‘The Challenge’ Season 39: Moriah Jadea Was ‘Really Stressed’ That Johnny ‘Bananas’ Might Enter as a Mercenary
MTV’s The Challenge Season 39 shows Moriah Jadea’s budding relationship with James Lock. Moriah and James become quite close and start a showmance while Moriah still dates Challenge veteran Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio at home. This season introduced veteran mercenaries to eliminate the newer players, and Moriah feared seeing Johnny enter the ring. Here’s what she said.
[Spoiler alert: The Challenge Season 39 spoilers ahead regarding Moriah Jadea and Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio.]
Moriah Jadea was ‘really stressed’ that Johnny ‘Bananas’ Devenanzio would join as a mercenary
The Challenge Season 39 takes on the theme “Battle for a New Champion,” featuring players who’ve competed but never won. Fans didn’t expect to see any veteran favorites from past seasons. However, a twist brings the veterans back as “mercenaries” to compete against the main cast in eliminations.
Moriah Jadea and James Lock developed a showmance — but Moriah never broke off her relationship with Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio. She noted that she intended to break up with him off-camera when she returned home. In the meantime, she told MTV’s Official Challenge Podcast that she felt “really stressed” that he would enter as a mercenary.
“Everyone in the house was bringing it up to me,” Moriah told the podcast. “… Everyone would be like, ‘Are you worried it’s gonna be Bananas? Oh, it’s gonna be Bananas! Bananas vs. James!’ So, it’s getting James all riled up. It’s getting me all riled up.”
“If Johnny came, I was really stressed out, because, one, it would hurt me to see him hurt,” she continued. “And, two, I knew he wouldn’t be nice to me. He’d probably act like I was dead.”
Moriah Jadea wrote Johnny ‘Bananas’ a note that she brought to every elimination
While speaking to MTV’s Official Challenge Podcast, Moriah Jadea revealed that she wrote a note just in case Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio appeared as a mercenary. The note contained an apology from her about what went down between her and James Lock.
“I didn’t want to make it a thing, so I literally had a note that I wrote, and it was an apology note,” Moriah continued. “It was a very long note. And I had it in my pocket before every elimination so that if it was him, I could give it to him. Because I didn’t want to make it a big moment.”
While Johnny doesn’t appear as a mercenary this season, several other veterans who enter the ring mention the situation to Moriah. Tori Deal and Darrell Taylor bring it up. “When Tori said it, it wasn’t even what Tori was saying. I was thinking about Johnny and how he was feeling, and it made me cry,” she continued.
‘The Challenge’ Season 39 spoilers state production wasn’t happy that he dropped out as a mercenary
According to The Challenge Season 39 spoilers, Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio talked to production about entering as a mercenary. But he ultimately dropped the gig, upsetting producers.
“Bananas dropped on production and decided not to do this,” spoiler guru PinkRose wrote on Vevmo. “Production wasn’t happy with Bananas declining/dropping.”
“They were salivating with the montage of him walking in and James/Moriah hooking up for the trailer,” they wrote in another Vevmo thread.
Moriah and Johnny no longer speak, so it’s for the best that the end of their relationship wasn’t caught on camera.
The Challenge: Battle for a New Champion airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on MTV.
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