Australia’s newest reality show The Challenge Australia is hitting our screens next month, if you simply can’t get enough of watching household names go at each other for the sake of content.
The new series pits celebs against each other where they will battle week in and week out. The last standing will be crowned one of two Challenge Champions, take home $100,000 and represent Australia in an international version of the competition.
Now, we have our slate of season one contestants, a confirmed host and plenty of tea.
Is there a trailer for The Challenge?
There sure is!
The very first trailer just dropped and it’s got everything from reality star biffs to hot tub smooches to wild-ass challenges.
Have a watch below:
Which Celebs Have Been Announced For The Challenge Season One?
Season one of The Challenge Australia features a whole heap of faces we’ve met before on the small screen. Former contestants from The Bachelor, Survivor Australia, MasterChef and Married At First Sight will be battling it out to become Australia’s first Challenge Champion.
Brittany Hockley
Where you know her: Season six of The Bachelor, season three of Bachelor In Paradise and co-host of Life Uncut podcast.
Jack Vidgen
Where you know him: Season five of Australia’s Got Talent, season seven of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, season six of Ninja Warrior, season three of The Masked Singer Australia.
Cyrell Paule
Where you know her: Season six of Married At First Sight.
Ryan Gallagher
Where you know him: Season five of MAFS and season six of I’m A Celeb.
Brooke Blurton
Where you know her: season three of The Bachelor, season two of Bachelor In Paradise Australia, season five of The Bachelorette.
Ciarran Stott
Where you know him: Season five of The Bachelorette, season three of Bachelor In Paradise and The Bachelorette Sweden.
Brooke Jowett
Where you know her: Season three of Australian Survivor and Australian Survivor All Stars.
Emily Seebohm
Where you know her: Olympic gold medallist, season eight of I’m A Celeb, season six of Ninja Warrior.
David Subritzky
Where you know him: Season eight of I’m A Celeb.
Konrad Bién-Stephen
Where you know him: Season five of The Bachelorette.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CcFdIIal2iy/
Jessica Brody
Where you know her: Season seven of The Bachelor and season three of Bachelor In Paradise.
Billy Dib
Where you know him: Professional boxer.
Suzan Mutesi
Where you know her: Actress and influencer.
Troy Cullen
Where you know him: Seasons three, four and five of Ninja Warrior.
Sugar Neekz Johnson
Where you know her: Pro boxer.
Marley Biyendolo
Where you know him: Winner of Big Brother Australia season 13.
Megan Marx
Where you know her: Season four of The Bachelor and season one of Bachelor In Paradise.
Kiki Morris
Where you know her: Season four of The Bachelor and season four of Bachelor In Paradise.
Conor Curran
Where you know them: Season 13 of MasterChef.
Johnny Eastoe
Where you know him: Season four of Australian Survivor.
Audrey Kanongara
Where you know her: Season three of Love Island Australia.
Grant Crapp
Where you know him: Season one of Love Island Australia.
What Is The Challenge Australia About?
The Challenge kicked off in the United States in 1998 as a spinoff from MTV’s The Real World, which pitted stars from the long-running reality show against each other in daily extreme contests to avoid elimination.
This is the first time The Challenge has come over to Australia and it seems it’ll be running a similar structure to the original US version.
An algorithm will randomly pair challengers together to complete in gruelling tasks to win daily challenges and avoid getting the boot. It’s all about building alliances, bulk strategy and working with and against each other to make it to the end as the final male and female challengers.
Apparently, it’s expected (and possibly encouraged) that contestants get into some spicy, steamy business as a strategic move — hello showmances — so it looks like we’re in for a hell of a show.
Considering there are already rumours swirling about Konrad Bién-Stephen and Megan Marx meeting on The Challenge, it looks like the hook-up strat is very much in play on this new show.
Sounds like some kind of crossroads between Survivor, Love Island, Ninja Warrior and Big Brother. Colour me intrigued.
