The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2 Winner Is...
WARNING: The following article contains spoilers from Wednesday night’s finale of MTV’s The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2.
Apparently, dominating the competition all season long does not a Challenge champion make.
Despite winning nearly every single weekly challenge, Team U.S. fell to the Brits in the finale of The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2 — and Dee Nguyen, Jordan Wiseley, Rogan O’Connor, and C.T. Tamburello were awarded the $1 million prize. (Yes, the “Brits” consisted of one actual Brit, an Australian, and two Americans, but who’s counting?)
Of course, reaching the finish line in this two-day finale in the jungle required both teams to lose a few players along the way.
When the second half of the final race kicked off, Paulie Calafiore was flat on his back with heatstroke — and things were looking dire for the American team. But somehow, he managed to get up and rejoin his crew, which was continuing to battle with 140 pounds in sandbags and a gurney that was falling apart.
Meanwhile, Team U.K. was way ahead, even with a 10-minute penalty for C.T. pushing the Americans’ gurney. They finally completed the 16-mile footrace and were faced with a puzzle, which they failed to complete in the 30-minute time limit, before running onto their boat and making their way towards a seriously restless evening.
As night fell, the teams were presented with two beds, one each, that one person could use at a time for a little shut-eye … but they weren’t likely to get much sleep as the beds stood high at the center of a hiss-filled snake pit.
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As the evening wore on, Paulie was throwing up and continued to look worse for wear, with his girlfriend, Cara Maria Sorbello, noting that his eyes looked dead and even host TJ Lavin saying Paulie was “on thin ice” (meaning about to be pulled from the competition for his health).
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Once the teams, Paulie included, survived the night, they raced to an individual puzzle. Once each person finished the puzzle, they had to swim to a team boat — and the first four players from each team onto their boat determined those eligible to compete in the final legs of the season. The rest of the players were purged from the game.
Natalie “Ninja” Duran from Team U.S. finishes the puzzle first, followed by C.T. In the end, Team U.S. consisted of Ninja, Paulie, Cara Maria, and Zach Nichols — leaving two-time champ Ashley Mitchell, Kam Williams, and Leroy Garrett behind — and U.K. was C.T., Jordan, Dee, and Rogan — with Jordan’s fiancé Tori Deal not making the cut.
Soon, the boats docked and the foursomes were chained together and sent on a six-mile beach run, with the Brits getting a five-minute head start for winning the first day. After the run, the teams had to complete a puzzle and then kayak to a yacht. And the first team to the yacht, the Brits, were crowned Challenge champions.
This marks a third win for both Jordan and C.T. For Dee, it’s a first — in only her second Challenge outing. And for her fellow sophomore seasoner Rogan, it’s an impressive full circle after he was the first person eliminated in his first season, Vendettas, which was also the first season to bring out British competitors.
“At the end of the day, it was all worth it,” Rogan said. “I am the first-ever Brit to be eliminated from a Challenge. And now I’m the first-ever Brit to win The Challenge.”
“C.J.’s going to be so excited — I have so much ice cream money,” C.T. said, referring to his son.
“I don’t think anyone can ever consider me a lay-up anymore,” Dee said with newfound confidence.
“This season of The Challenge proves that you cannot take the easy path to get anything you want,” Jordan concluded. “This money is going towards our house, towards our family. [Tori and I] are ready for the next step.”
The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2 reunion airs next Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET on MTV.
