CBS to create a global Challenge franchise

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The Challenge Heads to CBS with Global Tournament Featuring 'Reality Titans'

Winners of Argentinian, Australian and U.K. versions of The Challenge will face off on The Challenge: War of the Worlds — plus The Challenge will air on CBS for the first time this summer

By Dana Rose Falcone
February 15, 2022 05:26 PM

ViacomCBS announced Tuesday that, for the first time, a version of the hit MTV reality competition series will premiere on CBS this summer as part of a global two-part tournament. "Reality titans from the CBS universe will compete in the most unpredictable and demanding game of their lives. With an ever-changing game, players will be in a constant state of paranoia and unable to trust anyone but themselves," the description reads.

The CBS winner will advance to The Challenge: War of the Worlds, where they'll take on the champions of The Challenge: Argentina, The Challenge: Australia, The Challenge: U.K. on Paramount+.

The winner will be named the first Challenge world champion.

Whether or not regular players of The Challenge, including champs and fan favorites like CT Tamburello, Cara Maria Sorbello and Johnny "Bananas" Devenanzio, will be part of the new series has yet to be announced.

Two previous War of the Worlds seasons of the competition series have aired on MTV and saw reality stars from shows around the world face off against U.S. vets and newcomers.

Turabi "Turbo" Çamkıran from Survivor Turkey won the first War of the Worlds, season 33, while a team consisting of Tamburello, Dee Nguyen, Rogan O'Connor and Jordan Wiseley split the grand prize of the second War of the Worlds the following season.

MTV has since aired three additional seasons of The Challenge. Most recently, Tamburello, 41, and Big Brother alum Kaycee Clark won season 37, Spies, Lies & Allies.

Paramount revealed Tuesday that The Challenge: All Stars will be back for a third season on Paramount+. The latest installment will feature 24 Challengers and premieres on May 11.

Jonna Mannion and her partner M.J. Garrett won the latest All Stars season, giving them their first and second championship wins, respectively.

All Stars originated with vet Mark Long, who came up with the idea for longtime fan favorites to return to The Challenge and put their mental and physical strength to the test once more. He launched a social media campaign to gauge interest among both fans and competitors.

In April 2021, All Stars — an homage to the name of the first season of Road Rules that premiered in 1998 — launched on Paramount+.

"I'm pinching myself every day," Long, 50, previously told PEOPLE of getting the show off the ground. "It's pretty crazy. And I think that just shows you how relevant the genre is and how people are just yearning for that nostalgia."

In other announcements from Tuesday's Investors event, Paramount+ will be launching its third season of The Real World Homecoming — this time reuniting the cast of 2000's The Real World: New Orleans — in April. The first two installments brought the casts of the first two seasons of the original reality series back together; both seasons are streaming in full on Paramount+.

In February 2022, a new series of seasons collectively titled "War of the Worlds" series was announced to air later in the year. The series will comprise four new editions of The Challenge – three new international versions for Australia, Argentina, the UK as well a new American edition set to air on CBS with CBS reality show alumni. All editions of the series will air locally on a Paramount affiliated network and be available globally to stream on Paramount+.

This will follow with a fifth season in which winners will compete again on another season titled The Challenge: War of the Worlds which will air exclusively on Paramount+.[17][18][19]

Reality series The Challenge: War of the Worlds , launches on four continents in June. ViacomCBS aims to test a key component of its streaming strategy – using localised content on broadcast TV to attract subscribers to its Paramount+ streaming service, an executive with the entertainment conglomerate told Reuters.

The media giant is launching four versions of the show and airing them on its broadcast TV networks in the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom and Argentina, and streaming episodes on Paramount+ globally the following day.

Winners from four new Challenge series (The Challenge: CBS (working title), The Challenge: Argentina, The Challenge: Australia, and The Challenge: U.K.) will advance to the global tournament, The Challenge: War of the Worlds, and battle for the first-ever title as the Challenge World Champ