Reality

‘The Challenge USA’: Wes Bergmann Explains His Decision to Retire From the Franchise (Exclusive)

‘The Challenge’ star has been appearing on the show since 2006.
THE CHALLENGE: USA
Wes Bergmann will compete in the most unpredictable and demanding game of their life this summer on THE CHALLENGE: USA. Season 2 kicks off with a two-part premiere Thursday, Aug. 10 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT), and part two airs Sunday, Aug. 13 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network and streaming on Paramount+ (live and on demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the episode airs). Following the premiere on the CBS Television Network, the second season of MTV's hit reality global franchise will air twice a week on Thursdays (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) and Sundays (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) for the first three weeks. Beginning Thursday, Aug. 31, THE CHALLENGE: USA will air Thursdays (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT). T.J. Lavin returns as host. Photo by Aaron Smith, courtesy of Paramount ©2023 Paramount, All Rights Reserved.

The Sept. 21 episode of The Challenge USA marked the end of the road for one of the franchise’s most well-known players. Thanks to the Hopper, Wes Bergmann was chosen to go into elimination against Survivor winner Chris Underwood. While it was a close battle, Chris ended up with the win, marking the end of Wes’ time on the show. Wes has been vocal about The Challenge USA being his final season of the series. During a recent chat with PopCulture.com, he explained exactly why he decided to retire after his most recent turn on The Challenge

Wes’ Challenge journey began way back in 2006 when he appeared on the 12th season of The Challenge, Fresh Meat. He has since gone on to win three seasons of the show — The Duel, Rival 2, and All Stars Season 3. Even though he’s still at the top of his game, he has said that the second season of The Challenge USA will be his last ever season of The Challenge. On top of becoming a father, Wes explained that his mounting responsibilities with his business endeavors are part of the reason behind his decision to take a step back. 

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A Really Good-Looking Underdog
“A Really Good-Looking Underdog” – Things get heated between two rookie players, and the competitors brace themselves for host TJ Lavin’s favorite challenge of the season, trivia, on THE CHALLENGE: USA, Sunday, Aug. 27 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+ (live and on demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the episode airs). Pictured: Wes Bergmann. Photo by Jonne Roriz, courtesy of Paramount ©2023 Paramount, All Rights Reserved.

“My business has taken off, now it’s too challenging to leave it. It’s a scheduling thing. I’m very, very sad,” Wes explained. “Why it’s hard for the fans and everybody to kind of wrap their head around it is because I’m not sitting here saying, ‘I dislike it,’ or, ‘I am not good at it anymore,’ and I’m obviously in great shape and all this kind of stuff. So, it’s like none of the… There’s not any on-paper reasons to not do it. But, what they’re not seeing is just how hard it is for a business owner of my size to leave for two months.”

While he noted that some business owners can run things remotely, that it’s necessarily possible to do when confined to The Challenge house. He continued, “There’s more people that depend on me for their livelihood than there are entire Challengers in the game. And there’s more money for me to lose than the entire prize pool combined every single season, so it’s too irresponsible.”

Wes’ final season of The Challenge was certainly an interesting one. Between the situation with Josh Martinez, who Wes stressed is “not a rival” of his, and some serious social media drama, the 3-time champion certainly left a mark on his final season of the show. For his take on it all, head to PopCulture.com’s YouTube page to see everything that Wes has to say.

Wes’ time on The Challenge USA (and The Challenge itself) may be over, but the season is still underway. New episodes of The Challenge USA air on CBS on Thursday nights at 10 p.m. ET. All of the episodes that have already aired on CBS can be viewed on Paramount+.