MTV‘s Nany Gonzales appeared on fellow ‘Challenge’-competitor Johnny Bananas’s podcast on Saturday to dish about “The Challenge: Vets & New Threats,” including the upcoming reunion episode, from which Nany said “Big Brother” star America Lopez was noticeably absent.
Johnny Bananas’s Podcast
Bananas, a “Challenge” veteran and seven-time champion hosts a podcast called “Death, Taxes, & Bananas.” On it, he interviews fellow “Challenge” competitors and dishes about unseen moments and cast drama.
When “The Challenge” isn’t airing new episodes, Bananas will sometimes interview other reality TV stars. For example, he recently sat down with Bravo‘s Tom Sandoval, who talked about his fellow “Vanderpump Rules” cast members and his time on Peacock’s “The Traitors.”
On the latest episode of “Death, Taxes, & Bananas,” Johnny and Nany discussed the recently filmed “Challenge” reunion episode. Although there are at least two more episodes airing before the reunion, “The Challenge” cast gathered in Amsterdam on October 8, 2025, according to a Reddit thread detailing cast Instagram posts.
America Lopez Wasn’t at the Reunion Taping
CBSAlthough Bananas and Nany said they couldn’t give any “details” about what was talked about at “The Challenge: Vets & New Threats” reunion taping, Nany did say, “Everyone spoke their peace.” Bananas then added, “There were some times security needed to be called.” Nany agreed, saying, “It got pretty heated.”
The two also announced that America was not in attendance for the taping. Sometimes cast members are not invited to the reunion, and sometimes they choose not to attend. America’s reasoning for missing the taping is unclear.
“Oddly enough, America was noticeably absent from the reunion. Maybe it’s because she didn’t have anything to address,” Bananas said on the podcast. Nany then said she was surprised America wasn’t there, which Bananas agreed with, adding he was “disappointed.”
Nany went on to say she “really liked America this season.” Although America has yet to win any daily challenges at the time of this writing, she also has not gone into elimination, allowing her to stay on the show much longer than someone like Bananas, who was sent home in episode four.
“She wasn’t like the best competitor, but like, that girl was like, she did not give up,” Nany said about America’s first “Challenge” season. “She was cool … she just didn’t annoy me,” Nany then said.
Nany went on to say she’s surprised America hasn’t been promoting “The Challenge” and “wants nothing to do with [the show]” and “said no” to filming the reunion. “I don’t think we’ve ever had a rookie say no to the reunion,” Nany mused.
We don’t yet know when “The Challenge: Vets & New Threats” reunion episode will air, but it will most likely be the week after the season’s final episode.
