The Challenge: Free Agents

Free Agents is the 25th season of The Challenge. This season features alumni from The Real World and The Challenge competing against each other for a share of $350,000. This season was filmed in Uruguay and Chile for the Final Challenge. It premiered on April 10th, 2014, and concluded with the reunion special on June 26th, 2014.

Description[]

Twenty-eight money-hungry competitors arrive in Punta del Este, Uruguay, expecting to be teamed up with an ex, an enemy, or even a weak rookie. Little do they know, this is an individual game, and they’ll be answering to no one but themselves in the most unpredictable Challenge ever.

The 25th season, Free Agents, forces players to compete on their own in a battle of perseverance and luck. The players will have no idea if they’ll be competing in teams, pairs or as individuals until moments before each challenge begins. Winners are not only safe from elimination, but also have the power to choose one guy and one girl to send in. The losers from that day’s challenge must take part in the game’s biggest elimination twist yet, “The Draw”, where one guy and one girl are selected by pure chance to face the two nominated players in the elimination round. With competitors’ fates being determined by a flip of a card, no amount of strategy can protect them.

A grand total of $350,000 is up for grabs, and with so much money on the line, these already blood-thirsty competitors turn vicious. Heated rivalries will take shape, bitter enemies will clash, and heart-tugging relationships will form. Only the lucky few will face the epic final challenge that starts in dangerous rapids and ends at the top of an active volcano. In the end, this season will find the most worthy challenger yet, the ultimate FREE AGENT.

Format[]

Prior to each challenge, players are informed whether a challenge will be declared as either an individual, pair, or team challenge. For pair and team challenges, T.J. draws names out of a bag — one of each gender, or more for multi-team or pair challenges — that will be designated as captains. For team challenges, the captains will select players that will be split evenly amongst gender. For pair challenges, the captains will either select players of the opposite gender for challenges that are designated as male/female pairs, or the same gender for challenges that are designated as same-gender pairs.

After each challenge, the winning teams/pairs/players are not only safe from elimination but will also choose one player of each gender to compete in the elimination round. If a challenge is played in a team or pair format, each member of the winning pair/team is safe from elimination. The remaining players will participate in an elimination vote called "The Draw," in which each player will either flip over a "kill card," which has a skeleton symbol, or a blank card. If a player flips over a blank card, that player saves himself/herself from participating in the elimination, however, if a player flips over the "kill card," that player will face the player of the respective gender that was previously voted by the winning team/pair/individual in the elimination. The winning players of each gender return to the game and have a shot at competing for a $350,000 prize, while the losing male and female players are eliminated from the game.

At the end of the season, six players will compete in the final challenge — three of each gender.

Money for finalists is split as follows:

First Place: $125,000 each
Second Place: $35,000 each
Third Place: $15,000 each

Contestants[]

Male contestants
Contestant		Finish
	Johnny Bananas The Real World: Key West	Winner in A Walk in the Clouds
	Johnny Reilly The Real World: Portland	Runner-Up in A Walk in the Clouds
	Zach Nichols The Real World: San Diego (2011)	Third Place in A Walk in the Clouds
	CT Tamburello The Real World: Paris	Eliminated in The $350,000 Pyramid
	Leroy Garrett The Real World: Las Vegas (2011)	Eliminated in The $350,000 Pyramid
	Cohutta Grindstaff The Real World: Sydney	Eliminated in Best Friends for Never
	Preston Roberson-Charles The Real World: New Orleans (2010)	Eliminated in Strike a Pose, There's Something to It
	Jordan Wiseley The Real World: Portland	Eliminated in Pride Before the Wall
	Brandon Swift The Real World: St. Thomas	Eliminated in Not So Trivial Pursuits
	Isaac Stout The Real World: Sydney	Eliminated in Stripes
	Brandon Nelson Fresh Meat II	Eliminated in Inadequate
	Frank Sweeney The Real World: San Diego (2011)	Medically Disqualified in You Be Illin'
	Dustin Zito The Real World: Las Vegas (2011)	Eliminated in Love in the Fast Lane
	Chet Cannon The Real World: Brooklyn	Quit in Live Free or Die

