Johnny Bananas Breaks Down ‘The Challenge’ 40 Premiere: Devin and Leroy Struggled for ‘An Eternity’

The Challenge: Battle of the Eras wasted no time getting into the action. The first challenge of the season found Devin Walker and Leroy Garrett struggling mightily — and Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio says fans only saw the half of it.

While discussing the Wednesday, August 14, premiere, the 42-year-old MTV star told Us Weekly exclusively that Devin, 35, and Leroy, 39, were in the water for "an eternity."

"I think Devin's boat sank. But in all fairness, these weren't boats. It was like if you took one of those straw hats and flipped it upside down. That's what it was. You were trying to row like in a saucer. It was difficult,” Johnny explained. “I have experience in boats, so even though I'd never rode in anything like this, I kind of understood the technique that it required. I don't think Devin and Leroy got that figured out very well.”

Season 40 of The Challenge has the cast divided into four teams: Era 1 (cast members from seasons 1-10), Era 2 (seasons 11-20), Era 3 (seasons 21-30) and Era 4 (seasons 31-40). After the first challenge in Wednesday’s premiere, the bottom male and female from each era were automatically sent to an elimination round.

“There was so much pressure [during] that first challenge because we knew that half of the house was going into elimination," Johnny said.

In a twist for the season, the opponents for the elimination round will be selected by the winners of each era following a group discussion in each era’s respective deliberation room.

"Sometimes things are revealed in the room when people are in a desperate situation that could sometimes change the outcome," Johnny told Us of the deliberation room. "I prefer it that way. Everyone has to go in and plead their case."

For Era 2, Johnny and Laurel Stucky were tasked with selecting opponents for Ryan Kehoe and KellyAnne Judd . In an interesting twist, Cara Maria Sorbello asked Johnny and Laurel to strike a deal with her after years of playing the game on opposite sides of the house.

‘The Challenge’ Couples Who Are Still Going Strong

“The drama got started right away with Era 2,” Johnny said of the moment. "I don't have beef with Cara Maria, per se. But I know that her and I have had no relationship for the past five years," Johnny added. "Whereas the other females on Era 2, I know all of them and I just felt more comfortable that they were gonna have my back when push came to shove.”

In addition to Johnny, Cara Maria, Laurel, KellyAnne and Ryan, Era 2 is rounded out with Derek Chavez, Nehemiah Clark, Aviv Melmed, Brandon Nelson and Emily Schromm.

“The guys were a little more difficult because no one really excelled, no one really stood out. There wasn't one guy over the rest that was like 'OK, we really need this person,’” Johnny said. “So it basically just came down to more of a team vote and what everyone else wanted to do. But it's hard that early on. As the season goes on, as competitions go on, you're much more able to determine where people lie and if they're gonna be an asset to the team. So [episode 1] was just kind of throwing caution to the wind and just figuring it out from there."

The Challenge: Battle of the Eras airs on MTV Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET. For more from Johnny, watch the video above.