‘The Challenge: USA’ Exclusive Preview: Johnny Bananas & The Red Team Struggle With Tough Mission

In this exclusive sneak peek at the Aug. 17 episode of 'The Challenge: USA,' the red team appears to have continued trouble while competing in the weekly mission.

View galleryThe cast of THE CHALLENGE: USA. Season 2 kicks off with a two-part premiere Thursday, Aug. 10 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT), and part two airs Sunday, Aug. 13 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network and streaming on Paramount+ (live and on demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the episode airs). Following the premiere on the CBS Television Network, the second season of MTV’s hit reality global franchise will air twice a week on Thursdays (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) and Sundays (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) for the first three weeks. Beginning Thursday, Aug. 31, THE CHALLENGE: USA will air Thursdays (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT). T.J. Lavin returns as host. Pictured Green Team from top row: Tyler Crispen, Michaela Bradshaw, Desi Williams, Ameerah Jones, Wes Bergmann, Monte Taylor, Amanda Garcia, and Luis Colon. Pictured Blue Team from back row: Cory Wharton, Chris Underwood, Faysal Shafaat, Alyssa Lopez, Cassidy Clark, Alyssa Snider, Tori Deal, and Sebastian Noel. Pictured Red Team from back row: Dusty Harris, Josh Martinez, Paulie Calafiore, Chanelle Howell, Jonna Mannion (Stephens), Johnny "Bananas" Devenanzio, Tiffany Mitchell, and Michele Fitzgerald. Photo by Jonne Roriz, courtesy of Paramount ©2023 Paramount, All Rights Reserved.Tori Deal will compete in the most unpredictable and demanding game of their life this summer on THE CHALLENGE: USA. Season 2 kicks off with a two-part premiere Thursday, Aug. 10 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT), and part two airs Sunday, Aug. 13 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network and streaming on Paramount+ (live and on demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the episode airs). Following the premiere on the CBS Television Network, the second season of MTV’s hit reality global franchise will air twice a week on Thursdays (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) and Sundays (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) for the first three weeks. Beginning Thursday, Aug. 31, THE CHALLENGE: USA will air Thursdays (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT). T.J. Lavin returns as host. Photo by Aaron Smith, courtesy of Paramount ©2023 Paramount, All Rights Reserved.Tyler Crispen will compete in the most unpredictable and demanding game of their life this summer on THE CHALLENGE: USA. Season 2 kicks off with a two-part premiere Thursday, Aug. 10 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT), and part two airs Sunday, Aug. 13 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network and streaming on Paramount+ (live and on demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the episode airs). Following the premiere on the CBS Television Network, the second season of MTV’s hit reality global franchise will air twice a week on Thursdays (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) and Sundays (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) for the first three weeks. Beginning Thursday, Aug. 31, THE CHALLENGE: USA will air Thursdays (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT). T.J. Lavin returns as host. Photo by Aaron Smith, courtesy of Paramount ©2023 Paramount, All Rights Reserved.

After losing the first two challenges on season 2 of The Challenge: USA, the red team is hoping for a victory episode three, which airs on Aug. 17. However, in this EXCLUSIVE sneak peek at the episode, it doesn’t look like they’re any closer to getting it together. Ahead of the challenge, Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio tries to hype his teammates up for a victory. “The key to this is going to be teamwork and attention to detail!” he tells them.

Unfortunately, as soon as things get underway, Tiffany Mitchell begins to have trouble in the water. “I cannot swim in this water,” she admits in a confessional. “Y’all are going to have to help me. This is a memory challenge, an endurance challenge and swimming all combined…which is everything I hate.” Paulie Calafiore and Josh Martinez stay back to help Tiffany, which slows things down a bit for the team.

the challenge USA red team
The red team ahead of the challenge in episode 3. (CBS)

Meanwhile, Johnny is the first to arrive at the boat that’s floating in the middle of the water. As fellow teammate Michele Fitzgerald explains, “there are a lot of moving parts” in this mission. The players have to swim out to buoys one by one to retrieve flags (20 in total). Meanwhile, the rest of the team is at the boat, trying to capsize it in order to look at the answer key underneath. The answer key will show where the flags have to be placed on the mast.

“Wow, that is a lot harder than it looks,” a blue team competitor says from the sidelines, while awaiting their team’s turn. The clip ends with Dusty Harris swimming out to the first flag while the rest of the team works on flipping the boat over, without much luck.

Things have already been quite disastrous for the red team this season. In the very first elimination, they showed their “red flags” when Jonna Mannion voted for one of her own teammates, Michele, to go into elimination. Michele wound up winning, and when she was given the option of what team she wanted to come back to, she stuck with red, despite her uneasiness. However, at the second elimination, Jonna also received votes from her own team members (Michele and Chanelle Howell). She lost and was eliminated.

The Challenge: USA currently airs on Thursdays at 10:00 p.m and Sundays at 9:00 p.m. on CBS.

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