Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Battle of the Sexes is the sixth season of the MTVreality game show, The Challenge (at the time known as Real World/Road Rules Challenge). The season is directly subsequent to the first Battle of the Seasons. Battle of the Sexes featured cast members from The Real World and Road Rules. The cast stayed in the Round Hill Hotel and Villas Resort near Montego Bay, Jamaica. A casting special, Battle of the Sexes: The Good, the Bad, and the Notorious, was aired on December 30, 2002. The show premiered on January 6, 2003 and concluded on May 12, 2003.[1]
This is the first edition of the Battle of the Sexes series, with Battle of the Sexes 2 following in 2004–2005.
This season of the Real World/Road Rules Challenge features the same format as Battle of the Seasons, but instead of dividing teams by Real World and Road Rules teams, they are instead divided by gender. Each mission gave points based on finish, either with a partner or individually. After each mission, the players with the most points cumulative from each team became the "Inner Circle" and voted off whoever they wanted to. The winner of each challenge would earn a "lifesaver" which could be given to a member of either team; the recipient of the "lifesaver" would enjoy total immunity from being voted out, which created many interesting situations. After thirty people were voted off, fifteen for both genders, the final three Girls and final three Guys would compete against each other in a final race, earning $150,000 for themselves, $50,000 per teammate.
The reunion special, Hot and Bothered: The Battle of the Sexes Reunion, was aired live on May 12, 2003 and was hosted by the season's host Jonny Moseley. The following week, a casting special for the then upcoming seasons of The Real World and Road Rules was aired.
^ abJake quit the game in Episode 10, citing personal reasons. The Inner Circle agreed and voted him off officially.
^ abcdDan was originally voted off in Episode 8. However, when Puck quit the game, Dan was brought back because the teams needed to have the same number of players.
^ abDavid E. quit the game on the first episode after coming into conflict with Puck, who had suggested David to be eliminated by the Inner Circle. David, who was already offended by Puck spitting on him, chose to leave the game.
^ abEmily quit the game in Episode 15 because she did not want to participate in the game without her boyfriend James, who was just voted off by the Inner Circle. Genesis, who was originally voted off, was not eliminated and Lori, who had the fourth highest score was automatically put in the Inner Circle.
^Eric N. dedicated the lifesaver to his sister, who was in the hospital with an over-100 degree fever. The lifesaver was not used to save a contestant, which was allowed in the game.
^Jamie did inform Jonny of who he was giving the life saver to prior to the elimination. After Veronica was eliminated, he said that he was about to give it to Blair but then gave it to Veronica. Since Jonny was never informed and Jamie made it clear that he changed his mind after the elimination, his original selection of Blair had to stay, thereby eliminating Veronica.
^Blair refused the lifesaver in Episode 13 because he felt that he did not deserve to stay over the other Men who had scored higher than him on the scoreboard.
^Shane refused the lifesaver in Episode 16 because he did not want Antoine to give up his spot in the final four.
