While fans eagerly await the new season of The Challenge, many are wondering where is the challenge double agents filmed. Harkin began pre-production on the series in January 2020, but as coronavirus grew, she realized that the most pressing issue for this season was finding a location that was safe for cast and crew to travel to and film full-contact competitions.

Ultimately, the producers landed on Iceland because of its stunning scenery. Known as the land of fire and ice, the country offers a combination of glaciers and black sand beaches that would work well for both the main challenges and elimination rounds. The cast and crew stayed in Reykjavik throughout the duration of shooting, but that didn’t mean that they didn’t have to follow pandemic protocols. They all had to wear specific wrist bands for safety and a medical team was in place to administer COVID tests multiple times per week.

The producers of the show also built a club where they could house everyone during production, which Harkin says was essential to keeping the cast and crew safe. She adds that the entire team took 3,000 COVID tests over nine weeks of filming and not one person tested positive, which is a huge achievement during the pandemic.

Since the first episode aired on December 9, the ratings have been strong, with a 1.12 Live+Same Day demo rating and a 5.2 share. That makes it one of the highest rated seasons for The Challenge in over a year and the highest-rated season on MTV in more than 13 years.