The Challenge: Ride or Dies premiere: Nelson's losing streak continues and rookies take control

Sydney Bucksbaum
·7 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Nelson Thomas has never won The Challenge, but he does hold a record that no one will be able to break for a long time (if ever): he has the longest losing streak in the history of the franchise. The Are You the One alum hasn't won a daily challenge for the last 51 competitions (and counting!), and during The Challenge: Ride or Dies premiere on Wednesday, he came thisclose to finally breaking that curse. But unfortunately for Nelson — and the rest of the veterans on the cast — he is still the reigning record holder for the longest daily challenge losing streak.

Before the first challenge of the season, "Bolas for Blood," began, a producer asks Nelson when he last won, which makes Nelson and his partner/ex Nurys laugh. It's incredible that this is now a running joke that's actually acknowledged on the show, and it becomes even funnier when Nelson and Nurys almost win this daily. In "Bolas for Blood," teams must answer three questions together about their partnership (for example, one is "what's your cumulative age"), find the bolas with the correct numbers painted on them in a giant mud pit, and attach all the bolas on their station. Once all three questions are answered correctly, they have to run all the bolas to the final station, and the first time to reach the final station wins.

the challenge 38
the challenge 38

mtv 'The Challenge' reveals season 38 'Ride or Dies' partner theme and cast

In a wild turn of events, Nelson and Nurys actually finish answering their three questions first, and it's obvious how excited Nelson is to be in the lead, close to finishing the challenge, and potentially finally ending his losing streak. But when they call for a check, they're told that one of their answers is incorrect ... because Nelson got his own age wrong. It wasn't even a mistake on adding up the numbers. He literally forgot his own age. You cannot make this stuff up. Nelly T, you've really outdone yourself this time.

Due to Nelson's mistake, their team loses the lead and rookie pair Johnny and Ravyn end up finishing first. It's impressive for an all-rookie team to win their very first challenge, beating out all the seasoned vets and former champions. And what's even more impressive is how Johnny and Ravyn decide to go balls to the wall and use their new power to target vets instead of letting the rookies take all the heat. Historically, the vets have run every single season of The Challenge (aside from Battle of the Seasons 2012, the original "rookie revolution"). But with Johnny and Ravyn in control of who gets sent into the first elimination, they pick three veteran pairs to interrogate (Tori and Devin; newlyweds Kailah and Sam; and Laurel and Jakk) as well as one rookie team (Colleen and Kim) to make it look like they're not targeting only vets (even though they had no intention of actually choosing the rookies to go into elimination).

Johnny and Ravyn essentially make deals with everyone during their interrogation despite saying they're not here to make deals, and Jakk tries to throw Colleen and Kim under the bus because she's been telling everyone her original show was Love Island Germany, but she actually won the German version of The Mole by successfully being the mole and lying to everyone. Jakk did some basic research on every competitor before the season began and it was an easy lie to expose, but it doesn't sway Johnny and Ravyn from their vet hit list. They're even more determined to target the vets after making a rookie alliance which also includes last season's champion Amber B and vet Jay, who want to take advantage of the uneven numbers to finally get control of the game like they haven't been able to before. Ultimately, Johnny and Ravyn pick Kailah and Sam to go into elimination.

As for their opponents, TJ reveals that the infamous "Draw" is back! The other three teams who were interrogated have to pick one of three daggers that are stabbed into a rock, and Tori and Devin and Laurel and Jakk each pick a dagger with nothing on it, so they think that means they're safe. Unfortunately, German rookies Colleen and Kim lift the final dagger to reveal it says "safe" on the blade, meaning they actually get to choose who is sent in against Kailah and Sam. They ultimately pick Tori and Devin to spare Jakk because he's a rookie and therefore is sort of protected by the rookie alliance despite having former champ Laurel as his partner. Tori and Devin end up beating Kailah and Sam, sending them home. As they head out of the elimination arena, TJ jokes that he hopes their marriage lasts longer than their time on The Challenge. Ouch!

THE CHALLENGE 38 - UNIT
THE CHALLENGE 38 - UNIT

MTV Nany Gonzalez and Johnny 'Bananas' Devenanzio in 'The Challenge' season 38

But the biggest twist of the episode came at the very end — too bad it was spoiled in the trailer for the season, or else it would have really packed a punch! — when seven-time champion Johnny Bananas and his partner Nany walk into the arena and join the game. But that's not the only cast shakeup that happened: earlier in the episode, before the daily challenge began, TJ announced that Kaycee and her brother Kenny had to leave the game with no other explanation (don't worry, EW got the details about why they had to exit so suddenly). Two new teams took their place: Nam and Emmy, and Olivia and Horacio. For those (like Nelson) who struggle with math, that means two teams left and three teams arrived in the premiere, so we're actually net positive on the amount of players left in the game. The cast is only getting bigger. That never happens!

Other notable moments in the premiere include:

  • "Surprise, surprise, p---y chickens, king is back!" Turbo once again not understanding jokes and getting insulted over nothing lead to him making snap rivalries with both Laurel and Devin. He yells about how he's going to eliminate them himself and no one can beat him. You know, normal, casual Turbo stuff. Good to know he hasn't changed at all since we saw him last. This time, the offenses against Turbo are Laurel not giving him a refill of champagne fast enough during the yacht party that doubled as a music video for Poison's "Nothin' But a Good Time," and Devin making a comment about keeping the Draw daggers away from him because he's good at martial arts.

  • In Johnny Bananas' absence, Nelson somehow got the honor of making the welcome toast in the house. It goes ... about as well as Nelson's current daily challenge winning streak.

  • The first hookup of the season happened so fast the cameras couldn't catch it! Rookies Johnny and Nurys apparently got drunk and made out on the airplane in front of everyone on the way to Argentina. That's got to be some kind of record. Johnny's partner Ravyn is pissed because she's into him, but she's trying to play it off like she's not bothered. It's not working.

  • Fessy is trying hard to make a move on Colleen. So far he has not been successful.

  • All the international players didn't know what the world "cumulative" means, which put them at a huge disadvantage during the daily challenge. The language barrier strikes again! I agree with Kim, producers should have just worded the question, "Add up the ages of you and your partner." Even if it was worded a little simpler, Nelson still would have gotten it wrong.

The Challenge: Ride or Dies airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on MTV.

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and

Related content: