Jordan Wiseley spoke about a controversial elimination that viewers saw occur during The Challenge: Battle of the Eras.
In Episode 4 of the season, Era 1 and Era 4 found themselves in the elimination event, with Aneesa Ferreira battling Jenny West and Derrick Kosinski taking on Horacio Gutierrez.
While the women’s elimination was close, there was a clear winner as Jenny sent Aneesa home from the game.
However, Derrick and Horacio’s elimination didn’t have as clear an outcome, as the footage presented a confusing finish that castmates and viewers were puzzled over.
In the end, host TJ Lavin declared that Derrick won the event after production reviewed the footage. Horacio seemed shocked, and immediately after the episode’s airing, his girlfriend, Nurys Mateo, called out production for lying about how it went.
Horacio also gave his side of the story, indicating he didn’t accept the final decision. Jordan recently explained that even he is unsure who won, claiming the whole thing “smells bad” due to all the issues with the elimination.
Jordan reviews The Challenge 40’s controversial elimination
During his podcast Keep Talking Jordan, the multi-time Challenge winner said he thought “the biggest controversy” with the event was that Derrick didn’t have all his jacks in the holes on his gameboard once the men finished. He said Horacio had all of his jacks in the holes, though.
Jordan explained that production gives the competitors the rules before the daily challenges and eliminations. He said production has the competitors involved agree to these rules, and they record it so they can “cover their a**es.”
He mentioned that they’ve started explaining the rules only to the competitors in the eliminations and away from the rest of the cast, so the other cast members “don’t really know what to argue.” However, he said once the involved competitors rejoin their castmates, they begin asking them about what they can or can’t do in the event.
Jordan said that based on the setup that everyone saw for the Episode 4 elimination, it was “obvious” to everyone watching that there were 40 holes, so each of the 40 pegs had a hole to go into.
“I cannot tell you what the rule is because only Horacio and Derrick can tell you what the rule is,” he said, adding, “Horacio says they told him ‘to put it in.’ Aneesa says they told her ‘to put it in.’ Derrick is the only one saying that they said, ‘Put it on [the board].'”
Jordan also disliked some “interference” that happened in the elimination. This occurred when Aneesa and Derrick knocked into their board, causing some pegs to fall out. Jordan claims that production members helped them put those fallen jacks back in.
According to Horacio’s interview remarks, he didn’t get the same help that Derrick did, and when he questioned it, he never received an answer. However, he said TJ confirmed that Derrick won, and that’s it.
Jordan said it ‘all smells bad’ with this elimination
Backing up Horacio’s story, Jordan said there was a problem with Horacio’s setup midway through the event and that when TJ blew his air horn, it wasn’t making a loud sound.
He said Horacio stopped for about 10 seconds due to this, while Derrick had time to pick up a few more jacks because he didn’t hear the horn.
Jordan said that between that instance and the “dispute over the rules,” the elimination “all smells bad.”
“Who won? I don’t know,” he said while reviewing the elimination event.
The latest elimination reduced Era 1 and Era 4 by one team member each. Era 1 previously lost Mark Long and Katie Cooley, while Era 4 lost Nurys Mateo and Paulie Calafiore.
Despite not knowing who won this particular elimination, Jordan said that the Era 1 team is getting a “wake-up call” about this being the modern MTV version of The Challenge compared to the All Stars spinoff.
“This is the franchise. This is where we take competing very seriously, and I think [with] Era 1, it’s a little bit different,” he said.
However, Jordan also said Era 4 lost two great players, Paulie and Horacio, based on their competitive abilities and connections with older castmates in the house.
The Challenge: Battle of the Eras 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.