“It’s a lot of stress”- The Challenge 40 star Aneesa discusses retirement, elimination, and more

The Challenge 40 aired its fourth episode on September 4, 2024, on MTV. The show welcomed previous challengers to represent different Eras and participate in a fiercely competitive game every week to save their spot and win the grand prize of $1 million. The eras are divided into four groups.

Episode 4 of The Challenge saw two eliminations, sending Aneesa Ferreira from Era 1 and Horacio from Era 4 home. The winners of the last elimination rounds Darrell and Averey placed two targets from each Era. From 1, Aneesa and Derrick, Era 2’s Bananas and Laurel, Era 3’s Jordan and Nia, and Era 4’s Jenny and Horacio.

All the players reached the arena for the daily challenge where players had to answer trivia from the Challenge. Laurel and Jorden tied, and Laurel won the final round, saving Era 2 targets from the elimination challenge.

Era 4 lost the challenge, therefore, Era 4 targets were in the elimination Challenge. Laurel and Bananas had the power to choose another pair for the elimination round and chose Aneesa and Derrick. Unfortunately, it was Aneesa’s last challenge on The Challenge, as she was eliminated.

Aneesa in an interview with TV Insider on September 4, 2024, shared her thoughts on elimination and retirement. She said:

“I’ve tried to retire, and I don’t think it’s working — for production or myself. I’m like, “I gotta go at some point!” And they were like, “Don’t leave yet.” And I’m like, “I get it guys but like, I just don’t know how much more…” I mean, my body can do it. Mentally, it’s a lot of stress.”

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Aneesa Ferriera opened up about her elimination from The Challenge 40

Aneesa Ferreira was eliminated in the latest episode of The Challenge 40 which aired on September 4, 2024. The elimination round had Aneesa from Era 1 against Jenny from Era 4, and Derrick from Era 1 against Horacio from Era 4. Aneesa and Horacio had to pack their backs and bid farewell to the show.

Aneesa had been a former challenger and she was known for advancing through elimination rounds like a pro. She shared in an interview with TV Insider on September 4, 2024, after elimination that Cara Maria wanted to beat her in elimination wins.

As after Cara, she was the one to hold the maximum number of elimination wins. It would have been Aneesa’s 14th elimination win if she had made it. She said in the interview:

“We had Cara on the podcast and she said, “And you can quote me here, Aneesa, that if they put you in elimination, I will take you out and go in so that I can have more eliminations than you.” And it just so happened that I beat her to it — or at least we’re tied."

Aneesa also mentioned in the interview that she did not understand why Darrell chose her as a target from Era 1, and she was upset about it. She shared her thoughts on Jordan losing to Laurel in the final round of the daily challenge.

She mentioned that it might be the case that Jordan and Johnny would have shook hands to play along each other's side to get Era 4 and Era 1 out of the picture from the competition. She further added that she would have done the same thing, if in their position.

She also answered some personal questions about her retirement during the interview. She opened up that it is not easy for her, and a lot more stressful than it appears. She stated:

“And how do I wanna leave the legacy? A win would have been amazing. This is probably the hardest that I had trained. I was in a good headspace as far as my abilities and knowing who I am and my friendships — or so I thought — and I felt really good about this one, but it just wasn’t in the cards."

She further added:

"And I’m totally okay with that, but it does make you wanna go back. So we’ll see.”

While Aneesa wanted her legacy to end with a win, she kept the possibility of coming back open.

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The Challenge 40 airs every Wednesday at 8 pm ET/PT on MTV.