The competition is heating up on CBS’ Buddy Games in the 2023 TV schedule as the teams of best friends compete against each other, but a new look at the upcoming episode suggests that cracks are going to start showing in those friendships. While host Josh Duhamel has shared that he’s happy to get his hands dirty for the show, the team of former pageant queens seems to be getting messy in a different way. Check out an exclusive clip (seen above) exposing the Pageant Queens drama in the September 28 episode, and then read on for what Duhamel told CinemaBlend about the option to strip naked for the show.
The clip gives a preview of what’s on the way with the next episode, called “It’s Prom Night, Baby!” The Pageant Queens certainly aren’t wearing gowns or corsages in the footage, and there’s clearly some dissension in the ranks about the Buddy Games take on soccer. Deveney “Devi” Shea evidently wanted to bring some soccer expertise to the field, but Yolanda “Yoli” Stennett had some support from Lourdes Spurlock and Lauren Cisneros Campbell in speaking up about feeling negative vibes.
Some conflict was inevitable once the competition got even stiffer on Buddy Games, and the Pageant Queens are bringing the drama in the next new episode! Whether the Pageant Queens drama is enough that one of them is sent home at the end of “It’s Prom Night, Baby!” is a question that can only be answered with Buddy Games’ next episode at a special time at 8 p.m. ET on CBS Thursday.
When I previously spoke with host Josh Duhamel about the show, he focused on the fun more than any drama that would be on the way. After he explained going rogue for his muddy Buddy Games belly flop in the series premiere (available streaming via Paramount+ subscription), the subject changed to the very first challenge of the season: the Curve Ball, which gave the teams three choices for how to advance… and time was of the essence.
Those choices were Swag, which involved stripping naked and racing to the finish line; Drag, which involved dragging a weight that equaled the weight of all teammates combined; or Gag, which involved eating some very cold and very gross mac-n-cheese as fast as possible. The host asked which one I would have picked, and I had to choose Drag by default after ruling out Swag and Gag. Duhamel noted Drag “was the slowest pick because every team that picked that came in last,” and then shared what his friends would have picked:
I know for sure my buddies would have gotten naked immediately. There would have been no hesitation… Yeah, I think [I would have chosen Swag], just because I would want to win. I’d be like, ‘Well, they’ll blur it out. Nobody will see it except the people on set.’
Considering the results of Swag, Drag, or Gag, I would have been on a losing team while Josh Duhamel’s team could have won! It may be for the best that I’m not in the running for the $200,000 prize. Most of the competitors also shied away from baring all on CBS, but the host laughed and credited the Derby Squad for having the nerve to go for it. He said:
Thank god the Derby Squad did that because I was hoping one of the teams would pick it. It just made it so much funnier. I couldn’t believe it. I just met these guys three minutes before and suddenly I’m seeing them completely naked standing in front of me.
The Derby Squad seems to be holding together a little better than the Pageant Queens (who chose Gag back in the premiere), based on how they started and what the episode clip previews about the drama on the way! Of course, the early episodes have already proven that a lot can change very quickly on Buddy Games, whether a team still has all four players or has been cut down to three. As for how the winners will eventually split the grand prize money, the host broke down the details.
Tune in to CBS on Thursday, September 28 at a special time for the next new episode of Buddy Games, airing at 8 p.m. ET instead of 9 p.m. as per usual. The episode will be followed by Big Brother at 9 p.m. and The Challenge at 10 p.m. CBS’ fall TV schedule will look a little different this year with scripted options not returning in light of the WGA writers strike, but Buddy Games isn’t going anywhere.