The Challenge: Vets & New Threats

Vets & New Threats
Season 41
Presented by	T. J. Lavin
No. of contestants	32
Location	Santiago, Chile
No. of episodes	4
Release
Original network	MTV
Original release	July 30, 2025 (2025-07-30) – present
Season chronology

The Challenge: Vets & New Threats is the forty-first season of the MTV reality competition series The Challenge,^[1] featuring alumni from The Real World, Road Rules, The Challenge, Are You the One?, Big Brother (Australia and U.S.), Survivor (Turkey and U.S.), WWE, Love Island (UK and U.S.), Too Hot to Handle, Cheer, Married at First Sight (UK), Canada's Ultimate Challenge, and boxing competing for a monetary prize.^[2] A launch special titled "Day Zero" aired on July 23, 2025, followed by the season premiere on July 30, 2025.^[3][4]

Vets & New Threats features 16 "Vets" who have previously competed on The Challenge, and 16 "New Threats" making their debut on the series. The season has contestants competing in challenges as male-female pairs, each comprising one Vet and one New Threat (unless otherwise impossible due to uneven numbers). The initial pairs were determined by a draft after a special challenge during the "Day Zero" launch special.^[5]

Each episode is designated as either a male or female elimination cycle, with the first cycle determined by a coin toss. The format is as follows:

• Daily challenges: Contestants compete in a challenge as male-female pairs. The winning team is immune and receives the power to either save another team from the elimination round (if gender numbers are even) or nominate a team to potentially compete in the elimination round (if gender numbers are uneven). The last-place team is automatically sent to the elimination round, where the team member of the designated gender will compete.
• Nominations: Teams who did not place first or last in the daily challenge (collectively the "Jury") vote for a contestant of the designated gender to compete in the elimination round against the same-gender contestant from the last-place team.
  • For episodes where gender numbers are even, all non-immune contestants are eligible to be voted for.
  • For episodes where gender numbers are uneven, and as a result there is a Hangnail, the Jury vote between the Hangnail and the same-gender contestant from the team nominated by the daily challenge winners.
• Eliminations (The Arena): The contestant voted in by the Jury individually competes in an elimination round against the same-gender contestant from the last-place team. The winner remains in the competition while the defeated contestant is eliminated. Afterwards, new pairs are determined for the next cycle of the competition.

Twists

• The Selection: During the launch special, contestants had to race up and down a mountain to reach the cast accommodation for the season. Their placements determined the order they got to draft their initial partner ahead of the first daily challenge. After each elimination, contestants select a new partner for the next cycle in the order they placed in the daily challenge.
• Performance Points: Contestants earn points based on their placements during daily challenges. Two points are also awarded to the winner of each elimination round. The significance of these points will be revealed later in the season.
• Hangnails: A contestant whose partner was eliminated, and as a result there are uneven gender numbers for the next episode, is considered a "Hangnail". The Hangnail is not paired up for the next episode, does not compete in the daily challenge and automatically becomes the nominee for the Jury vote against the same-gender contestant nominated by the daily challenge winners.

• Mud Ball Madness: Twice during the challenge, a helicopter drops hundreds of colored balls into a mud pit. With both team members tethered together, teams must retrieve as many balls as they can and place them in their container outside the pit to score points. Different colored balls are worth different point values. The team that scores the most points wins while the team that scores the fewest points is automatically sent to the Arena.^[7]
  • Winners: Bananas & Dee
• Side by Side: Teams enter a giant pit which has side-by-side vehicles repeatedly speeding over the gap above. They must memorize a series of colored symbols located on the underside of the vehicles, which is only visible while the vehicles are mid-air, and replicate it using pieces at their station outside the pit. The first team to finish wins while the last-place team is automatically sent to the Arena.^[8]
  • Winners: Leka & Turbo
• Water Tower: One team member swims to a platform where they must solve a slide puzzle. Meanwhile, their partner must swim to a tall container with climbing holds on the outside, climb up to retrieve a flag, jump into the container and dive out the bottom before bringing the flag to the slide puzzle. Teams are disqualified from the challenge if the team member at the container falls off, or is unable to dive out. The team with the fastest time wins while the last-place team is automatically sent to the Arena.^[a]
  • Winners: Justin & Olivia
• Amazed: Held across two heats, teams must search a shipping container maze for a Sudoku puzzle, solve it, and return to the entrance. The further in a puzzle is, the easier it is to solve, and there is a 45-minute limit before teams time-out. The team with the fastest time wins while the last-place team is automatically sent to the Arena. If multiple teams time-out, last-place is determined by how many correct numbers teams placed on their Sudoku board.
  • Winners: Ben & Michaela

• Inertia: Each contestant begins inside a giant wheel at the start of a track containing several humps. They must generate momentum to roll the wheel over the humps to reach the end of the track before returning to the start. The first contestant to finish wins.^[9]
  • Played by: Justin vs. Rogan
• Laser Focus: Played across three rounds, each round contestants play "offense" and "defense" once. Ten laser beams consecutively light up for a limited time within a circle. The offense contestant attempts to touch each beam before it turns off to earn a point, while the defense contestant attempts to block them. The contestant who scores the most points during their turn as offense wins the round. The first contestant to win two rounds wins the elimination.^[8]
  • Played by: Blue vs. Tay
• Hold 'Em Back: Contestants play as "offense" and "defense" once. The offense contestant must clip themself to a rope, collect a token and deposit it into a container near the boundary of the Arena, repeating this process for three ropes. Meanwhile, the defense player is located behind a wall with the ends of each rope, and attempt to pull the ropes back to prevent their opponent from depositing the tokens. The contestant who deposits all three tokens the fastest during their turn as offense wins.
  • Played by: Bananas vs. Gabe

Color key

  The contestant won the daily challenge and was immune from elimination

  The contestant was saved from the Arena by the daily challenge winners

  The contestant was not selected for the Arena

  The contestant's partner was selected for the Arena

  The contestant was a Hangnail or by the winning team to be potentially voted in, but was not selected for the Arena

  The contestant was nominated for the Arena, but did not have to compete

  The contestant won the elimination in the Arena

  The contestant lost in the Arena and was eliminated

  The contestant was medically removed from the competition

Bold indicates the winning team's vote

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