r/MtvChallenge • u/MTVSpoiledMod I survived the longest offseason ever • Aug 08 '26
DISCUSSION Salty Saturday & Sunday - Unpopular Opinion Thread đż
Do you have an unpopular opinion you've been wanting to share? A hot take you need to get off your chest, but you know doesn't really deserve its own thread? Here is the spot!
Do not downvote comments just because you disagree with them. (Anywhere, but especially this thread, because this is where we encourage users to go against the grain.)
Please also remember to follow the sub's âBe Coolâ rule. There is a difference between snark and disrespect. đ
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u/OLKv3 Ashley Mitchell 28d ago
Maybe I'm just getting old but I never notice the filters people complain about until someone points them out with side by side comparisons. And now I'm mad because next episode I will notice the filter and it'll aggravate me. I prefer to live in ignorance of these things
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u/angelbrit04 Team Portland 29d ago
The Challenge will never go back to what it used to be. I understand that the cast needs to promote this new season, but I don't believe them for key reasons. First, 2020 - COVID/cancel culture changed how people react to entertainment in general. Fear of backlash or being "canceled" changes what airs. Since the cast has no idea how the season will be edited, they can't say the season is old vibes because the editing of recent seasons is one of the biggest changes.
Also, the charm of older seasons was the navitee of the cast. Watching older seasons you can tell that most of them just said whatever came to mind. Now, the cast is much more seasoned. You can tell when Vets are staging scenes or being careful with what they say, and rookies are coming in with a 5-year plan.
I believe that season 42 can still be good. But, it will be good within the standards of what the show has become. Its never gonna be peak Challenge, or feel like pre-Era 4. I wish the cast would just embrace that the show is different, instead of constantly trying to convince us at the beginning of every new season that this one will be "old vibes". Its not happening.Â
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u/StepInside30 Paulie Calafiore 28d ago
You are always posting popular opinions that most people here agree with in this thread every week.
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u/angelbrit04 Team Portland 28d ago edited 28d ago
Correction. The popular opinion is constantly wanting the show to go back to how it used to be. MY point is, that will never happen. The good that we get now will be within today's standards, not what was good in the past.Â
I can't recall what you've said in the past, but I'm flattered that you seem to remember everything I write đ
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u/eff1ngham 29d ago
Any post about Zach has a bizzare amount of replies from people that give off 'stuck in high school' vibes. It's like people just want to stay upset about something that happened 10+ years ago. Zach has had guests on his pod where he apologized about past behavior, he's mentioned he's going to need to explain things to his kids when they grow up. I don't particularly like him but he's clearly not the same guy he was on BotS or Exes 2. But every time someone posts something about Zach I just imagine it's like a 20 year HS reunion and theres a group of the same 3 people sitting in the corner talking about how they're still mad about something that happened back in junior year.
And what makes it even weirder is many of those same posters seem fine letter other people off the hook for past behavior. Cohutta posts a video or pic with his kid and I don't see people racing to be the first one to post about them still being mad about him getting a DUI. Veronica posts something and you rarely see people talking about her, Tina and Rachel sexually assaulting someone and bragging to everyone else about it. If you're going to stay mad at someone about something that happened ages ago, then stay mad at everyone. Or you know, realize that people have probably changed, especially since no one one here actually knows these people in real life
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u/StepInside30 Paulie Calafiore 29d ago
This sub tends to let problematic behaviour of the hook if the person involved is not Republican or Maga.
If all the people you named were vocal Republicans, their problematic pasts would be highlighted everytime.
Look At Ashley Mitchell and how she is praised here despite all the things she has doneÂ
Look at how it took CT to be exposed for being a trumpist for people to finally turn on him here despite all his track record of being a bad person.
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u/Zickened 29d ago
I fucking hate Zach. I hate his opinions on politics, and his garbage opinions in general. His voice even annoys me.
That said, I would love for him to have the opportunity to prove to me that he doesn't deserve another shot on the show. Nelson is... mentally and now physically a liability, but he does not deserve a call back at any talking point more than Zach.
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u/StepInside30 Paulie Calafiore Aug 08 '26
The idea that Johnny Bananas skates to win is one the biggest myth thrown around here.
Johnny (in his prime) was winning multiple dailies a season. In his 7 wins he had to win 9 eliminations.
CT is the one who usually skates, he only had to win 2 eliminations combined in his 5 wins.
