The Challenge USA: Why did Wes Bergmann retire?

Why is Wes Bergmann retiring from The Challenge following last night’s The Challenge USA episode? There were a lot of questions about his future all season. Yet, after his elimination at the hands of Chris, he made it clear that it was time for him to move forward.

So why now? Well, the obvious answer right now is that he’s been a part of this world for 18 years and has had plenty of success. However, the truth is a little more layered. He’s got other ventures and at a certain point, taking on these challenges takes a constant toll on your body. That’s without even mentioning the weeks away from your friends and family.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Wes did at least confirm that he’s not necessarily going to be gone from the world of this show forever — even if he is done being a contestant:

…I want to be clear that I’m not leaving the community — I’ll still pop in for random cameo-esque things, if there’s a mercenary role, I might pop in and host something, I’m going to be active on the interwebs about the shows. I’m very proud of the game and the show and not everybody but a lot of the players, and I think that there needs to be a very public cheerleader, and I think that that’s the role that I would like to move into now.

Of course, Wes is leaving the game in the hands of a lot of other players, including some who could spend the next decade or so taking part. Would anyone be surprised by that? We know that this is a franchise that loves using similar contestants over and over — personally, we don’t mind it, but we also don’t want to see the same alliances every time.

Related – Check out more news on The Challenge USA right now, including other details on what lies ahead

Are you going to miss Wes as a major part of The Challenge world, or at least as a contestant?

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(Photo: CBS.)