After months of watching every unpredictable moment unfold on The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras, the franchise's biggest season yet officially came to an end. The two-part season finale began on Jan. 1 and concluded on Jan. 8 with the crowning of a male and female winner. There's no spoilers here on who came out victorious, but let's just say it was an exciting end to the season!
Just like in the past, once one season of The Challenge concludes on MTV, we can expect another season to arrive shortly after. However, rather than having to wait a handful of months until the next season begins, we only have to wait a couple weeks. While it's not a new season of the flagship series, The Challenge: All Stars will be back with two major changes.
First of all, for the first time in its five-season run, The Challenge: All Stars won't be streaming exclusively on Paramount+ like the past four seasons. The former streaming exclusive will now air on MTV with its new and improved season 5. In addition, it's not just your average all stars season. This time around, the 26 competitors will be paired alongside their rivals.
Find out when the new season premieres and learn who the 13 pairs are that will be competing to earn the next title of the winner of The Challenge: All Stars.
The Challenge: All Stars season 5 coming to MTV
The Challenge: All Stars: Rivals makes its premiere on MTV with the first episode on Wednesday, Jan. 29 at 8 p.m. ET. It's the first season of The Challenge: All Stars to air on MTV rather than streaming exclusively on Paramount+. It's also the first season of the spinoff to feature a wider mixture of players from multiple reality television series.
When The Challenge: All Stars was conceived, it was meant to bring back the old school era of players who originated from MTV's The Real World and Road Rules. The fourth season was the first season to break away from that casting format by including Kam Williams from Are You the One? In season 5, a vast majority of the cast are from other series, though there's plenty of RW/RR faves.
Here are the rivals pairings for The Challenge: All Stars season 5:
- Adam (Road Rules: The Quest) and Steve (Road Rules: The Quest)
- Amber (Big Brother 16) and Faysal (Big Brother 20)
- Aneesa (The Real World: Chicago) and Ashley M. (Real World: Ex-Plosion)
- Ashley K. (The Real World: San Diego 2011) and Dario (Are You the One? 2)
- Beth (The Real World: Los Angeles) and Jonna (The Real World: Cancun)
- Big T (Shipwrecked: Battle of the Islands) and Corey (12 Dates of Christmas 1)
- Da'Vonne (Big Brother 17) and Shane (Road Rules: Campus Crawl)
- Devin (Are You the One? 3) and Leroy (The Real World: Las Vegas 2011)
- Frank (The Real World: San Diego 2011) and Sam (The Real World: San Diego 2011)
- Katie (Road Rules: The Quest) and Veronica (Road Rules: Semester at Sea)
- KellyAnne (The Real World: Sydney) and Sylvia (Real World: Skeletons)
- Melissa (Ex on the Beach UK 2) and Nicole (Real World: Skeletons)
- Nany (The Real World: Las Vegas 2011) and Turbo (Survivor Turkey 8)
This season features Big Brother alums Amber, Da'Vonne, and Faysal and former contestants from Are You the One? Dario and Devin, the latter of whom just competed in The Challenge 40 but was sent home early. Plenty of the cast members in All Stars: Rivals also appeared on Battle of the Eras, but they aren't competitors who made it far into the season.
Admittedly, the cast of The Challenge: All Stars season 5 veers pretty far away from the spinoff's original mission statement to relive the glory days of the franchise and honor those who helped build it, which sort of blurs the lines between the flagship and the spinoff. But the inclusion of actual OGs like Aneesa, Adam, Katie, KellyAnne, Shane, and Beth, it's sure to still be a great season.
It's unclear when the next season of the flagship series will arrive. MTV hasn't formally announced season 41, though since it's a hit series, there's sure to already be another installment in the works. If we were to predict when to expect the next season of The Challenge, we could be looking toward new episodes sometime this fall if we're lucky. Keep your fingers crossed.
Take a first look at the All Stars 5 competitors learning about the rivals twist in the video below!
The Challenge: All Stars: Rivals premieres Wednesday, Jan. 29 at 8/7c on MTV.