To reality TV enthusiast, the name Johnny “Johnny Bananas” Devenanzio in spoken in either hushed tones or with an exaggerated groan. Love him or hate him, he is an institution in the genre. With 7 wins on MTV’s long-running reality competition series, The Challenge, Bananas has established himself as a fierce competitor and shrewd strategist. After coming in second place on E!’s House Of Villains, Bananas was ready to prove himself against a new batch of reality all-stars on Peacock’s The Traitors Season 2. Unfortunately, he never really had the chance.
After beast-ing the first mission with his fellow The Challenge legend, Chris “CT” Tamburello, Bananas felt safe enough. Why would the (arguably) strongest physical competitor in the house have to go for a shield to protect himself? Wouldn’t it be smarter for the Traitors to keep him around a bit to earn money for the prize pot? You’d think so, but no. Instead, Traitors Dan Gheesling (Big Brother) and Phaedra Parks (Married To Medicine, Real Housewives Of Atlanta) chose to murder him the very first chance they got.
“I’m used to this, alright?” Bananas said to DECIDER during a recent press day for The Traitors Season 2. “I carry a reputation along with me, and that is of someone who I guess needs to be gotten rid of,” he lamented. “Apparently, the Traitors got that memo.” Frankly, it’s a shame that Bananas was murdered first. Eliminating the Faithfuls who don’t play a scared game early is detrimental to the show and a disservice to its audience. However, producers anticipated that particular wrinkle because shields were introduced this season.
Could Bananas have avoided his fate by lying low during the few first days? Bananas argues that it wouldn’t have helped. “A certain person, whose names rhymes with Dan Sheesling, saw me as an existential threat to his existence in this world.” When asked about his strategy, Bananas said his plan “was to go in like a kamikaze and cause as much chaos as I possibly could.” He had a feeling that if he wasn’t chosen as a Traitor, he would “probably be getting sent home very early.” Instead of begging for his life, Bananas had other plans: “I wanted to make as big of an impression as I could while I was there, and I think I did that.”
In fact, he thinks more of the Faithfuls should have followed his lead. “We know we’re there to play a game,” Bananas began. “In my head I was like, ‘but we’re also here to make good TV.’” He thinks his fellow Faithful believed he was “playing the game the wrong way” because he wasn’t “hiding in the corners and not saying anything and whispering in the shadows.” Bananas shrugged and continued: “It’s like, guys, no one’s going to watch this if that’s all you’re doing.”
During our conversation, Bananas continued to call out the Traitors who murdered him, specifically Gheesling, who eliminated Bananas even though he was not a threat to the game. Bananas theorized: “They were threatened by anyone who was fun and entertaining and had a personality and made good TV.” He believes Gheesling’s motive was “to get rid of anybody that [he] felt like was going to interfere with [his] camera time or storyline or attention.”
That all being said, Bananas would love another chance to be on The Traitors. “I’d like to get another shot, to be honest,” he admitted. “I don’t feel like I was murdered because it was smart strategy,” Bananas explained. “I think I was murdered because there was a lot of jealousy and envy involved.” “That’s not the way the game should be played,” he stated firmly. Even though his time on Peacock’s Emmy-winning reality show might be over (and that’s a shame), we have no doubt that Bananas will be back on our screens very, very soon.
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