The Challenge: Total Madness

Total Madness is the thirty-fifth season of The Challenge. The season features various reality alumni competing for a share of $1 million. The season was filmed in Prague, Czech Republic and the Austrian Alps from October to December 2019.

Description

The war is over, but the madness is only just beginning. Returning to the solo format in which every man and woman is competing solely for themselves, The Challenge: Total Madness will pit 21 veterans and seven rookies against one another in the most insane challenges ever devised in the show's 22-year history. Who will take home the $1 million prize, and who will succumb to madness?

Cast

Male contestants
Contestant		Finish
	Johnny "Bananas" Devenanzio The Real World: Key West	Winner in It's the End of the World As We Know It
	Kyle Christie Geordie Shore	Runner-Up in It's the End of the World As We Know It
	Cory Wharton Real World: Ex-Plosion	Third Place in It's the End of the World As We Know It
	Fessy Shafaat Big Brother 20	Fourth Place in It's the End of the World As We Know It
	Rogan O'Connor Ex on the Beach UK 2	Fifth Place in It's the End of the World As We Know It
	Nelson Thomas Are You the One? 3	Eliminated in Crash Into Me
	Josh Martinez Big Brother 19	Eliminated in Your Time is Gonna Come
	Chris "Swaggy C" Williams Big Brother 20	Eliminated in Pictures of You
	Wes Bergmann The Real World: Austin	Eliminated in The Final Countdown
	Stephen Bear Shipwrecked: The Island	Eliminated in Live and Let Die
	Jordan Wiseley The Real World: Portland	Eliminated in Live and Let Die
	Jay Starrett Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X	Medically Disqualified in Love Will Tear Us Apart
	Chris "CT" Tamburello The Real World: Paris	Eliminated in A Hard Jay's Night
	Asaf Goren So You Think You Can Dance 12	Eliminated in Mad World

Female contestants
Contestant		Finish
	Jenny West Survival of the Fittest	Winner in It's the End of the World As We Know It
	Kaycee Clark Big Brother 20	Runner-Up in It's the End of the World As We Know It
	Bayleigh Dayton Big Brother 20	Third Place in It's the End of the World As We Know It
	Melissa Reeves Ex on the Beach UK 2	Fourth Place in It's the End of the World As We Know It
	Dee Nguyen Geordie Shore	Eliminated in Crash Into Me
	Aneesa Ferreira The Real World: Chicago	Eliminated in Your Time is Gonna Come
	Nany González The Real World: Las Vegas (2011)	Eliminated in Victim of Love
	Mattie Lynn Breaux Party Down South	Eliminated in You Ain't Right
	Jenna Compono Real World: Ex-Plosion	Eliminated in Backstabber
	Kailah Casillas Real World: Go Big or Go Home	Eliminated in Backstabber
	Tula "Big T" Fazakerley Shipwrecked: Battle of the Islands	Medically Disqualified in Backstabber
	Tori Deal Are You the One? 4	Eliminated in Should I Stay or Should I Go?
	Ashley Mitchell Real World: Ex-Plosion	Eliminated in Karma Chameleon
	Jenn Lee The Amazing Race 29	Eliminated in Sweet Dreams Are Made of Dee

Format

Each challenge will be played in either teams, pairs, or individuals, followed by elimination rounds known as "Purgatory". The winners of the challenge will form a Tribunal, who will be safe from elimination. The rest of the house will vote in one player of the designated gender to go into Purgatory. The Tribunal will then nominate three players as possible opponents. In Purgatory, the Tribunal will vote in one of the three nominees, or one member of the Tribunal can nominate themselves into elimination. The winner stays in the game, while the loser goes home.

Prize money splits as follows

First place: $500,000 each

Twists

Tribunal: The challenge winners will have power and safety. They will determine the elimination matchup. They can also volunteer themselves into elimination to possibly earn a Red Skull.
- During individual and pair challenges, the two winning players will pick one other player to be in the Tribunal.
- During team challenges, the entire team will make up the Tribunal.
Brands: Each competitor will have brands on their helmets.
- Dagger: The player is a Champion.
- Skulls: Previous elimination wins.
- Red Skull: The player won an elimination. In order to compete in the Final Challenge, the player must have a Red Skull.

