MTV’s The Challenge Season 38 final proved the game isn’t for the faint of heart. Olivia Kaiser faced a life-threatening injury during the final, taking her and her partner, Horacio Gutiérrez, out of the running for the big money. Could the near-fatal injury cause The Challenge to get canceled?
[Spoiler alert: The Challenge Season 38 spoilers ahead regarding the final.]
MTV’s ‘The Challenge’ Season 38 final showed a grueling injury for Olivia Kaiser
The Challenge Season 38, Ride or Dies, brought rookie players Olivia Kaiser and Horacio Gutiérrez to the forefront. Olivia and Horacio dominated all season long, and they were the only rookie pairing to make it to the final. While they had a promising start, Olivia faced two significant injuries, one threatening her life.
The first injury involved her finger getting snagged in a carabiner. “My finger slid under the clip and as I threw it, it dug into my finger and ripped the top of my finger off,” she told Variety. “The nerve was coming out and hanging — a little, white nerve. I thought I broke it because it hit my bone.”
The second injury happened after she attempted to hit a target with a golf ball in a slingshot. The slingshot slung the golf ball back into her face, fracturing her face in five places.
“I thought my teeth were knocked out because the impact was so hard,” she said. “It felt like my nose was literally off my face, crooked. I remember popping my nose back a bit into place because it felt it off, so I kind of crunched it back.”
Could ‘The Challenge’ get canceled after the injury?
Olivia Kaiser’s freak accident in MTV’s The Challenge Season 38 points to a more outstanding issue with the show. The network is trying to up the ante for each final — but that also potentially means putting the contestants in more dangerous situations. In the past, producers admitted to cutting the finals shorter because of the dangers at play.
“It was dangerous,” contestant Jenny West said of The Challenge: Total Madness final. “It was too dangerous for us to go because they wouldn’t be able to see us if something happened. We just had to wait. It ended up being a bit shorter than it was supposed to be. But I don’t really know how anyone could’ve gone on much longer.”
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Even with Olivia’s injury, it’s doubtful MTV will cancel the show. The Challenge brings in significant viewership for the network, and the show’s had more than its fair share of scandals in the past already. Unfortunately, injuries are common, and they’ll likely happen again.
Fans want to see Olivia Kaiser and Horacio Gutiérrez return
Olivia Kaiser and Horacio Gutiérrez’s memorable performance on The Challenge Season 38 makes fans want to see them again. Unfortunately, some fans think Horacio might not bring enough drama to the game.
“Olivia is a shoo-in to return,” a fan wrote on Reddit. “I’m a big Horacio fan also but I can see him getting the Jenny West treatment because he doesn’t bring enough drama. Production seems to only love great athletes who bring drama or poor athletes who bring drama.”
Others think Horacio’s fantastic edit proves production wants him back.
“Also the airing of the EXECUTIVE PRODUCER coddling him after his DQ made me think they reallllly like him personally,” another fan wrote.
The Challenge Season 38 airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on MTV.
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