Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Gauntlet III

Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Gauntlet III
Genre	Reality TV - Competition
Created by	Jonathan Murray and Mary-Ellis Bunim
Starring	TJ Lavin (Host)
Country of origin	USA
Original language	English
No. of series	15
No. of episodes	8
Production
Production locations	Nayarit, Mexico
Running time	60 minutes (including commercials)
Original release
Network	MTV
Release	January 23, 2008 – March 19, 2008

Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Gauntlet III is the fifteenth season of the reality television competition series, Real World/Road Rules Challenge. The challenge takes place in Nayarit, Mexico. It is formatted like The Gauntlet II. It features Veterans vs. Rookies. Those on the Veterans team had been on at least two prior seasons, and those on the Rookies team had been on fewer than two seasons prior to The Gauntlet III.

Rules

The competition consists of a series of team challenges (sometimes called "missions") with an elimination challenge, known as the "Gauntlet", following each of the team challenges except the final.

Each team challenge puts the team of Veterans against the team of Rookies. Prior to the challenge, it is announced whether males or females will compete in the Gauntlet following the challenge.

After each team challenge, on a male Gauntlet day, the winning team selects a male member of the losing team to protect from the Gauntlet and another male member to send into the Gauntlet. The losing team then selects one of its own males to go against the person picked by the winners. On a female Gauntlet day the players protected and sent into the Gauntlet are females.

After the two players for the Gauntlet are picked, the host spins a wheel to determine which challenge will be played in the Gauntlet. The loser of the Gauntlet is eliminated from the game.

In this season, minor prizes are awarded after each challenge to the team members that were not vulnerable to elimination in the following Gauntlet; i.e. on challenges before male Gauntlets, prizes are awarded to female members of the winning team. The grand prize is $300,000, which is split among the remaining members of the team that wins the final challenge.

Notes and details:

• No player can be saved from the Gauntlet on two consecutive opportunities. (For example, if the Veterans win the sixth challenge and save Johanna, lose the eighth challenge, and win the tenth challenge, then they cannot save Johanna from the tenth Gauntlet; even though they aren't two consecutive female Gauntlets, they are two consecutive opportunities.)
• When only three people are vulnerable to being chosen for the Gauntlet, the winning team saves one of them (subject to the above rule) and the remaining two go to the Gauntlet. (no choice for the losing team)
• No Gauntlet challenge is played twice consecutively. (see "Gauntlet challenges" below)
• This season differs from The Gauntlet II in that the teams do not have captains.
• This season differs from most prior two-team Challenges in that there are no bank accounts; prize money is only given for the final challenge.

Cast

Host: TJ Lavin, BMX rider

Veterans team Player Original season Adam King RW: Paris Beth Stolarczyk RW: Los Angeles Brad Fiorenza RW: San Diego Casey Cooper Fresh Meat Coral Smith RW: Back to New York CT Tamburello RW: Paris Danny Jamieson RW: Austin Diem Brown Fresh Meat Eric Banks Fresh Meat Ev Smith Fresh Meat Evan Starkman Fresh Meat Johnny Devenanzio RW: Key West Katie Doyle RR: The Quest Kenny Santucci Fresh Meat Paula Meronek RW: Key West Robin Hibbard RW: San Diego

Rookies team Player Original season Alex Smith RW: Denver Angel Turlington RR 2007: Viewers' Revenge Brooke LaBarbera RW: Denver Derek McCray RR 2007: Viewers' Revenge Frank Roessler RW: Las Vegas Janelle Casanave RW: Key West Jillian Zoboroski RR: X-Treme Johanna Botta RW: Austin Melinda Stolp RW: Austin MJ Garrett RW: Philadelphia Nehemiah Clark RW: Austin Rachel Moyal RW: Austin Ryan Kehoe Fresh Meat Tori Hall RR 2007: Viewers' Revenge Tyler Duckworth RW: Key West Tyrie Ballard RW: Denver Zach Mann RW: Key West

Of the 32 players on this season of the Challenge, only six have won previous seasons of the Challenge. Coral won Battle of the Seasons, Katie won The Inferno, MJ won The Gauntlet II, and Ev, Kenny, and Janelle won The Inferno III.

Gauntlet challenges

The game to be played in the Gauntlet is determined by spinning a wheel. The wheel contains six sections, one for each Gauntlet game and one for 'spin again'. The game that was played in the previous Gauntlet is replaced by another 'spin again' section, and therefore, no Gauntlet game can be played twice in a row.

