‘The Challenge’ Vets on ‘USA’ Season 2 Final, Wes Retiring & More

The Challenge: USA only featured six vets, alongside players from CBS shows Big Brother, Survivor, and The Amazing Race, but three of them made it to the final (and two finished, coming in second and third places for the men).

It was a two-day final, and Cory Wharton reached the flag after a tough first half (he lost four trials, resulting in a build-up of time penalties) after winner Chris Underwood. Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio arrived after female winner Desi Williams to cap off a 10-mile race for the second day.

Wharton and Devenanzio look back on the season, compare it to MTV‘s Challenges, and more.

Congratulations to both of you for finishing the final, even though you didn’t win.

Cory Wharton: I beat Johnny.

Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio: You know what? Yes, he did. And I believe in moral victories, and after what I had to go through this season, just to make it to a final for me was a win.

You’ve both run multiple finals of the MTV version. How did this compare?

Devenanzio: I always say if you can walk away from a final under your own power, not in a wheelchair or a walker or a stretcher, it wasn’t a real final. There were definitely some difficult parts about this — Day 2 was obviously very difficult: the amount of ups and downs in the hills. But I’ve never been a big fan of an entire final coming down to — I’ve always thought it should be “Point A to point B, who can take it?” not an equalizer here or there that could change the complexion or the dynamic of the entire final. Who’s to say that even if all the equalizers would’ve still gone one way or another, it wouldn’t turn out the same? But I really do feel like it’s unfortunate when they play this large of a role in the eventual outcome of the final.

Wharton: Day 2 was intense, and I think that’s what we’re used to on the MTV side — we probably would’ve started Day 1 being Day 2: You’re exhausted, you’re tired, and then you have the up all night challenge, and then you wake up and you do another endurance or another hike. I think we’ve had other finals that have been a little bit more difficult than this one.

Jonne Roriz, courtesy of Paramount

Desi told me there was an overnight component we didn’t see. How was that?

Devenanzio: Great for me. We had to figure out how long an hour was by doing nothing but counting in our heads, and I ended up figuring out the strategy behind that, so I had an advantage over everybody going into Day 2. But generally, when I excel and do something well, they kind of want to not show that. I think that’s why they probably edited it out. They’re like, “Oh God, Bananas is winning at something again.”

Cory, that first day for you was rough. Is there anything specific you can point to that led to those losses during the trials, or was it just not your day?

Wharton: Meredith, I thought me and you were friends. The way you word that question, I think you’re against me. [Laughs] Let’s be honest, you gotta put two days together to win this thing. I know what it takes to win, and it’s going to take my two best days. When I started Day 1 off the way that I did, it was just hard to see myself winning the whole thing, and that’s why I go on the show, to become a Challenge champ, and I haven’t done that yet. I felt it slipping out of my hands. All that work that I put in, me leaving my family, it’s just all slipping through my hands the first day. It was a lot. That’s why you saw me get emotional because this isn’t my first rodeo. I know what it takes to win, and I wasn’t doing it, so I was emotional, I was frustrated, and it sucks to lose four things in a row, to continue to get time penalty, time penalty. You want to put your best effort and your best performance together, and when you feel like you’re not doing that… I was disappointing myself.

Things turned around for you on Day 2.

Wharton: [That] is more my cup of tea. You just shut up and put in the work. I just kept hiking. Luckily, Fessy missed his axe throw. And then I got to the scale. It takes a lot of luck, and I think that doesn’t get talked about. Things need to go right for you on the right day at the right time. If Chris didn’t hit that last axe throw, I easily could be a Challenge champ. A lot of things need to go your way. That’s why becoming a champ means so much to all of us.

I can only imagine how it is to do the eating portion, but Johnny, you crushed it. How?

Devenanzio: Mind over matter. I used to be a horrible eater when it came to eating disgusting stuff. It’s just one of those things: the more you do it, the better you get at it. The faster you get it down, the less time you’re going to have to deal with it. Also, you look at whatever the slimiest, wettest, most disgusting thing is; that’s what you take down because it’s easier than something that may be a little more palatable that’s dry. And it’s a final. This is where you lay it all on the line. [It’s] like, it’s going to be maybe a couple minutes of misery in order to win $250,000. You gotta do it.

I feel like you’ve had worse things on the MTV versions.

Devenanzio: One hundred Percent. One of the best additions to this show has been the vegans, so thank you, Tori.

Wharton: A lot less disgusting.

What was the most challenging part of the final?

Devenanzio: Weighing rocks.

Wharton: I would say the hike.

Jonne Roriz, courtesy of Paramount

Wes retired from The Challenge this season, and Johnny, when I spoke with him, he joked that when you become his number one, it’s time to call it. 

Devenanzio: Wes isn’t retired; let’s be real. Yeah, he’s taking a leave of absence, but if you think that this guy is walking away from the show that basically is his entire identity, it’s not going to happen. I just think it’s funny that he didn’t get all the sympathy that he was expecting to get out of it. So you’ve not seen the last of Weston Bergmann, mark my words.

Wharton: Not at all.

Seeing him say he’s retiring, have either of you thought about how much longer you’ll do The Challenge?

Wharton: Until they stop asking me.

Devenanzio: Until it gets canceled.

