What a Battle of the Exes III Could Look like and Four Other Themes I want to see for The Challenge 38 and Beyond

9 min readDec 11, 2021

Spies, Lies and Allies is wrapping up and allegedly the calls for The Challenge 38 are going out. Rumors are swirling around about potential themes including a long-awaited Battle of the Exes 3. The show recently tweeted about it and the Challengers themselves have been weighing in with Fessy bringing up his multitude of options for partners and Amanda hyping up that she and Joss would be ready to go. While that is certainly a theme I would be really excited to see, there are also a number of other themes I have either seen other fans suggest or that I have devised myself that I think would be a great choice for The Challenge 38.

First of All,

Battle of the Exes 3:

The Format: The Exes compete in pairs last place goes automatically in the elimination first place wins the power to throw the second team in elimination.

Have they done it before?

Yes, both seasons of Battle of the Exes were really popular with the fans, they tend to bring a lot of drama and it is a proven format that we know works.

Will the theme affect casting?

Yes, not everyone has an available Ex from Reality TV so it does remove some notable people from the casting pool. Kaycee (no complaint from me) whose only major option for an ex, Tayler, has not been on any reality tv. Emy is out unless she has an Ex from survivor, and Jenny West (who I really want to see back) is also out. There are several others.

What a mock cast could look like…

Nicole Z & Laurel

Marlon & Derek C

Kam & Theo

Jay & Morgan Willet

Amanda & Joss

Nelson & Ashley

Amber B & Jeremiah

Kyle & CaraMaria

Natalie Negrotti & Bananas

Fessy & Gabby

Paulie & Danielle Maltby (Rookie- Bachelor & Bachelor in Paradise)

Michelle & Emanuel

Francesca Fargo & Harry Jowsey (Rookies-Too Hot to Handle)

Jamar (Rookie Big Brother Canada 8) & Da’Vonne Rogers

Chloe Veitch (Rookie-Too Hot to Handle Season 1 & The Circle season 2) & Mitch Eason (Rookie-The Circle Season 2)

Joey Saaso & Randi (Rookies-The Circle)

Derek X & Hannah Chaddha (Rookies-Big Brother 23)

Alyssa & Christian (Rookies-Big Brother 23)

Josh & Esther (alternates)

Devin & Marie (alternates)

Tori & Ed (or Kelz or Emanuel) (alternates)

Kai & Calvin (Rookies- The Circle Season 3) (alternates)

Rivals IV:

Rivals is another popular format that The Challenge has not done in a while that has a lot of the same positives as Exes. New rivalries seemingly happen every season, and forcing people to work with people they don’t like is great for drama as well.

The Format:

I was personally not a huge fan of the mixed-gender teams on Rivals III or Final Reckoning so I think the best move is to go back to how they did it for Rivals II. I liked how winning the daily won safety and losing it put your team right in the elimination. I also like having the opposite gender pairs voting for which team goes in. The only change I would make is upping it from 8 teams of each gender to 9 to reflect how casts have become larger and seasons have gotten longer.

Have they done it before?

Yes, Rivals was a revolutionary format for The Challenge and it would be a great return to it.

Will the theme affect casting??

A little, but the show mechanically having people vote each other in, having people go against each other in eliminations, and living together naturally leads to rivalries developing. There is plenty of drama and fighting about the game, hookups, and even something as dumb as pizza.

What a mock cast could look like:

Men

Turbo & Jordan

Bananas & Devin

Theo & Paulie

Jay & CT

Kyle & Joss

Josh & Mark Jansen (Rookie- Big Brother 19)

Jedson & Tychon (Rookies- Big Brother Canada 9)

Rookies Matthew & Calvin (The Circle Season 3)

Xavier & Kyland (Rookies- Big Brother 23)

Hughie & Corey (alternates)

Kelz & Harry Jowsey (Rookie- Too Hot to Handle) (alternates)

Women:

CaraMaria & Georgia

Theresa & Nany

Tori & Amanda

Amber & Esther

Kam & Melissa

Britini & Marie

Savannah & Terilisha (Rookies-The Circle Season 2)

Brooke & Flick (Rookies- Australian Survivor 2016 & Australian Survivor: All Stars)

Victoria & Latoya (Rookies- Brother Canada 9)

Michaela & Michelle (alternates)

Ashley & Berna (alternates)

The Inferno 4:

This is really going back to one of the original formats of The Challenge. I think that if there are changes made to the format it could be an awesome throwback to see another “Good Guys” vs “Bad Asses” season.