Force Field

The two competitors are joined together by a rope that goes over the top of them by a pulley system. For one player to move forward he has to drag the other backwards. Each competitor starts at their line and at the start of the Gauntlet they both race to cross their opponents line. First one to do this wins.

Played 2 times: Alex vs. Nehemiah, Tyler vs. Frank

Ram It Home

The two competitors start with a wall at their back and a sled that hangs on an overhead track in front of them. They must then use the sled to push each other. The first player to push their opponent all the way back into their own wall wins the Gauntlet.

Played 2 times: Angel vs. Jillian, Ryan vs. Nehemiah

Ball Brawl

The two competitors have to get footballs aligned in a vertical pattern back the the starting point. They both race at the same time to get the footballs, and they are allowed to tackle the person and strip the ball. The first three balls, black, are worth 1 point. The last two balls are white, and worth two points each. The first person to get four points wins.

Played 6 times: Brooke vs. Jillian, Jillian vs. Janelle, Coral vs. Beth, Tori vs. Melinda, Casey vs. Ev, Adam vs. Danny

Sliders

The two competitors each have to solve a slide puzzle at the same time. They are 16 space puzzle boards and each of them has the same design, and are given a picture of what the final design should look like. One of them is blue, the other red. Their teammates are allowed to watch and help them solve it.

Played 4 times: Johnny vs. Evan, Frank vs. Zach, Ryan vs. Derek, Katie vs. Paula

Ankle Breaker

Ankle Breaker is a variation of Tug Of War with both participants tied together by one ankle. They have to pull their opponent through the sand until they reach a rope which will help them reach the finish line. This is very similar to Reverse Tug of War used in the The Gauntlet 2.

Played 1 time: MJ vs. Frank

Game summary

Episode	Male or female Gauntlet	Challenge winners		Winning team's picks		Losing team's pick	Gauntlet challenge	Gauntlet results
				Protected	In the Gauntlet	In the Gauntlet		Winner	Loser
1	Male		Veterans	Ryan	Nehemiah	Alex	Force Field	Nehemiah	Alex
2	Female		Veterans	Brooke	Jillian	Angel	Ram It Home	Jillian	Angel
	Male		Veterans	Tyrie	Tyler	Frank	Force Field	Frank	Tyler
3	Female		Veterans	Tori	Jillian	Brooke	Ball Brawl	Jillian	Brooke
	Male		Rookies	Adam	Evan	Johnny	Sliders	Evan	Johnny
4	Female		Veterans	Johanna	Janelle	Jillian	Ball Brawl	Jillian	Janelle
	Male		Veterans	Ryan	Frank	Zach	Sliders	Frank	Zach
5	Female		Rookies	Casey	Coral	Beth	Ball Brawl	Coral	Beth
	Male		Veterans	MJ	Derek	Ryan	Sliders	Ryan	Derek
6	Female		Veterans	Rachel	Melinda	Tori	Ball Brawl	Tori	Melinda
	Male		Veterans	Ryan	Frank	MJ	Ankle Breaker	Frank	MJ
7	Female		Rookies	Katie	Ev	Casey	Ball Brawl	Ev	Casey*
	Male		Veterans	Frank	(no choice)	(no choice)	Ram It Home	Nehemiah	Ryan
8	Female		Rookies	Diem	Paula	Katie	Sliders	Paula	Katie
	Male		Rookies	Eric	Adam	Danny	Ball Brawl	Adam	Danny
9	Final challenge		Rookies

• The first episode featured a game of tug-of-war between the Veterans and Rookies to determine which rooms would be assigned to which teams. The Veterans won the game.
• Tyrie quit during the third episode to return to his girlfriend who was in the hospital. MJ was brought in as a replacement for Tyrie in the fourth episode.
• *Coral quit the game prior to the female Gauntlet in episode seven. The Gauntlet was still played; Casey volunteered to go in against Ev.

• The Veterans in the final challenge were Adam, Brad, CT, Diem, Eric, Ev, Evan, Kenny, Paula, and Robin.
• The Rookies in the final challenge were Frank, Jillian, Johanna, Nehemiah, Rachel, and Tori.
• In the final challenge, Eric is hospitalized disqualifying the Veterans from the final Challenge.

