‘The Challenge’ Season 39: Mercenaries Lose Their Pay if They Throw Eliminations, Spoilers State
MTV’s The Challenge Season 39 cast started with players who’ve never won a season. While the original cast members compete against each other to get to the final, they have a new obstacle: the veteran mercenaries. The mercenaries go head to head with the cast members in eliminations, and if a mercenary wins, they take money from the prize pot. According to spoilers, the mercenaries can lose their pay if they throw the competition.
[Spoiler alert: The Challenge Season 39 spoilers ahead regarding the mercenaries.]
‘The Challenge’ Season 39 mercenaries can allegedly lose their pay if they throw eliminations
MTV’s The Challenge Season 39 mercenaries are funneling in for each episode’s elimination. The first few eliminations in the season featured the regular cast members going head-to-head. However, by episode 8, several veterans entered the arena to take out the cast and win a chunk of money from the pot. So far, we’ve seen Jordan Wiseley, Devin Walker, and Kaz Crossley. Jordan and Devin won their eliminations, but Big T Fazakerley sent Kaz packing.
There are several mercenaries still set to enter the competition. When the mercenaries enter, they have three swords to pull. One sword has one nominated player’s name on it, and another sword has another nominated player’s name. The third sword is the “chaos” sword, which gives the mercenary the option to choose any player of the same gender that they want to compete against. If the mercenary wins the elimination, they take $15,000 from the prize pot. If they lose, they head home empty-handed. But if they throw the elimination and don’t try to win, they allegedly lose their pay completely.
“Btw, if mercenaries throw their eliminations, they wouldn’t get pay; it’s in their contracts,” The Challenge Season 39 spoiler guru PinkRose posted to Vevmo.
A fan asked PinkRose how production would know if a player was “throwing” the competition. They insinuated that production might give the mercenaries eliminations in their wheelhouse so that the showrunners could detect if a veteran threw the competition.
“If they give Devin a math/puzzle elimination, they would know if he isn’t trying same; with giving Kaycee something physical,” PinkRose wrote.
PinkRose also noted that each mercenary gets paid for one week of appearances. It’s unclear how much MTV pays the mercenaries to appear for one week.
Who are the mercenaries this season?
So, who can fans expect to see as veteran mercenaries in The Challenge Season 39? Spoilers say Kaycee Clark enters the arena in episode 8, airing on Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023. She competes against Big T Fazakerley, who has already entered the elimination arena twice.
Other veterans include Tori Deal, Cara Maria Sorbello, and Laurel Stucky for the women, and Brad Fiorenza, CT Tamburello, and Darrell Taylor for the men.
While Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio was rumored to become a mercenary, he allegedly turned down the offer, which upset production. MTV creators likely wanted Johnny on the season so he could approach Moriah Jadea about where their relationship stands now.
The Challenge: Battle for a New Champion airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on MTV.
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