Is CT Holding Team Orange Back on The Challenge 42?

CT Tamburello is clearly Team Orange’s biggest endurance concern on The Challenge 42, but Episode 7 also provides the strongest evidence yet for why getting rid of him could be a serious mistake. During “Perfect Match,” Orange falls behind largely because CT cannot maintain the running pace of teammates such as Tori Deal, Will Gagnon and Izzy Fairthorne. Several teammates openly worry about what that weakness could mean in a final. Yet when the challenge reaches its puzzle, CT slows everyone down in a completely different way: he asks them to stop panicking, studies the pieces and identifies the pattern that helps Orange complete a dramatic comeback victory. Physically, CT may be holding Orange back. Competitively, he may still be one of the reasons they can win.

Related: Why Did Cory Wharton Leave The Challenge 42? What Happened to His Daughter Maya?

Why is Team Orange worried about CT’s endurance?

Episode 7 is deliberately designed to expose endurance weaknesses. “Perfect Match” requires each team to travel roughly five miles while transporting 80-pound puzzle pieces, with most of the team tied together during the running sections.

Before the race has even properly developed, Izzy admits she is worried CT will struggle to keep up. Will later becomes more direct, saying Orange is in last place because CT is anchoring the team. The frustration grows because several other Orange players clearly have enough speed to move faster if they were not required to remain together.

CT does not pretend otherwise. When Tori wants the group to jog, he acknowledges that everyone else can run faster than he can. His argument is that forcing him to maintain their pace will burn him out completely and eventually make the team even slower.

That is a reasonable pacing argument, but it also confirms the basic concern. In a final dominated by long-distance running, Orange would have to adjust itself around CT.

CT’s current fitness has been a Season 42 issue from the start

Episode 7 does not invent the CT endurance question. The season-opening run already placed him near the back of the field, and fans have been debating his conditioning throughout Season 42.

CT’s reputation makes the conversation particularly uncomfortable. He is one of the most successful competitors in Challenge history and has built much of that legacy on being unusually difficult to eliminate while also becoming an excellent final performer later in his career.

But nobody remains physically identical forever. Team Orange is not running a final with the younger version of CT who could simply overwhelm opponents through size, strength and stamina.

That reality is why Izzy’s question matters. Orange is trying to win as a team, so carrying one slower runner could affect everyone.

Episode 7 also proves exactly why Orange needs CT

If “Perfect Match” ended after the running portion, the argument against CT would be overwhelming.

Gray reaches the puzzle first after dominating the endurance section. Orange arrives much later, and its frustration with CT appears completely justified. Then the challenge changes from running to problem solving.

The teams have to assemble large numbered and lettered pieces into the correct configuration. Everyone starts shouting ideas, moving heavy sections and trying to solve the structure simultaneously.

CT does something different. He tells the group to step back, stop panicking and actually look at the pieces. He notices similarities between key sections and identifies the final relationship needed to complete the puzzle.

Seconds later, Orange gets the horn and wins. The player who had been their biggest weakness during the first half becomes one of their biggest advantages at the end.

Would Orange be better without CT in a final?

That depends heavily on what the final requires. If Season 42’s final is almost entirely running, CT’s slower pace becomes dangerous. A team cannot take advantage of Will, Tori or Izzy’s endurance if everyone repeatedly has to stop and wait.

But The Challenge finals are rarely pure foot races. They usually mix endurance with puzzles, memory, strategy, eating, carrying and checkpoint management. CT’s experience in those areas remains extremely valuable.

Fans debating whether Orange should eliminate him are split for exactly that reason. Some see an older veteran who could become the team’s version of a classic final anchor. Others point out that losing one of the best puzzle solvers in the franchise could be just as damaging as keeping a slower runner.

Episode 7 strengthens the second argument. Orange does not win despite CT existing on the team. It wins after CT’s strengths finally become more important than his weakness.

Why Tori is unlikely to target CT immediately

There is also a political reason CT may remain safe even if Orange privately worries about his conditioning. Tori is Orange’s permanent captain, and CT is one of the veteran players most likely to support a stable veteran structure around her. Targeting him too early would remove a powerful ally while potentially creating an enemy who is extremely dangerous in elimination.

Orange also still has other men available before a CT decision becomes unavoidable. Will and Justin may be more expendable politically depending on how the game develops, while Bananas brings his own experience and relationships.

Taking a shot at CT would therefore require Orange to believe the endurance problem is serious enough to outweigh everything else he provides. Episode 7 makes that argument harder, not easier.

So is CT actually holding Orange back?

Yes in endurance, but not in the broader game. That is the most accurate answer after Episode 7. CT undeniably slows Team Orange during a five-mile team race, and his teammates are right to think about what that means for a final. The episode does not hide his conditioning issue or pretend the others are imagining it.

But Challenge finals reward more than speed. CT remains calm when teams panic, understands how to manage complex puzzles and has decades of experience identifying how a checkpoint is supposed to work.

“Perfect Match” becomes almost a perfect demonstration of the tradeoff. Orange loses time because of CT’s body, then wins that time back because of CT’s brain. If Orange reaches the final with him, they may have to run at CT’s speed. They may also reach a puzzle where everyone else is very happy they kept him.