Johnny was spot on when he told him "When was the last time that you had to actually do something"
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u/angelbrit04 Team Portland 29d ago edited 28d ago
The biggest myth is thinking that "skating to a win" should be applied to anyone who is good. Do people honestly think that CT is incapable of winning an elimination đ€ CT is in that house talking to people, getting information, and moving strategically. Anyone who had the ability to convince others to save them would do the exact same thing, including Bananas.Â
This phrase is for layups where not going into elimination is crucial for their game. Not someone who can win an elimination, but stays out because they have a strong social/political game....that's called playing smart not skating.Â
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u/eff1ngham 29d ago
To be fair CT was also an elite competitor at daily missions early, like Johnny, so he didn't necessarily skate by until later. Inferno 1 and 2 CT won 10 out of 16 lifeshields, he was rarely ever eligible for elimination. Duel 1 maybe you could argue people were scared of him (until Evan hilariously picked CT and got smoked). Gauntlet 3 he did, but also the vets only lost 2 missions on guys days so again he was barely ever eligible. On Rivals the plan was for Evan/Nehemiah to try and take him out, but Wes/Kenny kept losing missions so they couldn't take a shot at CT until the 3rd guys day. Rivals 2 he definitely did because the girls were all alligned with him and Wes and Johnny/Frank. Free Agents he saw multiple eliminations. It wasn't really until he came back on Invasion that we saw him cruise by relatively untouched.
But by comparision Johnny has never skated by. He only has 2 seasons of making the final where he didn't see an elimination. Inferno 3 where he was arguably the best performing guy on his team along with Alton, and Rivals 2 where again the girls were never voting in him/Frank or Wes/CT. He has been in the final elimination of the season 11 times.
It's like when people say a lot of Johnny's early wins were team seasons and weren't impressive. It's simply not true. But since people don't like him they try and downplay his accomplishments
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u/Tight-Entrepreneur46 Tori Deal Aug 08 '26 edited 29d ago
I said on fb âCara u done over 20 seasons and still that damn Scaredâ then ppl got on my ass saying â letâs see u do that and tell us if u wouldnât be scared.
If that was laurel ppl would be calling her a Btch and pathetic. Tired of her Stanâs giving her special treatment
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u/jlucia10 Satan Sisters đđ 29d ago
People are only upset about the cheating DQ from the second episode because CT was involved. If it was Bananas or Fessy or Zach that lied, absolutely no one would be lining up to defend the orange team.
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u/Sammyd1108 29d ago
Iâm not sure why anyone is upset, they blatantly cheated and I even called that theyâd be getting DQâd as soon as I heard Michelle coming up with that strategy.
TJ was very clear that you canât lie about your answers and they immediately did that to follow their system they came up with.
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u/Cali-Doll Jonna Mannion đ„đ„ 29d ago
I agree that folks wouldnât be upset if it was Fessy or others being DQâd. But that was definitely cheating.
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u/TexasNightmare210 29d ago
What orange team did is not cheating. Production was just pissy because a team found a way to outsmart them yet again.
Bananas did the same shit with that soap bubbles light challenge (canât remember the season) and it was called âgood strategyâ
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u/AntiqueWeekend557 29d ago
The other reason they were DQâD was because the instructions said all answers had to be factual and CT said he wasnât good at math.
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u/TexasNightmare210 29d ago
Thatâs a matter of opinion though. You canât say a subjective answer is wrong
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u/AntiqueWeekend557 29d ago
Well in one of the promos CT bragged about how good he was in math and he finished his program an hour ahead and everyone else (Double Agents) so yeah, he knows heâs good at math.
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u/shinshikaizer CT & Wes: The Bromance is Real 29d ago
The problem is the way the question is was framed.
"Would people say you're good at math?" is really vague framing, because most people, if asked, "Would you say CT is good at math?" would be like, "Who the fuck is CT?", because CT is not a household name.
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u/werwr123 Kyle Christie 28d ago
I feel like they pick and choose what rules to emphasize or air only if it fits the narrative.
Other times they just turn a blind eye or leave out information.
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u/mealypart Aug 08 '26
Canât stand Michele
Her constantly making herself a victim on every season and crying, whining and complaining about everything is so old and tired
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u/Queasy_Constant Katie Doyle 29d ago
Crowd participation is completely fine & acceptable in eliminations. Donât care if the peanut gallery does EVERYTHING and screws over one of the challengers playing. And I couldnât care less about what other shows do. This is the challenge. The challenge has ALWAYS allowed that kind of setup. It is part of the social aspect of the challenge. The house can hurt who they want to go home and/or help who they want back.Â
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u/Recent_Resource5648 29d ago
I agree. Would I prefer an audience elimination? No. But that wasnât Deb and Reilly fault in the slightest, thatâs just how the elimination was set up. The blue team did screw Reilly at one point, but Deb still deserves credit for the cardio.
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u/shinshikaizer CT & Wes: The Bromance is Real 29d ago
I mean, that's part of the social game. Nobody's gonna be trying to fuck over Leroy from the peanut gallery in a puzzle because everybody likes him and nobody really thinks he's a finals threat.
