Johnny Bananas Reveals the Reason He Blew the Whistle on a ‘The Challenge’-Themed Cruise (Exclusive)

Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio is clearing the air on having to back out of what he’s describing as “Fyre Fest on the Water.”

The MTV reality star, 43, was set to embark on a The Challenge-themed cruise with several of his costars with a company called Showroom Travel Agency on November 6, but Devenanzio tells Star he realized something was amiss.

According to Devenanzio, he was warned by another television personality — who had been involved with a previous cruise — that she had to “basically threaten” the company’s owner, Mike Gibson, to get paid.

At that point, Devenanzio claims, he and Challenge costar Mark Long approached Gibson with their concerns.

“We [said], ‘Listen dude, we heard some things were a little bit questionable on the first [cruise],’” Devenanzio explains. “We want to run this with the utmost amount of professionalism and we can’t have you acting like that — this is a reflection on us as well.”

However, according to Devenanzio, Gibson assured him that he had stepped back from the company and everything would be going according to plan.

Devenanzio began to notice red flags. For one, his cast-mates’ accommodations were still not booked ahead of departure and his contract included a stipulation that he be paid prior to the cruise. However, according to the TV personality, when he reached out for payment, he began getting the run-around, only to be informed that Gibson had been in a car accident, was recovering and unable to speak with him.

“As somebody who’s been around the block and knows a f**king scam when I see one, if I’m owed a large sum of money and somebody that was supposed to pay me can’t because they’ve been in an accident — red flag,” he says.

At that point, Devenanzio turned to his Challenge group chat to discuss this situation with his cast-mates. “I’m like, ‘Guys, this stinks to high heaven. This has all the hallmarks to a Ponzi scheme,’” he shares. “I feel like he probably spent our money, can’t pay us and is just trying to just avoid us or buy time.”

The cast began digging and found other claims lodged against Gibson. “There was just insurmountable evidence that this guy was very shady, to say the least,” Devenanzio claims. “Not paying employees, not paying some past cast members and being completely unresponsive to us in the past week.”

Devenanzio shared a statement on Instagram announcing he was backing out of the experience. “It was a shocking avalanche from there,” he tells Star. “I was the domino that knocked all the other ones down — I had no idea the response was going to be this massive and widespread.”

Gibson issued a statement via Showroom Travel Agency, acknowledging the situation.

“Sadly I bit off more than I can chew,” Gibson wrote in the statement, per The Ashley’s Reality Roundup. “I have used revenue from one cruise and lapsed it into paying deposits for other Postgame Cruises (an action a lot of businesses do). With mass cancellations and failure to hit sales goals on future cruises, the funds have not been made to pay for all talents to participate in this cruise. This is sole responsibility of me, the sole owner of Showroom Travel, Mike Gibson.”

According to Devenanzio — who is working diligently with Cook County Sheriff’s Department in Georgia regarding Gibson — he felt “personally responsible” to let his fans know about the situation so they could get retribution for both the money they spent and the experience they missed out on.

“I want no part of this operation,” he adds. “This is rotten to the core.”

The company’s website, which was up on November 4, is no longer active.