After a ceasefire that lasted for several The Challenge seasons, Wes Bergmann has declared that he and Johnny Bananas are no longer friends. The two began an iconic rivalry back in 2009, when they were both featured on The Challenge: The Ruins. Wes found Johnny untrustworthy after he chose other allies to prioritize. Johnny found Wes similarly deceptive due to his cunning social game. After several years of constantly targeting each other, the two iconic players decided to join forces on The Challenge: Total Madness, and Wes and Johnny’s friendship was born.
Wes and Johnny have returned for The Challenge: World Championship, but it’s uncertain whether the two will maintain a ceasefire, following nearly a decade of contempt for each other. Wes is partnered with UK competitor Zara Zoffany, while Johnny is on the USA team, alongside Justine Ndiba. Although they’re technically on different teams, The Challenge: World Championship cast has already created alliances that span across the global unions. This means that Johnny and Wes entered the game in the perfect position to keep playing as allies, especially considering their combined strength.
Now, Wes has spoken out online, following the episode’s Paramount Plus premiere, saying that Johnny is, “dead to him.” This is because the legend accused Wes of being deceptive. It’s also due to Wes’ belief that Johnny used him for his physical strength in the past. Wes posted a thread to Twitter, summing up his thoughts on a scene from an episode. During that onscreen moment, Johnny told fellow competitor Kaycee Clark that Wes is playing too hard, and using the same dishonest tricks as always. To dispel the common argument against him, Wes simply said, “Am I talking game or playing “hard”? NO.”
The Challenge’s Wes Thinks Johnny Is Spreading Lies About Him
Wes also posted to his Instagram story, and that content was captured and put on Reddit by user, u/NattyB. The post read, “I was being used on Total Madness cus I was winning all the dailies. The guy is dead to me.” It seems like a rather abrupt ending to the alliance, which was built up during Total Madness, but Wes, a 3-time The Challenge winner, takes the game extremely seriously. If he feels that his hard-earned weekly challenge wins are being used for Johnny’s own benefit, it’s understandable that Wes would break the alliance. Not to mention the fact that Johnny came away victorious on Total Madness, while Wes left mid-game.
The biggest reason for Wes’ anger toward Johnny seems to be his conversation with Kaycee, wherein Johnny reinforced the long-time belief that Wes can’t be trusted in the game. On Twitter, Wes said, “The king of spreading ‘Wes is playing too hard’ propaganda was back at it again this episode. Ladies and gentlemen, the inventor of the genre – Johnny Bananas.” After several seasons of being known solely as a manipulative player who immediately starts out every season with a master plan, it’s easy to see why Wes would feel betrayed by his close friend reinforcing the idea.
Although Wes’ comments about Johnny could be nothing more than staged drama for the show’s entertainment factor, there does appear to be some sincerity behind Wes’ frustration over Johnny calling him deceptive. As The Challenge: World Championship unfolds, it’ll be interesting to see if either Wes or Johnny decide to declare war, by making a big move against each other.
Sources: Wes Bergmann/Twitter, u/NattyB/Reddit, Wes Bergmann/Instagram
The Challenge: World Championship streams Wednesdays on Paramount Plus.