Game summary

Elimination chart

Episode		Challenge Winners		Purgatory Contestants			Purgatory game	Purgatory outcome
#	Challenge	Winners	The Tribunal	Gender	Voted In	Tribunal's pick	Purgatory game	Winner	Loser
1	Battle Lines	Rogan	Jenny, Rogan, Cory	Male	Asaf	Jay	Air Strike	Jay	Asaf
1	Battle Lines	Jenny	Jenny, Rogan, Cory	Male	Asaf	Jay	Air Strike	Jay	Asaf
2	Airdrop Extraction	Team 1	Cory, Dee, Swaggy C	Female	Jenn	Jenny	Flip the Switch	Jenny	Jenn
3	Decode and Detonate	CT	Bayleigh, CT, Swaggy C	Male	Jay	N/A	Take Shelter	Jay	CT
3	Decode and Detonate	Bayleigh	Bayleigh, CT, Swaggy C	Male	Jay	N/A	Take Shelter	Jay	CT
4	Cold War	Team 4	Aneesa, Bananas, Bear, Big T, Kaycee	Female	Ashley	Dee	Code Breaker	Dee	Ashley
5/6	Bomb Squad	Team 4	Jenny, Josh, Kaycee, Swaggy C	Male	Jay	Rogan	Fire Ball	Rogan	Jay^[1]
6/7	Fast and Furious^[2]	Jordan & Nany	Jordan, Nany, Jenna	Female	Tori	N/A	Dust to Dust	Jenna	Tori
8	Decontamination	Mattie	Mattie, Wes, Bananas	Male	Fessy	Jordan	Pole Wrestle	Fessy	Jordan
8	Decontamination	Wes	Mattie, Wes, Bananas	Male	Nelson	Bear	Pole Wrestle	Nelson	Bear
9^[3]	Tunnel Rats	Team 3	Bayleigh, Cory, Dee, Nany, Wes	Female	Kaycee	Kailah	Bombs Out	Kaycee	Kailah
9^[3]	Tunnel Rats	Team 3	Bayleigh, Cory, Dee, Nany, Wes	Female	Aneesa	Jenna	Bombs Out	Aneesa	Jenna
10	Throne Off	Dee	Dee, Wes, Rogan	Male	Bananas	N/A	Charge the Wall	Bananas	Wes
10	Throne Off	Wes	Dee, Wes, Rogan	Male	Bananas	N/A	Charge the Wall	Bananas	Wes
11	Flag Down	Josh	Josh, Melissa, Bananas	Female	Mattie	Dee	Tunnel Vision	Dee	Mattie
11	Flag Down	Melissa	Josh, Melissa, Bananas	Female	Mattie	Dee	Tunnel Vision	Dee	Mattie
12	Tanks A Lot	Team 5	Bayleigh, Dee, Fessy	Male	Cory	Swaggy C	Launch Button	Cory	Swaggy C
13	Bloc'd In	Team 1	Aneesa, Bananas, Cory, Jenny, Josh, Nany, Rogan	Female	Melissa	N/A	Off with Your Heads	Melissa	Nany
14	Running Out of Time	Fessy	Fessy, Jenny, Josh		Bayleigh	Aneesa	Knots of War	Bayleigh	Aneesa
14	Running Out of Time	Jenny	Fessy, Jenny, Josh		Kyle	N/A	Knots of War	Kyle	Josh
15	Crash Course	Bananas	Bananas, Kaycee, Kyle		Jenny	Dee	Hall Brawl	Jenny	Dee
15	Crash Course	Kaycee	Bananas, Kaycee, Kyle		Rogan	Nelson	Hall Brawl	Rogan	Nelson
16	Final Challenge	Bananas			2nd: Kyle, 3rd: Cory, 4th: Fessy, 5th: Rogan
16	Final Challenge	Jenny			2nd: Kaycee, 3rd: Bayleigh^[4], 4th: Melissa^[5]

Tribunal players in bold indicate that the player volunteered to compete in Purgatory.

Purgatory progress

Contestants	Episodes
Contestants	1	2	3	4	5/6	6/7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Finale
Bananas	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	ELIM	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	SAFE	WIN	WINNER
Jenny	WIN	ELIM	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	WIN	ELIM	WINNER
Kyle	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	ELIM	SAFE	SECOND
Kaycee	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	WIN	SAFE	SAFE	ELIM	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	SECOND
Cory	SAFE	WIN	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	SAFE	SAFE	ELIM	WIN	SAFE	SAFE	THIRD
Bayleigh	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	SAFE	ELIM	SAFE	THIRD
Fessy	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	ELIM	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	SAFE	WIN	SAFE	FOURTH
Melissa	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	SAFE	ELIM	SAFE	SAFE	FOURTH
Rogan	WIN	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	ELIM	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	SAFE	ELIM	FIFTH
Nelson	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	ELIM	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	OUT
Dee	SAFE	WIN	SAFE	ELIM	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	WIN	ELIM	WIN	SAFE	SAFE	OUT
Josh	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	SAFE	WIN	OUT
Aneesa	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	ELIM	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	OUT
Nany	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	SAFE	WIN	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	OUT
Swaggy C	SAFE	WIN	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	OUT
Mattie	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	SAFE	SAFE	OUT
Wes	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	WIN	OUT
Jenna	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	ELIM	SAFE	OUT
Kailah	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	OUT
Big T	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	OUT
Bear	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	SAFE	SAFE	OUT
Jordan	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	OUT
Tori	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	OUT
Jay	ELIM	SAFE	ELIM	SAFE	OUT
Ashley	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	OUT
CT	SAFE	SAFE	OUT
Jenn	SAFE	OUT
Asaf	OUT

