The entire philosophy of The Challenge season 39 is: If you want to be the best, you've got to beat the best. There are no prior winners on Battle For a New Champion's cast of contenders, but 10 legendary champions do come in for one elimination appearance each, facing off against someone on the cast. And while you'd think Johnny "Bananas" Devenanzio, the person who has won seven times and is the most decorated player of all time, would be on that list of champs, he's not — and despite rumors claiming he was originally supposed to show up, he says he was actually never invited.

"No, I was never even contacted for that," Johnny tells EW. "You can't believe the rumor mills, man. There's a lot of false information and fake news that floats around out there. No, not me. I wasn't even available. I was filming other stuff."

While Johnny doesn't appear in season 39, it's almost as if he's still on the show with how much his name is brought up due to his season 38 showmance Moriah Jadea's new flirtation with James Lock. Moriah has cried on camera multiple times about possibly "hurting" Johnny, and other champs like Tori Deal, Devin Walker, and Darrell Taylor have made pointed comments to Moriah about the situation during their elimination appearances in front of the whole cast. While Johnny is constantly being talked about, he hasn't entered the conversation himself… until now.

"Dude, it's actually unbelievable — I think I've gotten more airtime and more of a storyline on a season that I was never on than I have in like the last three seasons I've actually been on combined," he says. "I might just start doing that! Maybe I'll just stop doing the Challenges, actually being there, and I'll just be on the shows from afar. I'll tell you what, it feels pretty good to live rent-free in the heads of all these challengers."

He says he hasn't been watching season 39 at all, so he hasn't actually seen for himself how often he's been mentioned. He's only aware of all the drama surrounding him thanks to others telling him about it and seeing the chatter on social media.

"I've been incredibly busy with my own projects, so no, I haven't seen any of the season," he explains. "I'm mentioned on social media an awful lot. Apparently there's a song that they wrote about me on this season, and apparently the reunion show, I was a hot topic of conversation there too. Not going to lie, it feels good to be talked about as much I am. As much as things change, some things will always stay the same!"

As for his current relationship status with Moriah? "Yeah, I don't know who that is," Johnny deadpans before laughing. "Who?"

Euan Cherry/PEACOCK

While he's not currently on The Challenge, Johnny can be seen on Peacock's The Traitors season 2 (streaming now) along with fellow Challenge vets CT Tamburello and Trishelle Cannatella, as well as on E!'s House of Villains (which finished airing last month). But as for what's next — possibly the long-rumored 40th season of The Challenge? — he's feeling optimistic.

"You know how The Challenges go, there's always another one of those on the horizon," he says. "There's a good possibility that I'll be checking back in there at some point. Don't worry, I ain't going anywhere anytime soon. I'll be around for a while. But I will say, after House of Villains and now Traitors, I've really found a new home. I feel like I'm in the NBCUniversal world, and I've really enjoyed the last few projects I've done under them, so I'm looking forward to a future of doing a lot more shows under that umbrella from here on out."

He's been loving the experience of filming those shows combined with how the editing has shown a new side of him that may surprise fans who have only seen him on The Challenge.

"People have been like, 'We saw a whole different side of you on House of Villains, you made such great TV,'" he says. "Listen, I'm the same, every show that I do, every season that I do — I don't change. The only thing that changes is the exposure that I get and the editing. I'm the exact same person on House of Villains and Traitors than I've been on every Challenge, the difference is a lot of what I'm doing on The Challenge is just not making air and being left on the cutting room floor. It was nice on House of Villains to be like, 'Oh s---, they're actually showing my highlights instead of just my lowlights."

The Challenge: Battle for a New Champion airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on MTV, and new episodes of The Traitors stream Thursdays at 6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET on Peacock.

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