'American Grit' Season 2: New Teams Feature More Relatable Contestants in Better Format
"American Grit" is back for a second season, with wrestler John Cena at the helm and four new military veterans playing the role of cadres to four new teams. However, what makes this current season different from its predecessor?
Cena is joined by four new military veterans to whose role is to lead and advise four teams of four through a series of challenges known as Evolutions, which are inspired by military training exercises. This season's cadres include John Burk, an Army Infantry Drill Sergeant; Riki Long, a Marine; Chloe Mondesir, a Marine Ammunition Technician; and Grady Powell, an elite Green Beret.
The rules have remained more or less the same, with one contestant being eliminated each episode and the winner being awarded $250,000 by the end of the competition. But instead of bringing together strong physical players like the first season did, the second season has endeavored to challenge a group of people who have been viewed as weak, materialistic, insecure, and vulnerable, with some of them even suffering from psychological conditions like anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
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One contestant has already been sent home after the preliminary challenge that helped the cadres choose their team. And in the upcoming second episode titled "Cena Does the Dishes," the first team challenge will commence. The decision on which contestant goes home lies in the hands of the winning cadre leader, who will be selecting one contestant from each rival team to battle it out in an individual challenge. The one who loses will ultimately be sent home.
In an interview with The Wrap, host Cena shared that huge surprises are coming in future episodes, and the unpredictability of which has hit him, the leaders, as well as the competitors. He also said that this season will be easier for other people to relate to and is a much better format than the one they utilized in the first season.
"I think this season... we asked people to take a big step," Cena said. "We asked people to be open with their problems, open with their personal lives and then be brave enough to do these series of challenges we put forward," he added.
"American Grit" season 2 episode 2 will air on Saturday, June 17, at 9 p.m. EDT on FOX.
