The Challenge star Wes Bergmann weighs in on Season 40 living conditions despite not being there

Despite not being part of The Challenge Season 40 cast, Wes Bergmann remains a prominent figure in the show’s history. He announced his retirement on the spinoff, CBS’ The Challenge: USA 2, making his absence from the Season 40 cast noticeable. Many consider Wes to be one of the biggest omissions from the cast, even though he had already declared his retirement. His impact on the show is so significant that even his former rival Johnny Bananas wished he could join them for Battle of the Eras.

As some cast members shared their experiences before the new season’s premiere, it became clear that Season 40 didn’t provide the best conditions for its cast. Wes took to Twitter to address the cast members’ complaints about the treatment and filming conditions. 

“But wait, they treated the cast like s***!” Wes tweeted with a silly face emoji. “The show is called The Challenge. It’s in the title. If you ever complain about living conditions when on a show called The Challenge, you need to clout chase on another channel,” he added.

In a follow-up tweet, Wes highlighted the challenges of filming a show in a different location each season, hinting at another reality TV show that consistently films in Fiji. 

“Do you know how hard it is to change countries almost every season whilst feeding/housing 40 cast members and over 100 production staff? Some stuff will break and fall through the cracks. Trust me, if we filmed in the exact location in Fiji every single season, it would be smoother,” he tweeted.

Previous seasons of The Challenge, like Total Madness, also featured tough filming conditions. Johnny Bananas frequently recalls living in terrible conditions in an underground bunker in the Czech Republic. 

Jordan Wiseley also shared his thoughts on the rough conditions for the Season 40 cast, releasing a video addressing a misconception that cast members simply work out all the time to stay in shape. 

“We are treated like s***. We sleep like s***. We are fed like s***. Our schedules are dog s***,” Jordan stated.

More Season 40 stars hint at rough conditions on The Challenge: Battle of the Eras

Theo Campbell also shared his experience, tweeting, “The promo for the challenge sums up how the whole show was for us in terms of production not giving a f,” accompanied by a laughing emoji. 

Around the time The Challenge released official cast photos and the first promos for Season 40, former finalist Horacio Gutierrez hinted that his third season on the show might be his last. It is not known exactly why he chose to say it was his last Challenge, but he does compete on other reality shows like Exatlón All-Stars.

Although Wes claims he is retired, his buddy Bananas seems to disagree.

Speaking to US Weekly ahead of the premiere of Season 40, Bananas clarified that Wes isn’t retired but is “taking a hiatus” from appearing on The Challenge. 

“Wes isn’t going anywhere. He just needs to get his mojo back. Wes currently has an APB out for his mojo because he lost it,” he remarked. “How do you have a Battle of the Eras and all this era representation without Wes? You know what I mean? He’s been doing it for longer than I have.”

Fans can catch Bananas, but not Wes, when The Challenge Season 40 premieres August 14 on MTV.