‘The Challenge’ Star Johnny Bananas Doubles Down That Tyson Apostol Doesn’t Stand a Chance at Beating Him

The Challenge GOAT Johnny Bananas has struck again in his war of words with The Challenge: USA star Tyson Apostol. The two reality stars have called each other out on social media, and gone one-on-one during a podcast interview. Now, Bananas has doubled down on his claim that Apostol doesn’t stand a chance at beating him via new comments to TMZ.

Tyson Apostol is a legendary ‘Survivor’ veteran, but just a rookie on ‘The Challenge’

The Challenge: USA is the latest version of the long-running reality competition, which is currently airing season 1 on CBS. It features big names from the world of major franchises — Survivor, The Amazing Race, Big Brother, and Love Island — competing on The Challenge for the very first time. 

One of those Challenge newbies competing for the $500,000 prize is four-time Survivor vet Tyson Apostol. And so far, he’s been a standout competitor who is a favorite to win. This success has done quite a bit for Apostol’s ego.

“To those comparing me to those on the “OG” challenge… A lot of them can bench press more than me but 70-80 even 90% of the game I have them crushed. Talking cake walk,” Tyson tweeted. 

In response, Bananas wrote, “This tweet is gonna age about as well as you.” To which Tyson replied, “Like a fine wine.” The GOAT then added, “More like a box of wine after a game of slap the bag.”

Johnny Bananas doubles down on his claims

After their back-and-forth on social media, the spat evolved into verbal sparring when Apostol showed up on Bananas’ podcast Death, Taxes, and Bananas. His first question to Apostol was: “who hacked your Twitter because there’s absolutely no way someone as strategic and smart and calculated as you would intentionally fire off an incendiary tweet [like that].”

Tyson didn’t back down with his claims, explaining he was a professional endurance athlete with an extensive background in cycling, long-distance swimming, and ultra trail running. But, Bananas wasn’t convinced that Apostol could beat him.

A few days after the podcast, TMZ caught Bananas outside of RiseNY and asked him about his ongoing beef with Apostol.

“Here I was thinking Wes Bergmann was the only guy with delusions of grandeur to ever grace The Challenge screen,” Bananas said.

Johnny Bananas says Tyson Apostol belongs on ‘The Challenge’ JV squad

Bananas said he told Apostol that his claim of easily beating Challenge OGs was ridiculous. He then compared it to himself going on Survivor for the first time with a bunch of people who have never played before, calling the show Survivor All-Stars, and then running around telling everyone who’s played Survivor that he would run circles around them.

“It’s like [Tyson’s] in JV, thinking he can hang with professional athletes. We’ll see. I mean, he’s done his first season. He did relatively well. He said there’s a chance we’ll see him on the MTV flagship version, and I’d love to see it,” Bananas said.

“I’m hoping that now that it’s on CBS, it’s exposing the brand and the franchise to a wider audience, obviously. And that, in turn, will hopefully bring more eyeballs to the real Challenge.”

The Challenge: USA airs Wednesdays on CBS. The Challenge Season 38 will premiere later this year on MTV.