The Challenge legend Chris “CT” Tamburello is known for striking fear in the hearts and minds of opponents, and his arrival in Season 39 did just that.
However, he also left many individuals in tears with his brief return to the show, following a hiatus for one season after winning Spies, Lies & Allies.
In Season 39, CT was featured as the last of the 10 Challenge champs to appear for a single episode and battle a main cast member in an elimination.
Before him, viewers saw episodes featuring greats such as Darrell Taylor, Laurel Stucky, Cara Maria Sorbello, and Brad Fiorenza.
His appearance arrived in Episode 14 of MTV’s season – which also featured a stunning turn of events regarding the cast’s voting situation.
This report will contain spoilers from the recent episode, including voting and elimination results.
CT returns for Season 39 elimination appearance
Nine champions entered The Arena, and the majority won against the prominent cast members. However, returning champs had lost the last four eliminations until a particular competitor returned.
“There’s a beast waiting to destroy you,” host TJ Lavin revealed during Episode 14 of The Challenge.
That beast was none other than CT, a five-time winner of the show who has dismantled many opponents in various eliminations over numerous seasons.
In the Battle For a New Champion episode, the remaining competitors had to run a mini-final in four-person teams. The mini-final involved completing several tasks that tested their endurance, strength, and intelligence. Several puzzles were at the tail end of the event.
The winning team was Kyland Young, James Lock, Michele Fitzgerald, and Moriah Jadea. Unfortunately, Kyland found himself outnumbered as the team got to choose one guy to go into elimination and selected Horacio Gutierrez.
With Kyland and James safe, Jay Starrett and his many male allies, including Ed Eason, Emanuel Neagu, Asaf Goren, and Corey Lay, were vulnerable to being voted in.
Jay wasn’t about to get the majority of votes based on him and his friend Michele Fitzgerald running such a strong alliance. However, votes were initially scattered between Emanuel and Ed, resulting in a stalemate situation.
A second vote was held to try to change that. It started to look like Corey’s burn vote for himself would cause Ed’s deciding vote to send Emanuel in. However, he burned his vote and said Jay’s name, creating a second stalemate.
CT teases Season 40 during his elimination appearance
At The Arena, TJ revealed he was disappointed that the cast couldn’t decide on another guy to nominate for possible elimination with Horacio. TJ said that meant things were left in his hands, or more fittingly, the hands of the beast holding the Chaos weapon.
CT entered The Arena to applause and cheers from the cast and threw his weapon down in the sand. After shaking hands with TJ, he spoke about seeing what he had to do for Season 40.
TJ revealed that since the cast had a stalemate, it allowed CT to select any opponent he wanted to face, except for Kyland or James.
CT spoke briefly with Horacio, saying he’d heard he was a good kid and kept getting sent in just before the final. He said it reminded him of his own path, so he would give Horacio a break tonight and let him return to the stands.
CT surveyed his available options for the elimination and mentioned how Jay had previously beaten him fair and square, so he wasn’t going to pick him. He said the only guy he didn’t really know well was Asaf and called him down for a battle.
The two competitors battled it out in Mind Grind, which involved moving a 250-pound wheel around the sand to a specific spot and positioning it so the attached pole was upright.
That pole had (on it) a series of mathematical operation signs for an equation. The objective was to be the first competitor to get the correct numbered tiles and place them in the correct spots to solve the equation.
Asaf and CT were neck-and-neck with moving their heavy wheels. Math proved difficult for Asaf as he asked what prime numbers were.
Although the cast tried to offer suggestions and help to Asaf, they could not assist him as the five-time Challenge champ called for the check first, and TJ blew the horn.
Season 39 cast in tears following CT’s elimination win
After the loss, cast members teared up over Asaf being eliminated due to his story of being a dad trying to win money for his family and a solid connection to many people in the house.
Jay, Colleen Schneider, Emanuel, and Berna Cambeldek were among those who got emotional over Asaf’s elimination. A group hug arrived as many cast members went down to the ground level to bid Asaf farewell.
CT shook his hand and praised The Challenge 39 cast as a promising new group, advising them to enjoy their time on the show with the great memories it would bring.
The beast left The Arena $10,000 richer, seemingly ready for a savage full-season return to MTV’s competition series.
The Challenge: Battle For a New Champion airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on MTV.
Episodes of The Challenge are now streaming on Paramount+. Try it FREE!
The link above is an affiliate link. This means that for any qualifying purchase you make, we may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.
So happy to see CT they needed to have more physical eliminations and I guarantee you half of them would already be gone. Talking a big game they wouldn’t have been handled able to handle physical eliminations. Its Jay’s fault trying to be sneaky and backstabbing. That’s part of the game for him to be crying that’s weak I’m sure the guys are nice guy and all that and he’s got a kid. But a lot of challenges come there and have kids