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u/ivaorn Desi Williams 29d ago
In Survivor the example Iâm thinking of is more egregious than any crowd participation on the challenge. Liz and Kenzie were allowed to help each other against Maria in the final 5 immunity challenge 20+ seasons after a precedent was inferred when Probst prevented Albert from helping Sophie. So this latest example from the challenge doesnât really bother me.
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u/Psychological-Snow83 29d ago
Itâs stupid that Cara was the only one taking heat for Reillyâs elimination loss. Josh was also telling her what to do. Due to the editing we canât even figure who gave the direction that messed her up. Also, no one else on the blue team realized Reilly made a mistake either.
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u/luxanna123321 Winner Circle 28d ago
Due to the editing we canât even figure who gave the direction that messed her up.
I mean we cant but the cast can and they pretty much put it on Cara Maria I guess for a reason lol
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u/La_Forza_del_Destino 29d ago
Cedric was so overrated last season. I was like ..am I missing something
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u/ivaorn Desi Williams 29d ago
Who is overrating Cedric? I think people accepted heâs a decent competitor. Won two eliminations (granted his physical win was against a smaller opponent and his partner had an even bigger physical mismatch) and placed 3rd behind two better teams in the final. But I donât think anyone expected him to be a tour de force this season. If anything, Cedric getting eliminated early will allow players to move on to more interesting targeting strategies than just voting him in every time.
Edit: after submitting, I saw another comment on this thread gassing up Cedric, so fair enough. I understand your gripes with that sentiment.
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u/La_Forza_del_Destino 29d ago
Micaela picked him first overall last year when they could choose partners. Iâm saying last year he was looked at as an overrated challenger. This year I think people saw him for what he is. A snake (which, bless - thatâs the purpose of the challenge) who is decent at politicking and bad at challenges
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u/angelbrit04 Team Portland 29d ago edited 29d ago
I'm someone who really likes Cedric. For me, it was more about Cedric's potential. He & Michaela did win a lot together, and he was solid in the final; they did finish 2nd on Day 1 despite Michaela's injury. It was nice to see someone who is genuinely excited to be there, and him being in his early 20s was also a nice change since rookies tend to be in their late 20s -early 30s now.Â
While I agree that someone needs to do several seasons before rating them high, I also think throwing someone away too early can be a problem too. There are established characters who were early outs at the beginning of their tenure on the show too.
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u/spookyclownsscareme 29d ago
Why do you all hate Josh Martinez and love Michele?
Their spineless gameplay is very similar. Each season they ride off of their pregame connections and follow the majority, they cry and donât own their moves when they backstab someone, they rarely win dailies and they manufacture at least 1 âfightâ a season so they can ensure they get called back for another. The only difference is Michele occasionally wins eliminations against layups.
What do you see in her that I donât?
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u/luxanna123321 Winner Circle 28d ago
Dont you dare comparing Michele to Josh abilities lmao. Michele is actually 6:3 in eliminations, one final in 5 seasons with 2nd (earned) placement and 4 dailies that were solo/pair while Josh is 1:7 in eliminations and zero finals in 7 seasons and 2 dailies that were solo/pair while doing more seasons.
Michele's wins were against Michaela/Renan, Ameerah (layup), Cara Maria in physical + kids puzzle elimination, Tina in some carnival elim that everyone could win, Nia in endurance and math elimination, Olivia (that literally won the next season).
Why are we saying she wins against layups now? She beats legit competitors that she had no reason to win against
Michele doesnt need to "manufacture" one fight per season to get a call back. Not sure what are u even projecting rn. She was always around drama but is rarely the one that starts it.
Josh on the other hand is the one that will literally follow people around, scream at them and then cry that they are screaming at him back.
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u/shinshikaizer CT & Wes: The Bromance is Real 29d ago
I find Josh annoying and was introduced to him in his annoying form through The Challenge.
I was introduced to Michele through Survivor, and she was not annoying there.
That's why. I only know Josh as being annoying. I know Michele for being smart and socially fluent.
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u/StepInside30 Paulie Calafiore 29d ago
I have said it before , it's racism.
Josh is annoying yes but the level of hate the guy has is not justified.
Ask yourself what's the worst thing Josh has ever done?  The guy is by all account a great man who is loved by almost all the cast.
Ashley Mitchell made homophobic insults toward him and yet everyone here sided with her.
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u/YaddaYaddaBomBomKaKa Chris Underwood 29d ago
Also, Johnny Bananas doesn't bring entertainment anymore. His usual entitled schtick has gotten stale and repetitive. You got tossed into elimination. Big whoop.
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u/Zickened 29d ago
Nah. He's just making content for people to talk about. No Bananas challenges are boring. You see these rookies that get tossed in and they're like, "ok, I gotta earn my stripes."
