The Challenge Australia: Jack Vidgen spills on wild new series

Jack Vidgen has lifted the lid on the explosive clashes on the set of Ten’s wild new reality series, The Challenge Australia, admitting plenty of “issues came out”.

Within just one episode of The Challenge: Australia, viewers were given fiery blow-ups, an elimination and a cheating scandal.

Ten’s new reality series, which premiered on Monday night, pits 22 Aussie stars against each other to compete in gruelling challenges while also living in a Big Brother-esque compound – all for the chance to win a cash prize of $200,000.

One of the show’s contestants, Jack Vidgen – who has previously appeared on Australia’s Got Talent, The Voice, I’m A Celebrity and The Masked Singer – told news.com.au podcast I’ve Got News For You that within five minutes of arriving on set in Argentina, “the niceties were gone”.

“The most challenging thing was definitely the intensity of being in the house. I’ve never done a reality show where the drama is quite like this. They’ve all been … just nice,” he explained, admitting that he’d clashed with other contestants during production.

“I don’t think I knew what to expect [going in].”

Emily Seebohm and Jack Vidgen watch on as the drama unfolds around them.

‘Cyclone’ Cyrell blew up over the bed arrangement.

The line-up for the first season includes The Bachelor’s Brittany Hockley, Megan Marx, Jessica Brody and Kiki Morris, The Bachelorette’s Konrad Bień-Stephen and Ciarran Stott, Married At First Sight’s Cyrell Paule and Ryan Gallagher and Australian Survivor’s Brooke Jowett and Johnny Eastoe.

To add fuel to the fire, some of The Challenge’s stars had previously dated, or had complicated histories.

“Issues came out as we went along – but I think people definitely went into the show and into the house with issues with each other,” Jack, 25, explained, comparing the new series to “Jersey Shore, and also maybe like Jerry Springer”.

While Jack wouldn’t confirm a Herald Sun report that producers had been forced to step in amid escalating drama, he admitted “a lot of sh*t went down” during filming – something he’d never experienced on his previous forays into reality TV.

“It’s never happened to me. This is probably the first show [I’ve done] where something like that has needed to happen,” he said.

Just 12 minutes into Monday night’s premiere, a heated, expletive-laden argument unfolded between “Cyclone Cyrell” Paule and Love Island star Audrey Kanongora over a bed.

Cyrell was heard screeching at Audrey after she attempted to stake a claim over one of the best beds by leaving her shoes on it – which clearly infuriated the MAFS star.

A short time later, Audrey was caught up in another drama when she was seen “fooling around” in the shower with fellow contestant Ciarran Stott, despite both being in relationships.

“Ciarran’s room is next to mine, so I asked if I could shower in his. He got in the shower with me,” Audrey explained in a piece-to-camera.

Ciarran, who told producers he decided to put a stop to the rendezvous before things progressed, issued a grovelling apology to his girlfriend of almost a year, OnlyFans model Ruby Burciaga.

The Challenge: Australia continues tonight at 7.30pm on Ten

Originally published as The Challenge Australia: Jack Vidgen spills on wild new series