We should be about halfway through the season, assuming fourteen Challenge episodes. So after ten contestants have been booted out of the show, let’s see how our standings are!
- Jon (54)
- Yasmine (50)
- Victor (37)
- Susan (35)
- George (27)
- Kim (19)
Our defending champion, Jon, roared out to an early lead behind
last pick Kailah, who has surprisngly scored a whopping 24 points to lead all contestants so far. She was eliminated in WK7 though, giving Jon his first player gone. From here on out he’ll have to hope Laurel, Amanda, and Ashley M can keep up the pace without Kailah around.
Our league's Johnny Bananas, Yasmine has emerged yet again as one of this season’s contenders. While she lost Marie early on, adding Shane has paid big dividends for her and she’s also gained big points behind Cory and Hunter, who both have had competitive and romantic success. And from the looks of it, Nicole is exactly the same, with kissing points on the way, as well as being one of the stronger underdog competitors. Is Yasmine headed for her fifth Challenge win?! (She’s the only team left with a full four contestant squad.)
Both Victor and Susan are pretty far behind in third and fourth place but within striking distance. Susan had a huge WK7 behind Darrell and Jenna and has vaulted herself back into the running. It’s a shame she didn’t get any Dario / Ashley K hookup points, but for some reason MTV declined to show us anything from the lovebirds — who are still dating in real life!
As for Victor, his veteran heavy squad was just floating along until WK5 and so far it’s been “weakest link” Sylvia who has scored almost half of his team’s points. Sylvia has cried a few times, she’s survived two eliminations, and if she can keep this up she’ll pick up Camila and CT’s slack so far. And farewell to Tony, who was bounced in WK6, but we were all impressed with how sober and mature he seemed this season. Will we see baby daddy Tony back on the Challenge again? I’m guessing “no.”
And then we have George, who’s not in last place but also probably already out of the running since she lost Zach in WK7. We know Johnny Bananas will likely make to the finals but George really needed two of her vets to place to have a shot. And while Nelson got our season’s first tirade points, we’re not sure if he can team up with Bananas to carry George to a victory this season.
Lastly, we must say our condolences to Kim, whose entire team has been outscored by Kailah herself, and who is down to just one contestant left. The hits started in WK2 when Kim lost Bruno, but then Theo and Anthony (added off the waiver wire too) in quick succession. Now with Ashley K gone poor Kim’s team is down to just Cara Maria! And as good as CM is, she’s hardly going to carry an entire team on her shoulders for half a season. Sorry Kim, better luck next year!
Who else hates champs on champs! Boooo MTV!!!
PS: I am loving watching the extra MTV clips that feature the champs behind-the-scenes. I point you to “
Real Talk With the Champs 1 and
2,” which are both hilarious.
Also, I’ve checked out a few Challenge specific podcasts but my favorite — aside from The Ringer’s — is
Afterbuzz TV’s Challenge After Show. They bring on Challenge contestants and the hosts are personal and quite fun, high recommend.