Challenge summaries

Challenge 1: Piñata Pit

There is a huge Piñata that is holding two different colored balls, orange for men and green for women. TJ hits the pinata and the balls will come rushing out. Then the challengers will rush into the pit and try to grab a ball and make it back to the end of the pit. Anyone who leaves the pit without a ball is eliminated and the next round will start. This cycle will keep going until one team has no more players one their team. Tackling and taking the balls from your opponents is allowed. Whichever team wins both of the gender rounds wins the challenge. If one team wins one gender and the other team wins the other gender, then there will be a one-on-one face off match between the Veterans' best guy and the Rookies' best guy. The males win immunity from the Gauntlet and the females win a Zune Multimedia Player from Microsoft.

Heat 1
Veterans eliminated: Casey, Kenny.
Rookies eliminated: Angel, Brooke, Frank, Tyler.

Heat 2
Veterans eliminated: Coral, Danny.
Rookies eliminated: Jillian, Johanna, Zach.

Heat 3
Veterans eliminated: Paula
Rookies eliminated: Alex, Derek, Rachel, Tyrie

Heat 4
Veterans eliminated: Adam, Ev, Johnny, Katie
Rookies eliminated: Janelle, Ryan

Heat 5
Veterans eliminated: Beth, Diem, Eric
Rookies eliminated: Melinda, Nehemiah
Veterans win the male portion

Heat 6
Veterans eliminated: Robin
Winner: Tori
Rookies win the female portion

Extra heat
Veteran: CT
Rookie: Derek
Winner: CT

Challenge winner: Veterans

Challenge 2: Screw You

There are two identical obstacle courses, one for the Veterans, one for the Rookies. In those obstacles are three bolts with a wing nut on each side. One pair of players from each team will unscrew the wing nut, by each player grabbing one side of the bolt and running in circles. After that they then run to an obstacle. They then go on to the next bolt and so on. After one pair making it through the course, the next pair on their team will go. The Rookies are short one player so one of their players will have to go twice. The player who goes twice is Derek. The team with all of their pairs finished first wins the challenge. The females win immunity from the Gauntlet and the males win a Zune Multimedia Player from Microsoft.

The order and pairings of the Veterans were:

1. Ev and Kenny
2. CT and Diem
3. Brad and Robin
4. Johnny and Paula
5. Beth and Danny
6. Coral and Evan
7. Eric and Katie
8. Adam and Casey

The order and pairings of the Rookies were:

1. Derek and Nehemiah
2. Frank and Tyrie
3. Ryan and Tyler
4. Janelle and Tori
5. Johanna and Melinda
6. Jillian and Rachel
7. Brooke and Zach
8. Angel and Derek

Challenge winner: Veterans

Challenge 3: Roped In

There are two huge circles, 20 feet (6 m) in circumference. At the center of each circle there is a rope swing. At the bottom of the swing there are 12 ropes attached to it. On the edges of each circle there are 12 poles. On six of the poles there are puzzle pieces and on the other six there are slots that match the puzzle pieces shape that the teams are picking. There will be one male on each team that sits on the swing. The other players pull him with the swing to obtain a puzzle piece and then put it into one of the slots it matches. The first team to deposit all six puzzle pieces in their slots will win the challenge. The males win immunity from the Gauntlet and the females win a Fuji Film S700 digital camera.

The Veterans had Adam on the swing while the Rookies picked Ryan to be on the swing.

Challenge winner: Veterans

Challenge 4: Wring Out

Each team must have players run to the ocean carrying clothing to soak in the water. Other players must stand at a clothes line and pull the clothes across to the wringers. The wringers must wring out the clothes to fill up a bucket to the line. The first team to do this wins and is safe from the Gauntlet.

Challenge winner: Veterans

Challenge 5: Blind Man's Maze

For this challenge a maze was set up with many obstacles in it. Each team chose one person to guide the whole team through the maze, while the team members going through the maze were blindfolded. The Veterans chose Coral to be their "eyes", and the Rookies chose Johanna. The Rookies had an advantage since the event was based on total team time, and they had less people competing.

