‘The Challenge 40’ Reunion: The 9 Most Jaw-Dropping Moments

Amanda Bell January 23, 2025, 2:05 pm

With a whopping 40 The Challenge vets in one house (er, castle) in The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras, the personality clashes were as ferocious as they were inevitable all season long. So it makes sense that the post-finale cast reunion would bring its fair share of drama as well.

As expected, then, the two-part special was full of confrontations and tears as most of the competitors came back to break down the lengthy season in Vietnam.

Here are our picks for the most electric moments of The Challenge Season 40 reunion.

When Nehemiah Clark had an unexpectedly painful night…

Poor Nehemiah. He apparently rode to the reunion on the struggle bus because the man spent more time shivering in stomach bug-suffering mode than on the stage during the first part of the special. The first time he had to make a sudden exit, he left his microphone on and accidentally treated the entire group to the sounds of him vomiting. What a way to start the show, no? After returning and falsely declaring himself fine, he soon made a second wordless exit — but fortunately this time, his mic wasn’t on. He was in better shape by the second half and even threw out a revenge ball for Cory Wharton since he was video-conferencing in, so all’s well that ends well.

When Tori Deal was her own worst enemy…

For a lot of people, Tori belongs on the Mount Rushmore of Challenge stars, but if you ask her, she’s “the most overrated” player after her performance in the final, which included being off of the coin count by 1,000. After finishing fourth in the final, Tori was quick to dismiss her own performance, with others having to remind her that she’d just had an hours-long elimination battle with Cara Maria Sorbello just before the final began, which was a major disadvantage. By the end, everyone seemed to agree that all of the women who made it to the finals were beasts.

'The Challenge 40' Winners Break Down Their Groundbreaking Tie in the Finale

When Michele Fitzgerald ticked off absolutely everyone with one bad answer…

While Tori was quick to point the finger at herself on this very subject, Michele was challenged to name someone else who she views as the most overrated player on the show, and she chose Chris “C.T.” Tamburello on a whim. With that, she finally united the entire season’s cast… against her. Yep, Michele’s choice caused an immediate uproar, with everyone instantly agreeing that CT’s was the one name she couldn’t choose for that dishonor. Even Michele’s boyfriend Devin Walker had to say, “You’re on your own” after that pick. (She looked especially humbled about it when having to explain the comment to host T.J. Lavin during his surprise appearance in the second half of the show.)

When Amanda Garcia showed up and owned her “Devil” reputation…

After her name came up, with host Maria Menounos asking Devin whether he’s still a fan of hers, Amanda strolled in with a red leather Satan costume and confronted him. Amanda’s never been one to shy away from being labeled the bad guy, but this was next level. Only Cory had a reaction that was worthy of this spectacle (as he pretended to sprinkle holy water immediately after seeing her on his screen upon video-calling into the show). The good news for Amanda is that she looked pretty killer in her very own circle on the other side of the stage.

When the relationship updates segment led to some major shade from Johnny Bananas…

When it came time to catch up with the romantic couplings of the season, things went a bit off the rails, but in the best way. First, Olivia Kaiser and Theo Campbell confirmed their relationship was still very much on, despite having an ocean between them and an ill-advised tattoo to boot. (Olivia did note that she owns a tattoo shop if she ever needs to cover his name up, and Theo said he’s willing to move to the United States). Then, Devin and Michele revealed that they, too, are still going the distance, and that chat gave them each an opportunity to confront their biggest detractor, Bananas. After some words were exchanged about how and why Johnny was so anti-them (with him explaining that he was merely looking out for Michele, who he considers a real-life friend), Bananas decided to spill some very hot tea by calling Devin and his BFF Tori hypocrites for taking issue with his warnings. According to him, Bananas once conspired with Tori and Devin to confront Johnny’s ex-girlfriend Moriah Jade about her sudden showmance with James Lock, which led to one very talked-about moment in Season 39. We all watched that part happen, but hearing Bananas revisit exactly how it came to be was a real stunner.

When Laurel Stucky and Josh Martinez were louded out for making out…

At the top of the second part of the reunion, it was basically The Josh Martinez Show because it was all anyone could talk about for a solid few minutes. First, Johnny Bananas stirred the pot by calling him the “fall guy” for the Vacation Alliance, and the arguments expectably ensued. Then, we got to see some new footage of him making out with Laurel on the sly. The wildest part? When Laurel admitted that wasn’t the first time they’d had some “smooch smooch” time together. Do tell!

When Johnny made fun of Cara Maria’s feet…

Apparently, a big part of membership into the Bananas Angels Alliance is good-looking “dogs,” as Johnny himself calls them, and that’s why Cara Maria wasn’t allowed in. Johnny was merciless when talking about her feet, though Cara said she suspected he secretly loved them for having “character.” Have we just discovered the real reason these two can’t seem to stand each other?!

When T.J. randomly got his phone fixed on-air…

We all know T.J. Lavin is all business, but he brought a strange part of his personal life to bear for the reunion when he video-conferenced in and revealed that he’d been struggling to fix his phone all day, after he accidentally zoomed in too far with it. Right away, Jonna Mannion gave him a quick tip for fixing his issue, and to his surprise, it worked. It’s the most joyous and excited Lavin has ever been in anything Challenge related, which means now contestants know the best way to impress their good host is to have random technology fixes at the ready. Who knew?!

When Jordan Wiseley took a big shot at Era 1…

Last but not least, the male winner of the competition turned what might’ve been a pretty good night for him (being voted as the GOAT of the series for guys, e.g.) and threw caution right to the wind by saying that every single member of Era 1 (except his personal buddy Aneesa) was merely trying to revive their “careers” by coming back for the show. This seemed to truly incense some of those at the receiving end of his comments, especially Derrick Kosinski, who soon screamed that Jordan’s an “a**hole” multiple times. Conventional wisdom says you don’t want the bulldog on your bad side, but Jordan apparently didn’t get that memo. Whoops!