While The Challenge: Battle of the Eras featured some of the greatest champions competing on the show, other hungry players were looking to win their first season.
Among them was former Big Brother winner Josh Martinez, who has become a polarizing regular on MTV’s series.
He’s formed strong alliances in the game, creating bonds with many castmates, and that assisted him in surviving most of Season 40.
In particular, he aligned with the Vacation Alliance, a group of castmates who take trips during The Challenge offseason and then band together while filming to control the game.
With a cast like Season 40’s, it became tough for them to do that. Several of their group members were eliminated in one episode, fracturing the alliance.
After his aired exit in a recent episode, Josh spoke about where he stands with the Vacation Alliance, highlighting that he is not sure about working with a specific castmate again.
Josh said he’s ‘uneasy’ with his castmate after Season 40
During Battle of the Eras Episode 14, Josh finished last place out of men’s competitors in the daily challenge. That meant he was automatically in the elimination event at The Arena.
The other two targets from the previous episode were Johnny Bananas and Cory Wharton. Since Rachel Robinson and Derek Chavez were the daily challenge winners, they got to choose who would face Josh.
Johnny had Rachel as one of his top allies, so she ensured he didn’t go in. Derek decided to sit back and allow her to choose and co-sign, sending Cory in.
Viewers then saw Cory dominate Josh in a physical elimination, which worked well for a competitor with Cory’s athletic background involving football and other sports.
Until his poor performance in the daily and elimination, Josh had played an impressive social game, as he worked with many people to ensure his safety. However, there were times he butted heads with castmates, including Devin Walker, for not making moves to help out.
After his elimination aired on MTV, Josh spoke with Entertainment Weekly and mentioned he might not work with Devin again.
“Honestly, Devin I feel uneasy with. I don’t know where we stand in the game. He’s my boy, and we’ll go grab a beer tomorrow if he’s in Miami, but in the game, I don’t know where we stand,” Josh shared.
“I don’t feel good about the way he was moving in there, and that’s just where we’re at. It sucks,” he said.
While they still seem amicable, they weren’t always at that place. During previous seasons, Devin started up his “Big Brother Sucks” campaign and did his best to get under Josh and other Big Brother cast members’ skin in The Challenge house.
There were several altercations between Devin and Josh, and security and castmates intervened to break things up. Devin and Josh buried the hatchet to work together a season later as the Vacation Alliance began to form.
Josh is unsure about the Vacation Alliance status
In addition to Devin and Josh, the Vacation Alliance features cast members Kaycee Clark, Tori Deal, Aneesa Ferreira, Nany Gonzalez, and Faysal “Fessy” Shafaat. All but Nany and Fessy appeared in Season 40, although the latter was an alternate for the Era 4 team.
During his chat with EW, Josh discussed his situation with the Vacation Alliance after Season 40. Based on the interview, something involving the alliance has yet to appear in an episode, which is why he’s “taking a step back.”
“I’m really disappointed in a lot of the things they said, and I felt slighted in the house, and then watching it back, I did feel some type of way, the way that some of them were talking to me,” Josh shared.
“I don’t know. If moving forward there is a Vacation Alliance for me. I know that there is a friendship outside of the game, but I don’t know if I see myself playing the game as closely with them anymore. At the reunion I wanted closure and I wanted just an understanding of everything. And if anything, I left with a bitter taste,” he said.
The Season 40 reunion will air sometime after the season finale, with Josh and other Vacation Alliance members present in Amsterdam. Based on Josh’s remarks, his situation involving castmates in that alliance is still unresolved.
With another elimination just before a final, it makes for another failed attempt at winning The Challenge. However, Josh isn’t giving up yet.
“It’s a hard pill to swallow, especially when I’ve put in the work and I saw myself in such a good place. All I had to do was not come in last, and then I would’ve been good, but that’s just how it unfolded. It’s unfortunate, but makes me more hungry for the next one,” he shared.
The next one is The Challenge Season 41, with rumors already arriving about who won’t be included in the cast. Based on the early speculation, Josh might not have to worry about the Vacation Alliance.
The Challenge: Battle of the Eras airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on MTV.
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