‘The Challenge’: Johnny ‘Bananas’ Devenanzio Said He Never Really Wanted to Be Wes Bergmann’s Friend
There are plenty of rivalries that have developed on The Challenge over the years. And one of the most infamous is between Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio and Wes Bergmann.
Devenanzio and Bergmann have competed on the show together for over a decade, and they’ve always fought against each other to get to the top. On Total Madness, though, we saw them work together. While Bergmann is officially out of the game after losing against Devenanzio in an elimination round, they remain friends.
While Devenanzio and Bergmann are on good terms, Devenanzio told the Challenge Mania podcast he never actually had any desire to spark this friendship. Here’s what he said.
Johnny ‘Bananas’ Devenanzio and Wes Bergmann worked together on ‘The Challenge: Total Madness’
Devenanzio and Bergmann are two major heavy hitters on The Challenge. They’re known for each having multiple wins and finale runs over the years, and they both have their own unique strategies for getting to the end. But they knew the rookies and younger veteran players were skating by as they went at each other season after season. For that reason, they teamed up for the first time on Total Madness.
“I think Wes and I both knew that us putting our beef aside and working together was probably the smartest thing for our games,” Devenanzio told People. “However, we both have been, I think, burdened with unusually large egos. And putting our egos aside and trusting the other one was very difficult. On The Challenge, trust is d*mn near impossible.”
The two are now friends after the show
Devenanzio and Bergmann kept up their alliance through the season, but eventually, they went head to head in an elimination. While Bergmann won three separate challenges on the show and found himself with plenty of power in the house, he knew time was limited in getting a coveted red skull. And the only way to get a red skull, aka a ticket to the final, is to compete — and win — an elimination round. This eventually led him to go against his No. 1 ally.
While Bergmann lost the fight, his friendship with Devenanzio remains strong after the show.
“I’d like to formally congratulate Bananas on his win, and a very deserved red skull. He’s always been jealous of my red skull, and now has his own,” Bergmann wrote on Instagram after losing. “It was a sh*t load of fun working with him this season. I hope that no one, especially him, interprets my move as anything other than both of us knowing it was time to go in.”
Devenanzio said he never actually wanted to be friends with Bergmann prior to the season
Devenanzio recently went on the Challenge Mania podcast to talk about his relationship with Bergmann. And he told the hosts that prior to Total Madness, Bergmann wanted to be his friend — but he had no real interest in being friends with Bergmann.
Devenanzio explained that he and Bergmann went on the Maury Show before the season started, and they took a lie detector test. “The one question was, do you, in real life, want to be friends with Wes? And I said no, and I was being honest,” Devenanzio stated. “But then when Maury asked Wes, do you, in real life, want to be friends with Bananas, he said no, and he was lying. So he actually did.”
“So I think all this time, and all these years, and everything that’s been said, I think at the end of the day, Wes Bergmann just wanted to be my friend,” Devenanzio added. “And I think coming into this season and me really laying it on the line and being like, ‘Wes, you have my heart and you have my trust,’ I think that that’s, deep down, what he always wanted.”
While Devenanzio didn’t necessarily have a desire to be Bergmann’s friend, he admits that they had a ton of fun together and they worked quite well as a team. Perhaps we’ll see them return as a duo once again on future seasons.
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