The Challenge: Total Madness Episode 3 arrived on April 15 and with it came a new competition, more drama among the players, and, of course, an elimination.
The latest one was a guys’ elimination, meaning someone else would go home from the show. Here’s who got eliminated and how it went down.
Decode and Detonate competition
TJ Lavin announced that Decode and Detonate was the name of the new challenge. There were 26 puzzle boards – one for each competitor with its own code.
The competitors had to rush up to a hill to get to a decoding station for a key to bring back down and solve their puzzle as quickly as possible.
The first two competitors to solve their puzzles run to a detonator and get to blow up a truck. These first two competitors also become two of the three Tribunal members.
CT solved his puzzle first and took off to the detonation station. He was the first to blow up a truck.
Bruce Willis, you have 24 hours to respond. #TheChallenge35 pic.twitter.com/dVA9PKjomn
— challengemtv (@ChallengeMTV) April 16, 2020
With one spot left, it was Bayleigh Dayton who solved it second and blew up a truck. That put her in the Tribunal with CT.
TJ made them choose a third member of their Tribunal. Bayleigh wanted her husband, Swaggy C, on The Challenge Tribunal with them. After some debating with CT, he agreed. That meant two rookies who came from Big Brother were in with CT.
Latest nominations for Total Madness elimination
One player from all the losers had to be the first to get nominated for elimination in a house vote. Most people were saying it would be Challenge rookie Jay Starrett going in.
Dee had some interest in Jay and didn’t want to eliminate him. She talked with other girls and they all suggested voting for Bananas.
Kailah brought that to Nelson and Corey’s attention. They were talking with Challenge rookie Fessy and thought maybe they could flip things by putting in Bananas.
Some of them brought that to the attention of Wes and he liked the young guys’ plan, but it was uncertain what he’d do with his vote.
The voting got interesting as it started off going toward Jay, but then a number of votes went to Bananas.
"WAIT, is this actually happening??" #TheChallenge35 pic.twitter.com/2hST9ixcfL
— challengemtv (@ChallengeMTV) April 16, 2020
However, things changed dramatically as competitors started to vote for Nelson as well. He was caught off guard by that and got into a shouting match with Kailah.
In the end, Jay got the most votes due to the way things switched up. That meant he would go back to Purgatory for a second time, despite already earning a red skull there.
This is what you call a “LIVE TRIBAL” which we rarely get on @ChallengeMTV. You love to see it. #TheChallenge35 #ChallengeMania pic.twitter.com/ws4nGn6rd6
— Scott Yager (@SHOTOFYAGER) April 16, 2020
Since Jay was going in, Dee decided to have a makeout session with him when everyone went out for some fun that night. That didn’t sit well with Rogan. He convinced CT to vote him in to go against Jay.
Who went home with the Episode 3 Purgatory elimination?
The Tribunal of CT, Bayleigh, and Swaggy C got to pick three people as nominations to go into elimination.
They chose Rogan, Bear, and Nelson as their three potential nominees for Purgatory. The Tribunal got to speak to each of them in the interrogation.
Bear didn’t want to go into elimination and suggested they look at putting in Nelson. Nelson told them he’d love to go in because everyone thinks Jay is a layup. Rogan also made a case to go into elimination so he could get rid of Jay himself.
At Purgatory, the Tribunal registered their votes. TJ said CT or Swaggy could go in themselves or send in one of their three people. The legendary CT chose to go in himself and got cheers from the crowd for that decision.
ARE ? YOU ? READY ? FOR ? A ? SHOW ? #TheChallenge35 pic.twitter.com/qhWzYTO4zl
— challengemtv (@ChallengeMTV) April 16, 2020
The elimination game was called Take Shelter. It involved a bunker for each competitor. They each had to use the materials available to barricade their bunkers. Then they traded and had to break into the other bunker. The first competitor to light up their bunker would stay in the game and earn a red skull.
CT wisely used a lot of rope and chains around the bunker door in twisted knots. Jay’s strategy wasn’t as good. CT threw the items Jay had stacked in front of the bunker aside quickly.
Gonna tell my kids this was David and Goliath #TheChallegne35 pic.twitter.com/aAEB7CX0hq
— challengemtv (@ChallengeMTV) April 16, 2020
However, Jay was not the one to be sent home. As it appeared that CT had ripped the door open, Jay got the tangled mess untangled and opened his door. He rushed in and hit the buzzer for his light first. Jay gets a second red skull and CT goes home.
The Challenge: Total Madness 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.