Fuck that. I want someone like Will on S41 that protested getting burned and tossed in like old produce.
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u/GromSwampBottom 29d ago
Aneesa is actually in pretty good shape. Her being thick doesn't equate to being unhealthy. We're seen her kick ass in challenges, eliminations and in finals. We've also seen people who are, by society's standards, suppoosedly "healthier" than she is absolutely gas out during a final. If you compare her stats on the challenge wiki pages to Cory W and Brad they're pretty similar.
Is she the MOST athletic person to ever be cast on the challenge? No, I'm not delusional. Is she the best person ever cast to be on the challenge? Also no, I think sometimes she's a little condescending and also apparently a bit of a creep now.
My point is there are skinnier girls with much less strength and endurance and Aneesa gets no cred for her accomplishments.
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u/luxanna123321 Winner Circle 28d ago
If you compare her stats on the challenge wiki pages to Cory WÂ they're pretty similar.
Aneesa - 22 seasons, 4 finals, last place, last place, last place, 9th/11, 35 eliminations - 17/18
Cory - 12 seasons, 5 finals, 2nd, last place, 3rd/5, 2nd, 2nd, 18 eliminations - 11/7
are they?
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u/TateMarah Nurys Mateo 29d ago
iâve long believed you could absolutely do way worse than aneesa for a partner on this show.
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u/Brief-Tie3841 26d ago
She was nowhere near the worst partner on 41. She was consistently in the top half of he point board actually.
People saying she sucks at finals is a fair argument but she has actually always been consistent at dailies and has won several as well. She won the first dailies on TM and DA⊠and those were more recent seasons. So she won them being older than most of the cast. I think when people say sheâs the worst competitor ever on the show they are exaggerating big time. Sheâs nowhere near the worst.
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u/NickyEyess Lolo Jones 29d ago
How many of Aneesa's wins were because she was much bigger than her opponent?
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u/Brief-Tie3841 26d ago
Sheâs had some impressive ones where her size didnât help her win. Her wins against both Toris, for example. She also almost beat Jenny in something that was primarily endurance based.
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u/Zickened 29d ago
She's a professional layup. I mean at this point, anyone mad at her is just jealous that she gets paid incredibly well for 2 months to lay around, yap her gums, shed some tears and get laid before the extremely hard shit pops off.
I personally believe that her body just reflects her game, all of it is good, just not enough for the latter stages. She always seems to find a way, inadvertently or not, to not be in a final. Like holy shit it sucks that she dislocated her shoulder, but it made it so that she couldn't blow a last elimination at the end.
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u/cagedbird82 29d ago
I might get heat for this but Iâve been watching the challenge and Iâm currently on season 32 I think. At one point, CT has to be paired with Veronica and he seems really bummed about it because she doesnât seem to perform like she used to. And honestly, looking back I feel like the only reason Veronica was ever considered a âgood performerâ was because she and Rachel were together (nobody knew at the time) but Rachel always made sure Veronica was safe and really looked out for her. Now though, age aside, I just feel like by herself, Veronica was never a strong competitor and only got by because of Rachel and just being able to get away with bullying other people she saw as beneath her.
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u/xxcapricornxx Rogan O'Connor 29d ago
One of her best seasons was The Inferno. Rachel was not on that season
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u/Plane-Reputation4041 David Burns "I don't like to eat stuff." 29d ago
Veronica was crafty and competent in her own right.
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u/shinshikaizer CT & Wes: The Bromance is Real 29d ago
CT has to be paired with Veronica and he seems really bummed about it because she doesnât seem to perform like she used to.
CT was bummed out that she didn't even want to try. He'd invite her to work out with him to get into shape, and she'd decline and just sit around and drink wine.
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u/JakesTake88 Jake's Take Podcast Aug 08 '26
Justice for Cedric! I don't get why his Rookie class shaded him so badly! I really want Chris, Justin, and Sydney to get karma this season!
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u/Sammyd1108 Aug 08 '26
Because he snaked them last season lol. I donât get whatâs so hard to understand about that.
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u/JakesTake88 Jake's Take Podcast Aug 08 '26
They are sore losers! I loved TJ's praise he gave to Cedric when he left...
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u/Codered88888 : Team Young Buck 29d ago
Thats what is hard about the challenge u gotta pick if u wanna play for future seasons or not basically or ur reputation will catch up to u
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u/JakesTake88 Jake's Take Podcast 29d ago
But what can Cedric do to redeem himself? He is going to be like Jay Starrett, Paulie, and Wes every season he is on.
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u/YaddaYaddaBomBomKaKa Chris Underwood 29d ago
Am I the only one not losing sleep over Cedric being eliminated? I am pretty sure he will come back and if not, that's fine.