Challenge Mania

Derrick Kosinski & Scott Yager are joined by "Ninja" Natalie Duran. For the past few seasons, The Challenge has opened the floodgates and welcomed newcomers from shows like Big Brother, Ex on the Beach, Geordie Shore, Vanderpump Rules & Bad Girls Club. War of the Worlds has gone a step further, inviting rookies from an even wider and more international pool of applicants. Among them is Ninja Natal...

Derrick Kosinski & Scott Yager are joined by Survivor standout Davie Rickenbacker. In this special BONUS EPISODE of Challenge Mania, Derrick (@DerrickMTV) and Scott (@SHOTOFYAGER) switch it up a bit and bring on someone who has never been on The Challenge. Davie Rickenbacker (@ITweetDavie) IS however a lifelong Challenge fan, and is one of the most well-liked contestants in Survivor history. With...

Derrick Kosinski & Scott Yager are joined by Chase McNary. Chase (@CBMcNary) might have had a short-lived run on The Challenge: War of the Worlds, going home in the first head-to-head elimination, but he managed to make his mark along the way, getting briefly involved with Nany and making it a tough battle for Hunter and Georgia. He drops by the show to talk about his road from The Bachelorette, w...

Derrick Kosinski & Scott Yager are joined by Katie Cooley. One of our favorites, Katie Cooley (@KatieCooley26) returns to the podcast just a few days before joining us in Austin for Challenge Mania Live. Katie stops by to tell Derrick (@DerrickMTV) & Scott (@SHOTOFYAGER) what she thinks he War of the Worlds, what reality shows she watches, who she sees herself in today, how Challenge standards hav...

Derrick Kosinski & Scott Yager are joined by Johanna Botta. Johanna Botta (@JohannaBotta) began her MTV career on the beloved Austin season of The Real World, and went on to appear on 4 seasons of The Challenge, taking home a group championship on The Gauntlet III. She has since put Reality TV in the rearview (for now) to pursue an acting and hosting career both stateside and in the UK, where she'...

Derrick Kosinski & Scott Yager are joined by CJ Koegel. CJ Koegel (@CJKoegel) had strong showings on both of his seasons of The Challenge, Fresh Meat II and Battle of the Seasons. He joins Derrick (@DerrickMTV) and Scott (@SHOTOFYAGER) to discuss why we haven't seen him since, how he became a punter who almost made the NFL, what Real Wold Cancun was like, what he thought of the War of the Worlds B...

Derrick Kosinski & Scott Yager break down the new cast of The Challenge 33: War of the Worlds. Some returning favorites, some fresh meat. Either way, we go over the entire new season, set to premiere on Wednesday, February 6th and everyone who is vying for that Challenge Championship in the War of the Worlds! Come watch the premiere with Scott, Kailah and Marie at the East End Bar and Grill in New...

Derrick Kosinski & Scott Yager are joined by Marlon Williams. Marlon Williams (@BlackZeusFit) made his debut on Real World Portland and only competed on one season of The Challenge on Rivals II, where he and Jordan made the final. He had an illustrious college football career at Texas Tech and recently began body building and personal training under the name Black Zeus. More than that, he wants ba...

Derrick Kosinski & Scott Yager are joined by CT Tamburello. For our 100th episode, there is really only one guest that could live up to the hype and was deserving of this momentous occasion. 2 Time Champion (plus 2 time Champs Vs Stars Winner) Chris Tamburello aka CT (@TheOfficial_CT) is on most people's Challenge Mount Rushmore. His name is synonymous with the franchise. Simply put, if you are no...

Derrick Kosinski & Scott Yager are once again joined by Final Reckoning Champion HUNTER BARFIELD. Hunter Barfield (@HBarfield13) is a Challenge Champion. It's hard to remember that because even though he won The Final Reckoning season of The Challenge, he went home empty handed, thanks to a decision by his partner, Ashley Mitchell. Hunter joins Derrick (@DerrickMTV) and Scott (@SHOTOFYAGER) to dis...

Derrick Kosinski & Scott Yager are once again joined by Marie Roda. Marie Roda (@Marie_TBD) had an amazing year in 2018. So much so that she was voted Funniest Commentary & Most Improved by both the patrons & the experts in the Challenge Mania Awards. Marie joins Derrick (@DerrickMTV) and Scott (@SHOTOFYAGER) to learn about her big awards wins, break down The Final Reckoning Final, discuss the big...

Derrick Kosinski & Scott Yager are joined by Natalie Negrotti. The first time Natalia (@NataliaNegrotti) or Natalie, depending who who is asking, came on #ChallengeMania, it was early into her Challenge career and a few episodes into Vendettas. Now she has 2 seasons, a Redemption House, a 3rd place finish on The Final Reckoning, 2 Elimination of the Year nominations and a Rookie of the Year nod in...

