“The Challenge” legend Johnny Bananas recently took to his podcast, “Death, Taxes, and Bananas,” to reveal that he was almost cast on “The Traitors” season four, and explain why he didn’t ultimately make the cut.
Why Johnny Bananas Wasn’t Cast on ‘The Traitors’
Bananas is an MTV staple, having won the most finals in “The Challenge” history. Therefore, he seems like an obvious choice to play on a strategy-intensive, reality-star-filled show like “The Traitors.” Additionally, other “Challenge” champions have previously competed on “The Traitors,” sometimes with notable success. While Wes Bergmann was banished during the sixth episode of season three, CT Tamburello and Trishelle Cannatella won season two.
Unfortunately, Bananas’s strategic ability may be the reason he wasn’t cast on “The Traitors” season four. As he told Carolyn Wiger on the January 14, 2026 episode of his podcast, “I was potentially on the short-list to have been on this season, but I was told last-minute that they did a creative change and they were going to have less gamers on this season. And that actually seems to be true.”
Bananas then went on to list the members of “The Traitors” season four cast whom he believes to be gamers. He mentioned Ian Terry from “Big Brother,” Natalie Anderson from “The Amazing Race,” Rob Cesternino from “Survivor,” Tiffany Mitchell from “Big Brother,” and Yam Yam from “Survivor.” The rest of the cast, to Bananas’s point, are from TV shows that lack a social strategy element, such as “The Real Housewives of New York City,” or are famous for reasons other than reality TV.
Of course, just because Bananas was left off “The Traitors” season four cast list doesn’t mean we won’t see him in the Scottish castle in the future.
Johnny Bananas’s Reality TV Career
GettyBananas may be best known for his MTV career, but fans have been able to watch him on multiple shows throughout the years. From 2018 to 2023, Bananas hosted NBC’s weekly travel and lifestyle show, “1st Look.” During his run on the show, he traveled around the United States and participated in activities including whitewater rafting, MMA fighting, ballroom dancing, and more.
In 2019, Bananas was the runner-up on “Worst Cooks in America” season 19, ultimately losing to the “Bachelor in Paradise” bartender, Wells Adams. He was also the runner-up on E!’s reality competition show, “House of Villains” season two. Unfortunately, he lost to “Bad Girls Club’s” Tanisha Thomas.
Bananas has made no indication that he plans to retire from “The Challenge,” so he’ll likely grace our TV screens for many years to come.
