Warning: This story contains spoilers from the Wednesday, July 15, finale of The Challenge: Total Madness.
And total madness it was. Jenny West, Rogan O’Connor, Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio, Cory Wharton, Melissa Reeves, Kyle Christie, Bayleigh Dayton, Fessy Shafaat and Kaycee Clark headed to the mountains for the snowy season 35 finale of The Challenge.
At the top of the episode, host T.J. Lavin brought the cast “to the end of the world” — also known as a freezing cold snow-covered mountain. He revealed that this time around, there will be two winners: one man and one woman. Each will win $500,000 and there will be no second or third place. He told the group that the final featured 9,000 feet of elevation and a 12-mile trek through the snow.
First, the cast had to strap on their skis and head uphill to a pile of logs. There, they had to transport 12 logs — only three at a time — to a firepit and light it on fire. Once that was done, they had to ski to the finish line.
Everyone on the cast finished, no matter how long it took. For the men, Cory finished the first leg first, followed by Fessy, Johnny, Rogan and Kyle. For the women, Jenny was first, followed by Kaycee, Bayleigh and Melissa.
Depspite hurting her knee during the first leg, Bayleigh saw medics and refused to give up.
After the group then scaled a mountain to get to a compound, Jenny and Cory formed the final tribunal. The remaining cast had to pick a male and female to throw into elimination against whoever the tribunal selected. Rogan and Melissa volunteered to go in and Johnny and Kaycee were voted to compete against them.
Melissa dropped out, however, which meant only Bananas and Rogan had to compete. The final competition looked easy — it was a race to run, jump and hit a bell. However, due to the heavy snow, it was anything but simple. Ultimately, Bananas won.
His prize for winning was a night sleeping inside the warm compound with fellow winners Kaycee, Jenny and Cory. Kyle, Fessy and Bayleigh had to stay outside for six hours. Due to her injury, Bayleigh decided to quit.
Overnight, an intense snowstorm swept over the mountain, making the final leg even more difficult. It was a race through the snow; Cory and Jenny had a head start, followed by Bananas and Kaycee and lastly, Fessy and Kyle.
It wasn’t only a race, though. Midway through, the group was forced to solve multiple math equations. Bananas, despite starting after Cory, was the first male to complete the equations, and Jenny was the first woman.
After what looked like a very long trek in the snow, Jenny finished first, winning for the women. Bananas finished first for the men, followed by Kyle, Cory then Fessy. Kaycee also finished the final — something that’s not a small feat for a rookie.
This win marks Bananas’ 20th season and seventh win. This is the first time he’s made it to a final since Rivals III in 2016 — the finale that he infamously stole the winnings from his partner, Sarah Rice. He admitted in the end, through tears, that he wasn’t completely sure he could win again.
“There’s no curse, the curse is broken,” Bananas said on the “Watch With Us” podcast following the finale. “Put that in your pipe and smoke it!”
For more from Bananas on the finale, listen to the full “Watch With Us” podcast above and subscribe for more exclusive TV news and interviews.