Female contestants
Contestant		Finish
	Laurel Stucky Fresh Meat II	Winner in A Walk in the Clouds
	Nany González The Real World: Las Vegas (2011)	Runner-Up in A Walk in the Clouds
	Devyn Simone The Real World: Brooklyn	Third Place in A Walk in the Clouds
	Theresa Gonzalez Fresh Meat II	Eliminated in The $350,000 Pyramid
	Cara Maria Sorbello Fresh Meat II	Eliminated in The $350,000 Pyramid
	Jessica McCain The Real World: Portland	Eliminated in Best Friends for Never
	Aneesa Ferreira The Real World: Chicago	Eliminated in Strike a Pose, There's Something to It
	Jonna Mannion The Real World: Cancun	Eliminated in Pride Before the Wall
	Camila Nakagawa Spring Break Challenge	Eliminated in Not So Trivial Pursuits
	Jasmine Reynaud The Real World: Cancun	Eliminated in Stripes
	LaToya Jackson The Real World: St. Thomas	Eliminated in Inadequate
	Nia Moore The Real World: Portland	Eliminated in You Be Illin'
	Emilee Fitzpatrick The Real World: Cancun	Eliminated in Love in the Fast Lane
	Jemmye Carroll The Real World: New Orleans (2010)	Eliminated in Live Free or Die

Game Summary[]

Episode		Winners	Elimination contestants		Elimination game	Elimination outcome
#	Challenge	Winners	Voted In	Draw pick	Elimination game	Winner	Loser
1	Out on a Ledge	Team Black	Chet	Frank	Balls In	Frank	Chet^[1]
1	Out on a Ledge	Team Black	LaToya	Jemmye	Balls In	LaToya	Jemmye
2	Auto Body Rally	Cohutta & Laurel	Jonna	Emilee	Wrecking Wall	Jonna	Emilee
2	Auto Body Rally	Cohutta & Laurel	Dustin	Frank	Wrecking Wall	Frank	Dustin
3^[2]	Bar Crawl	Team Brandon	Johnny	N/A	Looper	N/A^[3]
3^[2]	Bar Crawl	Team Brandon	Nia	Cara Maria	Looper	Cara Maria	Nia
4	Bounce Out	Team Red	LaToya	Cara Maria	Oppenheimer	Cara Maria	LaToya
4	Bounce Out	Team Red	Brandon	Zach	Oppenheimer	Zach	Brandon
5	Piggy Back	Team Purple^[4]	Laurel	Jasmine	Balls In	Laurel	Jasmine
5	Piggy Back	Team Purple^[4]	Bananas	Isaac	Balls In	Bananas	Isaac
6	Smarty Pants	Zach	Swift	Jordan	Looper	Jordan	Swift
6	Smarty Pants	Devyn	Theresa	Camila	Looper	Theresa	Camila
7	Sausage Party	Laurel	Aneesa	Jonna	Wrecking Wall	Aneesa	Jonna
7	Sausage Party	Johnny	Bananas	Jordan	Wrecking Wall	Bananas	Jordan
8	Hold That Pose	Team Devyn	Preston	Cohutta	Oppenheimer	Cohutta	Preston
8	Hold That Pose	Team Devyn	Aneesa	Laurel	Oppenheimer	Laurel	Aneesa
9	Dug Out	Nany & Theresa	Jessica	Cara Maria	Balls In	Cara Maria	Jessica
9	Dug Out	CT & Zach	Cohutta	Leroy	Balls In	Leroy	Cohutta
10/11	Crossover	Bananas & Nany	CT	Leroy	Wrecking Wall	CT	Leroy
10/11	Crossover	Bananas & Nany	Cara Maria^[5]	Laurel	Wrecking Wall	Laurel	Cara Maria
11	N/A^[6]		Laurel vs. Theresa		Puzzle Pyramid	Laurel	Theresa
11	N/A^[6]		Bananas vs. CT		Puzzle Pyramid	Bananas	CT
11/12	Final Challenge	Bananas	2nd place: Johnny; 3rd place: Zach
11/12	Final Challenge	Laurel	2nd place: Nany; 3rd place: Devyn

Episode Progress[]

