The 40th Season of 'The Challenge' Features a Cast of Four Different Teams in a New Location

Each season of The Challenge seems intent on out-doing the last, and you'd better believe that's the case for The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras. It pits four different groups of players from four different eras of The Challenge against each other. But where was The Challenge 40: Battles of the Eras filmed? It had to be a big deal.

The four groups of nine or 10 players each are from all seasons of The Challenge. The first group is from the first 10 seasons. After that, we have players from Seasons 11-20, and so on. Obviously, the players whose seasons debuted in the earlier days of The Challenge have more experience under their belt. But there is something to be said for the more recent players from the Era IV, who are from Seasons 31-39. And they all came together to film an epic season in a location far from everyone's homes.

Before the fortieth season of The Challenge, the show took contestants to plenty of exciting locales, including Thailand, Mexico, and Croatia. But this time around, the show takes place in a country never before visited on this series — Vietnam. To be more exact, The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras was filmed in Ho Chi Minh City. But if you really want to get technical, the cast is set up in a castle in Vietnam. It's kind of a sweet deal.

Although the place where the players stay in Season 40 is called a castle, according to one expert sleuther on Reddit, the castle is actually used as a wedding venue when it isn't the home base for more than three dozen MTV reality show participants. The Redditor shared photos and videos of the venue, which is called Long Island Castle, and it was changed in some temporary ways to accommodate filming and to make it a home for the 40 players who start off the season.

But it's clear that this castle used in Season 40 of The Challenge wasn't meant to accommodate this many people for an extended period of time. There were rumors ahead of the season premiere that cast members had to use porta potties because the inside bathroom toilets were clogged from so much use. Having 40 people under one roof is certainly a feat for any production, let alone one wherein changes need to be made to actually make a place livable for an extended period of time.

When it comes to the prize on The Challenge, you never know what you're going to get. In Season 38, the prize was $1 million. Season 39, it went down to $500,000. Now, for The Challenge 40: Battles of the Eras, it's a whopping $1 million again.

But the idea is that the winners get their chance at a “share” of that prize, which means it could go to multiple players. Especially if the teams remain the same all the way until the finale.

Watch The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. EST on MTV.