MTV’s The Challenge: When & Where Was The Double Agents Season Filmed?

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many shows were put on hold from filming, but, MTV’s The Challenge doesn’t seem to be letting that stop them. A new season of the series titled The Challenge: Double Agents premiered on Wednesday, December 9 with many familiar faces, new and old, competing to win their share of $1,000,000. Many viewers were curious to know when and where the show filmed due to travel restrictions in many different countries. The contestants and crew had to go through a lot before they could be cleared to compete. Here’s everything to know about when and where Double Agents filmed.

Before Double Agents even began filming, the pandemic was already affecting many countries, so they wanted to do everything in their power to make sure that everyone was safe. According to TVline, the season was filmed entirely in Iceland and it took many COVID tests and a lot of quarantines before filming officially commenced. Long time vet Aneesa Ferreira stated, “We were tested three times a week, our temperatures were taken twice a day, and all of production wore masks and shields, so everybody was safe.“

As for when the season was filmed, according to Variety, it seems like the season began filming for nine weeks beginning in September, after originally planning to film in March. However, due to the pandemic, filming was delayed for a few months. Once filming was able to begin, production and the cast had to go through a COVID booth in the airport once arrived on location, where they had to get tested, then having to download an app where it alerts you when you are cleared after a 24-hour quarantine.

After contestants were cleared, they could leave quarantine and openly move around. The production “owned” a hotel, taking over the entire hotel for the international crew that had flown in for the duration of filming. However, they also employed a number of locals who would go back to their regular homes after everything was completed, and they were kept away from the cast. The local members of the crew were represented by colored bands that the show created. According to The Challenge producer, Emer Harkin, “The bands dictated where you could be on set…We basically treated our cast as one person, we had them all in quarantine and rigorously tested so we knew when they entered the cast house they were all healthy and well. So we just needed to preserve them.” So despite safely filming the season, it did take a lot of work on the production team’s part.

When The Challenge: Double Agents was first slated to film in March, the coronavirus pandemic had then started to spread, delaying production. Luckily for fans, the pandemic started to slow down a little bit, allowing production to begin on the new season a few months later, under all of the proper COVID-19 guidelines. So, despite the delay in production, fans still got a new season of The Challenge before the New Year.

Source: TVline, Variety

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