Derrick Kosinski & Scott Yager are joined by Jemmye Carroll for Part II. On Part II of this massive semester of Jem Class, Jemmye casts her (unofficial) votes for the Challenge Mania Awards, theorizes what could have been if Camila was still a force on The Challenge and how that would have affected the trajectory of other female competitors and she breaks down the multi-layered internet beef betwe...

Derrick Kosinski & Scott Yager are joined by Jemmye Carroll. One of our favorites, Jemmye Carroll (@JustJem24) to walk us through everything going on in the Challenge world. This interview went so long that we decided to break it into two parts. Here in Part 1, Jemmye explains some of her recent twitter altercations and comments and takes YOUR questions! Check back tomorrow for Part 2 of our chat...

Derrick Kosinski & Scott Yager are joined by Challenge Host TJ LAVIN! Who better to ring in the New Year with us at Challenge Mania than the host of The Challenge, TJ LAVIN!? TJ (@TJLavin) returns to the podcast for the first time in almost a year with a ton of new material to unpack. He tells Derrick (@DerrickMTV) and Scott (@SHOTOFYAGER) what fans can expect from the upcoming season, without giv...

Derrick Kosinski & Scott Yager are joined by Susie Meister to reveal the Challenge Mania Awards nominees. Our good friend Dr. Susie Meister (@Susie_Meister) of the Brain Candy Podcast (@BrainCandyPod) joins us to go through all of the nominees for the first ever Challenge Mania Awards. We use the nominations as a blueprint for discussing the entire year of The Challenge with Susie, who watches eve...

Derrick Kosinski & Scott Yager are joined by Kayleigh Morris. Kayleigh Morris (@KMorrisX) was one of the many TV stars from the UK to migrate over to The Challenge on Vendettas. Although her initial season was short-lived, she more than made her mark on The Final Reckoning, where she and Kam came a few eliminations away from the final and their chance at a million dollars. Kayleigh joins Derrick (...

Derrick Kosinski & Scott Yager are joined by Nehemiah Clark. Challenge champion Nehemiah Clark (@NehemiahMTV) drops by the show to tell Derrick (@DerrickMTV) and Scott (@SHOTOFYAGER) what he's been up to since his final Challenge season, Rivals. He talks about how his faith was portrayed on the show, what the story was with him and Beth, who he'd want to play with today, whether he's looking to co...

Derrick Kosinski & Scott Yager are joined by Tori Hall. Tori Hall (@ToriFiorenza) is a two-time Challenge Champion. She joins Derrick (@DerrickMTV) and Scott (@SHOTOFYAGER) to talk about how she got started on Road Rules, why her season, Viewers Revenge, should not be considered an actual season, what memories she has of her time on The Challenge, why she and her then husband Brad walked away from...

Derrick Kosinski & Scott Yager are joined by Jasmine Reynaud. Jasmine was always a fan favorite since her big personality made her stand out on her debut season of Real World: Cancun. She has remained a favorite of Challenge fans over the years with her commentary on social media. Now a mother of two, Jasmine still keeps up with the show, and as she tells Derrick (@DerrickMTV) and Scott (@SHOTOFYA...

Derrick Kosinski & Scott Yager are once again joined by the newly engaged Tony Raines. Normally we wouldn't have a guest on so soon after their last appearance. Unless they're Cara Maria. Just kidding. But in all seriousness, Tony popped the biggest question of his life when he proposed to his then girlfriend, now fiancé, Alyssa Giacone, at The Final Reckoning Reunion. Now, this was taped back in...

Derrick Kosinski & Scott Yager are joined by Faith Stowers. Faith Stowers (@FaithStowers) made her way onto her rookie season of The Challenge this year by way of Vanderpump Rules and Ex on the Beach. She drops by Challenge Mania to tell Derrick (@DerrickMTV) and Scott (@SHOTOFYAGER) how she went from serving in the military to a career on Bravo and MTV. She tells us how one gets on Vanderpump Rul...

Derrick Kosinski & Scott Yager celebrate Challenge Mania's One Year Anniversary with multiple guests! It's been exactly one year since we posted our first episode of Challenge Mania. This is our 86th episode in that span and that does not even include all of the bonus content over at www. Patreon.com/ChallengeMania In this special episode, we talk about the Final Reckoning reunion, and Derrick (@D...

Derrick Kosinski & Scott Yager break down The Final Reckoning Finale! No guest today! For those of you asking for our initial thoughts on last week's BONKERS finale, here they are! The season that started in early July has finally come to a close, and a controversial close at that. Even though Scott (@SHOTOFYAGER) is in New Zealand, he couldn't resist hooking up with Derrick (@DerrickMTV) to begin...

Derrick Kosinski & Scott Yager are joined by Adam King. Adam King (@AdamKingMTV) joins Derrick (@DerrickMTV) and Scott (@SHOTOFYAGER) to discuss his time on the Challenge, why he feels bad about his performance Rivals, whether he still watches the show, why he wants back on and what music mogul is currently his boss. Poshmark is giving users $5 off their first purchase with the code CHALLENGEMANIA...