The final two contestants — one woman and one man — take home the title of Challenge Champion, pocket $100k and gain entry into the very first The Challenge: Global Championship. They’ll then represent Australia in an international version of the reality show in hopes to be crowned Challenge World Champion.
Does Anyone Hook Up On The Challenge Australia?
Daily Mail Australia reported that Konrad hooked up with fellow ex-Bachie star Megan while filming. “Oh my gosh! The drama is insane, Konrad is sleeping with Megan,” the insider said, claiming the pair “hooked up” on the first night of filming The Challenge.
“It was extremely awkward, because he was all over her the second we started filming. It was like he was trying to make Brooke [Blurton] jealous because she was there too,” the insider said. Megan’s Instagram is currently deactivated following the rumours.
The insider said there’s “a lot of drama” when it comes to people hooking up on set. “People who are in serious relationships are rooting other people in a space of two or three days,” they said. “The way they were telling us they were in love with their partners, and they can’t think of anyone else but them … it’s crazy.”
According to So Dramatic!, ex-MAFS star Ryan Gallagher and Olympic swimmer Emily Seebohm are now dating after appearing on the show together. The rumours started when the pair were spotted posting Instagram snaps from the same locations in the U.S including Nashville, Tennessee and a Dallas Cowboys NFL game earlier this month.
Apprently they were just friends while filming The Challenge Australia. “I did think they might end up together,” the source (who is a fewllow contestant) said. “But as far as I knew they were just friends. Maybe they just didn’t get a ticket back and decided to travel.”
Emily reportedly had a partner while filming the show but So Dramatic! claims it received a DM from one of Emily’s friends confirming she is now with Ryan. Given Ryan has a romance with Charlotte Crosby during I’m A Celeb!, it wouldn’t be so surprising.
Why Isn’t Jessika Power In The Cast Anymore?
Jessika shared a Daily Mail Australia article on her Instagram Story when rumours began to swirl and claimed it wasn’t true.
“I had my contracts signed, bags packed, everything ready and received a message from my manager, stating the American executives had made the creative decision to not include me in the show despite the fact that I’m good talent,” she said, according to So Dramatic!.
“I was so excited to do the show and it was only the day before that I was having Skype interviews with the director and speaking about opening outfits, filming locations and leave dates.”
Jessika said she didn’t know why the show nixed her, despite being one of the first to be cast back in January.:
“I have zero idea why they pulled me from the show,” she told So Dramatic!
“It was literally a last-minute creative decision.”
The most puzzling aspect of this is that Jessika was set to reunite with her MAFS rival Cyrell Paule which would’ve been hella spicy, so why would they pull the plug on Jess at the last minute?
A sneaky source spilled in August that it was actually too expensive to keep her on the cast because she was set to get paid double the daily rate of everyone else.
“As much as they wanted her on the show, they couldn’t afford what she was asking for anymore. It just didn’t make sense to keep her on,” the source told The Daily Mail.
Apparently, Jessika was set to pocket somewhere around $6000 a week on the show, but ultimately it was too much for the show to fork out in its inaugural season. When she found out that her pay was going to be halved, she pulled out.
Who Else Was Rumoured To Be In The Challenge Cast?
Rumoured cast members included The Bachelor franchise’s Ciarran Stott, Jessica Brody, Mary Viturino, Megan Marx, Kiki Morris and Renee Barrett.
There were also hot whispers about Love Island Australia bloke Grant Crapp, Big Brother’s Tully Smyth and Tim Dormer, I’m A Celeb star David Subritsky, and Survivor’s Brooke Jowett and Johnny Eastoe joining the cast. Nine out of 12 ain’t bad!
Where Is The Challenge Filmed?
The inaugural season was filmed in Buenos Aires, Argentina and is hosted by Australia’s first non-binary TV host Brihony Dawson.
When is The Challenge being released?
It’s set to land on Channel 10 and 10Play next month. Buckle up, bbs!
