‘The Challenge’ season 41 exclusive video reveals CT struggling immediately

CT Tamburello is one of the best competitors on The Challenge ever, but season 41 is going to be an uphill battle for the five-time champion. Quite literally.

Entertainment Weekly has an exclusive sneak peek of The Challenge: Vets and New Threats premiere that reveals CT struggles pretty much immediately in the first daily challenge when the pairs have to climb up a muddy hill to collect balls over and over again. Partnered with rookie Tay Wilcoxson from Big Brother Australia, CT yells in frustration as he can’t make it up the hill and keeps sliding down.

“Getting up that hill is a lot harder than it looks,” CT says in the video. “I’m completely gassed, and it’s not getting any easier. I look like a baby trying to crawl for the first time. And what’s worse is that Tay doesn’t even look like she’s winded at all.”

As Tay gives CT positive encouragement, they struggle to make it up the hill while tied together.

“You all right, babe?” she asks him.

“I’m out of shape,” he responds.

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In his interview, CT admits he’s no longer worried about winning the challenge — his only goal is now to not come in last. “But it’s not looking good for your boy,” he adds.

Check out EW’s exclusive clip below:

Earlier in the video, Johnny Bananas Devenanzio is pleasantly surprised to see how well he’s working with his new partner, Survivor winner Dee Valladares. But he tells EW that seeing CT struggle was hard to watch.

“Listen, it was a very tough first challenge,” Johnny says. “A lot of people were struggling on that, but, I mean, we’re not getting younger. He and I have been doing the same for a long time, but we’re not used to going straight into a challenge, so I think we’re a little bit caught off guard by that. It’s never good to see one of the vets in the trenches struggling. But you never know what you’re going to get. You’ve got to be ready for anything. And I’ll tell you what, the threats they brought on this season were definitely up to the task.”

The Challenge: Vets and New Threats premieres Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on MTV.