Cara Maria Sorbello Says Johnny Bananas 'Wants The Challenge To Die With Him'

The Challenge veterans may be facing an onslaught of New Threats this season, but some things — including many of the cast's unrelenting rivalries — may never change.

In the Season 41 premiere of The Challenge: Vets and New Threats (read our post mortem here), Cara Maria Sorbello gave us a little tease of what's in store this season between herself and seven-time winner Johnny "Bananas" Devenanzio.

"It's such a long, layered history," she said in the episode. "We always find a way to get under each other's skin. If he gets the chance to vote me in, he will. So if I get the chance to spin it around, then I'm absolutely going to take that."

Please do, Cara. Please do.

When we spoke to the fan-favorite champ ahead of the season's debut, Sorbello did not hold back.

"When it comes to me and Johnny, we tend to always be on opposite sides of the fence and that's just how it is," she tells TVLine. "It's been so many years and it's so muddied. There's been personal attacks on both sides, on and off the field. For some reason, we just really get under each other's skin, but at the same time, we're on the same team as vets, in the same family on The Challenge, so it's like cats and dogs, really."   

Bananas showed up for this particular season bringing his A-game. He and partner Dee Valladares (from Survivor) banked eight points in the "Mud Ball Madness" challenge after coming in first place. So is there mutual respect between these two badass Challenge staples Bananas and Cara? That answer seems like a mixed bag.

"I think there's mutual respect to the fact that Johnny has been on a million seasons. You can't take away who he is to The Challenge and what he's done," Sorbello adds. "But at the same time, I feel like he's the type that wants The Challenge to die with him. He doesn't want it to live on when he's gone. So you've got CT who's the type of guy that wants to foster in the new generation. He wants to run alongside of them, but he wants to give them his sage wisdom, his CT pro tips. CT wants to see the new generation grow with him and play it out to the end. And he knows his time is... we're getting older. How long do we have? CT wants to see The Challenge be amazing long after he can't compete anymore. And Johnny, I believe he will take The Challenge down with him if he knows he can't do another season again."

Who do you think will take the first shot and who's going to win Season 41? Sound off in the comments.