August 12 (2024-08-12) – October 10, 2024 (2024-10-10)
The Challenge Sverige is a Swedish adaptation of the reality-competition series The Challenge. The series features Swedish reality television participants competing for SEK $1,000,000 and premiered on TV4 on August 12, 2024, with fitness trainer Pischa Strindstedt as host.[3][4]
A cycle of The Challenge Sverige features two "immunity challenges," a nomination process and an elimination round. The season had players competing in male-female teams of two, which were initially determined in the first episode.
First immunity challenge: Teams compete in a challenge where the winners receive immunity from the elimination round while the last-place team(s) receive a disadvantage for the cycle's second immunity challenge. Afterwards, the winning team nominates one team to compete in the elimination round.
Second immunity challenge: Teams compete in a second immunity challenge where the winners receive immunity from the elimination round. If the team nominated by the winners of the first immunity challenge wins, their nomination is nullified. If the team that won the first immunity challenge also wins the second immunity challenge, they must give away the second immunity to another team of their choice.
Nominations: After both immunity challenges, teams vote to determine the opponents to compete in the elimination round against the team nominated by the winners of the first immunity challenge (if they did not win the second immunity challenge). In the event of a tied vote, the vote cast by the winners of the first immunity challenge counts as the tiebreaker.
From episode 1-12, all teams vote for a non-immune team to compete in the elimination round. The team that receives the most votes will participate in the elimination round against the team nominated by the winners of the first immunity challenge.
From episode 12-16, all teams vote for one male and one female player (regardless of whether or not they are a team) to individually compete in the elimination round against the same-sex player from the team voted into the elimination round by the winners of the first immunity challenge.
Eliminations (The Arena): The nominated teams/individuals compete against each other in an elimination round at the Arena. The winners remain in the game while the losers are eliminated.
After episode 16, due to limited teams remaining, the subsequent cycles had modified formats.
In the episode 17/18/19 cycle, no immunity is awarded to the winners of either "immunity challenge," no disadvantage is imposed for the last-place team, and no nomination vote is held. Instead, the winner of each immunity challenge receives the ability to nominate one team to compete in the Arena.
In the episode 19/20 cycle, ahead of the Final Challenge, the last-place team of the first immunity challenge receive a disadvantage in the second immunity challenge. In the second immunity challenge, the winners receive an advantage for the cycle's third "Purge" challenge. Afterwards, the last-place team in the Purge challenge is eliminated from the competition.
Twists
Partner swap: Teams can swap through several means during the season.
New contestants: In episodes 3, 5 and 7, new contestants entered competition and could select any current player of the opposite gender as their partner.
Elimination wins: The winners of eliminations are given the choice to stay with their partner, or to select another player as their new teammate. In the event they decide to choose new partners, the former teammates of the selected players then form a new team.
First immunity challenge wins: In episode 15, after selecting a team to compete in the Arena, the winners of the first immunity challenge could choose to forfeit their immunity for the chance to swap partners.
Purge challenge: Ahead of the final, the team that placed last in the third challenge of the episode 19/20 cycle was eliminated from the competition.
Episode 1: To determine the initial teams, the male players begin harnessed to a bar above water. The female players must swim from a platform to shore, run to the structure where the male players are hanging from, and unclip an available male player to be their partner. Newly-formed teams then drop into the water and collect one underwater puzzle piece before returning to shore where the rest of their puzzle pieces are. Once onshore, teams must solve the puzzle. The first team to solve the puzzle wins while the last team receives a disadvantage in the second immunity challenge.
Winners:Jennifer & Viktor
Episode 3: Teams must swim to a platform in the water, remaining underwater the entire time. Along the way are three "air pocket" tanks for teams to breathe while underwater. To start, one team member must swim to the first tank, then wait for their partner, before repeating this process for the remaining tanks. Teams are disqualified from the challenge (and place last) if a team member resurfaces for air before reaching the platform. The team with the fastest time wins. The team with the slowest time, or all teams who are disqualified, receive a disadvantage in the second immunity challenge.