Competition: The contestant finished the Final Challenge and won.; The contestant finished the Final Challenge and lost.; The contestant won the challenge and was part of the Tribunal.; The contestant did not win the challenge but was selected for the Tribunal.; The contestant was not selected for Purgatory.; The contestant was nominated by the Tribunal to go into Purgatory.; The contestant won in Purgatory and earned a Red Skull.; The contestant was in the Tribunal, but threw themselves into Purgatory and won.; The contestant won the elimination by default and won a Red Skull.; The contestant was eliminated in Purgatory.; The contestant was in the Tribunal, but threw themselves into Purgatory and lost.; The contestant was removed from the competition due to injury or illness.; The contestant withdrew from the game.; The contestant was eliminated at the Final Challenge.

Voting progress

Voter	Episodes																		Total Votes Received
Voter	1	2	3	4	5	7	8		9		10	11	12	13	14		15		Total Votes Received
Bananas	Jay	Big T	Jay	Dee	Jay	Tori	Jordan	Cory	Kaycee	Aneesa	Bananas	Dee	Kyle	N/A	Kyle	Bayleigh	Nelson	Dee	20
Jenny	Jay	Jenn	N/A	Ashley	Rogan	Tori	N/A	Nelson	Kaycee	Aneesa	Bananas	Mattie	Kyle	N/A	N/A	Aneesa	Rogan	Dee	9
Kaycee	Asaf	Jenn	Nelson	Dee	Rogan	Tori	N/A	N/A	Kaycee	Aneesa	Bananas	Mattie	Cory	Melissa	Kyle	Bayleigh	Nelson	Dee	14
Kyle	Jay	Jenn	Jay	Ashley	Jay	Tori	Fessy	Nelson	Kaycee	Aneesa	Bananas	Mattie	Kyle	Melissa	Kyle	Bayleigh	Nelson	Dee	14
Cory	Jay	Jenny	Jay	N/A	Bear	Tori	N/A	Bear	Kailah	Jenna	Bananas	Mattie	Cory	N/A	Kyle	Bayleigh	Rogan	Jenny	9
Fessy	Asaf	Jenn	Bananas	N/A	Bear	Tori	Bear	N/A	Kaycee	Aneesa	Bananas	Mattie	Swaggy C	Bayleigh	N/A	Melissa	Rogan	Dee	7
Bayleigh	Asaf	Jenn	N/A	N/A	N/A	Tori	N/A	N/A	Kailah	Jenna	Bananas	Mattie	Swaggy C	Bayleigh	Kyle	Bayleigh	Rogan	Melissa	13
Rogan	Jay	Big T	Jay	N/A	Jay	Tori	N/A	N/A	Kaycee	Aneesa	N/A	Mattie	Cory	N/A	N/A	N/A	Rogan	Jenny	12
Melissa	Asaf	Jenn	Jay	Ashley	Jay	Tori	N/A	Nelson	Kaycee	Aneesa	Bananas	Bayleigh	Kyle	Melissa	Kyle	Bayleigh	Rogan	Bayleigh	6
Nelson	Asaf	Jenn	Bananas	N/A	Bear	Tori	Bear	Bear	Kaycee	Aneesa	Bananas	Mattie	Cory	Bayleigh	Kyle	Bayleigh	Rogan	Jenny	19
Dee	Asaf	Jenny	Bananas	Ashley	Jay	Tori	N/A	N/A	Kailah	Jenna	N/A	Mattie	Kyle	Melissa	N/A	N/A	Rogan	Jenny	12
Josh	Asaf	Jenn	Nelson	N/A	Rogan	Tori	Nelson	Nelson	Kaycee	Aneesa	Bananas	Dee	Cory	N/A	Josh	Aneesa			1
Aneesa	Asaf	Jenn	Jordan	Dee	N/A	Tori	Nelson	Nelson	Kaycee	Aneesa	Bananas	Mattie	Cory	N/A	Kyle	Bayleigh			16
Nany	Jay	Jenn	Nelson	Ashley	Jay	N/A	Fessy	N/A	Jenny	Jenny	Bananas	Mattie	Cory	Nany					1
Swaggy C	Asaf	Jenny	N/A	N/A	Rogan	Tori	N/A	Nelson	Kaycee	Aneesa	Bananas	Mattie	Cory						2
Mattie	Asaf	Jenn	N/A	Ashley	Jay	Tori	Jordan	Bear	Kaycee	Aneesa	Bananas	Mattie							13
Wes	Asaf	Jenn	Jay	N/A	Kyle	Tori	Jordan	Bear	Kailah	Jenna	Wes								2
Jenna	Jay	Jenn	Nelson	N/A	N/A	Jenna	Fessy	N/A	Kaycee	Aneesa									5
Kailah	Jay	Jenn	Nelson	N/A	Jay	Tori	Fessy	Nelson	Kaycee	Aneesa									4
Big T	Asaf	Jenn	Bananas	Dee	N/A	Tori	N/A	Nelson											4
Bear	Asaf	Jenn	Jay	Dee	Jay	Tori	Fessy	Nelson											10
Jordan	Jay	Jenn	Jordan	N/A	Jordan	N/A	Fessy	Jordan											7
Tori	Jay	Jenn	Jay	Ashley	Jay	Tori													20
Jay	Asaf	Jenn	Bananas	N/A	Bear														30
Ashley	Asaf	Jenn	Bananas	N/A															7
CT	Jay	Big T	CT																1
Jenn	Jay	Big T																	21
Asaf	Wes																		15

