Is Bananas “The Challenge?”

Bananas may be gone from Vets & New Threats, but he didn’t depart without leaving a big impression. While strategizing at the nomination ceremony in episode 3 — a girls’ elimination — Bananas managed to make the vote about his position in the game.

While people questioned Bananas’ seemingly self-centered view of the game, he boldly declared that everything is about him because he is The Challenge.

Some people mocked Bananas for this statement, particularly Olivia and her alliance, but let’s be fair. Olivia was making plans to turn Bananas into the hangnail, so the episode 3 vote did impact him. So, by mocking Bananas, Olivia kind of highlighted the fact that Bananas wasn’t bringing himself into the conversation for no reason.

As time progressed, context seems to be lost in the conversation, and most people just remember Bananas saying, “I am The Challenge.” After all, he’s done more seasons than anyone else, so is the statement true?

It doesn’t take a lot of research to determine that The Challenge can survive without Bananas. He wasn’t on Double Agents or Spies, Lies and Allies, and the show continued. We can also look at a season like War of the Worlds. While he did compete on that season, he was gone by the time the highest-rated episodes aired (both episodes 8 and 16 surpassed 1 million viewers).

By design, The Challenge wasn’t meant to have one star of the show, but the show is unique in the sense that cast members aren’t limited on the number of times they can participate. This has allowed someone like Bananas to amass 25 appearances, but it also allows other personalities to shine.

Where Bananas deserves credit: He represents a certain era of The Challenge, and he’s stuck through the franchise through a lot. Producers have forced him to live on an island, in an underground bunker, and in a bedroom with Paulie. Still, he returns to The Challenge. He understands that this is a show, and he’s not showing up to collect an appearance check.

If we look at other super veterans on Vets & New Threats, many of them want to play under-the-radar games. On the other hand, Bananas came onto the show and wasn’t shy about making alliances and hooking up.

Even if Bananas isn’t a 100% necessary part of The Challenge, he is one of the secret ingredients that makes the show work. And even if you disagree with his statement, there ought to be a place on reality TV for people to make pompous claims. Some people tune into The Challenge for the personalities, not just the puzzles competitions. Even if you dislike Bananas, there’s no denying that he’s been consistently driving story lines since his debut.