2018 | Los Angeles, California | Champs |
| 3 | Champs vs. Stars II | Mike "The Miz" Mizanin | 2 teams of 10 → 7 pairs | April 17 – June 26, 2018 | Los Angeles, California | Chris "CT" Tamburello & Tony Raines |
''The Challenge: All Stars''
In 2020, Road Rules: USA – The First Adventure alumnus Mark Long started asking his social media followers if they'd be interested in seeing former cast members of The Challenge coming together for a new version of the series. The movement was titled "We Want OGs." After his idea went viral, he announced a partnership with Bunim/Murray Productions to further develop his project and began gauging interest from potential former cast members. On February 24, 2021, the show was officially announced as The Challenge: All Stars.| Order | Title | Host | Format | Original Release | Location | Winner |
| 1 | All Stars | T. J. Lavin | Individual Pairs Teams | April 1 – May 27, 2021 | Andes Mountains, Argentina | Yes Duffy |
| 2 | All Stars 2 | T. J. Lavin | Individual → 8 pairs | November 11, 2021 – January 13, 2022 | Cancún, Mexico | Jonna Mannion & MJ Garrett |
| 3 | All Stars 3 | T. J. Lavin | Individual Pairs | May 11 - July 6, 2022 | Panama City & San José Island, Panama | Wes Bergmann |
| 3 | All Stars 3 | T. J. Lavin | Individual Pairs | May 11 - July 6, 2022 | Panama City & San José Island, Panama | Jonna Mannion |
| 4 | All Stars 4 | T. J. Lavin | Individual Pairs Teams | April 10 - June 19, 2024 | Cape Town, South Africa | Laurel Stucky |
| 5 | All Stars: Rivals | T. J. Lavin | 13 pairs | January 29 - April 16, 2025 | Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam | Adam Larson & Steve Meinke |
''The Challenge: World Championship'' & International versions
In February 2022, different series of The Challenge were announced, this included three international adaptations for Australia, Argentina, the UK, as well as The Challenge: USA, another American series which aired on CBS with CBS reality show alumni. All editions of the series aired locally on a Paramount-affiliated network and were available globally to stream on Paramount+. These four series were followed by The Challenge: World Championship, which features winners and notable players from the international adaptations and the main series of The Challenge competing for a grand prize. On May 22, 2023, following the conclusion of World Championship, CBS announced that a second season of The Challenge: USA would premiere on August 10, 2023. On June 27, 2024, it was announced that a Swedish version of The Challenge would be airing on TV4 starting on August 12, 2024, marking the first series in the franchise to be produced outside of Bunim/Murray Productions.;Versions
| Country | Title | Host | Network | Format | Original Release | Location | Winner |
| United States | USA | T. J. Lavin | CBS | Individual Pairs | July 6 – September 14, 2022 | Buenos Aires & Patagonia, Argentina | Danny McCray |
| United States | USA | T. J. Lavin | CBS | Individual Pairs | July 6 – September 14, 2022 | Buenos Aires & Patagonia, Argentina | Sarah Lacina |
| United States | USA 2 | T. J. Lavin | CBS | 3 teams of 8 →Individual | August 10 – October 19, 2023 | Pula, Croatia | Chris Underwood |
| United States | USA 2 | T. J. Lavin | CBS | 3 teams of 8 →Individual | August 10 – October 19, 2023 | Pula, Croatia | Desi Williams |
| Australia | Australia | Brihony Dawson | Network 10 | Individual Pairs | November 14 – December 13, 2022 | Buenos Aires & Pilar, Argentina | Kiki Morris |
| Australia | Australia | Brihony Dawson | Network 10 | Individual Pairs | November 14 – December 13, 2022 | Buenos Aires & Pilar, Argentina | Troy Cullen |
| Argentina | Argentina: El Desafio | Marley | Telefe | Individual Pairs | February 13 – March 7, 2023 | Buenos Aires & Pilar, Argentina | Sol Pérez |
| United Kingdom | UK | Mark Wright | Channel 5 | Individual Pairs | February 20 – 24, 2023 | Buenos Aires, Argentina | Kaz Crossley |
| United Kingdom | UK | Mark Wright | Channel 5 | Individual Pairs | February 20 – 24, 2023 | Buenos Aires, Argentina | Tristan Phipps |
| Global | World Championship | Brihony Dawson Marley Mark Wright T. J. Lavin | Paramount+ | 14 pairs | March 8 – May 17, 2023 | Cape Town, South Africa | Team UK |
| Sweden | Sverige | Pischa Strindstedt | TV4 | Pairs | August 12 – October 10, 2024 | Larnaca, Cyprus | Jens Rönnqvist & Sandra Cucarano |
Specials
''Spring Break Challenge''
In March 2010, prior to the airing of the 19th season, MTV aired a special spring break spin-off of The Challenge filmed at the Playa Suites Hotel in Acapulco, Mexico. The five-episode spin-off was titled Spring Break Challenge and aired from March 22–26, 2010. The season featured seven Challenge alum who coached teams of college-aged friends through various challenges and elimination rounds in an attempt to win $50,000 in cash and prizes. Fresh Meat alumnus Evan Starkman and The Real World: Key West alumna Paula Meronek served as broadcasters, with T. J. Lavin as the host. Camila Nakagawa, a contestant of the winning team, went on to appear on future challenges, with her debut season being Cutthroat. Nakagawa is the only player to appear on the main series.| Coach | Original season | Finish |
| Road Rules: Down Under | Winner | |
| Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Fresh Meat | Runner-up | |
| The Real World: Austin | Third place | |
| Road Rules: Campus Crawl | Episode 4 | |
| The Real World: Philadelphia | Episode 3 | |
| Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Fresh Meat | Episode 2 | |
| Road Rules: Campus Crawl | Episode 1 |