Johnny Talks Career Reinvention And Reminisces on TV Reign

Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio took a break from competing on The Challenge to transition into hosting NBC’s Celebrity Sleepover. As a seven-time champion of the show and The Real World veteran, Johnny has watched reality TV evolve over the last 20 years. During an exclusive chat with Screen Rant, Johnny reminisced on his reign in the television genre and how it prepared him for his new gig as a late-night talk show host. With him having the option to return to The Challenge, reunited with his Real World cast for another Homecoming season, or compete on the new All-Stars spin-off, Johnny is excited about what the future holds for him.

I’ve been watching you for years, since The Real World: Key West, and I’m a huge fan.

Johnny: So, you’ve watched me grow up? You’ve been there from the beginning, the good times and the bad. Thanks for sticking around, I really appreciate that.

You’re transparent, you’re fun, you’re entertaining, and you keep it real even when you’re being a villain.

Johnny: Everybody loves a villain, man. You gotta have the good and the bad, you know what I mean? You gotta have that balance.

But now we’re seeing a new side of you. Everyone knows you from Real World and The Challenge, but you’ve also been getting busy on NBC with the 1st Look travel series and now Celebrity Sleepover. Tell us about your transition.

Johnny: Oh, man. It’s been a somewhat arduous process, I’d say, transitioning from reality television to hosting. While I thought I had everything figured out, as far as TV went and my quote-unquote persona, or the person I am on television – which I like to say is the same Johnny Bananas, just a little louder and a little more colorful. But what I realized very quickly when it when it comes to hosting, is while you obviously want to be entertaining and let your personality shine through, you’re not necessarily the story. You’re basically highlighting the guest that you have on, and you almost have to take a backseat and play second fiddle. While reality television is all about absorbing all the oxygen in the room, and everything being snarky and sarcastic and tongue in cheek, hosting is all about listening. And it’s about really taking in what your guest is saying, and formulating a follow-up question based on that. I’ve never been a great listener; I’ve always been a better talker. Again, it’s been a process of finding that rhythm, finding my voice, and finding my place in hosting. You’re gonna see a much different side of me on Sleepover as well. For reality TV and The Challenge, you’re in a shark tank. Everybody is looking for a chink in your armor, or a way to get through to you and find your soft spots, and exploit those or take advantage of those. Whereas, for Celebrity Sleepover and hosting, it’s different. I can be more of myself; I could let my guard down. I could be more vulnerable and more open, and more like who I truly am in essence, and let that shine through. And I think in Celebrity Sleepover it really does shine. But the show is very playful, and we have a great time with the guests. They come in their PJs, and we have a sleepover. They’re welcome to have cocktails if they want, and that provides a fun environment. And while it is fun, we really do drill down and have some very real-life, deep conversations. It’s a really good thing for me, I think, to help me grow and expand and become a more complete television personality.

Related: Celebrity Sleepover: Johnny Bananas Calls Out The ‘Gimmicks’ in Reality TV

One thing I’ve noticed from watching the trailer and clips is that I see a lot of your toes. We haven’t seen a lot of your feet on MTV, but you’re showing your feet in a lot of scenes here. Also, you’re showing people how you can be together in spite of social distancing.

Johnny: Yeah, here’s the deal. I’ve always thought I have great feet. There’s a lot of feet people out there, and listen, I get a lot of strange requests on social media for some reason. The feet people are like, “Hey, man, can you send me pictures of your feet?” There’s a whole ‘nother demographic out there. But it kind of goes along with the sleepover theme. I’m in my living room. People think I’m joking when I say I’m filming this out of my house, but this is legit my house. My house has become a production set. Early on, we hired a set designer to come in and basically completely revamp my living room. I’ve said this before, but every time I walk in, I feel like I’m walking into Pee-wee’s Playhouse. They’ve totally redecorated it.

