The Challenge: Battle of the Eras features 40 cast members from the 39 previous MTV competition series seasons.
With that, four teams featured cast members from four eras of The Challenge. Era 4 featured the newest competitors, including stars from Love Island, Big Brother, and MTV UK shows.
Only two individuals from the UK are in the cast: Total Madness winner Jenny West and two-time Challenge finalist Theo Campbell.
Other champions and finalists from the UK included Kyle Christie, Rogan O’Connor, and Dee Nguyen.
In addition, viewers saw the UK’s Tula “Big T” Fazakerley emerge as a fan favorite over multiple seasons of The Challenge, including Season 39.
During a recent chat with castmate Johnny Bananas, Theo explained why he and Jenny got included in the cast rather than their other UK castmates.
Theo tells why he’s still in The Challenge cast
During a recent episode of the Death, Taxes and Bananas podcast, Bananas asked his Season 40 castmate, Theo, why he is “one of the few” who continues to return to the show.
According to Theo, it’s due to the “slim pickings” available for cast members from the United Kingdom.
“I think firstly, I’m one of the few that hasn’t been canceled or gone to jail,” Theo told Bananas, adding, “I think I’m the only one left actually allowed on the show.”
Bananas laughed at the fact that Theo didn’t say it was his charisma, likeability, or competitive aspects that got him into the cast again.
“It’s just because I haven’t been canceled or arrested,” Theo said.
He said they only had a small pool of cast members available, so it came down to him and Jenny West.
In Episode 12, viewers saw Theo go into the elimination at The Arena against Bananas, who sent him home, making Jenny the only remaining UK cast member.
While they were the only two individuals cast from the UK, it’s worth mentioning that Big T was an alternate ready in case someone else couldn’t appear in Era 4.
Which UK stars were ‘canceled’ or got arrested?
Several of Theo’s former UK castmates aren’t on The Challenge because they were arrested and convicted or fired from the show.
Being “arrested” likely refers to multi-season competitor Stephen Bear. He was sentenced to 21 months in prison after a jury found him guilty of voyeurism and disclosing private, sexual photographs and films of his ex-girlfriend Georgia Harrison, also a castmate from The Challenge.
Another significant example was Dee Nguyen, fired from MTV’s The Challenge after making controversial comments about the Black Lives Matter movement.
Dee, one of the winning players on War of the Worlds 2, was heavily edited out of Total Madness, her final season of The Challenge.
More recently, rumors swirled about Kyle Christie getting canceled or no longer getting cast due to incidents involving his ex-showmance, Cara Maria Sorbello, on The Challenge.
However, Kyle, who last appeared in Spies, Lies & Allies season, denied the rumors that he couldn’t appear on The Challenge because of that.
During the Zach Nichols Podcast, Kyle said he had obligations to appear in the UK’s Geordie Shore series, which kept his schedule busy, and he could not commit to appearing on The Challenge.
As of this report, it’s unknown if any other UK stars were “canceled” from returning to the show.
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!
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