The Challenge: Cutthroat is the 20th season of the MTV reality competition series, The Challenge. Filmed in Prague, Czech Republic, Cutthroat features a first-ever three-team format with cast members from The Real World, Road Rules, and The Challenge. The season premiered on Wednesday, October 6, 2010, and concluded with the "S#!% They Should Have Shown" special on December 22, 2010.

Format

This season of The Challenge features a new format, consisting of three teams. A race to the "Gulag" was held to determine the selections of the teams. The three players that finished last in the race — Camila Nakagawa, Shauvon Torres and Emilee Fitzpatrick — were chosen as the team captains. Those three selected players, alternating between male and female, until each team was split evenly — five men and five women on each team — see Cast and Draft sections below. The three teams will participate in numerous challenges (sometimes called "missions"), which are followed by an elimination challenge, known as the "Gulag." The team who wins a challenge will receive a cash prize of $20,000 to be banked in their team bank accounts, as well as winning immunity from the Gulag. The two losing teams will then be forced to choose one player of each gender from their own teams for possible elimination. Each player will cast secret votes to decide which two men and two women will battle in same-gender Gulags. The winning players will rejoin their respective teams and stay in the game for a chance at a share of $120,000, while the losing players will be eliminated from the game. Cast members who had been eliminated were removed from the opening credits, leaving only current members of the three teams left. It is the first (and so far only) time in challenge history that this has occurred. In the event a vote is tied, a run-off vote is conducted. If the run-off does not resolve the tie, the player going into the Gulag from the opposing team selects any (same-sex) member of the other team to send to the Gulag.

Contestants

Draft

Heavy hitters

Gameplay

Challenge games

Gulag games

Czech Point final challenge

The final challenge begins with each team sprinting to the first checkpoint, "Seeing Spots," in which each team has to designate one player to stand in front of a wall containing five white targets, and one teammate has to hit each target with a paint ball gun before advancing. The next checkpoint is "So Tired," in which teams have to roll oversize tires on the tarmac. The next checkpoint is "Down & Dirty," in which players have to slide through an obstacle course containing a dirt pit. At the "Free Ride" checkpoint, all players from each team have to ride horses to the next check point. (Note: Since the Blue Team only had two members — Emily & Jenn, they instead ride a single horse.) At the "Hard Wood" checkpoint, each team must transfer a pile of wood to the top of a hangar in a designated area before advancing to the "Sign Language" checkpoint, in which each team has to memorize the placement of a sign post containing Czech road signs, then crawl through an obstacle course through mud and under barb wire, then swim through a lake. After swimming through a lake, each team has to slide a series of Czech road signs through a pole to duplicate the sign post from the earlier "Sign Language" checkpoint. If a team slides in each sign correctly, they can advance, otherwise, they have to return to the original "Sign Language" checkpoint. The final stretch involves a sprint to the top of Bezděz Castle.

Game summary

Elimination chart

Cutthroat progress

Voting progress

Partners

Episodes

In contrast to past seasons of The Challenge, the title sequence features only the players that are still in the game for that episode (in past seasons, every player that participated would be shown, even after elimination).

Reunion special

The Challenge: Cutthroat Reunion was aired after the season finale on December 15, 2010, and was hosted by Maria Menounos. The cast members who attended the reunion were: Brad, Dunbar, Tori, Tyler, Cara Maria, Laurel, Luke, Abram, Sarah, Emily, Jenn, Derrick, Paula, Johnny and Eric.

Controversy

During the third episode of the season, which aired on October 20, 2010, Fresh Meat II castmember Laurel Stucky drunkenly directed a series of insults at Fresh Meat castmember Eric Banks, regarding Banks' body image. Stucky later issued a tearful apology on MTV.com after the episode aired, however, at the Reunion special, Banks confronted and chided Stucky for the lack of sincerity and making the apology on MTV.com instead of apologizing to Banks in person during filming, though Stucky claimed that Banks brushed her off following the incident.