And then there were 10. On Wednesday’s (December 4) new The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras episode, “Thinking Thin Era,” the remaining 11 contestants had to do a little cave-diving for the daily challenge called “Tight Quarters.”
While some contestants struggled to fit through the cramp cavern holes and bat away real-life bats, Aviv Bruno (nee Melmed) got completely lost after going through a barrier, earning her last place. Her fellow targets? Jenny West and Michele Fitzgerald… the latter of whom was all but guaranteed a bye thanks to her friendship with the daily winner Kyland Young. That meant Aviv and Jenny — both members of the “Johnny’s Angels” alliance alongside Johnny Bananas and Rachel Robinson — had to compete against each other to stay in the house. And unfortunately for Aviv, Jenny had a lot more luck throwing a heavy ball outside of the cage they were in and clenched the victory.
So how did Aviv feel about coming back to The Challenge, almost 20 years after winning on “Fresh Meat,” and how was it reuniting with Darrell Taylor? And what exactly was going on with the “Johnny’s Angels” alliance and all of those foot rubs? TV Insider caught up with her to find out.
How did it work out that you came back after all of these years?
Aviv Bruno: I didn’t really get called back after my first season, and I just went on with like normal life for the last 18 years — had a family, corporate world, the same old hamster wheel story that we all have. And then I reconnected with some people through Derrick [Kosinski] and Scott [Yager] with Challenge Mania, and they reconnected me with some friends. And then casting got my number back, and before you know it, I’m on the show again. So totally random. All things aligned at the right time.
Had you been keeping up with the show after “Fresh Meat”?
I did not. I know! I was like, “Oh my God, it’s 40 seasons. I can’t even catch up if I want to.”
What about with Darrell? Had you guys kept up with each other, and what was your reunion like with him?
Ryan Kehoe and I kept in touch for probably years after, but a lot of the people that I kept in touch with was mostly via social media and it was like, “Oh, your family picture is so cute… Your kids are so big!” That kind of stuff. That was sort of the level Darrell and I had kept in touch until I had surprised him at an event that Scott and Derrick did, which was really fun. And it was the first time him and I had seen each other in like 18 years. So that was awesome. And that was probably six months before the show, maybe even eight months. It was fun. I mean, we had a lot to catch up on, but there’s always a special place I think for that person that you go through an experience like that with, someone on a team and then you end up winning and you really have this unspoken bond, just from that experience. So that was really cool and it was really cool to be able to play with him after all these years.
Do you think that if he had been able to stay longer that maybe you guys would have been in an alliance?
Yeah, I think so. I mean, look, you never know how the game is going to go. This is what I remembered, right? It’s like there’s so many “What if?”s. There’s so many variables. I don’t think we weren’t working together. It just was not at a point in time where I was going to formalize anything. And frankly, even when “Bananas’ Angels” got formalized, I was trying to hold off as long as I could on sort of formalizing because the game keeps changing. So I don’t think Darrell and I would have ever worked necessarily against each other, and I could definitely see us working together if we would have both continued on the path together. I think Darrell and I make a really good team. So he’s someone I would have loved to work with for longer.
You mentioned “Johnny’s Angels.” How did that alliance become a thing? And what’s with the feet?
[Laughs.] Well, you’ll have to ask Johnny what’s with the feet because I don’t understand someone that has a foot fetish because I’m still trying to make sense of it and also why it’s sexualized because I think feet are weird. And also I’m like a runner. So I think I have disgusting feet, but whatever, if I can make money off of them, I’m all for it. I’m like, “Someone tell me all about this underground thing that I know nothing about. This is insane.” And also I would totally be able to do this as a mom.
So how did it start? So Jenny and I became friends separately. Obviously, Jenny and Johnny were friends, which I came to find out later in the game. And then Rachel and I became really close as I was friends with her friends, so to speak, in Era 1. And then obviously, she was the last one left, and her and I have so much in common that we became friends. So I sort of became friends with them all individually, Johnny and I were on a team together from the beginning, and we had just been working together, and then as people dwindled, it was like, “Well, if he is still here…” And I just think him and I got along pretty early on, and we just were both there. Our friendship just grew, and then Jenny and Johnny were already friends, and then it really got formalized when Rachel had said in one of her interviews she had branded us “Bananas’ Angels,” and then that got out to the house, and then everyone had a field day with that. So really, I think we were all just friends individually and then we started all kind of coming together, and we were all on one side of the house at that point in the game, too. We’re spending a lot of time together.
Do you think that’s what made Cory [Wharton] target you?
So Cory had already targeted me twice. And so number one, once you target someone, I think it’s a little bit easier to target them again because… this is sort of the way I look at the psychology behind it. He already knows that if I have to choose a target, I’m probably gonna choose him because I can be like, “Hey, dude, you put me in.” Right? So he’d already done it twice. So, number one, it’s way easier to do it the last time. But number two, I do think had I maybe talked to him… I really didn’t have any formal conversations with him. But the reality was I was never going to choose him over Johnny. And so even if I would have—and I’m not one to lie. So I wouldn’t have promised that and he would have known it was a lie anyway. So I don’t know that there’s anything I really could have done. And Cara and him were like the last two people left without someone. So it really made sense for them to be each other’s number one because no one else was gonna put Cara number one, and no one else was gonna put Cory number one. So, I don’t know, I’ve replayed it a couple of times, but I think at that point, the cards are what the cards are.
