The Challenge 40 Finale Part 1 Recap: Jordan and Jenny lead the pack after three intense checkpoints

The long-awaited finale of The Challenge began as the new year kicked off this Wednesday. After several daily and elimination challenges, eight challengers, four women, and four men, once again took a dive into the ocean to try and take home the big win.

The Challenge is a show that welcomes past contestants from the franchise to compete against each other in a series of challenges and make it to the finish line. This year, the show is running its season 40, which started with 40 contestants, equally split between women and men. After four intense months, the final part 1 aired on Jan 1, 2025, with the final eight.

Let's take a look at what happened in the villa on day one of the grand finale.

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What happened on The Challenge 40 Finale Part 1?

After sleeping through the last night on the ship, Sinister, the finalists were woken up by the host, TJ, to begin the final fight before announcing the winner. Before introducing the first checkpoint, he explains the breakdown of the grand prize of a million dollars. He reveals that the man and woman leading the scoreboard would win $400,000 each, the runner-up would bank $75,000, and the 3rd place holder would get $25,000.

He also reveals how each eliminated contestant has been sending karma points to each finalist. The total of these points and checkpoint points will decide the winner of The Challenge 40.

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Checkpoint 1 - Sandblast

For the first checkpoint of the finale, each contender has to jump and swim into the water to the shore. Then, each player will have to run for a mile five times, collect each piece of a 3D sand puzzle, and finish it before swimming back to the Sinister.

Results: Jordan and Michele are the first ones to make it back to the ship. Following them are Derek and Jenny, Bananas and Tori land 3rd place, and Rachel and Kyland land the last slot on the scoreboard.

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Checkpoint 2 - Ghost Ship

The second challenge on The Challenge finale part 1 is again a swimming challenge (Surprise!). Each finalist has to swim his way to an abandoned ship, locate a series of symbols underneath the vessel, memorize it, and replicate it at the station set up on the Ghost Ship.

Results: Jordan and Jenny land in first place, Bananas and Tori follow them to the Sinister, Derek and Rachel get on the ship third, and finally Kyland and Michele end in 4th place.

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Checkpoint 3 - A Thousand Steps

Once again, the finalists swim to the beach for the last challenge of the day. After landing on the beach, The Challenge finalists have to run 1,000 steps, gather several clues on their way, and solve the mystery puzzle before making it back to their place of origin.

Results: Once again, Jordan and Jenny get 1st place, Bananas and Michele land 2nd place, Derek and Rachel are the 3rd ones to make it to the Sinister, followed by Kyland and Tori.

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The Challenge 40 Finale Part 1 Overnight Challenge

For the overnight challenge, TJ reveals how each player will take up two tasks for many hours. Task one is to count the number of coins from a massive bag, one at a time, for thirty minutes. Then they move to task two, which is hilarious and unexpected for a finale.

The contenders have to get back to the ship's deck and sing “Show Me the Way to Go Home” for the next 30 minutes. They have to alternate through these tasks until everyone is done counting. The winner will be the one who ends with the right number of coins in the bag.

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Jordan and Jenny lead the scoreboard on The Challenge 40 Finale Part 1. Stay tuned to MTV to find out who gets crowned as the winner on Jan 2, 2025.