TV The Challenge season 39 players reveal 'popped implant,' broken ribs, more injuries weren't shown "There was no way I could even have competed in the final," [SPOILER] tells EW. "I couldn't even breathe." By Sydney Bucksbaum Sydney Bucksbaum Sydney Bucksbaum is a writer at Entertainment Weekly covering all things pop culture – but TV is her one true love. She currently lives in Los Angeles but grew up in Chicago so please don't make fun of her accent when it slips out. EW's editorial guidelines Published on February 7, 2024 09:30PM EST Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Challenge: Battle for a New Champion episode 17, "Feel the Bern." It happened again — someone on The Challenge popped a breast implant. Except this time, it wasn't shown or mentioned onscreen at all. Longtime Challenge fans know this isn't the first time this kind of injury has occurred, since Shauvon Torres claimed she burst one of her breast implants after belly-flopping into the water during season 18's The Ruins. And more than 30 seasons later, on this week's episode of The Challenge: Battle For a New Champion, when competing in a heights-over-water challenge with a spinning wheel, Olivia Kaiser says the same thing happened to her, along with several other serious injuries that weren't shown. Olivia Kaiser. Paramount/MTV "It was probably the most dangerous challenge [of the season]," OIivia tells EW. "If your feet are still on the wheel, you're going to fall face first. I broke three ribs and popped my implant, or ripped it, ruptured it, so now I have to get my boobs redone. I was in so much pain. There was no way I could even have competed in the final. I couldn't even breathe." She wasn't the only one who sustained broken ribs during this daily. Michele Fitzgerald, who lost the purge challenge and was ultimately sent home, tells EW that she also fell harder than it looked in the episode. "It f---ing hurt when I fell, and I broke two ribs," she says. "I genuinely could not sleep at night. I could barely breathe. You see the pain, and it was real pain. And Colleen [Schneider] had a full-on concussion. They didn't show it, but she didn't even remember being up on the hamster wheel." Michele Fitzgerald. Paramount/MTV Michele and Olivia, who was sent into elimination and lost at the end of the episode, both hate that this was the last challenge before the final because they think it gave the men an advantage over the women. "It's very much leaning into the males' strengths more than the girls'," Michele says. "It's not really much of an equalizer — although we did see a girl win [with Berna Canbeldek], but we also saw every other girl besides Nurys [Mateo] in the loser bracket. So it was a sheisty one to go out on. It's definitely not the way you want to go out." "This challenge was not fun," Olivia agrees. "Those guys can run for hours, so even if we were faster and had the best balance, they more than likely can outrun us anyway, so it was just an interesting challenge for the last one. I don't love it, clearly." The Challenge: Battle for a New Champion airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on MTV. Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more. Related content: Johnny 'Bananas' says he was 'never even contacted' to go on The Challenge season 39 Cara Maria talks The Challenge season 39 elimination: 'I wanted to cause chaos' Johnny 'Bananas' blasts Dan's early big move on The Traitors, talks finally working with CT The Challenge showrunner addresses concerns over season 39's cast of no champions