Challenge winner: Rookies

Challenge 6: Push It

Teams had to push their cars to the end by transferring wooden planks from the back of the car to the front, creating a path. The Rookies started out strong and looked like they were going to win, but there was no rule saying that the car couldn't touch the sand. Strategized before the challenge, the Veterans agreed that if they were losing they would yell "sandbox" and they would push the car through the sand in a last effort attempt. The Rookies were beating the Veterans by a full car length. The Veterans pulled out there "secret weapon" as Evan called it, and every vet got behind or on the side of the car and they pushed it through the sand, winning the challenge. The Rookies were pissed because they didn't think it was a fair Veteran win.

Note: During this challenge Melinda was hit in the head with a plank and was taken to the hospital, saving her from The Gauntlet.

Challenge winner: Veterans

Challenge 7: Man Overboard

This challenge has a huge sled hanging 25 feet (7.6 m) over the water from a 120 foot (37 m) track. There are going to be three rounds for each team with up to five people in each round; all players must go only once. When the host says go they have to pull themselves from one side to the other and that is when one person will jump off. Then they go back to the other side and another person will jump off. When the third person jumps off the sled the round is done. The times for each round are totaled and the team with the fastest time wins the challenge.

Challenge winner: Veterans

Challenge 8: Assembly Required .

The task of this challenge was to tear down a building shaped like a famous temple, move it to the new building zone, and rebuild it. The Veteran guys threw the challenge without the Veteran girls knowing causing the Rookies to win their second challenge.

Challenge winner: Rookies

Challenge 9: Walk The Plank

Veteran males knocked over: Adam, Kenny, Evan

Rookie males knocked over: MJ, Ryan

Veteran females knocked over: Casey

There was no Rookie female heat because the Veterans had enough people across to automatically guarantee a win.

Challenge winner: Veterans

Challenge 10: Pole Push

The task of this challenge was to force the other team out of the circle by means of pushing on the giant pole. Each team grabbed the pole on their respective ends and pushed against the other team in an effort to force them out.

There were two heats; the males went first and the females second. The Veterans won both heats.

Challenge winner: Veterans

Challenge 11: I Dig You

The task of this challenge was to dig up all of your teammates from their buried coffin. Each team started with one digger and the rest of the team buried in the sand. The digger had to answer three true-false questions correctly before they were allowed to start digging out the person trapped inside. If they answered a question incorrectly they had to move on to another buried teammate before returning.

Rookie digger: Nehemiah

Veteran digger: Evan

Challenge winner: Veterans

Challenge 12: Over the Edge

In this challenge each person would go one by one across a plank many stories above the ground, then climb down a ladder, grab the flag, and climb back to where they started. The team with the shortest total time wins. If anyone chose not to participate or fell when doing the task, an amount was added to their time.

Rookie Disqualifications: Rachel

Veteran Disqualifications: CT, Katie (Did not participate)

Challenge winner: Rookies

Challenge 13: Mexican Blanket

The two teams started on opposite sides of an area. Each person was rolled up in a blanket. The first team to get all of their players to the opposite side by rolling wins. The Rookies had an advantage because of having less people, but the Veterans still won.

Challenge winner: Veterans

Challenge 14: Chill Out

The two teams are in a freezer with two tanks, one for each team. The tanks are filled to the brim with ice-cold water. In the first round, the players must take turns to fully submerge themselves and get out of the tank. This continues for a set amount of time.

For the second round they must fully submerge themselves, then, with the water to their neck, remain in the tank for five seconds. Each subsequent round adds five seconds to the time the players must remain in the tank.

By the end of the second round, all of the veterans are gone except Danny. Danny quit in the third round to give the rookies the victory.

Eliminations by round:

Round 1 (fully submerge only)

• CT (Veterans - refused to enter tank because "he didn't want to ruin his mohawk")
• Eric (Veterans)
• Brad (Veterans)
• Kenny (Veterans)
• Adam (Veterans)
• Tori (Rookies)

Round 2 (fully submerge then remain in tank for five seconds)

• Evan (Veterans)
• Ev (Veterans)
• Diem (Veterans)
• Paula (Veterans)
• Robin (Veterans - doctor removed her from challenge)
• Katie (Veterans)

Round 3 (fully submerge then remain in tank for ten seconds)

• Danny (Veterans)

Challenge winner: Rookies

An extremely controversial argument sparked in this challenge. Danny was the lone Veteran left and he tried to cut a deal with the Rookies that if he walked out and gave them the win, then they would have to save him from the final male Gauntlet. This got out to the Veteran team which led to them putting Danny in the Gauntlet.

