Photo: Erik Johnson of E-Studios Photography
Johnny “Bananas” Devenanziois undertaking a new challenge — and it doesn’t require him to go into eliminations, form alliances or fight forhis piece of a cash prize.
The Challengevet will host1st Lookwhen the late-night travel series returns to NBC in September, PEOPLE can exclusively reveal.
“It’s challenging me in ways I’ve never been challenged before,” Devenanzio, 36, tells PEOPLE. “This is the first time I’ve done hosting, and what’s different about this thanThe Challenge is,The Challengeit’s me and 30 other cast members, and there’s a lot of other people to carry the load. Whereas this is 100 percent on my shoulders, and it’s an exciting new experience.”
“They’re both very likable and they’re very good at connecting with not just cast members, but the fans, and that’s what my goal is as well,” says Devenanzio, who will take over1st Lookhosting duties from The Pussycat Dolls’ Ashley Roberts.
So far, filming1st Lookhas brought the reality star to Roswell, New Mexico (where he looked for aliens), a cannabis farm in Northern California and his favorite location yet, Alaska, where Devenanzio spent nine days climbing glaciers, watching bears and whitewater rafting.
“It was the scariest, coolest experience ever,” he says of being in such close proximity to the larger-than-life mammals. “And there aren’t just polar bears there, there’s different varieties of bears. When we went bear-watching in Homer, Alaska, we landed a plane on the beach, got out, and grizzly bears were 30 feet away! They didn’t even bother us. Just when I thought I’d kind of seen it all and done it all,1st Lookcame along and totally blew my mind.”
“I thought that I knew what intense physical training was — today has absolutely blown my mind,” the Penn State grad says of spending Thursday with some of the NFL’s top players. “I was competing with Mark Ingram, Carl Lawson, Travis Kelce and holding my own against them. People look at the guys onThe Challengeand they’re like, ‘Oh man,C.T.’s a monster! Zach’s a monster!’ These guys are absolutely mutants. You want to talk about being challenged in ways I’ve never been challenged before, I literally feel like I just ran a final inThe Challenge.”
RELATED VIDEO: The Challenge: Rivals III winner defends his cutthroat choice
Devenanzio’s1st Lookgig won’t keep him from returning to the network that launched his career, though — and hisfellow competitorsshould be even more worried about going up against the game’s biggest winner.
The new season of1st Lookpremieres Sept. 29 on NBC followingSaturday Night Live.
source: people.com