Wharton: I’m probably going to do this show when my daughters are on it. The Challenge has changed my life. It’s made me able to travel the world and see things that I never normally would go skydiving and be strapped in front of a tank. I become a superhero, and my kids think I’m the coolest thing on earth. I’m very thankful for The Challenge.

Devenanzio: Everyone’s always like, “Damn, dude, you look so good for your age. Why don’t you age?” I’m like, “Maybe because I spend half of my year with kids who are still in their 20s.” When you are in that environment for that long and you have to stay in shape and stay healthy, especially at my age, in order to keep competing — I’m 41. I’m competing with 22-year-old professional soccer players. You really have to keep your game up. It gives you a reason to stay in shape and a purpose. I just love having that. It’s just an amazing experience. Every season, I always say, “God, do I want to do this again?” Then as soon as it’s over, I’m like, “Yes, I do.” So yeah, walking away from The Challenge is like why you have so much trouble walking away from any emotionally abusive relationship. It’s just hard to do. I’ve been in an 18 year emotionally abusive relationship with The Challenge, and I can’t quit.

Now that you’ve done both, do you have a preference between MTV and CBS versions?

Devenanzio: CBS.

Wharton: I enjoy both, and I learned to like certain things about both of them. MTV, that’s where we started, it’s nice to go home.

Devenanzio: Now I know what it feels like to actually be treated like a civilized human being. … CBS had a health and wellness person, HR, Standards and Practices. You want something, they’re like, “Oh, yeah, let us get that for you.” … But to Cory’s point, I think having to deal with what we’ve dealt with for so long on the MTV version of The Challenge and what we’ve had to deal with mentally, physically, emotionally — we’ve been through the wringer — there is nothing you can do to me. There is no situation you can put me in now that is going to even come close to that. And that kind of gives us a leg up because we’re going onto a show like The Challenge, the CBS version; yeah, it got gnarly, it got a little bit intense, but it’s nothing compared to what we’ve been to in the past. And it breaks people who have never experienced that before. We’re battle-tested and weathered.

What about gameplay? The vets didn’t have the numbers, and Big Brother and Survivor play differently than you’re used to on MTV.

Devenanzio: Yeah. It’s completely different, for me at least. We were both heavily outnumbered from the beginning. I feel like Big Brother and Survivor just didn’t have the same intestinal fortitude to deal with the game when it really got gritty that the MTV Challengers did. It’s like, yeah, you could throw me in, but if I come back, I’m going to make your life hell. And they weren’t ready for that. They weren’t ready for the snap back.

Wharton: Let’s be honest, Big Brother, you vote somebody out, they’re gone. Survivor, you vote somebody out, they’re gone. We have to go down into the sand and lose and then be sent home. You have to deal with your consequences in the Challenge house, unlike some of those other games where it’s like you can backstab somebody in Survivor and get away with it — not in The Challenge.

How do you feel about how you played the season overall?

Devenanzio: Two completely different games, but both of ’em somehow ended in the same result. I always say that as much as I would want to have a smooth and easy path to the final and be able to kind of sit back and not have to do a lot of dirt, it’s always that much more gratifying for me when I have to. And I couldn’t have been in a worse position coming into the game. I couldn’t have faced a tougher uphill battle. I love the path that I took to get to where I did.

Wharton: Yeah, the season for me was probably my best political game that I’ve played on the show, so I was happy about that. But Chris deserved to win this season. He went into four eliminations; he won a couple dailies. It’s different when you have been through the grind and your back’s been against the wall, and you have fought your way to get to that final. I was proud of the game that I played, and I’m excited for what the future has in store.

What are you going to take from this experience and what you’ve learned with you for future seasons?

Wharton: That I want to go on Survivor and The Amazing Race, CBS. Jeff Probst, hit me up. It was awesome to work with a different network, to see the different side of things, and just to meet the people. The castmates that we lived with were all successful in their own rights, and to combine those worlds was a cool thing to be a part of.

Devenanzio: I’ve learned to never trust a word that comes out of Josh‘s mouth. Cory’s mouth, Fessy’s mouth.

The vets turned on each other…

Devenanzio: We’re just the hot mess express. Survivor literally did not turn on each other until the last day. Maybe Big Brother did. We come out of the gate [targeting each other].

Wharton: That’s how the game’s played, baby. We had to show ’em how the game is played, and that’s turning on each other. But listen, we both made it to a final. Three people from the MTV crew made it to the final. That’s 50 percent. When our backs were against the wall, we still found a way to get there. I think that’s why they said this season we need some vets to come and show ’em how it’s played.

Devenanzio: The cream always rises to the top.

If you did another season of USA, would you want more vets?

Wharton: I would.

Devenanzio: Strictly for entertainment purposes. I’m telling you right now, had they gotten rid of me as early as they [wanted] and then Wes as early as they did, the show would’ve been so boring. There is something to be said about the MTV [players]. Call us gritty. Call us unhinged, [say] we have, I don’t know, bad decorum, but we know how to make entertaining television. Fans expect there to be some messiness, friction, drama. And let’s be real, the CBS kids weren’t bringing any of that. [Also] I would like to see more vets strictly for the fact that I would know what the hell was going on in the game. At least I wouldn’t feel like a rookie going in.