Winners:Jennifer & Viktor
Episode 5: One team member begins chained to the ground while their partner begins suspended from a beam above water. The team member suspended from the beam must pull themselves to the end to view seven numbers, unclip themselves into the water below, return to shore and use the numbers to solve a math equation. The solution forms the combination which unlocks their partner chained to the ground. Once the team member chained to the ground is unlocked, teams race to collect one of four sledgehammers. The four teams left without a sledgehammer are eliminated from the challenge and receive a disadvantage at the second immunity challenge. Teams who collect a sledgehammer must then use it to smash open a crate of puzzle pieces and solve the puzzle. The first team to solve the puzzle wins.
Winners:Jennifer & Viktor
Episode 7: Teams must hang from a structure above water for as long as possible, and are eliminated from the challenge if one team member drops into the water below. The last team to have both members still hanging wins while the first team to have a member drop into the water receives a disadvantage in the second immunity challenge.
Winners:Jennifer & Phillip
Episode 9: Played two teams at a time, teams begin harnessed on a platform above water. They must swing across bars underneath the platform to collect four hanging rings and return them to the top. Teams are eliminated from the challenge if a team member lets go of the bars and falls. The team with the most rings collected wins, with ties broken based on time. The team(s) with the fewest rings collected receive a disadvantage at the second immunity challenge.
Winners:Anthony & Elin
Episode 11: Played across three rounds, teams must retrieve four of their colored balls from a mud pit and return them to their station one at a time, alternating team members each time. Once teams collect all four balls, they must retrieve a black ball to advance to the next round while the number of black balls decrease each round. Teams are eliminated from the challenge if they are unable to collect a black ball in time. The team that retrieves the sole black ball in the final round wins while the two teams who are unable to collect a black ball in the first round receive a disadvantage for the second immunity challenge.
Winners:Alexander & Jennifer
Episode 13: Played in three heats, teams must swim underwater through five partially submerged cages, exit the final cage and swim a flag to a buoy. Each cage only has a small section at the top which is not submerged, where players may resurface for air. Along the way, teams must also collect three keys from the seafloor to unlock the exit of the final cage. Teams are disqualified from the challenge if a team member exits a cage to resurface for air or refuses to participate. The team with the fastest time wins while the team with the slowest time, or all teams disqualified from the challenge, receive a disadvantage at the second immunity challenge.
Winners:Anthony & Joanna
Episode 15: One team member sits on a chair leaning over water while their partner is assigned to answer trivia questions. If the team member answers the question correctly, they can select another team to have their chair to tilt back one notch. However, teams' own chair tilt back a notch if they answer the question incorrectly. Teams are eliminated from the challenge once their chair tilts back three notches, dropping the team member sitting into the water. The last team standing wins while the first team eliminated receive a disadvantage in the second immunity challenge.
Winners:Jens & Sandra
Episode 17: Teams maneuver themselves along a chain through an obstacle, then remove cinder blocks from a platform to collect a key underneath and unlock themselves from the chain. Afterwards, teams must roll a 300-kilogram barrel uphill to a platform. The first team to finish wins.
Winners:Jennifer & Viktor
Episode 19: Each team member must use a saw to cut off one slice from an iron pipe. The first team to finish wins while the last team to finish receives a disadvantage for the second immunity challenge.
Episode 2: One team member must stack blocks to build a tower. While they do so, their partner must hold up a metal loop so that it does not touch the surrounding buzz wire. Each time the loop touches the buzz wire, the team member stacking the blocks gets electrocuted. If the stacking team member is unable to withstand the electric shocks, they can unplug the buzz wire to forfeit the challenge. As a disadvantage for placing last in the first immunity challenge, Alexander & Emmy must stack one extra block for their tower. The first team to stack their tower wins.
Winners:Jennifer & Viktor
Episode 4: Teams must retrieve ten tryes labelled with cities from a pole and stack them on another pole at the other end of a field, arranging the cities from north to south. The team with the most cities in the correct position wins, with ties broken based on time. As a disadvantage for being disqualified from the first immunity challenge, Alexander & Emmy, Carl & Olivia and Joshua & Elvira are imposed a 20-second time penalty.
Winners:Jennifer & Viktor
Episode 6: One team member must pull a chain connected to 200 kilograms worth of cement blocks by various means to the finish line at the end of a 70-metre track. As they do so, their partner can help lighten the load by digging through sand to find three items to help disconnect cement blocks from the chain: a key, pliers and a lock combination. The first team to pull their chain to the finish line wins. As a disadvantage for being eliminated from the first immunity challenge, Alexander & Emmy, Anthony & Joanna, Fabian & Isabella and Izabella & Joshua are imposed a 10-second time penalty.