Contestants		Episodes
Contestants		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10/11	11	Finale
03	Bananas	WIN	SAFE	WIN	WIN	ELIM	SAFE	ELIM	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	ELIM	WINNER
24	Laurel	WIN	WIN	SAFE	WIN	ELIM	SAFE	WIN	ELIM	SAFE	ELIM	ELIM	WINNER
17	Johnny	WIN	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	WIN	SAFE	WIN	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SECOND
14	Nany	WIN	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	WIN	WIN	SAFE	SECOND
06	Devyn	WIN	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	WIN	SAFE	WIN	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	THIRD
23	Zach	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	ELIM	WIN	WIN	SAFE	WIN	WIN	SAFE	SAFE	THIRD
01	CT	WIN	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	WIN	ELIM	OUT
08	Theresa	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	WIN	ELIM	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	SAFE	OUT
02	Cara Maria	SAFE	SAFE	ELIM	ELIM	WIN	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	ELIM	OUT
13	Leroy	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	ELIM	OUT
15	Cohutta	WIN	WIN	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	ELIM	OUT
16	Jessica	WIN	SAFE	WIN	WIN	WIN	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	OUT
10	Aneesa	WIN	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	ELIM	OUT
07	Preston	WIN	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	OUT
25	Jordan	WIN	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	WIN	ELIM	OUT
20	Jonna	SAFE	ELIM	SAFE	WIN	WIN	SAFE	OUT
28	Camila	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	SAFE	SAFE	OUT
21	Swift	WIN	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	WIN	OUT
11	Isaac	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	OUT
12	Jasmine	WIN	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	OUT
19	Brandon	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	OUT
18	LaToya	ELIM	SAFE	SAFE	OUT
26	Nia	WIN	SAFE	OUT
05	Frank	ELIM	ELIM	DQ
27	Dustin	SAFE	OUT
22	Emilee	SAFE	OUT
04	Jemmye	OUT
09	Chet	QUIT

Competition: The contestant won the competition.; The contestant did not win the final challenge.; The contestant won the week's competition, making him/her safe from the elimination round.; The contestant did not win the week's competition but was not selected for the elimination round.; The contestant participated in the elimination draw but did not draw the "kill card."; The contestant was selected for the elimination round but did not have to compete.; The contestant won the elimination round.; The contestant won the elimination round by default.; The contestant lost the elimination round.; The contestant withdrew from the elimination.; The contestant was removed from the competition due to illness.

Team Progress[]

Contestants		Episodes
Contestants		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10/11	Finale
03	Bananas	Black	Jonna	Brandon	Red	Yellow	Individual		Johnny	Cohutta	Nany	Laurel	Devyn	Nany
24	Laurel	Black	Cohutta	Leroy	Red	Yellow			Johnny	Devyn	Leroy	Bananas	Johnny	Zach
17	Johnny	Black	Cara Maria	Zach	Red	Purple			Johnny	Leroy	Devyn	Nany	Laurel	Devyn
14	Nany	Black	Dustin	LaToya	Red	Yellow			Devyn	Theresa	Bananas	Johnny	Zach	Bananas
06	Devyn	Black	Isaac	Zach	Yellow	Purple			Devyn	Laurel	Johnny	Zach	Bananas	Johnny
23	Zach	Red	Aneesa	Zach	Yellow	Purple			Devyn	CT	Theresa	Devyn	Nany	Laurel
01	CT	Black	Emilee	Cara Maria	Red	Yellow			Devyn	Zach	Cara Maria
08	Theresa	Red	Swift	Zach	Red	Purple			Johnny	Nany	Zach
02	Cara Maria	Red	Johnny	Cara Maria	Yellow	Purple			Devyn	Jessica	CT
13	Leroy	Red	Jessica	Leroy	Yellow	Purple			Devyn	Johnny	Laurel
15	Cohutta	Black	Laurel	LaToya	Yellow	Yellow			Johnny	Bananas
16	Jessica	Black	Leroy	Brandon	Red	Purple			Devyn	Cara Maria
10	Aneesa	Black	Zach	Cara Maria	Yellow	Yellow			Johnny
07	Preston	Black	Camila	LaToya	Red	Yellow			Johnny
25	Jordan	Black	Jasmine	Jasmine	Red	Purple
20	Jonna	Red	Bananas	Jasmine	Red	Purple
28	Camila	Red	Preston	Brandon	Yellow	Yellow
21	Swift	Black	Theresa	Cara Maria	Red	Purple
11	Isaac	Red	Devyn	Leroy	Yellow	Yellow
12	Jasmine	Black	Jordan	Jasmine	Yellow	Yellow
19	Brandon	Red	LaToya	Brandon	Yellow
18	LaToya	Red	Brandon	LaToya	Yellow
26	Nia	Black	Frank	Leroy
05	Frank	Red	Nia
27	Dustin	Red	Nany
22	Emilee	Red	CT
04	Jemmye	Red
09	Chet	Red

Note: Teams listed in bold indicate that the contestant was the captain of that team.

