The Challenge Contestant Who Has Appeared On The Most Seasons
MTV's "The Challenge" is one of those reality shows that's only as good as its competitors. And boy, does it have some competitors.
Hailing from "The Real World," "Road Rules" and other reality programs over the years, the contestants on "The Challenge" have long established themselves as some of the toughest and most ruthless in the business, with many getting kicked off or suffering injuries due to their over-the-top, extremely competitive natures. There's the usual heavy-hitters and repeat champions, such as Chris "CT" Tamburello, Landon Lueck, Jordan Wiseley, Emily Schromm and Johnny "Bananas" Devenanzio. And then the show had other famous faces who were also great players, like WWE superstar Mike "The Miz" Mizanin and Coral Smith. The most recent iteration, "Spies, Lies & Allies," saw CT take home the grand prize for a fifth time.
Overall, it's been quite a journey for MTV's "The Challenge," which is now the longest running reality competition series on television after debuting in 1998. So it makes you wonder, who has actually been on the show the longest?
Johnny Bananas has appeared on 20 seasons
That's right, "Challenge" fans. It's none other than the king himself, Johnny Bananas, who's appeared on the show the longest, with 20 seasons now under his belt. The former "Real World: Key West" housemate is also the titleholder for most wins and most eliminations in the show's history at 14 (via Us Weekly and Entertainment Weekly).
Bananas made his challenge debut in 2006 on "Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Duel" and went on to win seven seasons and $1,184,720 in prize money. In total, the 39-year-old has made nine different trips to "Challenge" finals and avoided being eliminated a whopping eleven times (per Entertainment Weekly). He's often been considered the greatest contestant of all time, along with CT.
"There's no one better," Mike "The Miz" Mizanin told CBS SportsRadio of Bananas in 2020. "He plays the game to a tee, knows what he has to do and knows how to get what he has to do to get to where he needs [to be] to win the whole thing."