After a surprise appearance on The Challenge: Battle of the Bloodlines , Chris “CT” Tamburello is set to return to MTV’s reality competition in a big way. Not only is CT back to compete against other champions and underdogs on The Challenge: Invasion of the Champions , but he’s also prepared to honor his longtime love Diem Brown one more time.
CT sat down with Screener TV and discussed his return to The Challenge . When asked if he was willing to appear in another season, CT admitted that his brief cameo last year was more fun than he had anticipated.
“I’ll be honest with you … after I did the challenge with (Diem’s sister) Faith, it was awesome. But to then do the elimination, to get right back in the mix, where it’s just about the competition? I’m not gonna lie. I’m not gonna sit here and pretend I don’t miss it,” CT shared. “It was fun! You don’t realize you miss it until you’re back in The Pit. And why not go back to Never Never Land? Where I can be kid again, because that’s what it like! It’s like Peter Pan land.”
CT made an inspiring appearance last season to honor Diem’s passing. According to MTV , CT never thought he’d enter the world of reality TV ever again. Diem’s death, however, made him realize that he needed a sense of closure.
“I felt some sort of sense of closure – not just for me,” he explained. “Not to move on, but to move forward — with everybody online and the support from everybody and from everyone who has followed D and me. People watched us grow – watched her grow, watched me grow, watched us grow.”
That being said, CT also admitted that he was glad that he didn’t have to stay in the house with the rest of The Challenge contestants. Instead, he was able to make a few appearances and leave without stirring up too much drama.
“No. I didn’t want to do that,” he said. “The last thing you want to do is talk to (the actual competitors) because now it’s getting down to the dirty, where you’re no longer friends. They were like, ‘Are you sure you don’t wanna go? Zack’s going!’ I was like, ‘No, that’s enough for me.’ I didn’t wanna go there and have Vinnie slamming shots down my throat…”
CT joins a cast of former champions who are pitted against a set of underdogs, none of whom have ever won the competition. All of the contests are fighting for a part of the $350,000 prize, and MTV asked CT about a moment where he felt like a true underdog .
“It was my first Challenge, the Inferno,” CT recalled. “Trying to prove yourself with people that are already there and established, and they have friendships — it’s hard to break through that rookie situation.”
Of course, CT has some stiff competition this year. According to Hollywood Life , there will be eight former champions battling against eighteen underdogs. The champions include the likes of Ashley K ( Real World: San Diego ), Johnny “Bananas” ( Real World: Key West ), Cara Maria ( Fresh Meat 2 ), Camila ( Spring Break Challenge ), Darrell ( Road Rules: Campus Crawl ), Zach ( Real World: San Diego ) and Laurel ( Fresh Meat 2 ).
Although CT has participated in 12 seasons and won one, other champions have won multiple times. In fact, Darrell has taken home four victories while Johnny Bananas has won six, including last year’s grand prize. There’s no telling how CT will stack up to the competition, but it’s great to see him back at it following Diem’s passing.
Fans can watch CT fight to win it all when The Challenge: Invasion of the Champions premieres February 7 on MTV.
[Featured Image by MTV]