Voting Progress[]

Voter	Episodes
Voter	1	2	3	4^[7]		5	6	7	8	9	10/11
Bananas	LaToya	N/A	Nia	LaToya	LaToya	N/A					Cara Maria	Cara Maria
Bananas	Chet	N/A	Johnny	Brandon		N/A					CT
Laurel	LaToya	Jonna	N/A	Aneesa	Aneesa	N/A		Aneesa	N/A
Laurel	Chet	Dustin	N/A	Isaac		N/A		Bananas	N/A
Johnny	LaToya	N/A		LaToya	LaToya	Camila	N/A	Aneesa	N/A
Johnny	Dustin	N/A		Brandon		Bananas	N/A	Bananas	N/A
Nany	LaToya	N/A		Aneesa	Aneesa	N/A			Aneesa	Jessica	Theresa	Cara Maria
Nany	Isaac	N/A		Zach		N/A			Preston	Johnny	CT
Zach	N/A					Laurel	Theresa	N/A	Aneesa	Jessica	N/A
Zach	N/A					Bananas	Swift	N/A	Preston	Cohutta	N/A
Devyn	Emilee	N/A				Laurel	Theresa	N/A	Aneesa	N/A
Devyn	Leroy	N/A				Cohutta	Swift	N/A	Preston	N/A
CT	LaToya	N/A		LaToya	LaToya	N/A			Aneesa	Jessica	N/A
CT	Dustin	N/A		Brandon		N/A			Preston	Cohutta	N/A
Theresa	N/A			Jasmine	LaToya	Jasmine	N/A			Jessica	N/A
Theresa	N/A			Isaac		Preston	N/A			Cohutta	N/A
Cara Maria	N/A					Aneesa	N/A		Aneesa	N/A
Cara Maria	N/A					Bananas	N/A		Preston	N/A
Leroy	N/A					Laurel	N/A		Aneesa	N/A
Leroy	N/A					Isaac	N/A		Preston	N/A
Cohutta	LaToya	Jonna	N/A
Cohutta	Chet	Dustin	N/A
Jessica	LaToya	N/A	Devyn	Jasmine	Aneesa	Aneesa	N/A		Aneesa	N/A
Jessica	Chet	N/A	Johnny	Leroy		Isaac	N/A		Preston	N/A
Aneesa	LaToya	N/A
Aneesa	Brandon	N/A
Preston	Theresa	N/A		Aneesa	Aneesa	N/A
Preston	Frank	N/A		Isaac		N/A
Jordan	LaToya	N/A		LaToya	LaToya	Nany	N/A
Jordan	Dustin	N/A		Leroy		Bananas	N/A
Jonna	N/A			Jasmine	LaToya	Laurel	N/A
Jonna	N/A			Cohutta		Preston	N/A
Camila	N/A		LaToya	N/A
Camila	N/A		Johnny	N/A
Swift	Emilee	N/A		Aneesa	Aneesa	Nany	N/A
Swift	Chet	N/A		Brandon		Isaac	N/A
Isaac	N/A
Jasmine	LaToya	N/A
Jasmine	Chet	N/A
Brandon	N/A		Nia	N/A
Brandon	N/A		Johnny	N/A
LaToya	N/A
Nia	LaToya	N/A
Nia	Chet	N/A
Frank	N/A
Dustin	N/A
Emilee	N/A
Jemmye	N/A
Chet	N/A

Notes[]

↑ Chet withdrew from the "Balls In" elimination at the end of Episode 1, after he busted his chin open. T. J. Lavin gave Chet the option to either continue the elimination round with a bandage, or get stitches and forfeit; Chet chose the latter option, fearing a bacterial infection. Therefore, Frank was declared the winner by default.
↑ Frank initially thought that he was suffering from a collapsed lung, and had hoped to continue competing. However, when he arrived at the "Bar Crawl" challenge in Episode 3, host T. J. Lavin delivered the news that doctors diagnosed Frank with a contagious viral infection, and he was immediately removed from the competition. As a result of Frank's departure due to illness, Team Jasmine competed in the "Bar Crawl" challenge with three players, while the other five teams competed with four players.
↑ Johnny was selected for the elimination round in Episode 3, but did not have to compete. There were four cards in "The Draw," but only three male players were eligible for participation — CT, Jordan and Swift — none of them drew the "kill card." Therefore, by virtue of Frank's illness that resulted in his removal from the competition, no male elimination round was held.
↑ In the "Piggy Back" challenge, each team advanced the same number of players (4) from one platform to the other. However, Team Yellow was disqualified due to Preston failing to grab the last two ropes with both hands, after T. J. Lavin stated in the rules that each player was required to grab all ten ropes with both hands. Therefore, Team Purple was declared the winner by default.
↑ A tie vote was reached in Episode 10 between Cara Maria & Theresa. A re-vote was required to determine who would be selected for the elimination round. T. J. Lavin then made the stunning announcement that if a third tie occurred, Bananas and Nany — the winners of the "Crossover" challenge — would instead be placed into elimination. In the re-vote, Nany switched her vote, sending Cara Maria into elimination.
↑ In Episode 11, no challenge was held prior to the final draw, and no competitor had immunity from the final draw. Johnny, Zach, Devyn and Nany each drew blank cards, automatically sending Bananas, CT, Laurel and Theresa to the final elimination round.
↑ A tie vote was reached in Episode 4 between Aneesa and LaToya. A re-vote was required to determine who would be selected for the elimination round.

