The Challenge Season 40 features a star-studded cast of 40 competitors, including promising newcomers, former finalists, and multi-time winners.
However, not all former winners or MTV OGs could be included in the cast, and some were unhappy about this.
Fans have already mentioned major snubs such as Ashley “Millionaire” Mitchell, Zach Nichols, and Wes Bergmann.
Several other individuals are likely considered snubs by longtime Challenge viewers: Sarah Rice and Susie Meister.
Susie is amongst MTV’s OGs after appearing on one of the network’s early reality TV shows, Road Rules.
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From there, she competed in four seasons of The Challenge, reaching the final each time and winning twice.
She’s been away from the show for 14 years, and while she may have wanted to participate in Season 40, production decided not to include her in the cast.
Susie details getting called for the Season 40 cast
While on the Zach Nichols Podcast, Susie spoke about receiving a call for The Challenge: Battle of the Eras but not getting to participate in the show.
“Yes, I did get a call, and I’m so mad,” Susie told Zach and his co-host, Pierre Caball.
She blasted whoever called her, saying she chatted with “this bozo for like an hour” on the phone.
“And it’s as if she did not know my record,” Susie said, indicating she had to give her “resume” to whoever she spoke with.
“Did they just not want to put us together?” Susie’s friend, castmate, and podcast co-host, Sarah Rice, asked.
Zach said he believed that could’ve been the case with them not getting invited to the cast.
Susie confirmed she got the “interest call” and went through “a whole series of calls and interviews.”
She said some of the questions she got asked included who she wanted to play with, why she’d be good at it, and why she wanted to win.
“I was ready,” Susie shared in the podcast clip when asked if she would commit to filming an MTV season.
Susie initially appeared in 1998’s Road Rules: Down Under, the sixth season of MTV’s show. Her winning seasons of The Challenge were 2005’s The Gauntlet 2 and 2009’s The Ruins. Her elimination record stands at 4-0.
In 2023, fans voted Susie into the Challenge Mania Hall of Fame along with castmate Chris “CT” Tamburello.
Susie and Sarah are among the Season 40 snubs
Sarah, a former cast member of The Real World: Brooklyn, is also someone fans would love to see back on The Challenge.
Like Susie, Sarah is also a two-time winner of The Challenge. She reached five finals and is an impressive 6-2 in eliminations.
Her biggest win came alongside her ex-boyfriend Jordan Wiseley on Battle of the Exes 2. Her most memorable moment for many fans may have been her win with Johnny Bananas a season later on Rivals III.
That was when Bananas became one of reality TV’s significant villains. After winning the final, the Real World star kept all the prize money for himself rather than splitting it with his partner. It was a shocking moment on The Challenge, with Sarah stunned by Bananas’ decision and in tears.
The Challenge Season 40, also known as Battle of the Eras, features four teams of 10 competitors grouped by the eras of MTV’s 39 seasons they appeared in.
Viewers will see Sarah and Susie’s former castmate, Bananas, on the Era 2 team. Bananas is the winningest cast member in the show’s history, and two of his wins included Sarah and Susie also winning.
Meanwhile, an Era 1 team features many of MTV’s OGs, including multi-time champions Derrick Kosinski, CT, Mark Long, Darrell Taylor, Jodi Weatherton, and Rachel Robinson.
Also on the team are non-Challenge winners Aneesa Ferreira, Katie Cooley, and Tina Barta, who all appeared in various seasons of The Challenge: All Stars spinoff.
Viewers saw Susie and Sarah on multiple seasons with all of these stars, and it’s unclear why production chose other individuals for the cast before them.
The Challenge: Battle of the Eras premieres Wednesday, August 14 at 8/7c on MTV.