'The Challenge: USA' Host T.J. Lavin Explains How MTV Vets Took the Game to a 'Different Level' (Exclusive)
'The Challenge: USA' host talks Season 2's big twists!
The second season of The Challenge: USA kicks off on Thursday, Aug. 10 at 10 p.m. ET. Like the first season, the Challenge spinoff will feature your favorite players from Big Brother, Survivor, and The Amazing Race compete to see who will take home the grand prize. Prior to the show's premiere, PopCulture.com had the chance to chat with host T.J. Lavin, who has also hosted the flagship Challenge for well over a decade. During the conversation, Lavin teased how different the vibe for Season 2 will be given one major factor — the addition of several heavy-hitter competitors from the MTV version of the reality series.
Lavin provided some insight on what fans can expect from the upcoming season. Not only will the competitors face the "Hopper" (a twist meant to shake things up similar to last season's "Algorithm"), but they'll also have to face off against some MTV vets. For Season 2, The Challenge brought in MTV personalities Johnny "Bananas" Devenanzio, Tori Deal, Wes Bergmann, Amanda Garcia, Jonna Stephens, and Cory Wharton. According to Lavin, he was a big proponent of bringing in the MTV vets for Season 2 of The Challenge: USA.
The Challenge: USA host explained that he wasn't necessarily satisfied with just Big Brother and Survivor people being on the show because "they're very nice people, they're very sweet and they're so sweet and they're kumbaya and it's like, 'Okay, that was awesome, but let's get some heat in here.' So, we got to bring the MTV The Challenge people in here or else it's just not the same." He continued, "We have to have them. And so, we did. And now it's [a] different level. It wasn't because I said that, but I was saying that a lot. They agreed with me. The decision-makers of the show were agreeing with me, 'Yeah, we definitely need to.' So it was awesome."
Lavin may be stoked that the MTV vets were brought in for The Challenge: USA, but he's just as excited to see the level of competition amongst the Big Brother, Survivor, and Amazing Race contestants. He even highlighted the ones to watch, including Big Brother 20's Tyler Crispen and Survivor: Edge of Extiction's Chris Underwood. With the competition being stronger than ever, it's no surprise to hear Lavin share that this season is going to be wild.
The host even said that the vibe of Season 2 is similar to the recent World Championship spinoff given the level of competition, adding, "It had an Olympic vibe. You're the best if you win this one. So it's like, "Man, you really, really are good if you win this." I love it." The Challenge: USA airs on Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET and Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on CBS.