Episodes[]

Episode		Air date	Viewers (in millions)
1	"Live Free or Die"	April 10, 2014	0.95
2	"Love in the Fast Lane"	April 17, 2014	0.92
3	"You Be Illin'"	April 24, 2014	0.94
4	"Inadequate"	May 1, 2014	1.11
5	"Stripes"	May 8, 2014	0.97
6	"Not So Trivial Pursuits"	May 15, 2014	1.07
7	"Pride Before the Wall"	May 22, 2014	1.14
8	"Strike a Pose, There's Something to It"	May 29, 2014	1.08
9	"Best Friends for Never"	June 5, 2014	1.08
10	"Talk to the Hand"	June 12, 2014	1.14
11	"The $350,000 Pyramid"	June 19, 2014	1.01
12	"A Walk in the Clouds"	June 26, 2014	1.15

Reunion[]

The reunion was filmed in New York City, New York, and was hosted by Jonny Moseley. The contestants who attended the reunion were: Bananas, Cara Maria, Cohutta, CT, Devyn, Jessica, Johnny, Jordan, Laurel, Nany, Theresa, and Zach.

The Challenge Seasons

Road Rules: All Stars • Real World/Road Rules Challenge • Challenge 2000 • Extreme Challenge • Battle of the Seasons (2002) • Battle of the Sexes • The Gauntlet • The Inferno • Battle of the Sexes 2 • The Inferno II • The Gauntlet 2 • Fresh Meat • The Duel • The Inferno 3 • The Gauntlet III • The Island • The Duel II • The Ruins • Fresh Meat II • Cutthroat • Rivals • Battle of the Exes • Battle of the Seasons (2012) • Rivals II • Free Agents • Battle of the Exes II • Battle of the Bloodlines • Rivals III • Invasion of the Champions • Dirty 30 • Vendettas • Final Reckoning • War of the Worlds • War of the Worlds 2 • Total Madness • Double Agents • Spies, Lies & Allies • Ride or Dies • Battle for a New Champion • Battle of the Eras

[1] Chet withdrew from the "Balls In" elimination at the end of Episode 1, after he busted his chin open. T. J. Lavin gave Chet the option to either continue the elimination round with a bandage, or get stitches and forfeit; Chet chose the latter option, fearing a bacterial infection. Therefore, Frank was declared the winner by default.

[2] Frank initially thought that he was suffering from a collapsed lung, and had hoped to continue competing. However, when he arrived at the "Bar Crawl" challenge in Episode 3, host T. J. Lavin delivered the news that doctors diagnosed Frank with a contagious viral infection, and he was immediately removed from the competition. As a result of Frank's departure due to illness, Team Jasmine competed in the "Bar Crawl" challenge with three players, while the other five teams competed with four players.

[3] Johnny was selected for the elimination round in Episode 3, but did not have to compete. There were four cards in "The Draw," but only three male players were eligible for participation — CT, Jordan and Swift — none of them drew the "kill card." Therefore, by virtue of Frank's illness that resulted in his removal from the competition, no male elimination round was held.

[4] In the "Piggy Back" challenge, each team advanced the same number of players (4) from one platform to the other. However, Team Yellow was disqualified due to Preston failing to grab the last two ropes with both hands, after T. J. Lavin stated in the rules that each player was required to grab all ten ropes with both hands. Therefore, Team Purple was declared the winner by default.

[5] A tie vote was reached in Episode 10 between Cara Maria & Theresa. A re-vote was required to determine who would be selected for the elimination round. T. J. Lavin then made the stunning announcement that if a third tie occurred, Bananas and Nany — the winners of the "Crossover" challenge — would instead be placed into elimination. In the re-vote, Nany switched her vote, sending Cara Maria into elimination.

[6] In Episode 11, no challenge was held prior to the final draw, and no competitor had immunity from the final draw. Johnny, Zach, Devyn and Nany each drew blank cards, automatically sending Bananas, CT, Laurel and Theresa to the final elimination round.

[7] A tie vote was reached in Episode 4 between Aneesa and LaToya. A re-vote was required to determine who would be selected for the elimination round.

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