The Format:

Often times the problems with team seasons are that contestants are able to skate by without physically performing. However, with the format allowing the winning team to choose the elimination match up it makes it so players need to be politically good with players on both teams. Finally, it would help for them to add purges for both teams. One, in the beginning, to force players to earn a spot on their team and a final purge down to four players for each team. It would also force players to physically prove themselves worthy of the final.

Have they done it before?

Yes, but it has been nearly fifteen years and it would need to be overhauled for the modern Challenge.

Will the theme affect casting?

Not really! It’s pretty easy to put people on the show into categories of Good Guys & Bad Asses

What a Mock Cast could look like:

Bad Asses

Men:

Emanuel

Kyle

Corey

Kelz

Paulie

Wes

Mitchell (Rookie- The Circle Season 2)

Xander (Rookie- Survivor 41)

Jamar (Rookie- Big Brother Canada 8)

Women:

Emy

Natalie Anderson

Amanda

Ashley

CaraMaria

Laurel

Missy Byrd (Rookie- Survivor: Island of the Idols)

Victoria (Rookie- Big Brother Canada 9)

Deleesa St Agathe (Rookie- The Circle Season 2)

Good Guys:

Nelson

Nam

Jay

Ash

Marlon

Turbo

Christian (Rookie- Big Brother 23)

Dean (Rookie- Survivor Island of the Idols)

Women:

Priscilla

Gabby

Amber

Avery

Jenny

Hannah Chaddha (Rookie- Big Brother 23)

Liana Wallace (Rookie- Survivor 41)

Khat Bell (Rookie- The Circle Season 2)

Chloe Veitch (Rookie- Too Hot to Handle & The Circle Season 2)

Battle of the Shows:

This is one theme that there has been getting a lot of buzz from the fan community since The Challenge began casting from many different shows.

The Format:

I see this working similar to how they did Battle of the Seasons but with using teams of 6 instead of 4. The team that loses has two players go directly into the elimination and the winning team chooses which team goes against them. The draw is used to decide which players from each team go in. Individual eliminations with men vs men and women vs women.

Have they done it before?

Not exactly, but it is similar to Battle of the Seasons (2012)

Will the theme affect casting?

Yes, it’s more difficult to get all the people from one show. Some people like Kyle, CaraMaria, or Darrell would be difficult to fill out a team for since Kyle is the only person from Geordie Shore and there are much fewer people from the Road Rules and Fresh Meat 1 & 2 eras on The Challenge anymore.

What a Mock Cast could look like:

Team Real World:

Ashley

Kailah

Nicole Z

Tony

Wes

Frank

Zach(alternate)

Nany(alternate)

Team Big Brother:

Amber

Da’Vonne

Hannah Chaddha (Rookie-Big Brother 23)

Paulie

Fessy

Jamar (Rookie- Big Brother Canada 8)

Xavier (alternate Rookie-Big Brother 23)

Esther (alternate)

Team Survivor:

Emy

Michaela

Liana (Rookie-Survivor 41)

Turbo

Jay

Danny McCray (Rookie- Survivor 41

Michelle (alternate)

Logan (alternate)

Team Are You the One?:

Amanda

Kam

Tori

Devin

Hunter

Nelson

Britini (alternate)

Dario (alternate)

Team Ex on the Beach:

Melissa

Georgia Harrison

Georgia Steel (Rookie-Ex on the Beach: Peak of Love)

Joss

Ashley Cain

Sam Bird (Rookie-Ex on the Beach: Peak of Love)

JP Andrade (alternate)

Zahida (alternate)

Team “Netflix”

Kelz

Harry Jowsey (Rookie-Too Hot to Handle)

Khat Bell (Rookie- The Circle Season 2)

Angelica Melo (Rookie-Ultimate Beastmaster Season 1)

Keisha “Kai” Ghost (Rookie-The Circle Season 3)

Francesca Fargo (alternate: Rookie- Too Hot to Handle)

Nam Vo (alternate)

“RePaired”:

I was inspired to create this idea when Ashley & Cory ended up getting together on Double Agents, reuniting after they were together as partners on Rivals III. I thought it could be a good idea to pair together contestants who were either in a significant alliance together on a team/tribe or paired in the past.

Have they done it before?

No, this is one of my original ideas for a format.

Will the theme affect casting?

Yes. But they play in pairs often so it’s not too difficult just ensuring that specific people can pair together.

What a Mock Cast could look like:

Nelson & Amanda