Paulie Calafiore Claims Johnny Bananas Tried To Get Him Banned From ‘The Challenge’
Paulie Calafiore of Big Brother and The Challenge fame is making a strong claim against MTV personality Johnny Bananas, saying the 1st Look host tried to get him banned from the reality competition show for two seasons. Paulie first joined The Challenge franchise on Season 32 (Final Reckoning), the closing to the Dirty Thirty trilogy.
Even in his rookie season, Paulie began making waves as a top competitor and for sparking a romance with Cara Maria Sorbello, who is also synonymous with The Challenge. A friendship could not be sparked between Paulie and Bananas, however, and the duo have been at each other’s throats for three seasons now.
In the comments section of an Instagram post, Paulie noted that Bananas tried to get him banned from War of the Worlds and War of the Worlds 2. PeopleTV caught up with Paulie to see why he made those claims against Bananas, and they appear to be for two different reasons.
“After Final Reckoning, he had gone and said just because I rushed the stage at Zack, and at Kyle, and at Brad… he said I make the guys in the house feel uncomfortable.”
Paulie went on to explain he had also run into Bananas when they were not shooting while in New York, and claimed that if he did not receive respect from the Challenge champion, he was going to end his career on the show.
According to Paulie, Bananas felt that the threat was physical. The Big Brother 18 alum explained he only meant he would be booting Bananas from future seasons of The Challenge early. Paulie continued to say he wasn’t looking for respect in the game necessarily, but outside of the house, man-to-man, and he still hasn’t gotten that yet. These comments probed Bananas to try and ban the rookie from the original War of the Worlds.
As for War of the Worlds 2, Bananas allegedly tried to ban Paulie because of the cheating scandal that happened offscreen between Cara Maria and himself. Cara Maria and Paulie were able to work through their issues and are still together today, and Bananas was unsuccessful again in keeping his enemy off the show. Cara Maria and Bananas have been at odds for several seasons now as well, as The Inquisitr previously reported.
Bananas has not commented on Paulie’s claims on social media at this time. The NBC host has said in the past, however, that many castmembers have accused him of having a say in the production of the show when he does not whatsoever.
To see more drama unfold between Paulie and Bananas, check out War of the Worlds 2 every Wednesday night at 9 p.m. ET on MTV.