Winners:Jennifer & Viktor
Episode 8: Played in male and female rounds. Each round, the designated teammate must enter a pit, where contact is allowed, to reach a rod with a color sequence on it. They must memorize the sequence, return to their station and arrange number tiles to replicate the sequence. The numbers on the tiles then form a math equation which they must solve to get the combination to unlock a flag to stop their time. The team with the fastest combined time from both rounds wins. As a disadvantage for placing last in the first immunity challenge, Alexander & Emmy must wait five seconds before they can enter the pit.
Winners:Helené & Homayon
Episode 10: Team members alternate turns riding a bicycle around a course containing various obstacles including a ramp and mudpit. The first team to complete four laps of the course combined wins. As a disadvantage for placing last in the first immunity challenge, Alexander & Emmy and Helené & Homayon are imposed a five-second time penalty.
Winners:Cruise & Joanna
Episode 12: Teams must pull a 100-kilogram sled across a field then stack four cubes so that each side shows four unique symbols. However, before the challenge begins, each team is given two weighted bags to place on other teams' sleds to make them heavier. As a disadvantage for placing last in the first immunity challenge, Elvira & Viktor and Helené & Homayon must place their weighted bags on their own sled. The first team to complete their stack wins.
Winners:Matilda & Robin
Episode 14: One team member must submerge themself in an ice bath while their partner assembles a puzzle. If the team member in the ice bath is unable to withstand the cold anymore, they must exit the ice bath and trade places with their partner assembling the puzzle. The first team to assemble their puzzle wins. As a disadvantage for being disqualified from the first immunity challenge, Alexander & Jennifer and Jens & Sandra are imposed a 10-second time penalty.
Winners:Jens & Sandra
Episode 16: Teams must transfer dozens of tyres through an obstacle course and stack them on a platform at the end. The first team to finish wins. As a disadvantage for placing last in the first immunity challenge, Matilda & Robin are given two extra tyres to transfer.
Winners:Matilda & Robin
Episode 18: Played one team at a time. One team member must drive a dune buggy around a course while their partner fires a paintball gun to hit targets along the course from the passenger seat. Along the course, opposing teams and several professional paintball snipers fire paintballs at the competing team in an attempt to distract them. The team to shoot all the targets and cross the finish line in the fastest time wins.
Winners:Jens & Sandra
Episode 19: One team member must untangle a chain from a board suspended above ground to collect three keys and use them to unlock a flag. In order for them to reach the board, their partner is suspended above a water tank and must pull themselves down a rope into the water. Both team member’s harnesses are connected in a way that each time the team member lowers into the water, their partner rises up to the board, allowing them to untangle the chain during this time. The first team to finish wins an advantage for the subsequent challenge. As a disadvantage for placing last in the first immunity challenge, Anthony & Elvira are imposed a 10-second time penalty.
Episode 2: First, the male team members must run through a narrow hallway, past/through their opponent, and tag their female partner at the other end. The female partners then repeat this process but must instead ring a bell at the end. The first team to ring their bell wins the round. The first team to win two rounds wins.
Played by:Carl & Olivia vs. Greta & Valentino
Episode 4: Played in a male and female round. Each round, players of the designated gender begin in the center of the Arena with both hands on a figure-eight ring. They must attempt to pull the ring to their end of the Arena and touch their team's colored platform while their opponent tries to do the same. The first player to touch their team's platform while holding onto the ring wins the round for their team. The first team to win two rounds wins. If the score is tied after both rounds, a coin flip is held to determine the gender to compete in the tiebreaker round.
Played by:Carl & Olivia vs. Joshua & Elvira
Episode 6: Both teams begin strapped together by their backs in the center of a platform. The first team to drag or push their opponents down their respective ramp of the platform wins the round. The first team to win two rounds wins the elimination.
Played by:Elin & Robin vs. Fabian & Isabella
Episode 8: First, the male teammates must punch or kick holes through a 7.5-metre drywall so they can climb the wall and ring a bell at the top. Once they do so, the female teammate then repeats this process. The first team to have both teammates ring the bell wins.
