Not even arctic temperatures will stop reality TV contestants from competing for $1 million.
MTV announced on Thursday, Nov. 12 that The Challenge is returning for season 36 on Wednesday, Dec. 9. Called The Challenge: Double Agents, the new season features 30 veteran and rookie contestants as they return to the partner format and compete across 19 new episodes—all of which were shot in Iceland. Anyone have a spare blanket?
According to MTV, the cast "are forced to outsmart each other in a game of secrets, spies and lies" for the sweet, sweet cash prize. While the cast of veterans is stacked with contestants who have played up to 17 times before (hello, CT), it's the rookies we're keeping an especially close eye on.
The newbies include Survivor winner Natalie Anderson plus Big Brother's Amber Borzotra, America's Got Talent's Joseph Allen, Love Island and Celebrity Big Brother U.K.'s Gabby Allen and U.S. Olympian Lolo Jones.
Ahead of the premiere, MTV will kick things off with The Challenge: Double Agents Declassified, a sneak peek event in which fans will learn more about the cast. The special airs Monday, Dec. 7 at 8 p.m. ET. And if that's not enough to get you excited, MTV's Official Challenge Podcast premieres on Thursday, Dec. 10. Hosted by veterans Tori Deal and Aneesa Ferreira (a season 36 contestant), it'll basically recap and dive into each episode and all of its drama.
In July, The Challenge: Total Madness came to a close when Johnny "Bananas" Devenanzio and Jenny West emerged as the male and female victors of season 35. With that, Bananas took home his seventh Challenge win, which is just insane.
Scroll down to meet the season 36 cast of The Challenge.
Amber is a previous Big Brother contestant.
Amber appeared on Are You The One?.
Natalie is a Survivor winner and an Amazing Race alum.
Liv appeared on Shipwrecked.
Gabby has appeared on Love Island and Celebrity Big Brother U.K.
This rookie appeared on America's Got Talent.
Lio is a former WWE wrestler.
Lolo is a U.S. Olympian and Celebrity Big Brother alum.
Mechie is a musician who appeared on Ex on the Beach.
Nam appeared in Ultimate Beastmaster.
This is Big T's third Challenge appearance.
This is Devin's fifth appearance on The Challenge.
CT has appeared on The Challenge 17 times before.
Ashley has appeared on The Challenge seven times before.
This is Darrell's ninth Challenge appearance.
This is Cory's eight Challenge appearance.
This is Jay's second time on Challenge.
This is Aneesa's 14th Challenge appearance.
The Big Brother alum is returning for his second Challenge appearance.
This is Nelson's third time on The Challenge.
This is Kam's fifth Challenge.
This is Josh's fourth Challenge.
This is Kaycee's second time on The Challenge.
This is Leroy's 12th time on The Challenge.
Kyle has appeared on The Challenge five times before.
Nicole has appeared on Challenge twice before.
This is Nany's 10th Challenge.
Theresa will return for her seventh Challenge appearance.
This is Tori's fifth Challenge.
This is Wes' 14th Challenge appearance.
The Challenge: Double Agents premieres Wednesday, Dec. 9 at 8 p.m. ET.