Challenge fans have grown accustomed to a few things each season, like eliminations, the mini-final, trivia, and a reunion. But Cutthroat may be different; it’s not expected to have a reunion.
Justin Hinsely appeared on the Death, Taxes, and Bananas podcast, and near the end of the episode, they brought up the reunion. Bananas said he doesn’t think there will be one this season — typically, it would have been filmed by this point in the airing schedule.
Both Justin and Bananas agree that this would be an explosive reunion. This season had a lot of drama, some of which was discussed heavily online and had real-life ramifications. So it seems there’s still bad blood to be discussed.
Because we don’t have official confirmation, we don’t know exactly why production chose not to film a reunion. People will likely speculate that the Nelson, Josh, and Leo incident got the reunion axed, and I’m sure it didn’t help. But that’s probably not the full reason Cutthroat won’t reunite its cast.
Most likely, a reunion is just an added expense. Cutthroat appears to have a lower budget compared to other seasons. It only has a $500,000 prize (half of Battle of the Eras’), the cast is noticeably smaller than the past two seasons, and the filming window has been condensed.
Is this concerning? A little bit. If Cutthroat truly doesn’t have a reunion, it will be the first season without a proper reunion since The Inferno 3 in 2007. It’s speculated that season didn’t have a reunion because The Gauntlet 3 was in production when The Inferno 3’s reunion would have been filmed. The Inferno 3 also included a top moments countdown that aired with commentary from cast members, seemingly a substitute for the reunion.
But, very few streaming-exclusive seasons had reunions. All Stars 1 had one, but the other four All Stars did not. So, the lack of a reunion is not a death sentence by any means.
Moving to a streaming service meant The Challenge would see some changes, and the reunion may have been a casualty. Streaming services also have one other assumption: You have the internet. There are plenty of podcasts out there for folks who want to indulge in additional content, so producers may view the reunion as an unnecessary expense at this point.
