With the return of MTV’s popular reality competition series, The Challenge also comes the return of some of the fiercest stars in the history of the show. Among them is Chris “CT” Tamburello, one of the major players for many seasons and a perennial favorite to win most times. With another appearance on the hit show, his appearance has fans wondering just how old The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2 star CT is.
CT started with Real World
CT isn’t one of those characters who just showed up to join The Challenge out of nowhere. Back in the day, the premise of the show involved members of MTV’s popular reality shows Real World and Road Rules in competitive battles.
CT initially starred on Real World: Paris back in June 2003. At the time, the Boston, Massachusetts native was only 22. His fellow castmates included Mallory, Ace, Adam, Christian, Leah, and Simon.
CT was much rougher around the edges then, and quite a bit cockier, ultimately setting him up to be one of the hotheaded Challenge competitors.
Chris became confrontational in the house with arguments between himself and other roommates. He even got into it with one of his former Real World castmates, Adam, during one of those Challenge shows and ended up punching him during an altercation.
Tamburello’s Challenge history
CT is back again for the latest season of MTV’s reality show. The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2 has a team of Americans versus a team from the U.K. competitors for the latest installment. CT has since become mellow and mature, as he’s amongst the elder statesmen of the cast now.
CT will be on The Challenge 34!! pic.twitter.com/xNzWGHKSGk
— The Challenge: Total Madness (@TheChallenge35_) May 29, 2019
He also appeared on War of the Worlds earlier this year, making it to just the fourth episode. However, several other significant stars were eliminated early, including Johnny Bananas and Zach Nichols.
The star competitor CT also appeared on The Challenge: Final Reckoning last summer, making it just five episodes. He did better on XXX: Dirty 30, with a third-place finish behind Derrick and Jordan. While he made it to other finals, he was amongst the big winners for Rivals II and Invasion of the Champions.
- The Inferno (final)
- The Inferno II (final)
- The Duel
- The Inferno 3
- The Gauntlet III (final)
- The Duel II
- Rivals
- Battle of the Exes (final)
- Rivals II (won)
- Free Agents
- Battle of the Exes II
- Invasion of the Champions (won)
- XXX: Dirty 30 (final)
- Final Reckoning
- War of the Worlds
- War of the Worlds 2
According to the IMDB cast page, Chris has appeared on 174 total episodes of The Challenge. That’s second behind only Johnny Bananas in terms of all cast members. He still has that same competitive fire he’s brought ever since his debut on the series.
Me during a friendly game after telling everyone I'm "not that competitive" #TheChallenge34 pic.twitter.com/NSEKODD2I5
— challengemtv (@ChallengeMTV) August 29, 2019
Last year, Tamburello spoke with Rolling Stone about being on the show for 15 years. At that time, he was 38 and told RS, “I don’t expect it to last much longer! I have termed the lease. I really can’t see myself doing this over 40. I want to ride off gracefully into the sunset and pass the torch to a new generation.”
He was born on July 16, 1980. With his appearance on The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2, CT is now age 39 and continuing to enjoy the ride, but as he mentioned he’ll be riding off the sunset soon, maybe.
MTV’s The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2 is on Wednesday nights at 9 p.m. Eastern Time.
Episodes of The Challenge are now streaming on Paramount+. Try it FREE!
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