"Aren't mentally fit to be there" — The Challenge Johnny Bananas responds to cast's living condition concerns

MTV’s The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras premiered on August 14 at 8 pm ET/PT on MTV and Paramount+, where contestants from previous seasons are competing for a prize money of $1 million. Fan favorites such as CT Tamburello, Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio, Tori Deal, and Cara Maria Sorbelloin have returned as they compete in a group of 4 called 'Eras'.

Johnny Bananas is appearing in the 22nd season of the show and is well-versed in the ins and outs of how to manage through the rough conditions throughout the show.

During the shoot of the latest season, many of the returning cast members complained about the alleged poor living conditions. Crew members of the production team have spoken up to defend themselves along with the president of Bunim/Murray Productions. Johnny also stepped up and took the side of the production team during an interview with Z100 New York.

"It's called The Challenge for a reason. A lot of times, the ones that complain about the living conditions are the ones that aren’t mentally fit to be there," said Johnny.

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The alleged living conditions of The Challenge explored

Jordan Wiseley, four-time champion and two-time finalist, is also competing in the latest season of The Challenge. He posted a video on July 15 on his Instagram where he talked about the alleged bad living conditions and criticized the way the cast is treated during the season. He captioned the video with:

“When I say 'a Challenge house is one of the worst environments to be in, I’m not exaggerating.' This one was by far the worst treatment we’ve ever received as a cast and it’s taken a toll.”

In the video itself, Jordan talked further about the treatment of the cast over the years he has appeared on.

"The entire time you're in there, you're losing shape. You're treated like sh*t, we sleep like sh*t, we are fed like sh*t, our schedules are dog sh*t. 20-hour days like nothing," stated Jordan.

Other contestants including Kyland Young and Theo Campbell of The Challenge supported Jordan's claims and shared their anecdotes in the comments section.

Kyland Young's comment on Jordan Wiseley's video. (Image via Instagram/ @jordan_wiseley)

In an August 14 interview with Variety, Julie Pizzi shared her thoughts on the matter. Julie is the president of Bunim/Murray Productions which produces the show and claims that the team behind the show “bend over backward for the cast" and "try to create a fantasy location”, which can result in some of the members feeling as such.

“We were in this really remarkable castle this year in Vietnam, and we did have to bring in bathrooms, which I think, on some level, aren’t as pleasant as having hotel bathrooms. But we always do our best. A lot of times we are sourcing locally, so we have local caterers. There’s always an adjustment to people’s pallets," stated Julie.

Pizzi also confirmed that there is a dedicated team for the cast over the course of filming which took place in Vietnam.

“What we really try to do is take good care of our cast. We have a whole talent team that’s dedicated to getting them aspirin and ice packs and more forks and plates and cups. We really try to bend over backward to keep our cast happy, and I’m sure that the majority of them would confirm that,” said Julie.

Former contestants of The Challenge like Emily Schromm and Wes Bermann also chimed in with their thoughts on social media. Both the contestants won the show previously and stated that the cast is all adults and should behave like such as they can't expect the production team to handle every single requirement of each cast member.

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Watch The Challenge 40: Battle Of The Eras every Wednesday on MTV and Paramount+.