Wes Bergmann is among The Challenge’s greats and is considered an MTV OG due to his start on the network.
The two-time winner of MTV’s The Challenge and All Stars 3 spinoff winner debuted on 2005’s The Real World: Austin. His castmates included fellow future Challengers Nehemiah Clark and Melinda Stolp.
After multiple seasons of The Challenge, Wes announced his retirement from the franchise during CBS’ USA 2 spinoff. He was not among the cast members revealed for MTV’s Season 40.
Still, he’ll likely be rooting for his OG castmates on The Challenge: Battle of the Eras, including Johnny Bananas, Nehemiah Clark, CT Tamburello, Jonna Mannion, and KellyAnne Judd.
They all share the commonality of starting on the now-defunct reality TV show, The Real World.
According to Wes, it’s time for someone to bring back the iconic reality TV show, although fans had mixed reactions.
Fans explained why The Real World might not work anymore
While Wes’s idea is one that many fans might like, others weren’t sure it would work out with what reality TV has become.
“i could get behind this one hundred percent wes i would love to see a real world road rules reincarnation,” one fan commented.
Another said, “It could never be what it was again. same as the challenge. Well it could but theyd never make it that way.”
Another commenter said the concept “wouldn’t work now” because everyone would call for a cast member to get canceled after “one fight.”
Another fan said it “would be so sick” to see the show return. However, they suggested it “seems pretty impossible these days” because cast members will likely get selected based on their social media following. In addition, they said spoilers leak online ahead of episodes.
“Yes, but it wouldn’t be the same. People want to be social media famous so badly I doubt they would be authentic,” another commenter wrote.
The Challenge 40 brings back many former Real World stars
As mentioned, Battle of the Eras will bring back OG cast members who haven’t been on MTV’s The Challenge in many years. Many cast members started on the network’s old-school reality TV shows: Road Rules, Real World, and Fresh Meat.
There are 40 cast members divided between four teams based on the eras they appeared in for The Challenge.
Era 1 features three former Real World stars: CT, Brad Fiorenza, and Aneesa Ferreira. Half of Era 2 consists of former Real World stars with Bananas, KellyAnne, Nehemiah, Emily Schromm, and Derek Chavez.
However, Era 3 features the most former Real World cast members with seven, including The Real World: Portland’s Jordan Wiseley, Averey Tressler, and Nia Moore.
With Era 4, the shift in recent casting for The Challenge is apparent. There are individuals from CBS’s Big Brother and Survivor, as well as Love Island and other reality shows not associated with MTV.
The last season of The Real World was in 2019
The last Real World season on MTV aired from October 2016 to early January 2017, with Season 32, Real World Seattle: Bad Blood.
In 2019, The Real World: Atlanta arrived for streaming via Facebook Watch. However, the concept was unpopular and short-lived, and no Real World seasons have occurred since.
In 2021, Paramount+ introduced a spinoff, The Real World Homecoming, with three seasons. Each season reunited former cast members from iconic seasons of MTV’s The Real World: New York, San Francisco, and New Orleans.
In 2022, Wes appeared in Paramount+’s The Challenge: All Stars 3 with two former Real World: Austin castmates, Nehemiah and Melinda. As of this writing, it’s unclear if they’ll have additional Real World Homecoming seasons on Paramount+.
The Challenge: Battle of the Eras premieres Wednesday, August 14 at 8/7c on MTV.
Episodes of The Challenge are now streaming on Paramount+. Try it FREE!
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