‘The Challenge’ Season 38 Champ Tori Deal Fires Back at Claims She and Devin Walker ‘Cheated’

The season 38 finale of The Challenge showcased Tori Deal and Devin Walker’s impressive skills and dedication as they dominated the game with their strategic moves and unwavering commitment. 

Despite having to face Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio and Nany González in the final, the “Ride or Dies” emerged victorious after beating out other strong teams such as Jordan Wiseley, Aneesa Ferreira, Horacio Gutiérrez, and Olivia Kaiser.

But their win wasn’t without a bit of controversy. After Tori and Devin emerged victorious, Johnny Bananas claimed that the pair cheated early in the finale. 

Johnny Bananas says Tori Deal and Devin Walker cheated during ‘The Challenge’ finale

The beginning of The Challenge’s final test involved each team landing 10 bolas with an opportunity to sabotage other teams by making them drink a revolting smoothie. Tori and Devin took the lead, swiftly sabotaging Johnny and Nany with the nauseating beverage. 

The sneaky move didn’t go unnoticed as Johnny and Nany hit back by targeting Olivia and Horacio. In the end, Aneesa and Jordan managed to avoid any significant sabotage and emerged relatively unscathed from the checkpoint.

On his podcast, Death, Taxes, and Bananas, Johnny claimed that Tori and Devin were giving other teams smoothies that they were supposed to drink.

“Tori and Devin, the reason that they were in the position they were in, is because they didn’t follow the rules with the drinking on the bolas,” Johnny explained. “They were taking everyone’s cups and putting them, so all that they had at the end was their own. … They should’ve had to come back and do it, but whatever. Water under the bridge.”

Tori Deal hits back about all of those cheating claims

Following Johnny’s claims, Tori fired back about the controversy on Instagram. 

The reality star did not deny that what she did was outside of the rules for the challenge. She did, however, put all of the blame on the production team for not explaining the rules to everyone before the challenge started. 

“That was productions fault. They gave us the green light to go without fully explaining the rules,” she shared. “Then production pulled us over during the tire checkpoint and gave Devin two more glasses to drink…so that wasn’t our fault.”

If what Tori says is true, then it sounds like the production team is to blame for Tori and Devin not following the rules. Either way, the two still put on an amazing display of teamwork during the finale and earned the top prize this season. 

‘The Challenge’ producer Emer Harkin opens up about the season 38 finale

Cheating or not, there is no denying that Tori and Devin gave their all to come out victorious in season 38 of The Challenge. Despite some stiff competition, the two were able to overcome everything the show threw at them without losing their composure. 

Producer Emer Harkin opened up about why Tori and Devin were able to come out on top. As previously reported by Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Harkin revealed that the main reason Tori and Devin won was because they were able to keep their cool. 

“Tori and Devin just sort of have quite a measured disposition,” Harken stated. “They generally don’t go too high or too low, whereas Bananas or Nany … you know, my highs are high, my lows are low, and I think you really see that with Bananas or Nany.”

Harkin also pointed out that Tori and Devin share the most similarities among all the pairs that competed in the final. This quality came in handy as they were able to maintain their composure in the face of stress.

The Challenge: Ride or Dies reunion part 1 airs Wednesday, Feb. 22, on MTV.