Bold indicates the contestant was in the Tribunal

Notes

↑ Jay was medically disqualified from the "Fire Ball" elimination after taking a hard hit and showing signs of a concussion.
↑ Due to the odd number of men during the "Fast and Furious" challenge, Jordan was randomly slected to compete twice with Nany and Bayleigh.
↑ Big T was medically disqualified in Episode 9 prior to the "Tunnel Rats" challenge after lacerating her toe the previous episode.
↑ Bayleigh withdrew from the Final Challenge after injuring her knee and feeling unable to continue.
↑ Melissa quit the first stage of the Final Challenge after feeling unable to beat Jenny and Kaycee.

Episode guide

Episode		Air date	Viewers (in millions)
1	"Mad World"	April 1, 2020	1.06
2	"Sweet Dreams Are Made of Dee"	April 8, 2020	0.93
3	"A Hard Jay's Night"	April 15, 2020	0.92
4	"Karma Chameleon"	April 22, 2020	1.02
5	"Break Up with Your BF, I'm Bored"	April 29, 2020	1.00
6	"Love Will Tear Us Apart"	May 6, 2020	0.93
7	"Should I Stay or Should I Go?"	May 13, 2020	0.85
8	"Live and Let Die"	May 20, 2020	1.02
9	"Backstabber"	May 27, 2020	0.93
10	"The Final Countdown"	June 3, 2020	0.91
11	"You Ain't Right"	June 10, 2020	0.88
12	"Pictures of You"	June 17, 2020	0.90
13	"Victim of Love"	June 24, 2020	0.94
14	"Your Time is Gonna Come"	July 1, 2020	0.85
15	"Crash Into Me"	July 8, 2020	0.94
16	"It's the End of the World As We Know It"	July 15, 2020	0.98

Reunion

The reunion was filmed via Zoom chat due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and was hosted by former NFL player Vernon Davis. The contestants who attended the reunion were: Aneesa, Ashley, Bananas, Bayleigh, Big T, Cory, CT, Fessy, Jay, Jenna, Jenny, Josh, Kailah, Kaycee, Kyle, Melissa, Nany, Nelson, Swaggy C, Tori, and Wes.

Trivia

The original title for this season was Battle for Independence. The title can be heard during the commercial break of the season premiere.
This is the first individual season to feature an uneven amount of finalists (five men and four women).
Total Madness is the first season to feature contestants from So You Think You Can Dance, Survivor US and The Amazing Race.

The Challenge Series

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 • XXX: Dirty 30 • Vendettas • Final Reckoning • War of the Worlds • War of the Worlds 2 • Total Madness • Double Agents • Spies, Lies & Allies

[1] Jay was medically disqualified from the "Fire Ball" elimination after taking a hard hit and showing signs of a concussion.

[2] Due to the odd number of men during the "Fast and Furious" challenge, Jordan was randomly slected to compete twice with Nany and Bayleigh.

[3] Big T was medically disqualified in Episode 9 prior to the "Tunnel Rats" challenge after lacerating her toe the previous episode.

[4] Bayleigh withdrew from the Final Challenge after injuring her knee and feeling unable to continue.

[5] Melissa quit the first stage of the Final Challenge after feeling unable to beat Jenny and Kaycee.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]