MTV 'Challenge' Veterans Unimpressed With Competition On 'Champs vs. Stars'

MTV’s “The Challenge: Champs vs. Stars” pitted 10 veterans of the reality-TV show against a group of celebrities, culminating with the finale this past Tuesday night. It was the second such version of the show in which the players competed to win money for the charity of their choice.

“Champs vs. Pros” premiered in May 2017, and any competitor that had never been on a season of “The Challenge” had been either a professional athlete or an Olympian at some point in the last few years. Producers of the show went in a different direction for the latest season, adding entertainers and stars of other reality-TV shows to the team of former pro athletes.

The result was a dominant performance by the Champs. Not only did “Challenge” veterans Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio, Chris “CT” Tamburello and Emily Schromm win the final and each get $50,000 for their respective charities, but the Champs defeated the Stars in every single team event.

“The first version of this charity challenge (Champs vs. Pros) had a lot of athletes that were currently being competitive or they were more overall more well-rounded athletes versus the Stars that we had,” Schromm told International Business Times. “Some of them were athletes, some were rappers and some were out of their sport for a long time. So we were ready to face some really tough competitors, and not to say they weren’t tough, they just were out of their element. We were kind of surprised with the competition that they brought on ‘The Challenge.’”

Some of the celebrities like rapper Romeo, who played college basketball at USC, had an athletic past. Others, like Kim Glass and Shawn Johnson, competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Terrell Owens was the most notable athlete, having been one of the greatest wide receivers in NFL history before his career ended in 2012. But the six-time Pro Bowler wasn’t around for very long, deciding to leave the show after just two challenges when he got into a heated argument with CT.

“It’s just a different world,” CT told IBT. “In ‘Champs vs. Pros,’ the other team was a hell of a lot more competitive. I don’t think this season the other team really took it all that serious, honestly, except for a few people.”

The Champs won all seven challenges before the finale, even as they lost team members along the way. Jenna Compono fractured her ankle in the second challenge and was forced to leave the show. Ashley Mitchell went home shortly after because of a family emergency.

“I remember when Jenna hurt herself and Romeo looked at us and he said, ‘You guys would die for this shit,’” Emily said. “All of us were like, ‘Yeah, we kind of would.’ We’re all in. We love it. We do it. We have no off switch. We want to compete and we’re there to win. A lot of them, they’ve never done this before. It’s their first time doing something like this.”

MMA fighter Michelle Waterson was one of the three Stars that reached the final, winning a head-to-head elimination challenge along the way. She's an active athlete, fighting as recently as UFC 218 on Dec. 2.

Waterson was a fan of the show before competing, though she acknowledged that the Champs had an edge because of their experience on “The Challenge.”

“I grew up watching CT and Aneesa and Wes, so I did have an idea of what it was gonna be like. But when we got there and we were actually put to the test and had to do it instead of just watch other people do it, it was a completely different story,” Waterson said. “They don’t prepare you for it. They don’t give you any heads up. There’s no real training that you could do for it. You kind of just have to have the ability to adapt to the situation as fast as you can and have good communication skills.”

That’s not to say some of the Stars didn’t perform well. Former “Bachelorette” winner Josh Murray made it to the final, as did singer and rapper Justina Valentine, who’s featured on MTV’s “Wild N’ Out.”

Murray was a second-round pick in the 2002 MLB Draft. After spending a few years in the minor leagues, he decided to go to college at Georgia, where he walked on the football team as a safety. Josh’s brother, Aaron Murray, was a quarterback at Georgia from 2010-2013 before being taken in the fifth round of the 2014 NFL Draft.

“I grew up playing football, basketball, baseball, and other sports when it wasn’t those seasons,” Murray said. “We come from a pretty athletic family. We’re very competitive playing sports all the time, but it definitely helps. I’m competitive no matter what I do. I don’t like to lose at anything, especially at something like this when it’s for charity because there’s that extra emotion behind trying to win.”

Valentine was the only Stars' finalist that didn’t have any kind of a professional sports background. She didn’t know what to expect heading into the show, but believes she surpassed expectations.

“Nothing,” Valentine said when asked what she did to prepare for “Champs vs. Stars.” “I pulled an all-nighter. I was on tour, eating McDonald's and drinking vodka getting ready to do it. Everyone was laughing at me and they were saying, ‘Yeah, she’s gonna be easy to throw in first. She’s a rapper, she’s an entertainer.’ So they were just prepared to throw me in.

“I grew up playing sports my whole life. I was a tomboy my whole life. Soccer, track, and I’ve always been quite a stud at sports. So it’s easy for me to turn that back on and I’m also very competitive. I ended up doing well and shocking some people.”

Bananas is the only finalist from “Champs vs. Pros” that’s on the next season of “The Challenge,” which is already underway. “The Challenge: Vendettas” airs Tuesdays on MTV at 9 p.m. EST.

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