If you thought the Wes Bergmann vs. Johnny Bananas days were over, just wait until The Challenge: War of the Worlds premieres. Wes, who is returning to The Challenge for the first time since 2016’s Rivals III, is back and ready to win season 33 – and the one player he’s not worried about his enemy Bananas.
“Look at the list of people that are on the show. He’s the least athletic one of all of them,” Wes, 34, told Us Weekly exclusively about his opponent. “He is done, and he never really was that athletic. He just got paired with great people and was around during an era where his friends kept continually getting asked back; he used that as a combination to win a bunch of shows with a whole handful of asterisks next to each one of them. Now, he’s this season’s layup, and I don’t go after layups.”
While Johnny “never will be” on Wes’ radar, many of the new players definitely brought their A-game, the Real World: Austin alum explained, actually stating that this is “the best casting that there has ever been.”
“Some of the girls and almost all of the guys are more athletic and better at this Challenge than any of even the best of the best,” the two-time champ continued. “I don’t hold a candle to what some of these guys and girls can do – from an entertainment, and athletic standpoint. These people are the truth, as the kids would say.”
While Wes is no longer being flirtatious on the show – he’s been happily married since June 2018 – he isn’t staying away from the romances! “In fact, I immerse myself in it probably more so than when I was allowed to hook up with the chicks. I am officially, The Challenge‘s cupid,” he told Us. “My job is to be the matchmaker … Even though I wasn’t the one hooking up, I was basically a fly on the wall, in each of those situations.”
Wes also noted he has to “live vicariously through all of their sexual promiscuities,” so he just makes a ton of hookups happen. “I’m like the Match.com of The Challenge. I took interviews from all the girls in the first day or two, figured out what their wants, needs and desires were and created a little mapping board. I had a diary of who I was gonna put together. I wrote love notes for people, that they didn’t even know about and signed it with their names,” the reality star said. “I’m just happy to know that I made real love happen. And by real love, I mean debaucherous, random hookups. There’s not a true couple out of any of them.”
The Challenge: War of the Worlds airs on MTV Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET. The after show airs directly following the episode, hosted by Justina Valentine.