Played by:Cruise & Matilda vs. Fabian & Izabella
Episode 10/11: Players begin in the center of the Arena with both hands on a pole. They must wrestle their opponent for the pole and bring it to their side of the Arena. The first player to touch their mat at their end of the Arena while holding onto the pole wins the round. The first player to win two rounds wins.
Episode 12: Players begin strapped together by their backs at the center of the Arena. The first player to drag or push their opponent to their side of the Arena wins.
Episode 14: Played across two rounds; each round, players play both offense and defense once. The offense player attempts to deposit a ball into one of two barrels at the center of a ring while the defense player attempts to stop them by blocking them and taking the ball out of their opponent's hands or the out of the ring. Players then switch positions and repeat this process. The player with the most balls scored at the end of two rounds wins.
Played by:Helené vs. Jennifer, Homayon vs. Viktor
Episode 16: Players begin connected to their opponent by a chain at the center of the Arena and attempt to collect their flag at the boundary of the Arena while their opponent tries to do the same. If a stalemate persists after 30 minutes, the flags are moved closer in. The first player to collect their flag wins.
Played by:Alexander vs. Anthony, Jennifer vs. Joanna
Episode 18/19: In a revisit of the first elimination round, players must run through a narrow hallway, past/through their opponent, and ring a bell at the end. The player to ring the bell first in two out of three rounds wins.
Played by:Jennifer vs. Matilda,[f] Robin vs. Viktor
Episode 20: Teams begin chained to the ground and must use sledgehammers to break cinder blocks and place the rubble through a mesh screen into a container at one end of a seesaw-like structure. Once teams collect enough rubble, the structure balances out to reveal a key which teams use to unlock themselves from the chain. The first two teams to finish progress to the Final Challenge while the last team is eliminated from the competition. As an advantage for winning the second immunity challenge, Anthony & Elvira begin with one bucket of rubble already placed in their structure.
In episode 20, the final two teams compete in the Final Challenge to determine the champions of the season.
Final Challenge: Teams must break through three dry walls to reach a tower in the middle of the Arena containing 24 puzzle pieces. They must take all 24 puzzle pieces to their board and use them to solve the puzzle. The first team to solve the puzzle are declared the champions of The Challenge Sverige and receive SEK $1,000,000.
^ abcdAnthony and Elin joined the competition at the start of episode 3. Before the episode's first immunity challenge, the remaining contestants were given the option of leaving their current teammate for Anthony or Elin as their new partner. As no one chose to do so, Anthony and Elin were allowed to select any player as their partner; they chose Joanna and Cruise respectively. Elvira and Joshua (Cruise and Joanna’s former teammates) then formed a new team.
^ abcdIzabella and Robin joined the competition at the start of episode 5. Before the episode's first immunity challenge, they had to select any player as their partner; they chose Joshua and Elin respectively. Cruise and Elvira (Elin and Joshua's former teammates) then formed a new team.
^ abcdefHomayon, Matilda, Phillip and Sandra joined the competition at the start of episode 7, and could choose any player as their partner. They chose Helené, Cruise, Jennifer and Jens respectively. Elvira and Viktor then formed a new team as they were left without a partner after these selections.
^ abcdPhillip was medically removed from the competition after breaking a leg during the episode 10/11 elimination round against Homayon. As a result, Homayon continued in the competition but was not given the opportunity to select a new partner. Alexander and Jennifer later formed a new team as they were left without a partner following the night's events.
^ abcdJoshua withdrew from the competition at the start of episode 8, between the first and second immunity challenge, due to personal reasons. Fabian returned to the competition as a replacement for Joshua and was paired with Joshua's partner at the time, Izabella.
^ abcdAfter the first round of the elimination in episode 18, Matilda forfeited the elimination to Jennifer due to fear of the impending physical contact which came as part of the elimination.
^ abcdImmediately before the episode 12 elimination, Elin forfeited the elimination to Sandra, fearing further injury to herself after previously suffering a torn ligament.
^ abcPrior to the nomination vote and elimination round in episode 10, Emmy withdrew from the competition after feeling guilty about potentially having to go back on her word for the vote, and generally feeling unwell. As a result of uneven numbers after her departure, the episode's elimination (and nomination vote for) was changed to an individual male round.