Josh Martinez continues to rile up many of The Challenge fans who wish he wouldn’t appear on their television screens.
The former Big Brother winner is part of the Season 40 cast, known as Battle of the Eras, where he’s one of the 10 members of the Era 4 team.
Several other Big Brother stars appeared on his team, including his good friend Kaycee Clark, former finalist Paulie Calafiore, and newcomer Kyland Young.
It might seem that Era 4 represents the new era well because it features UK cast members and CBS stars who joined MTV’s The Challenge.
However, recent remarks from Josh in a deleted scene mention that he felt someone was missing.
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Fans called out his comments after seeing the recently released clip, claiming they didn’t feel the show needed that certain someone in the cast.
The Challenge reveals a deleted scene from Battle of the Eras featuring Josh
The Challenge continues to release deleted or unaired footage from Season 40, likely because there were 40 cast members, and it was difficult to include everyone’s scenes or stories.
In the newly surfaced clip, Josh sits on a couch with his good friend Kaycee for a dual confessional interview.
“We gonna give you a little snippet because I don’t think anyone’s been giving you confessionals,” he said.
“We’re halfway through the season. We’re starting to lose it, but I’m happy that I have my right-hand person here,” Josh said.
“I’m happy to have my Joshy. We’re only missing our Fess dog,” Kaycee mentioned, referring to Faysal “Fessy” Shafaat.
“It is really weird not playing this game with Fessy,” Josh said, adding, “Not having him here is really weird because I don’t know, I didn’t realize how dependent I was on him.”
In the clip, they also discussed their strategy, which Josh said included protecting Kaycee at all costs since “the name of the game is to not touch the sand” at The Arena.
As viewers saw in Episode 9, Josh could not protect Kaycee from going into the elimination. Era 1’s last team member standing, Rachel Robinson, won the daily challenge and got to select another team’s two targets to send in.
Since she had a solid opportunity to pit Vacation Alliance members against each other, she sent Kaycee and Kyland to go against Tori Deal and Devin Walker. Tori eliminated her friend, Kaycee, while Kyland ousted Devin from the game.
Fans reacted to Josh and Kaycee’s unaired Season 40 chat about their castmate
Fans disagreed with the Big Brother stars’ comments about their castmate as missed in the Battle of the Eras cast.
“Trust me when I say no one misses Fessy,” one commenter said.
Another called out Fessy and Caset as “NOT good people or good friends to Josh” and said the former Big Brother star is “kidding himself.”
“The sooner you know that the better so I hope you figure that out someday JOSH,” the commenter said.
Another commenter suggested that “No one misses Fessy” and they “hope he never comes back and if he does I hope he leaves early.”
Another commenter suggested, “Don’t bring Josh back, he takes a real competitors spot.”
As Season 40 got underway, Fessy was among the main stars from The Challenge, recording an ongoing podcast to share his thoughts. His co-host suggested he was a snub from the cast as part of Era 4.
Fessy defended his friend and castmate Josh, suggesting he brings plenty of drama and entertainment value to the show. In addition, Fessy said Josh is a strong competitor.
Of the former Big Brother stars, Fessy has reached multiple finals on The Challenge, while Josh is yet to reach one. Many have called out his inability to make the right moves for himself or clumsiness during eliminations as crucial problems with his game.
It’s also worth noting that Fessy was an alternate cast member ready to take a spot on Era 4, along with UK star Tula “Big T” Fazakerley, should production have needed a replacement.
The Challenge: Battle of the Eras airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on MTV.