Is ‘The Challenge: Cutthroat’ rigged? Tori Deal, Johnny Bananas address Season 42 favoritism claims
The recently concluded ‘The Challenge: Cutthroat’ ended with Team Orange winning the competition. The team, led by captain Tori Deal, also included teammates Johnny Bananas, CT, Will Gagnon, and Michelle Fitzgerald. They competed against Team Gray members Cara Maria Sorbello, Cassidy Clark, Alexis Lete, and captain Adrienne Naylor. The two-part finale unfolded over two days and a night, with Team Orange ultimately emerging victorious. However, rumors circulated that ‘The Challenge: Cutthroat’ was rigged. During an exclusive interview with Page Six, Team Orange captain Tori reflected on her team's victory as she debunked the rumors. “Rigged makes me feel like I didn’t have to actually run 27 miles. I would love it to feel like it was rigged and effortless. That was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done,” she said.
The winning team captain also said that the claims about the final race “take away from the amount of work it took to actually cross that finish line.” Some viewers questioned whether Team Orange should have received a penalty after teammate CT required medical attention during the finale. CT was later allowed to rejoin his team for the final tasks, and Team Orange did not receive a time penalty or any similar consequence. Referring to that, Tori shared, “We don’t really know those things going into the game. We did know for sure that if somebody was medically DQed, that it would not affect the team. So I think that medical evaluation period is kind of like a buffer.”
She added, “It was like the medical evaluation periods still won’t affect because if it goes into medical DQ, well then that was unfair. But if this person ends up quitting, well then now their team is tanked away and they’re gone. So I think that medical evaluation piece is what people should be looking at.”
Another Orange Team member, Johnny Bananas, in his interview with People Magazine, also shared his thoughts on the accusations. “In my opinion, a win is a win. Some wins are going to be prettier than others, but at the end of the day, when this is all written in the history books, you’re not going to look at it, ‘Oh yeah, but this, this, this, this, and this happened, and this could have been questioned.’” After winning ‘The Challenge 42’, Team Orange won a $550,000 prize pot, which Tori divided equally among her team, and took a “Captain’s Fee” of $1 from each player. To know more about the finale task and how it unfolded, fans can watch ‘The Challenge’ 42 finale on Paramount+.