Challenge fans are gonna get a kick out of the background, because a large percentage of all the little random knickknacks behind me are all Challenge-related, from my days on The Challenge. My helmet from Total Madness is up there; my award from the Real World Awards Bash, where I was the hottest male, is up there; there’s a little skull up there, see if you could find it, from my infamous season of Rivals III with Sarah. I really am doing my best to try and combine the two worlds, and really let the fans out there who are coming over from The Challenge to cross pollinate and integrate into this new world. I was hoping just having some of those little trinkets and knickknacks would help. I’m not losing who I am, either. For people who’ve gotten to know me over the years on The Challenge, it’s not like I’m gonna be sitting there all buttoned up in a business suit and be a completely different guy. I just like to think of it as you’re going to get Johnny Bananas as just a little more serious, polished-up version at times. But listen, teachers have been trying since I was in elementary school to break me of being the mischievous guy with that happy-go-lucky fun nature. That’s never gonna go away, so you kind of get the best of both worlds. But we wanted to create this really fun, ultimate slumber party or after party environment. We want it to be unconventional and playful and fun. So, I’m just kicking back; sometimes I’m in bunny slippers, sometimes I’m in bare feet. You never know what type of footwear I’m gonna be showing up in. You gotta watch to find out.

I saw that you have Tiffani Amber Thiessen and Cynthia Bailey among your guests. Who were some of your favorite guests on Celebrity Sleepover?

Johnny: I feel like I’m the luckiest guy in the world, man. They’ve all been incredible in their own way. You have the queen of reality television, Cynthia Bailey, who was such a joy to have on. And in our interview, we kind of talked about her personality and her character on reality TV. She said she was hesitant to even come on reality TV in the beginning, because she’s like, “I’m not about that life. I’m not a dramatic person; I shy away from drama, and I’m not into petty arguments and all this stuff.” But she somehow has risen to be one of the main faces in the Housewives franchise by just being who she is. By just being a good person, by just being able to almost rise above the fray. And I thought that was very interesting, because in the world I come from, you’ve got to be dramatic; you’ve got to mix it up and stir the pot. That was really interesting, with just both of us coming from the reality television world. It’s amazing to see a different perspective. Sammy Hagar, the lead singer of Van Halen. I’m a classic rock fan, so having the Margarita man, the red rocker? The fact that I get to sit down and not just have a conversation with him, but to get to make a margarita with him. With Tiffani Thiessen, it’s the same thing. We get to geek out about the 90’s, Saved by the Bell, and 90210. Who hasn’t wanted to have a sleepover with Tiffani Thiessen? All the guests are incredible in their own way. I had so much fun with all of them, and I think that’ll really come through on the screen.

Who were some people that you would love to interview?

Johnny I would love to sit down with Mike Tyson. We actually have a mutual friend who is currently trying to broker that deal. He’s got this amazing podcast now that he does, and I didn’t realize how deep he was. I’ve listened to some of the episodes, and I’m just like, Mike is a deep thinker. With everything that guy has been through, just the ability to sit down and pick his brain – and to have him analyze me and get his perspective on things – would be fantastic. I would love to have possibly Elon Musk on. That would be awesome. The guy’s revolutionizing space travel and electric cars; everything that he’s done is just amazing. Those are the kind of people that I could talk to and expand my brain, Joe Rogan would be a fabulous guest, but I’ve got a long list of people I’d love to have on. So, we’ll see.

We’ve seen other stars from Real World and The Challenge have success in professional wrestling. Is that a lane you would ever consider?

Johnny: Oh, dude. I’ve actually said that in the past. I’ve actually publicly called The Miz out multiple times to see if he’d bite, but if that was ever if that was ever offered to me, I’d do it in a heartbeat. It would be hilarious. I’ve become over the years, I think, a heel of reality television. And I think it would be a great space for me to make an impression. But speaking of The Miz, what he’s been able to do with the MTV Challenge and Real World platform, parlaying it into what he has as an actor, as a host, and as a WWE superstar? That guy is pretty much the blueprint of exactly the steps I’d like to follow and the trail I’d like to blaze for myself.

You guys are both definitely trailblazers in the scene of reality television. When it comes to The Challenge, I’ve noticed that it’s a bit grittier in recent seasons and you guys are in colder locations. Do you prefer those types of settings or the ones where we’ve seen you having more fun in the sun on tropical islands?

