The Challenge: Battle for a New Champion

The Challenge: Battle for a New Champion is the thirty-ninth season of the MTV reality competition series The Challenge, featuring alumni from The Challenge, Are You the One? (U.S.), Big Brother (UK and U.S.), Ex on the Beach (UK and U.S.), Survivor (Romania, Turkey and U.S.), Love Island (U.S.), So You Think You Can Dance, The Mole Germany, Exatlón Estados Unidos, Ibiza Weekender, The Bachelor & The Bachelorette (Australia), 12 Dates of Christmas, The Circle (U.S.), The Only Way Is Essex, Shipwrecked, and The Royal World competing for a share at up to a $500,000 prize.
The season premiered on October 25, 2023 with a simulcast on MTV2, preceded by a launch special titled "Countdown Begins" which aired on October 18, 2023.
Battle for a New Champion features 24 contestants who have previously competed on The Challenge but have not won a season. The season's prize pot starts at $300,000, however, money can be earned or lost based on the outcomes of certain challenges and eliminations throughout the season.
The season has three formats (or "phases") called Control, Chaos, and Conquest.
After all three phases, the final seven contestants compete in the Final Challenge to determine the champion of the season.
Although not in contention to win the season, ten champions of The Challenge appeared during the season to compete in elimination rounds against contestants and win a cash prize.
The Challengers are first brought to the Arena where they must figure out that they must team up to complete a series of puzzles in order to unlock cots, food, and alcohol for an overnight stay in the Arena.
The final seven contestants compete in the Final Challenge which has three phases – Control, Chaos and Conquest – mirroring the phases of the season.
For the Control phase, players work as a group to complete a challenge. If they are successful, the prize pot remains at $356,000; otherwise, the pot is reduced by $16,000. Afterwards, contestants vote for one player (of either gender) to compete in an elimination. The player who receives the most votes then calls out any player as their opponent.
For the Chaos Phase, players compete in a challenge where winner earns the power to select one contestant to compete in an elimination. The selected contestant then participates in the Draw by selecting between six covered poles to determine their opponent in the elimination. Four of the poles contain the names of the non-immune finalists while two poles allow the selected player to choose any player as their opponent.
For the Conquest Phase, players complete the Conquest Challenge which consists of three checkpoints. The first player to finish all three checkpoints and cross the finish line is declared the winner of Battle for a New Champion and receives $250,000 from the prize pot; second place receives $60,000; third place receives $30,000.
Bold indicates the contestant was selected in the Draw to compete against a champion in the Arena.
Color key:
Episodes 5-14: Chaos Phase Each challenge is played in pairs or in teams. For paired challenges, teams are randomly selected. For team challenges, teams are randomly selected or determined based on where contestants are standing. Episodes 18-19: Final ChallengeThroughout the Chaos portion of the Final Challenge, players were required to play with a teammate throughout the five checkpoints. Teams were selected randomly by TJ.
The two-part reunion special aired on February 28 and March 6, 2024 and was hosted by entertainment personality Maria Menounos. Cast members attended in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
The season received a nomination for GLAAD Media Award in the "Outstanding Reality Competition Program" category at the 35th GLAAD Media Awards.