Spoiler-Free Fun Factoids about The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2

The 34th season of MTV’s The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2 is underway and is shaping up to be a top-tier season so far — perhaps even better than its predecessor, which was considered amazing already.

It seems The Challenge has hits its stride again, finally, and we’re in a new Golden Age. The expanded casting pool since Exes 2 (but especially since Vendettas) has paid dividends, with the newest and brightest stars coming from TV shows that did not initially supply alumni for The Challenge — and some that don’t even belong to MTV. These standouts are:

• Kam +Tori from Are You the One
• Paulie from Big Brother US— with more alumni coming next season!
• Kyle from Geordie Shore
• Georgia + Theo from Love Island UK
• Bear + Rogan from Ex on the Beach UK

And of course, many others , including different franchises, channels, and countries — Natalie, Da’Vonne, Joss, Kayleigh, Dee, Mattie (Party Down South), Ninja (American Ninja Warrior), Turbo (Survivor Turkey), etc.

In contrast, the “newest star” from Real World or Road Rules — the original feeder shows — is Kailah . But she premiered 5 seasons ago and hasn’t appeared since episode 1 of season 32, roughly a year and a half ago. The times are a-changin’, and as of yet, nobody from the Real World reboot is expected to make Season 35’s cast.

But anygay, my side job is as a trivia host (like Sarah Rice!), so I came up with these for y’all:

Fun factoids about War of the Worlds 2

• This is the first time in Challenge herstory that there are no American debuts on a season, since all the newbies come from the UK (Jenny, Nicole B, Esther, Big T, Sean, and Idris).

• The 2 times CT has won before — on Rivals 2 and Invasion — the season was filmed in Thailand. Will he make it a threepeat?
• This cast has many people who have won an individual season, in chronological order: Wes, Laurel, Johnny, CT, Ashley M, Jordan, Cara, and Turbo. The only other champ on the list is Zach.
• If there were no one-winner twist, the previous distinction would apply to all champions on this season, since Zach would have won Vendettas and Ninja would have won WotW1.

• Fully HALF of this cast is a rookie by Gauntlet rules (0 or 1 previous Challenge). All the debuts + Rogan, Faith, Josh, Bear, Zahida, Georgia, Theo, Turbo, Ninja, and Dee.
• In contrast, Cara, Johnny, Leroy, Wes, and CT have all been on more than 10 seasons. This is Zach’s ninth and Nany’s eighth appearance.
• Johnny has been on 11 consecutive seasons, which is a record (Rivals 2-WotW2). For women, Sarah Rice and Cara Maria are tied for this record at 7 consecutive appearances (Ruins-Rivals 2 and Fresh Meat 2-Free Agents respectively). Cara has the chance to reach this distinction again if she is cast on S35, as this is her sixth consecutive season (Invasion-WotW2).

• As KyleChunLi said on reddit, this is the first time in Challenge herstory that we have a sequel to a season airing directly after the first edition. The closest we came before was Inferno 1 and Inferno 2, which had one season (Battle of the Sexes 2) in between.
• This is also the only season filmed with a different title (Bloody Hell) that was changed in post-production. That’s why you hear the ADR/dubbing every time TJ mentions “War of the Worlds 2.”

• As CouponBoy95 said, also on The Challenge subreddit, this is the first time in 16 seasons and nearly 10 years that we have the classic 2-team format (not counting spin-offs or when 2 teams only existed for part of the season, like on Bloodlines and Invasion).
• This season, Cara and Ashley have the opportunity to tie the record for most seasons won by a woman (currently held by Veronica and Evelyn, both at 3 Ws). Cara and Johnny can expand their record for most appearances in a final (both are currently at 8). But as we saw this most recent episode, now only Cara has this chance.
• Alternatively, Leroy has the chance to end the record for most seasons by a man without winning. He’s currently 0 for 10, with the next man being Shane Landrum, with 7 seasons (+ 1 spin-off) and no wins.
• Aneesa holds the record for women with 12 seasons (+ 2 spin-offs), followed by Robin (0 for 9) and then Diem (0 for 8). Nany can tie Diem’s distinction this season.

• We haven’t had a non-white winner since Gauntlet 3, with Nehemiah (and Janelle the season prior) — as Camila is a White Brazilian and Turbo is technically Caucasian, since Turkey lies next to the Caucasus Mountains, the origin for the term Caucasian. The closest we got was Cory on Bloodlines, Nelson on Invasion, Natalie and Sylvia on Final Reckoning, and Theo and Ninja on War of the Worlds 1.
• WotW2 could break this streak, as many strong POC are still left in the game (Leroy, Dee, Ninja, Kam, & Theo).

• WotW2 is the earliest Laurel has left a season, being the second woman eliminated. She made the final on her first 4 appearances (and lost the last elimination before the final on her fifth show, Invasion.
• This is similar to CT’s record being tarnished in recent seasons, as he had made it to either the last elimination or the final on every full season he was on (that he wasn’t DQ’d before the game started and excepting when he left Exes 2 to be with Diem before she passed away) until Final Reckoning. On FR — his 14th appearance — he and Veronica were purged out during the 3rd daily, but that’s not losing an elimination round. But then the next season, WotW1, he did achieve this feat, losing to Kyle in the 3rd elimination round.

And that’s it for now ;) Hope you learned something new! Any other Challenge records / factoids you know about for WotW2, without spoilers?