The Challenge fans are upset that an unaired scene featuring castmates Johnny Bananas and Cara Maria Sorbello didn’t appear in The Challenge: Battle of the Eras.
Bananas and Cara may have been rivals toward the end of their seasons, but they still had some friendship and respect for each other as star competitors.
As they headed toward the final, Bananas’s allies were his Bananas Angels, which included Jenny West, Rachel Robinson, and Aviv Melmed.
Cara had her allies, including Derek Chavez, Michele Fitzgerald, and, surprisingly, Tori Deal.
Unfortunately, Cara got sent into the final elimination and lost to her new friend, Tori, ending her time competing in Season 40.
Before that happened, the cameras captured Cara and Bananas having a rare one-on-one conversation about competing in and winning a final.
Cara and Bananas chatted before her elimination and Season 40’s final
MTV’s The Challenge, Season 40, featured a location change right before TJ Lavin’s final. While most of the season occurred in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, the cast traveled to the Philippines for the last women’s elimination and TJ Lavin’s final.
A deleted scene featured Johnny Bananas and Cara Maria Sorbello chatting in a hut. Bananas admitted this was one of the first times he was heading into a final feeling like an underdog. Cara said she would feel the same if she reached this final.
“I’ve never been good at dailies. That’s never been my jam, but I can hold my own when I have to,” Cara told her castmate.
Cara has a modest stat of 44 elimination wins during her career, which isn’t too shabby.
She listed her potential Season 40 final opponents, including Jenny, Rachel, and Tori. Cara said she considered all the other potential women’s finalists tough to beat.
“Even Michele. She’ll run forever; she’ll swim. She’ll be great in a final,” Cara said.
She asked Bananas how many wins he would have if he were to win Battle of the Eras. He told her eight wins in 11 or 12 finals appearances.
While Cara said it was a “really good win ratio,” Bananas told her it’s become much harder as he’s become older and been on the show longer.
Cara admitted that despite her many years on The Challenge, she felt she had yet to grow out of her underdog phase.
“You’ve done it this long. You’ve made it this far. Just like, don’t count yourself out,” he told Cara.
Bananas also admitted to using a psychological tactic for a while: telling himself he needed to show up and compete to win or he might need to get a real job.
Unfortunately for Cara, her season ended after this unaired conversation occurred as Tori defeated her in an elimination. Many fans weren’t happy with that Season 40 elimination event.
The Challenge fans continue asking producers to leave the deleted scenes in
The Bananas and Cara conversation is yet another deleted scene that The Challenge uploaded on social media. In the Instagram comments section, fans vented their frustrations and feedback about the unaired footage.
“Love scenes like this! Feels like a real genuine moment. Wish we got more of this on the show. Episodes will be 60-90 min and still not have this?!” a commenter wrote.
Another asked, “Why do yall delete the best scenes?”
“So sick they cut the best scenes out…” an individual commented.
A commenter said, “hope y’all get the memo that whatever category y’all put these deleted scenes into , is the kind of content we actually want in the show.”
The commenter suggested that these scenes are better for viewers than seeing “slo mos of them walking out a door.”
Battle of the Eras featured 40 cast members. While eight competitors were sent home via eliminations in the first few episodes, many remained for the rest of the season.
That meant production had to figure out how to fit in all of the stories, daily challenges, and eliminations, and there was likely a lot of footage left out of the final episodes.
In addition to the deleted scene of Cara and Bananas, other deleted scenes have included a CT Tamburello vs. Theo Campbell bus fight and an argument between Devin Walker and Michele during their showmance.
The Challenge: Battle of the Eras airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on MTV. The Challenge: All Stars Rivals premieres Wednesday, January 29 at 8/7c on MTV.
Episodes of The Challenge are now streaming on Paramount+. Try it FREE!
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