MTV
Moving on to the challenge itself, the prediction was that it was going to be good for you because you’re small and the tunnels were small. Was that part true? And then were you surprised that production let you go so far off course?
I don’t think they knew or I don’t think they realized I was lost. I don’t know. I was like, “Is there GPS in this microphone?” Some of them see me like there’s so many bottles, and, I mean, there were things under my feet … I was just trying not to have a panic attack. Yeah, it was definitely designed for me. So that’s the part that’s the most upsetting because it’s like, I made a mistake. That was sort of a rookie mistake, if you will.
When I talk to other challengers, they’re like, “That’s your inexperience with The Challenge because if you ever have any doubts — you shouldn’t have any doubts.” And the thing is that there were no sticks up or anything. I did feel a stick or something on the ground, but I didn’t know if the tunnels were all supposed to be empty or if there was stuff. I mean, what I should have done is turned around… but I was coming in with a penalty, an injured foot, I’d been there way too long mentally. And I think I just let it get the best of me. And I was just going so fast, and that is something that I do. I usually put 150 percent in. And the problem is when you only have one speed, and you’re going 150 percent, sometimes you make those mistakes like that. It can be a great benefit at times, but it also can hinder my performance in times. And that’s just something that over the years I’ve been working on, and it’s something that this experience will — hopefully the next time I’ll remember that. It’s like, “Take a breath, slow down, and take a second. You’re not gonna lose because of the second that you take to make a lot more logical decision.” But yeah, it was totally designed for me. I totally screwed it up.
So maybe I’m reading between the lines here, but are you saying you want to come back and do more Challenges in the future?
At this point in time, I would. I think it’s probably not realistic long-term with how long it is and having the kids and work-wise, but I’m in a place right now where I could potentially do maybe another one or two, and I had a great time, and I feel like this was my practice run. So I’d love another stab at it.
With the arena, you mentioned speed, but do you think you also had a size disadvantage with Jenny?
Yeah, I mean, I’ve thought about like a million things. “What could I have done differently?” I mean, I even thought about, “Should I have climbed the cage?” I think anything physical, you know, I don’t like to talk about advantages and disadvantages because I’d like to think my mentality is more like, “Okay, great. How do you overcome it?” But I have thought that one through a lot and I’m really fast, but it was very close. I mean, it was probably 1.5 steps for me and a step for her because of her size. And then frankly she’s so strong that it was very difficult for me to get in a position even between her and the ball or get the ball from her… She’s my friend, and I’m still thinking, replaying this in my head. I literally was like, “Could I have climbed the cage and just jumped on her?”
Have you and your “Johnny’s Angels” alliance members kept up since The Challenge ended filming?
Yeah, we have. I happened to move to Florida not long after we filmed, which was just unexpected actually for my husband’s job. And so now I see Johnny and Rachel probably way too much. And Jenny’s obviously in the U.K., but we talk on the phone and WhatsApp and whatever. So we’ve definitely kept in touch, and I’m very grateful because we really did — I think it will be interesting to see if people really see it, but I do feel like there was so much love between the four of us that transcended beyond the show, and I don’t know if that happens every season for people because obviously you have trauma bonding. And sometimes it’s real and sometimes it’s not. So yeah we’ve all done a great job, I think, of keeping in touch.
What did it mean to you that you made it to the Top 11 in a 40-person, basically all-star contestants Challenge?
You know, when I left the house, I told my husband — because I had 10 days’ notice — I was like, “Don’t worry, babe, it’s probably gonna be like 2, 3 weeks… I’m just gonna try to make it three weeks. I don’t really want to be out like the first or second week…” And every week would go by and I was like, “What the hell, how am I still here?” It meant a lot to me. I think for me winning the first one when I was so young and then not having an opportunity to come back and then coming back… And I don’t even think I knew, because I didn’t keep up with the show — I obviously saw how strong the women were, and how good they were competing. I’m still sort of understanding, grasping that these were like kind of the top people, if you will, for all these years. So, one, how amazing that I got the opportunity to do that; and two, to get the opportunity and then make it that far after not doing it for so long. Yeah, it’s awesome. I mean, it feels good. I’m proud. I had a lot of fun.
And I think for me, there was a bit of closure of like, “You deserve to be there. Maybe not ‘deserved’ in the sense of, you weren’t an anchor in the show, but there’s a reason you were on The Challenge all those years ago. There’s a reason you won, and you could still compete.” There was even a reality check of that for me of like this fire inside, you feel alive. And I haven’t felt that in a long time just because I’m in the hamster wheel with my family. I’m clearly not doing adrenaline-rushing activities every day. So it was really cool.
The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras, Wednesdays, 8/7c, MTV