The Challenge: Battle of the Exes II
The Challenge: Battle of the Exes II is the 26th season of MTV's reality game show, "The Challenge", and the sequel to the show's 22nd season, "". Filming occurred in Pedasí, Panama and Ørsta, Norway in August and September 2014, with former cast members from MTV's "The Real World", "The Challenge", and "Are You the One?" competing. With "Are You the One?", this season marks the first to feature cast members from a show not produced by Bunim-Murray Productions. The season was dedicated to cast members Diem Brown and Ryan  Knight, both of whom died in November 2014, two months after filming ended. Brown was featured in an MTV special titled "We Heart Diem" that aired on December 9, 2014. A launch special, "EX-tra Baggage", hosted by T. J. Lavin and "Battle of the Exes" champion Camila Nakagawa, aired on December 30, 2014. The season premiered with a special 90 minutes episode on January 6, 2015, and concluded its run on March 24, 2015, with the Reunion and "The S... They Should've Shown" specials. Format. "Battle of the Exes II" follows the same format as the original "" challenge , with the following differences: Gameplay. Final challenge. The Final Challenge is a two-day race from a Norwegian fjord to the top of Mount Slogen. Prior to the start of the race, host T. J. Lavin explains that a team "must" complete the Final Challenge in order to get paid. To start, each team takes a helicopter ride, then will be dropped into the water, where they will have to swim to the shore to their first checkpoint, "Kayak The Fjord." Each team must kayak their way through the fjord, where they will change into their team uniforms, then sprint  to the third checkpoint, "Mind Games." Each team has 30 minutes to unscramble a five-word sentence with a pile of rocks marked with letters. (The five-word sentence is "You will respect the trolls.") The third checkpoint is "Don't Flip Your Lid," where each team has to flip a series of six cards with the Flag of Norway from the edge of a table into a series of six glasses filled with liquid fish eggs. Each team must consume one glass prior to flipping the cards. A team is required to consume a full glass for each time  that they fail to flip a card into the glass after three attempts. "(Note: Jay & Jenna were disqualified at this checkpoint, after Jay was unable to consume the liquid, leaving Jordan & Sarah and Leroy & Theresa as the only teams competing in the final.)" Each team then sprints to the fourth checkpoint, "Get Your Rocks Off," in which teams have 30 minutes to grab five rocks from a rockpile, and then toss the rocks from a distance into a bucket. Prior to this checkpoint, each team is required to consume a tube of liquid caviar. If players from each team misses , they must sprint back and continue the process of collecting rocks from the rockpile until they toss a total of five rocks into the bucket. The fifth checkpoint is a bicycle ride to the Slogen trailhead. The sixth checkpoint is a "Rest Stop," where teams must take their place either within their designated zone next to a campfire, or on top of their beds. On day two, the final race is a grueling climb to the top of Slogen, in which the first-place team wins $250,000 and the second-place team wins $70,000. Since Jordan & Sarah made  it to the rest stop first, they earned a five-minute headstart before Leroy & Theresa. Episodes. Reunion special. The Reunion special aired on March 24, 2015, after the season finale and was hosted by Zuri Hall. The cast members who attended the reunion were: Jordan, Sarah, Leroy, Theresa, Jay, Jenna, Bananas, Nany, Wes, Nia, Zach, and Jonna. Controversy. During episode 11, cast member Nia Moore was expelled from the competition after physically and verbally harassing fellow "The Real World: Portland" cast member, Jordan Wiseley. After the episode aired, Moore apologized to anyone offended by her words and actions, during an  interview with "MTV News". Dedications to Diem Brown and Ryan Knight. In November 2014, two months after filming ended, tragedy struck the "Battle of the Exes II" cast twice. On November 14, 2014, Diem Brown died at the age of 34, following a decade-long battle with cancer. Brown was diagnosed with cancer for a third time in June 2014, though she had kept this information private. Two months later, media reports indicated that she collapsed during filming of "Battle of the Exes II", and was subsequently airlifted to a New York-area hospital, where she was diagnosed with colorectal  cancer — her third cancer diagnosis since she made her "Challenge" debut on "" in 2006. On November 27, 2014, Ryan Knight was found dead at the age of 28, following a house party in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Four months later (March 2015), autopsy results determined that Knight died of acute mixed drug and alcohol intoxication. MTV dedicated this season of "The Challenge" to both Diem Brown and Ryan Knight.