Johnny: I prefer, I guess, a combination of both. It’s weird. It’s like the competitor inside me wants to be challenged. I love pushing myself to new limits, my mind and my body, and I love experiencing things and doing things. However, I also like not being put in the pressure cooker and having my mind and body twisted in knots. You know what I mean? I feel like I was a lot more resilient, when it comes to that, when I was younger. Whereas now, I feel like just from the mental and physical and emotional impact of what The Challenge has evolved into, it really does impact you in a whole different way. And I will say that Total Madness really pushed me to my breaking point mentally, physically, and emotionally. And that’s why I think that win was such a monumental accomplishment, just because of what I went through. It would have been gut-wrenching otherwise. It was hard enough to bounce back and get back to my normal self having won, because at least I went through all this and there was a reason for it. I couldn’t imagine having put myself through all that and having not won. But I think it’s amazing. Everything evolves over time. What The Challenge has transformed into and evolved into? Some people like it, some people don’t like it. But I think the real, old school, traditional Challenge fans want to see stuff that they could put themselves in. “I could do that. I could probably swim or hit that bell,” or whatever. And that’s why I think the All Stars franchise has gotten so much buzz. It’s great, man, and it really is that nostalgic feeling of bringing people back to what they love, and bringing that party atmosphere back. And that’s what we’re trying to capitalize on as well with Celebrity Sleepover: nostalgia. Everyone has a visceral reaction to a sleepover; it brings them back to when they were kids and having a slumber party, with all the elements. That’s we’re trying to do; we’re trying to capitalize on that nostalgia, and just give people that same feeling.

I read that you have the Real World: New York cast joining you on Celebrity Sleepover. You’re a Real World veteran, so how does it feel to be among the originators of reality television?

Johnny: For someone who’s not just a part of the family, not just the student of the game and the history, but a fan? To sit down with the people who were not just responsible for creating this amazing world that I’ve been in now for the last decade and a half of my life, but the pioneers of reality television was just such a cool experience. Because I got to sit down and nerd out with them, and really talk about how things have changed and how things have evolved – not just on the Real World, but reality television overall. What it’s like to come back with your same cast members 29 years later, in the same loft with the same people, I was trying to put myself in that position. How insane would it be if I went back to Key West? Back in the Key Haven house with my original cast? I don’t know if I’d even be able to wrap my brain around that. And I think the coolest thing about the way that they’ve done the homecoming is that they’re literally showing side-by-side clips of ’92 and 20-21. Same place in the loft, the same arguments, same issues, same everything. It’s just so amazing to see that so much has changed but so much stayed the same. And what’s so incredible about that show is that, I feel like with reality TV now, we’ve gotten away from what makes reality TV good. You don’t need a lot of gimmicks and bells and whistles. Reality has always been stranger than fiction. Just by putting them back in a loft, they’re sitting on the couch and Eric Nies is Zooming in – and somehow that is the most entertaining TV. Just listening to them talk and discuss things and hash out their problems and their issues that everyone can relate to so is great. Being able to sit there and just talk them, and then we play a really fun game with them as well, is amazing. And we just had The Challenge cast on yesterday, from All Stars we had Mark, Syrus, and Trishelle. And again, we did a really fun trivia game, and we had a surprise guest pop in who no one was expecting – not even me. So, it’s just really cool to be able to have not just the new celebrity guests that I’ve never met, but also be able to have my people on and people that come from my world. Again, we cross-pollinate and bring these two worlds together in such an incredible way. I think the fans are really gonna get a kick out of out of what we do.

What are your plans once things start to open back up?

Johnny: We’re already kind of firing the engines back up for a 1st Look, the travel show that I host. Obviously, because of all the travel restrictions, we haven’t been able to do anything or go on the road. That’s one of the reasons we were able to pivot to Celebrity Sleepover, which is such a great opportunity. But for now, that’s the plan: we’re going to get back on the road; we’re going to get some travel episodes going again. Just like I feel there was a thirst for nostalgia during the COVID times, I think there is now going to be an overwhelming desire for people to get out of their homes and travel again. So, we’re hoping to capitalize on that as well with 1st Look. Time for rest is over! I think I’ve had a year now to recharge the batteries and get ready to get back out there and do some traveling again.

Next: Celebrity Sleepover: Johnny Bananas Dishes On Real World Reunion Show