Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Gauntlet

Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Gauntlet
Genre	Reality game show
Created by	Mary-Ellis Bunim Jonathan Murray
Presented by	Jonny Moseley
Starring	Winners Road Rules Team Adam Larson Cara Zavaleta Darrell Taylor David "Dave" Giuntoli Rachel Robinson Roni Martin Sarah Greyson Theo Vonkurnatowski Veronica Portillo
Opening theme	"It's" by Ill Kidd
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of episodes	16
Production
Production location(s)	Telluride, Colorado
Release
Original network	MTV
Original release	September 29, 2003 (2003-09-29) – January 26, 2004 (2004-01-26)
Chronology
Preceded by	Battle of the Sexes
Followed by	The Inferno
External links
Website

Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Gauntlet is the 7th season of the MTV reality game show, The Challenge (at the time known as Real World/Road Rules Challenge). The season is directly subsequent to Battle of the Sexes. The Gauntlet featured 28 castmates competing in missions with an immunity life-saver awarded to the best individual performer. Each team would then select a player from their team to go into the Gauntlet elimination challenge. This challenge was held in Telluride, Colorado. It was hosted by Jonny Moseley.

A casting special, Real World/Road Rules Corral: A Guide To The Gauntlet was aired on September 22, 2003. The season premiered one week later on September 29, 2003, and concluded on January 26, 2004, with the Reunion special. This is the first edition of the Gauntlet series, with The Gauntlet 2 following in 2005–2006 and The Gauntlet III following in 2008.

Cast

Host: 1998 Olympic gold medalist Jonny Moseley

Game summary

Gauntlet games

• Ride 'Em Cowboy: Two competitors would hold on to a mechanical bull with just one hand; whoever falls off first loses.
  • Played 3 Times: Katie vs. Montana, Rachel B. vs. Sarah, and Cara vs. Theo G.
• Dead Man's Drop: Two competitors are suspended 10 feet into the air on a pole. They then attempt to hold on to the pole by hanging upside down with their legs.
  • Played 4 Times: David vs. Sarah, Coral vs. Tina, Matt vs. Sarah, and Irulan vs. Sarah
• Hangman: Similar to Dead Man's Drop; competitors are still suspended 10 feet into the air, only they hang on the pole with their hands and are positioned right side up.
  • Played 1 Time: Katie vs. Rachel B.
• Perfect Fit: Two competitors first must jump into a pool and pick up their respective puzzle pieces (which are scattered about the pool). After getting their puzzle pieces, they then must make the puzzle.
  • Played 3 Times: Steve vs. Tonya, Steve vs. Trishelle, and Sarah vs. Trishelle
• Knock Your Block Off: Two competitors joust on a beam right above a pool. Whoever gets knocked off first loses.
  • Played 2 Times: Cara vs. Elka and Abram vs. Mike
• Pole Climb: Two competitors climb a 10-foot pole. Whoever gets to the top first pulls a lever that drops the opponent's pole into the pool.
  • Played 1 Time: Alton vs. Laterrian

Episodes

After filming

Instead of a reunion special, Battle Scars - From the Gauntlet to the Inferno, a follow-up special aired on January 26, 2004 introducing the next season, Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Inferno with commentary by few of this season's contestants.

Memorable moments

• Before the final challenge, Coral was bitten by a spider, resulting in an allergic reaction. After struggling, she quit, penalizing the already lagging Real World team. The Challenge crew stepped in when they noticed Coral was having trouble breathing. She was airlifted to the nearest hospital where she was treated in the ER.
• Trishelle suffered a bicycle accident and needed to be taken to the hospital. She suffered minor injuries, but was able to continue. She spent two episodes in bandages.
• Sarah Greyson, who was eliminated from the Campus Crawl season of Road Rules, was seen as a weak link and nominated to the Gauntlet five times. She won the Gauntlet all five times, and ultimately shared in the overall win with the rest of the Road Rules team.
• After Abram was defeated by Mike in the Gauntlet, he engaged in a threesome with Rachel and Veronica. Coral was invited, but declined.
• Following a 48-minute-long competition, Sarah defeated Irulan in the Gauntlet. The Road Rules team then began to antagonize Irulan, who was seen as a bad sport and toxic personality the entire competition.
• Mike and Trishelle entered a relationship on the challenge, creating tension between them, Coral, and the rest of the team. Mike would vote Coral to the Gaunltet multiple times over perceived weak link Trishelle.
• Matt was a controversial figure during his time on the show, creating enemies in both Coral and Tonya, the former of whom was an integral part of him being voted into the Gauntlet.
• Theo made the tie-breaking vote that sent Abram to the Gauntlet over Sarah.
• Roni won the "Rolling on a River" mission over Mike.
• Katie snapped at Veronica following her Gauntlet win, believing she played a role in her being voted in. This would lead to the mutual animosity displayed between the two on The Inferno.
• Despite Theo and Adam's best efforts to have her sent home due to what they perceived as undesirable behavior before the final challenge, Veronica won the Eyesaver at the last challenge, "Dukes of Saturn", sparing herself from the last Gauntlet.
• Adam was hellbent on eliminating Sarah from the show, playing a key role in sending her into her five gauntlets. Sarah claimed he was simply trying to vote off all the women on the team, which created friction between Adam and the girls.
• After accidentally knocking Sarah off the rolling pin at the "Rolling on a River" mission, Laterrian refused to accept responsibility during the team deliberation, ultimately making Sarah seem to be at fault, which led to her being voted into the gauntlet once again.
• The challengers were forced into an ice cream eating contest in which the ice cream was eventually mixed in with their own vomit and mucus as the challenge wore on.
• Although they had an existing friendship after winning together on Battle of the Seasons, Mike voted Elka into the gauntlet, where, as the overwhelming favorite, she shocked everyone by slipping off of the ledge unprovoked, handing Cara the win.

Notes

External links

• Official website at the Wayback Machine (archived January 21, 2008)
• MTV's official Road Rules website
• MTV's official Real World website