A journey that began on The Challenge. Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio and Morgan Willett have been through a whirlwind romance — and it all started on reality TV.
The duo first met in fall 2018 when the Big Brother: Over the Top winner joined her first — and only — season of The Challenge. The pair quickly became partners during season 33, War of the Worlds, but didn’t last long on the show, being eliminated third.
Afterward, they decided to travel the world together and quickly raised eyebrows about whether or not they were dating.
“I’m very happy where I am in my life,” she slyly told Us Weekly exclusively in April 2019. “Obviously, we’re taking it day by day. We see each other. Will you see more travel videos from us? I don’t know, maybe. I don’t know. It’s interesting, and I just ironically saw an article from MTV where they put out, ‘Are Morgan and Bananas canoodling?’ I hate the word ‘canoodling.’ I feel like that implies a hook up or a fling, and that’s just one thing I do wanna address is, I don’t consider myself a hook up. I’ve had a lot of people on social media reach out to me and say, ‘You know, you’re just hooking up with him to get on the next show,’ and that couldn’t be further from the truth.”
In September 2019, the Challenge vet chose not to divulge any details about their romance. “I have my personal life and I have my Challenge life,” he told Us at the time.
Two months later, he shared his first Instagram photo with Willett. By January 2020, the Celebrity Sleepover host was being much more open about the romance.
“When she first met me, she said, ‘You are not who I expected you to be off the show.’ When I’m home, when I’m not filming, I’m home. I have my house that I grew up in. I’m still incredibly close to my family, my sister, my mom,” he shared during an episode of the “Quarter Life Crisis” podcast. “Having a very normal home life helps but also, I disconnect from reality TV. When I’m off The Challenge, I’m not one that wants to be involved in the drama year-round because you need that break.”
Unfortunately, the pair called it quits in September 2021. Scroll down for a full timeline: