Well hello everyone, welcome to the new year as we bring you the latest from the Gauntlet II back in my home base of Cloquet, MN.

The episode begins with the participants dancing at a bar. That's when the drama surfaced again as Jodi watches Mark and Robin get up close and personal. This becomes too much for Jodi to handle. The memories of her relationship with Mark are making it hard for her to move on. When Mark and Robin noticed Jodi's hysterical reaction to them being together, they argued and then Mark went from Gauntlet II to The Jerry Springer Show in 2.2 seconds as he leaves the bus.

After the hell went over, the teams receive a clue sent by T.J. on their wireless devices.

>>Are you "sponge-worthy"? Meet us at Canoe Bay tomorrow at 9 AM to find out?

The Love may hurt, but everyone's still aware that losing the Gauntlet will hurt even more. The Rookies are using positive thinking to win the next mission while Kina literally prepares herself for the Gauntlet.

The teams go to Canoe Bay for the next challenge "Sponge Worthy" and each player will be wearing sponge belts. Each team will be divided up into three sub-teams, the soakers, the transferers, and the collectors. The soakers will take the water from one sponge to go to the transferers who'll then have the collectors collect the water which will go into their buckets. BUT...there's a catch involved, the players can't use their hands. The team who fills up their container first wins the mission and $10,000 for their team bank. And today is a "Female Captain Day" and the female captain of the winning team will also receive an Nintendo DS gaming system.

In their determination not to lose another mission, the Rookies come up with a plan. But the Veterans decide to put as many people in the water with sponges as possible.

After witnessing players pushing water out of sponges user their heads, buttocks, and some other body parts in this perverted mission, the Rookies win with their good planning. That means both teams now have $20,000 in their team banks. And that also means Ruthie will be facing one of her teammates in the Gauntlet. Beth's thinking she could be chosen, because some of the people have preconceived notions of her as sneaky and a bee-yatch.

In the deliberation Jisela chooses volunteer herself to save the unity on the team and not go out like a punk like Cameran. Then T.J. spins the ship's wheel to land on "Captain's Choice" and since Ruthie is currently the Vets female captain she chooses "Reverse Tug-o-War".

In "Reverse Tug-o-War" as the name implies, the two players will go into a backwards tug-o-war with the rope tied to their backs. The first player to get a flag in which they are at both ends of the playing field, will have control of the captain title.

T.J. rings the bell to start this off and Ruthie played it out like a champ to win. As for Jisela she got sent home without putting of a fight disappointing T.J. once again. She leaves the competition, with some of her teammates crying. But that didn't stop everyone from partying that night. Over the bar, Jodi and Robin make up just in time to have fun.

And that's it for another episode of The Gauntlet 2 we'll see you next week.