Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio at the ‘Scream VI’ premiere in March 2023.Photo:Jesse Grant/Getty
Jesse Grant/Getty
“I don’t know if network television is ready for Johnny Bananas, but here we go," Devenanzio, 41, exclusively tells PEOPLE.
“It would be like going to an*NSYNCconcert andJustin Timberlakenot being there. You don’t go to see the rest of them,” Devenanzio says. “Can you name one other person from *NSYNC? I can’t.”
Devenanzio thinks that featuring only stars fromThe Amazing Race,Big Brother,Love IslandandSurvivoron season 1 didn’t work becauseThe Challengefans want to see the competitors they know and love (or love to hate).
“What makesThe Challengeunique is the fact that they bring back cast members season after season,” he says. “You get an influx of new people, but you have your mainstays and that’s what a large majority of our fan base wants to see. You can’t just plug in a whole bunch of new people, slapThe Challengelogo on it, put it on another network and expect the true fandom to follow along. I think it was an experiment gone horribly awry.”
Aaron Smith, courtesy of Paramount
But Devenanzio leapt at the chance to partake this time around alongside fellow vetsWes Bergmann,Tori Deal,Amanda Garcia,Jonna (Mannion) StephensandCory Wharton.
Devenanzio came offThe Challenge: World Championshipon Paramount+, where he didn’t make it to the final after losing an elimination toJordan Wiseley. TheReal World: Key Westalum says he didn’t think he “was in the right mind space” going intoWorld Championship.
“The most important thing is you have to show up ready and willing to play the game. And I just had no desire to play,” he continues. “I’m like, I’m here, but it’s like I don’t want to get to know anybody. I don’t want to form alliances. I just want to be. And you can’t do that because then what ends up happening is things form around you and you get screwed.”
But going intoUSAseason 2, “I was in a much better head space,” says Devenanzio, who will be opening aRumble Boxingstudio in Boca Raton, Florida, this year. “This was a whole different ball of wax. This is something that even me and all the seasons that I’ve done and all the years I’ve competed on the show, this was even something different because you were entering a game where, for the first time in a long time, we were outnumbered.”
“It was truly a huge test to figure out how to adjust and adapt and ingratiate yourself into this game, into this format, and try and convince these people that I’m not who they think I am — maybe try and pull the wool over their eyes a little bit,” the seven-timeChallengewinner says. “It didn’t really work out for me in the beginning, but it was fun.”
Aaron Smith/Courtesy of Paramount
The seven-timeChallengechamp admits he wasn’t happy to see Calafiore, 34, return this season. “Coming into this season, Paulie and I hated each other,” Devenanzio says.
And even though Devenanzio and Bergmann, 39, have buried their hatchet, Bergmann’s connections to Calafiore made Devenanzio wary. “I know [Paulie] and Wes were close, so I just don’t know what type of information Wes is going to try and use as currency,” theDeath, Taxes, and Bananaspodcast host says. “Even though we’re on good terms now, make no mistake, this guy will still do anything he can to, if not take a shot at me directly, find a backdoor way to do it.”
Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio (left) and Wes Bergmann on ‘The Challenge: USA’ season 2.Jonne Roriz, courtesy of Paramount
Jonne Roriz, courtesy of Paramount
“The only person this season that DMed me was Dusty, and I’ve never even met this guy before,” Devenanzio says ofThe Amazing’s Race’sDusty Harris. “He’s like, “Hey man, I’m going on the nextChallenge. I’m onAmazing Race.” I don’t know who this guy is from a hole in the wall, so I’m not going to tell him I’m going or I know anything about the show.”
Devenanzio feels theAmazing Race,Big BrotherandSurvivorvets faced a “a very steep learning curve” when it came to learning howThe Challengeworks.
“Especially onBig Brotherwith the live feeds, they’re on 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so they are constantly concerned about what’s coming out of their mouth or how they’re acting or the way it’s going to be portrayed. And in this day and age, man, you say the wrong thing or do the wrong thing, it could be bad,” Devenanzio acknowledges. “They are sitting there being like, ‘Dude, you’re cracking some crazy jokes and you’re acting a certain way.’The Challengeisn’t that. You can be yourself and let your freak flag fly and not worry about that potentially being a de-platformable offense. Only the relevant stuff is going to make it.”
But even after 25 seasons, sometimes the outrageous daily challenges still surprise Devenanzio.
“It never ceases to amaze me what they come up with,” he says. “I am never a big fan of being dangled off a 60-story building, never going to get over it. Eating challenges, I’m not a big fan of those. But I’d have to say probably the thing I look forward to the least onThe Challengeis waking up and looking at Wes every morning.”
Devenanzio teases he may consider pivoting to appearing on a dating show, specifically ABC’sBachelor in Paradise, because hemayhave reconnected withBiPalumGenevieve Parisi.
Genevieve Parisi and Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio.Johnny Bananas/Instagram
Johnny Bananas/Instagram
“Genevieve and I have had an ongoing relationship here for quite some time, so recently may or may not have been rekindled,” he says. “Stay tuned for theBanachelor. Johnny Bananas coming to a Paradise Island near you?”
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The Challenge: USAseason 2 premieres Thursday at 10 p.m. ET on CBS.
source: people.com
