‘The Challenge’ Recap: Bananas Gets His Wish as Michele and Olivia Go Head-to-Head in Elimination

Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio continued his revenge against Devin Walker’s allies on episode 13 of The Challenge season 40. Best friends Michele Fitzgerald and Olivia Kaiser – who have been working in the alliance against Johnny’s – were forced to face each other in an elimination during the Wednesday, November 13, episode.

Who Won the Daily Challenge on ‘The Challenge’ Season 40, Episode 13?

This week’s daily challenge required the players to race through muddy obstacles to retrieve puzzle pieces, then complete the pyramid puzzle in the fastest time. Michele, 34, was given a one-minute time penalty because she came in last place at the previous daily challenge.

Jordan Wiseley won the challenge for the men, while Cory Wharton was the male loser, earning him a penalty in the next challenge. Cara Maria Sorbello won for the ladies, while Michele came in last place once again.

As the winner of the last elimination challenge, Johnny, 42, previously chose Cara, 38, Michele and Olivia, 32, as this week’s targets. Since Cara won the daily, she was safe from elimination. Meanwhile, as the loser, Michele was automatically headed into elimination, which left Olivia as the only remaining choice to be her opponent.

Normally, the winners of the daily challenge choose which target has to go into elimination against the loser. Jordan was relieved that the decision was made for him because it meant he didn’t have to burn any bridges with the targets.

What Happened Between Johnny Bananas and Aviv on ‘The Challenge’ Season 40?

On the bus ride home from the challenge, Michele aired her frustrations with Johnny by calling him out for seemingly playing footsies with married contestant Aviv Melmed. Johnny and Aviv, 40, became close friends this season after she became a member of his “Johnny’s Angels” alliance with Rachel Robinson, Laurel Stucky and Jenny West.

However, Bananas didn’t like that Michele was insinuating there was something more going on between him and Aviv. He went off on her for publicly calling out their playful behavior and drove an even bigger wedge between himself and the Survivor winner.

Meanwhile, Aviv also admittedly “didn’t appreciate” being brought into the drama. She calmly approached Michele and Olivia and told them that the comment felt “personal,” even though she knew that wasn’t the intention. “It’s like, that’s not what’s actually happening here,” she explained, confirming that her relationship with Johnny was strictly platonic.

Michele assured Aviv that this wasn’t about her and simply had to do with Johnny pushing her buttons until she reacted. She apologized for how things went down and made sure the women weren’t being pitted against each other. They ended the conversation on amicable terms.

Who Was Eliminated on ‘The Challenge’ Season 40, Episode 13?

In the elimination challenge, Michele and Olivia had to use metal rods to build a tall ladder that was suspended in the air. Once at the top of the structure, they released a bag of puzzle pieces that they had to unscramble to solve a word puzzle.

Olivia finished her ladder first, but Michele proved to be the crossword puzzle queen by quickly figuring out the mystery phrase. Olivia was eliminated, leaving Michele in tears. Before she left, she gave Michele – who was worried that she wouldn’t be able to continue without her best friend in the house – an encouraging pep talk.

Who Are the New Targets on ‘The Challenge’ Season 40 After Episode 13?

Michele was put back in a power position to choose the next three male targets. Jordan, 34, was the only person off the table, since he was the week’s challenge winner. Without hesitation, Michele chose Bananas as target No. 1. With Kyland Young being her closest ally in the house, that left Derek Chavez, Cory Wharton and Josh Martinez as the remaining options.

Josh, 30, was playing both sides and appeared to be showing a stronger allegiance to “Johnny’s Angels,” so Michele didn’t have a hard time picking him as a target. It was a harder choice between Cory, 33, and Derek, though. Earlier in the episode, Cory pled his case with Michele and assured her that she would be his No. 1 if she didn’t choose him as a target this week. However, Michele wanted to do Olivia one last favor before she left the game, and since Derek and Olivia were very close, she opted to save him instead of Cory.

This left Cory’s No. 1 female spot open, giving Cara Maria the opportunity to slide in following a previous conversation they had.