In the final edition of Ask Andy for 2023, two questions about competition shows, and a mystery about Paramount+’s The Challenge: All Stars season four.
If you have questions about reality TV or reality blurred, please send them to me!
Did Superfan fake its finale like Drag Race?
Since there was a live vote [for CBS’s Superfan] via Twitter, but the show itself isn’t live, do you know how the winner was edited in?
I saw a rumor that basically both finalists “pretended” they won, and then the live vote was edited into the show. It also appeared that the show was recorded over a year ago as Kelsea Ballerini was on the finale and she was still wearing her wedding ring which is now not accurate since she got divorced in 2023. That is a really long delay. It will be interesting if the show is brought back for another season. —Mike
Hi Mike. I did not cover or watch Superfan, but I would suspect the method you describe is correct.
Your evidence is compelling, and the show itself (accidentally?) provided more evidence in its very first episode. As TVLine pointed out, “LL Cool J said of NCIS: LA, “We’re going into our 14th season.”
Season 14 of NCIS: LA premiered in October 2022, and Superfan premiered Aug. 9, 2023, so that’s at least 10 months in advance.
Clearly, viewers couldn’t vote live. But pre-taping possible outcomes is relatively common, in part because it’s so much cheaper to pretape an entire season of a show in a few days or weeks, rather than actually air live. And it certainly isn’t cost-effective to reconvene after a year just to crown a winner.
For most seasons of RuPaul’s Drag Race, its finalists all film winning moments, and then they have to wait almost a year to find out who was actually selected.
That keeps the results secret even from the live studio audience, and—if I can be conspiratorial for a moment—allows the producers to choose a winner later, perhaps based on fan sentiment. After all, RuPaul asks viewers to weigh in on social media; does that actually affect the decision?
For me, it’s pretty wild to realize people are acting in their winning moments!
Will we get The Traitors Canada in the U.S.?
Do you know if there are any plans for Canada’s new version of The Traitors to come to a streaming service in the U.S.? All I can find online are links to various VPN options. Thanks! —Jake
I’d love to see it, too, especially since it’s streaming free in Canada, but alas, it is not currently legally available in the U.S.
And as of now, there are no announced plans to bring it to the States. That’s still true for The Traitors: New Zealand, too. Double alas!
Peacock is currently focused on promoting The Traitors season 2, so I doubt we’ll get any new international versions on Peacock until after season two.
The Traitors season one dropped all at once, and it was a month later that Peacock added UK and Australia. This time, we’ll get three episodes on premiere day, and then weekly releases, meaning the finale will likely be in March.
Perhaps we’ll get a spring gift from Peacock with the addition of other seasons from around the world.
Will we ever see The Challenge: All Stars?
Earlier this year, Paramount+ deleted The Real World: Homecoming, one of my favorite shows of 2020.
That left The Challenge: All Stars as its only nostalgia-soaked reality TV show, as it brings back cast members who we haven’t seen in some time. But The Challenge: All Stars last streamed new episodes in the in summer of 2022, when season three concluded.
The good news is: The Challenge: All Stars season 4 filmed in South Africa in January and February 2023.
Back then, Vevmo’s PinkRose revealed the cast and spoilers about the outcome, including who won.
But where is that season? Does this almost year-long delay mean The Challenge: All Stars going to be cancelled and wiped from existence like Homecoming?
That’s a question that even one of its cast members has! The Real World Miami’s Flora posted on Instagram,
I’m a little confused… They put on another challenge and pushed the best one back again WTF…??? By the time the best one comes out, us OG’s will be in wheelchairs with hearing aids. @therealworldmiami @oldschoolrules #OGforeva #challange⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ this blows that they keep putting baby in the corner
People with knowledge of the production told me that it has definitely not been cancelled. But I do not know when the season will be announced, nor when it may air.
Conversation and speculation on Vevmo has to do with another season of The Challenge: the one airing on MTV right now. The Challenge: Battle for a New Champion is bringing back 10 former champions to compete against the cast.
It’s in the middle of its season, and some of its returnees are also on The Challenge: All Stars, including Laurel Stucky, who hasn’t yet appeared on the MTV show. Are MTV and Paramount+ waiting for this season before announcing the fourth season of The Challenge?
It seems like that’s a possibility. On Twitter, Laurel recently teased, “I know a show that has 6 gays on it that may or may not air in some upcoming months.”
Here’s PinkRose’s cast list for The Challenge All Stars 4, which may or may not air in the coming months, and may or may not have six queer people on it:
Challenge All Stars 4’s cast
- Flora Alekseyeun, The Real World Miami
- Ace Amerson, The Real World Paris
- Tyrie Ballard, The Real World Denver
- Derek Chavez, The Real World Cancun
- Brad Fiorenza, The Real World San Diego
- Leroy Garret, The Real World Las Vegas
- Jay Gotti, The Real World: Ex-plosion
- Kefla Hare, Road Rules: Down Under
- Ryan Kehoe, The Challenge: Fresh Meat II
- Adam Larson, Road Rules: The Quest
- Ayanna Mackins, Road Rules: Semester at Sea
- Steve Meinke, Road Rules: The Quest
- Brandon Nelson, The Challenge: Fresh Meat II
- Tony Raines, The Real World Skeletons
- Cara Maria Sorbello, The Challenge: Fresh Meat II
- Averey Tressler, The Real World Portland
- Syrus Yarbrough, The Real World Boston
- Janelle Casanave, The Real World Key West
- Jasmine Reynaud, The Real World Cancun
- Laurel Stucky, The Challenge: Fresh Meat 2
- Malkamitu “Kam” Williams, Are You The One?
- Nicole Zanatta, The Real World: Skeletons
- Rachel Robinson, Road Rules: Campus Crawl
- Tina Barta, Road Rules: South Pacific
- Veronica Portillo, Road Rules: Semester at Sea
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