What Was Brad’s Worst Challenge Season?

Brad’s has a fairly impressive run on The Challenge, but 2024 hasn’t been too kind to him. He left early on Battle of the Eras and All Stars 4. In fact, going into All Stars 4, I said it felt like the men’s side was stacked for Brad or Leroy to excel. But halfway through the season, both of these men were struggling.

These two seasons were uncharacteristically bad showings for the Challenge champ, but was one of them his worst performance of all? To answer this question, I am going to take a look back at his 14 Challenge seasons (3 All Stars and 11 main series, excluding Battle for a New Champion) to see which season was his worst showing.

Immediately, I’m going to dismiss any season where Brad made it to the final. That means his winning season (Cutthroat) is out the window. It also means The Duel, The Gauntlet 3, The Duel 2, and All Stars 3 are out of the running.

Battle of the Sexes 2: In his debut season, Brad emerged as one of the stronger rookies. He was in the winning inner circle four times, and he was the last remaining rookie on the men’s team. Verdict: Not his worst season.

The Inferno 2: Competitively, this season was fairly uneventful for Brad, but he was noted for having a minor freak out when he thought the team was trying to throw the Run for Your Money mission to give Robin a life shield. This was also the atomic wedgie season, and Brad was the third male eliminated. Given the fact that there were only four men sent home, that’s pretty unimpressive. Verdict: One of his worst seasons.

The Gauntlet 2: On this sequel, you were either team captain, performing poorly, or floating in the middle of the pact. Brad fell into the last category, and he made it to the 14th episode where Derrick eliminated him in Name that Coconut — and Derrick knew more Real World/ Road Rules trivia. Verdict: Unimpressive, but probably not his worst.

The Ruins: You could probably make an argument for this being Brad’s worst season, but performance-wise, he was doing well. He became the unofficial captain of the Challenger team, but they were fighting a losing battle. He was one of the final two males on his team before getting disqualified, and he had steered clear of elimination up to that point. Verdict: Not his worst performance… in the challenges.

Vendettas: After winning Cutthroat and taking a 7-year hiatus, Brad’s return to The Challenge was a very strong comeback. The game had changed a lot, but he managed to find himself in three Troikas, won two eliminations, and lost directly before the final (in a very jenky elimination). Verdict: Not his worst season.

Final Reckoning: Brad had a strong start this season and won two Challenges early on, but his performance at the start of the season was marred by Britni drama. Later, it felt like he was out of the loop and Kyle was making political moves. This was fine until the pair was sent into Armageddon and they couldn’t communicate. They lost the Tread Lightly elimination, followed by two losses in Redemption games. Most notably, Natalie outperformed Brad in That’s the Ticket even though Brad should have had the advantage. Verdict: Strong start, but it could be one of his worst seasons.

All Stars 2: Brad had a very strong start this season and defeated Derrick in The Arena, but he peaked once he got back-to-back wins when Jodi became his partner. Prior to the final elimination, Brad made some boneheaded moves and became the final person sent home. Verdict: Not his worst season.

All Stars 4: Brad did get a strong start this season, and secured a star when he won Reach for the Stars on episode 1. Then, Kefla stole his stars and his performances in Domino Motherfucker, Bobblehead Bobsled, and Take a Seat proved he lost focus. After a low-placing performance in Face the Facts he finally landed in elimination… and lost. Verdict: One of his worst seasons.

Battle of the Eras: Brad got off to a decent start this season when he finished second for the Era 1 men during Light It Up. CT and Rachel refused to vote him into the first Arena, then Brad was kind of middle-of-the-pact for the rest of his time on the show. However, he was on a team that was doing poorly, and he was notably the only Era 1 male that wasn’t injured. Though we can blame the team for failing during daily challenges, Brad’s elimination loss was solely his fault. Verdict: Unlucky, still one of his worst seasons.

What was Brad’s worst season?

I really think there are only four contenders: The Inferno 2, Final Reckoning, All Stars 4, and Battle of the Eras.

Immediately, I can’t justify naming The Inferno 2 the worst because he didn’t do anything terrible. The matter of the fact: This season was really stacked, and Brad’s rookie status made him disposable.

So it’s either Final Reckoning, All Stars 4, or Battle of the Eras. On Final Reckoning, Brad had some bad moment, but you can blame Kyle just as much as Brad. Even when Brad lost I Got You Pegged, it was because he had to do all the math because Kyle was pretty useless there.

While Battle of the Eras was his earliest departure, Brad was also a standout on an otherwise underwhelming team. If Brad was placed on a different Era, he’d likely keep up with his teammates and he would have lasted longer into the season. It also felt like he was in better physical shape than All Stars 4, so likely, his poor performance can be mostly attributed to his teammates.

This leaves All Stars 4, and we can really only blame Brad for his performance here. Some of his worst moments came during challenges where he had elite partners like Rachel and Laurel. But to his credit, he did lose to Adam in The Arena, and he was a formidable competitor.

Despite this assessment, it’s impressive that Brad’s done 14 seasons and has decades of respectable performances. Few people have been as consistent as Brad, and he’s been a mainstay on the show for a reason.