The Drama Unfolds: Johnny Bananas and the Sore Loser Controversy on The Traitors US

The Traitors US Drama

The Traitors US contestant and The Challenge legend Johnny 'Bananas' Devenanzio is under fire for being a sore loser after he was 'murdered' by the Traitors. Only three episodes of The Traitors US season 2 have been released so far, but already the drama is overflowing.

Montage of The Traitors US's Dan Gheesling

When the competition began, Dan Gheesling and Phaedra Parks were chosen by host Alan Cumming to be the Traitors. Those two reality TV veterans eventually invited Survivor icon Parvati Shallow into their group, and she accepted. When it came time for the Traitors to make their first move, Faithful Johnny Bananas was on the chopping block and he was murdered.

Johnny Bananas doesn't seem to be taking his elimination from The Traitors US season 2 very well. In a recent episode of his podcast The Ringer Reality TV Podcast, he discussed his time on the hit Peacock reality show with Marcus Jordan, who was the second player to be murdered.

Dan Gheesling Is Doing A Terrible Job As A Traitor. Rayhiggenbottom wasn't surprised that Johnny didn't understand why he was taken out of the game. As Holy_Shamoley put it, 'Bananas does not like losing to anyone. If he loses, it's everyone's fault but his own.' Toess called Johnny a 'sore loser' and claimed that the reality TV star got so used to winning The Challenge that he forgot 'how to be a graceful loser.'

Even though fans didn't like Johnny dissing Dan, that doesn't mean they sided with Dan. In fact, several fans called out Dan for doing a horrible job as a Traitor. As the OP later said, Dan is 'doing poorly' and it doesn't even look like the result of 'bad editing.' Kaleidocrypto noted that Dan's 'playing a poor game' because Johnny 'drew attention away from him being a Traitor.' Intelligent_Royal102 made a very interesting observation by saying that Dan's gameplay is similar to Cirie Fields', who won The Traitors US season 1, but the big difference is that 'it isn't working because of who Dan is.'

Instagram article posted by johnnybananas

The Fallout and Fan Reactions

The fallout from Johnny Bananas' elimination has sparked heated discussions among The Traitors US fans and viewers. DearWillingness9249 started a Reddit thread, which started an avalanche of criticism toward the murdered contestant.

Rayhiggenbottom wasn't surprised that Johnny didn't understand why he was taken out of the game. As Holy_Shamoley put it, 'Bananas does not like losing to anyone. If he loses, it's everyone's fault but his own.' Toess called Johnny a 'sore loser' and claimed that the reality TV star got so used to winning The Challenge that he forgot 'how to be a graceful loser.'

Even though fans didn't like Johnny dissing Dan, that doesn't mean they sided with Dan. In fact, several fans called out Dan for doing a horrible job as a Traitor. As the OP later said, Dan is 'doing poorly' and it doesn't even look like the result of 'bad editing.' Kaleidocrypto noted that Dan's 'playing a poor game' because Johnny 'drew attention away from him being a Traitor.' Intelligent_Royal102 made a very interesting observation by saying that Dan's gameplay is similar to Cirie Fields', who won The Traitors US season 1, but the big difference is that 'it isn't working because of who Dan is.'

The Aftermath and Speculations

So what this comes down to is that Dan should be called out for the way he's playing the game, but Johnny's excuse that Dan wanted more airtime is not the reason why. At the end of the day, Dan's move to take out Johnny could result in the Faithfuls finding out his true identity a lot sooner than they would have because Johnny is not there as a distraction.

Johnny clearly thought his legendary status on The Challenge would help him on The Traitors US. Being a massive target even before the competition begins isn't helpful, but he needs to examine the real reason he was murdered instead of being a poor sport.

The Traitors US season 2 streams Thursdays at 9 p.m. EST/6 p.m. PST on Peacock.