Challenge 15: Well-Balanced

In this challenge, each team is placed on a huge circular platform and they must maneuver themselves in such a way that the platform is completely level. This first team to keep the platform level for 10 seconds twice wins. Adam decides that there is no win or lose for him because Frank told him that he would send in CT 100%. When Adam hears this he keeps quite to his team, but he soon hears that the Rookies are sending him in. As shock goes into Adams eyes, the team deliberates and decides to send in Danny without a word.

Challenge winner: Rookies

Challenge 16: Army Strong

This is the final challenge. The grand prize of $300,000 will be awarded to the winning team to be split among its remaining members. In this final challenge, both teams must pass six main checkpoints (while obtaining keys from each checkpoint) and all team members must cross the finish line in order to win.

The teams begin on a boat, half a mile away from shore. Both teams must then dive into the ocean and swim to shore. When all members of the team are on shore, they will receive a key to go to the next checkpoint, completing the "Half Mile Swim".
This minor challenge proved to be the biggest problem for Eric, which in the end meant the biggest problem for the team.

After the "Half Mile Swim" the teams had to run to the next checkpoint. This short run seemed to be another problem for Eric as his body showed signs of a serious problem.

All team members then go to the "Chill Out/Assembly Required" checkpoint. Each team member must dive into an ice bath and retrieve puzzle pieces to assemble a miniature puzzle. Once completed all team members must change into team jerseys and connect themselves together using chains.
Another problem with Eric starts an argument between CT and Evan. While they put on their jerseys, Eric is too weak to put on his shoes, so Evan yells at him, while CT yells at Evan to encourage him instead of yelling at him.

At the next checkpoint, team members must unscrew four bolts (like in "Screw You" challenge) and when completed they will be given a key. As they rush to the next checkpoint, Eric decides that he cannot move on. The team argues about what to do, finally they decide that there is no other choice but to call in a paramedic to take Eric to the hospital. This sparks yet another argument because Brad believes that they had to leave him while most of the team thinks they should have let him continue. They finally listen to Brad when Eric faints and everyone sees how serious his problems are. They show the foul mood that everyone is in until Evan calms them down and tells them that they should finish the challenge, not for the money but for Eric. This encouragement from Evan sparks the team, they get energized and look forward beating the rookies. The team must then bring the key to the next checkpoint which is "Sliders." Each team must solve the puzzle and lift up the slider pieces where the key is located.
The Veterans have no problems as Eric is not there to slow them down.

The next checkpoint is the "Man Overboard" checkpoint where team members must go on a huge sled (unchained) and pull themselves to the other side. All team members then must chain themselves back together and go to the final checkpoint.
As they start to get hope back again, the Veterans continue to hustle in hopes of beating the Rookies again.

The final checkpoint is the "I Dig You" checkpoint. The Veterans are relieved to see that the rookies have not made any substantial progress in their hole so they start to dig quickly. The teams must dig a huge hole in the ground until they find a chest containing either Rookie or Veteran flags. The team that digs up the chest and gets their flag to the top of the flag pole first wins. The Veterans finish the challenge first, but TJ doesn't blow the horn. As they realize that the Veterans have not won, the Rookies start to hustle as they realize that they have won the challenge. Since Eric has been left behind because of medical issues, the Veterans were disqualified, allowing Rookies to win by default. After, they show some of old replays of the Gauntlet III they show the video clip of Johnny "Bananas" arguing about the Gauntlet saying the team should put Eric into due to the fact he could hold the team back come final mission time. After this replay they show the team in a disgusted mood knowing that Johnny was right all along, thus ending as the show goes into credits.
Gauntlet III winner: Rookies

References

1. "Viva Mexico". Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Gauntlet III. Season 15. Episode 1. 2008-01-23. MTV.
2. "It's Personal". Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Gauntlet III. Season 15. Episode 2. 2008-01-30. MTV.
3. "Less Is More". Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Gauntlet III. Season 15. Episode 3. 2008-02-06. MTV.
4. "It's Not Fair". Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Gauntlet III. Season 15. Episode 4. 2008-02-13. MTV.
5. "Match-Up of the Century". Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Gauntlet III. Season 15. Episode 5. 2008-02-20. MTV.
6. "All Alone". Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Gauntlet III. Season 15. Episode 6. 2008-02-27. MTV.

External links

• The Gauntlet III at mtv.com