"Beyond rigged" — The Challenge fans react to Johnny Bananas eliminating Theo

The Challenge: Battle of the Eras aired episode 12 this week on Wednesday, November 6, 2024. The segment saw the remaining contestants compete as individuals after the dissolution of the Eras in one of the previous episodes.

They competed in a daily challenge, which served as a mini-final. As per the introduction of the purge, the players who finished last during the daily challenge, Nehemiah and Laurel, were eliminated from the show. Since the episode was set to send a male contestant home during the elimination task, Theo found himself in the elimination arena and faced off against Johnny Bananas.

The latter emerged victorious, but fans online criticized the elimination task while noting the size difference between the cast members. Since the task required them to crawl through small spaces, fans felt it was "stupid" since Theo was considerably larger. One person wrote on X:

"Almost forgot, tonight's episode was beyond rigged. Why would you give them that elimination when it's literally a giant vs a gnome? Theo was doomed from the start. Losing Theo & Nehemiah in one episode, ouch."

"This elimination was stupid asl and production 100% did it so johnny would win giving theo a disadvantage for his size they knew d*mn well giving them anything physical theo was gonna win so d*mn stupid," a fan commented.

"They gave Theo a ridiculous elimination that was a crazy disadvantage to his height. But idk Theo wasn't as locked as before messing Olivia." A tweet read.

Fans of The Challenge: Battle of the Eras called the task "unfair":

"Straight up, Theo was never going to win this elimination because of his size. / Is it unfair? A bit. / At the same time, Theo's size typically favors in most physical eliminations and it's why he's still in game because he got a Hall Brawl against Paulie." A person wrote.

"Theo put up a great fight in an elimination that was designed for him to fail. In the end, the 30 second rule was too much to overcome. Very impressive," a fan commented.

"D*mn production saw it was either Bananas or Jordan going into elimination against him and decided to give Theo's massive ass a crawling through tight space elimination!! Random….," a tweet read.

Fans of The Challenge season 40 further said:

"Bananas literally got the perfect elimination game and opponent. Anyone else not 6'7" beats him. Good effort from Theo." A person wrote.

"I really f*ck with Theo but my boy you're 6'6 your height is going to either be an advantage or a hindrance. no really no in between unless it's a puzzle or a carnival game like the one you had…." A fan commented.

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Theo gets eliminated from The Challenge: Battle of the Eras in episode 12

In The Challenge: Battle of the Eras episode 12, the cast competed in a mini-final that eliminated two contestants, Laurel and Nehemiah, as part of the purge after they finished last. Since the following elimination was set to end a male cast member's journey, Theo, who finished second last in the daily challenge, went into elimination directly.

Tori Deal, the daily challenge winner, had to pick between Jordan and Johnny Bananas to send one of them into the elimination task against Theo. Between her ex-fiancé Jordan and her in game rival Johnny, she chose the latter.

During The Challenge season 40 episode 12's elimination task, Theo and Johnny had to compete in Cramping Out. Per the rules, the contestants had to place eight poles in their opponent's cylinder, after which they had to make their way through their own tunnels. Part two of the task included a game of Hi-Lo with the host.

Bananas won the Hi-Lo game and added two more poles to Theo's cylinder, while The Challenge season 40 contestant was allowed to add only one. The process continued until one contestant's passage was blocked completely, making it impossible for them to make their way through the cylinder. Johnny Bananas emerged victorious and ended Theo's journey on the MTV show. He further named Olivia, Michele, and Cara Maria as his targets for episode 13.

Fans of The Challenge reacted to the elimination online and felt it was unfair, considering Theo was bigger in size.

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Episodes of The Challenge season 40 air weekly on Wednesdays at 8 pm ET on MTV.