When we talk about the greatest Challengers of all time, CT and Bananas are certain to be part of the discussion. They are both seasoned veterans, and they are among the players with the most wins ever.
On a recent episode of the Challenge Mania Podcast, CT stated his wins hold more merit than Bananas. While CT has fewer wins on the main series show, he believes his victories were more difficult than Bananas’ victories because Bananas won easier seasons.
But Bananas has seven main series wins compared to CT’s five, so there isn’t a clear-cut superior player. The “more impressive” victories are certainly open to interpretation, meaning some viewers will be team Bananas over team CT.
Note: The Champs spinoffs won’t be factored into this discussion. CT and Bananas won Champs vs. Stars together, but CT was part of the winning duo on Champs vs. Stars 2 (arguably the most-impressive victory on the spinoff series).
The Odds
CT is correct about one thing: Not every Challenge is created equally. Some seasons are statistically more difficult to win than others. In the franchise’s earliest days, competitors had a 50% chance of winning. While neither CT nor Bananas benefited from such easy seasons, they were both on the Challenge scene when victories were statistically easier.
It should be noted that the numeric odds of winning don’t tell the full story. For example, The Ruins had five winners but also had four disqualifications, and the teams weren’t balanced in the final. There’s also a season like Invasion that had 13 men on it, but only one Champion made it to the final, and the Underdogs never faced Champions in eliminations.
Johnny Bananas
- The Island: Odds of winning: 1 out of 5:
- The Ruins: Odds of winning: Approx. 5 out of 28
- Rivals: Odds of winning: 1 out of 7
- Battle of the Exes: Odds of winning: 1 out of 13
- Free Agents: Odds of winning: 1 out of 13
- Rivals 3: Odds of winning: 1 out of 13
- Total Madness: Odds of winning: 1 out of 14
CT Tamburello
- Rivals 2: Odds of winning: 1 out of 8
- Invasion of the Champions: Odds of winning: Approx. 1 out of 13
- War of the Worlds 2: Odds of winning: 1 out of 9
- Double Agents: Odds of winning: 1 out of 15
- Spies, Lies and Allies: Odds of winning: 1 out of 17
The Assessment
Omitting the Champs spinoffs and season 42, Bananas won 28% of the season he appeared on, while CT has only won 20% (I’m excluding Battle of the Exes 2 because he left due to Diem’s medical DQ). This gives Bananas an edge, but Bananas does have the weakest wins on his resume.
Bananas won The Island, and out of all of the listed seasons, this one had the highest odds of winning. Bananas was very connected this season, and his allies Kenny and Derrick basically skated to the end. Any difficulties Bananas had on this season were self-created, because he was a bit of a menace in that house.
Meanwhile, out of all of the listed seasons, CT won the one with the lowest odds of winning: Spies, Lies and Allies. This season was over half rookies, so it was pretty easy for CT to skate through the first 75% of the game. While this makes the victory somewhat less impressive, there’s no denying that CT showed up to this season in great shape and with clear intentions on how to navigate the political game.
Most viewers agree CT has the most satisfying victories. He won Rivals 2 about 10 years after his Challenge debut. It was his ninth season, making it the Challenge’s longest journey to victory, though he did have a great partner in Wes. CT also won Invasion, which was a great return to the franchise following a brief hiatus after Diem’s death.
On the other hand, Bananas has the most notorious victory when he won Rivals 3 and kept Sarah’s share of the prize money. He broke the alleged “curse” after this incident when he won Total Madness, but the Rivals 3 victory has become synonymous with the Johnny Bananas character. As such, you can’t think of him without acknowledging he’s a Challenge champion.
The Verdict
At this point, I’d give a slight edge to Johnny Bananas. While CT may have the most impressive victory by the numbers, it’s hard to overlook the tough path Bananas had to overcome for his Free Agents victory. This included multiple elimination wins, including defeating CT in Puzzle Pyramid.
CT called out Bananas for winning easier seasons, and he’s not wrong, but he debuted on The Challenge before Bananas. So, this means CT lost some of the statistically easiest seasons, like the Inferno trilogy. It should also be mentioned that Bananas won four seasons CT also appeared on, while CT only won three seasons Bananas competed on.
In his interview, CT said that winning The Challenge has gotten more difficult over time, and again, he’s not wrong. But his back-to-back Double Agents and Spies, Lies and Allies victories occurred while Bananas was taking a break from The Challenge. This doesn’t mean Bananas would have won if he competed on these seasons, but there’s no denying he would have made this back-to-back victory harder for CT.
It’s difficult to determine whether Bananas or CT has a more impressive track record, and it’s a very close race. This means one season could change the rankings and push one man ahead of the other — perhaps we’ll be looking at a different story after Cutthroat.
Stop Being Polite 