“I just felt like it was ours to lose, and we did.”
Warning: This article contains spoilers for the finale ofThe Challenge: Ride or Dies.
Johnny “Bananas” Devenanziocame close to making history again with an unprecedented eighth win onThe Challenge.
‘The Challenge: Ride or Dies’.MTV
I just felt like it was ours to lose, and we did.
Below, Devenanzio breaks down what went wrong at the end of that 100-hour final and more.
What was it about this loss that hit you harder than normal?
‘The Challenge: Ride or Dies’.MTV
A lot of that wasn’t even necessarily for me losing I felt like I had lost for Nany.
So what happened in that moment for you?
Because one tiny mistake was unfixable.
‘The Challenge: Ride or Dies’.MTV
That would’ve taken another two hours, and it would’ve just been pointless.
Watching Nany in that moment have to come to terms with the reality was just a really difficult thing.
I also thought it was pretty weird that when we were there, there was no timeout option.
‘The Challenge: Ride or Dies’.MTV
I think that would have been better.
Probably not, still, but it would’ve been better for the show at least.
[Laughs] It was a free shot unless you’re Nany.
Could have used a little bit bigger of a ring, though.
I’m just happy we won, I’m not going to lie.
That was really was difficult to watch.
And this is after a very frustrating day.
So, kids out there who are future Challengers, the devil is always in the details.
It’s not the obvious thing where you lose.
Cool, we got that.
It’s the easy part where you put the ball in the basket.
That’s the same thing with the puzzle: You accidentally miss one and you’re dead.
How bad was Nany’s injury during the final?
When did she hurt her knee, and how badly did that slow you both down?
I don’t know exactly when she injured it.
At that point everybody was the walking dead, man.
Everybody was really battered and bruised at that point.
Looking back now, how did you feel about your overall performance in the final?
Were you surprised by Tori and Devin’s performance, how they won every checkpoint except one?
And day 2, there was a lot more that took place that wasn’t shown.
Once they had a lead, it was really difficult to make up that amount of time.
But no, I’m not surprised.
They had a great season and they weren’t in the final by accident.
That’s why this season I found that motivation in trying to win for Nany.
It’s pretty amazing.
They didn’t have to do that.
I thought it was very selfless and very nice.
You’re going to have to keep on upstaging the team that did it before.
What’s the next step?
“I’m just going to donate all of my winnings to the second-place team?”
[Laughs] But it was really cool in that moment.
After this season, what does your future on theChallengeflagship look like?
“I’ll be back,” in an Arnold Schwarzenegger voice.
Yeah, I’ll definitely be back.
And that’s what I’ll replay in my head over and over and over again.
But this was a therapeutic experience, so thanks for helping me talk through this.
