MTV Roadies is one of the longest-running reality television shows in India. It features contestants, known as Roadies, selected through auditions who embark on a journey across India, facing mental, physical, and social challenges, alongside tasks, twists and vote-outs in order to win the grand prize. The format has evolved over the course of two decades. Early seasons focused on adventure and limited budgets. Later seasons saw the introduction of gang leaders, immunity tasks, strategic gameplay, bidding and more.
Format of the show was created by Nikhil J. Alva. Miditech Studios produced the first two seasons. MTV started producing the show from third season onwards. MTV Roadies has completed 20 seasons till date. Its first episode was aired on 15th August 2003. The show is broadcasted on MTV India and also streams on JioHotStar.
| Season | Year | Winner | Host | Judges |
| 1 | 2003 | Rannvijay Singha | Cyrus Sahukar | Raghu Ram, Rajiv Lakshman |
| 2 | 2004-05 | Ayushmann Khurana | Rannvijay Singha | Raghu Ram, Rajiv Lakshman |
| 3 | 2005-06 | Parul Shahi | Rannvijay Singha | Raghu Ram, Rajiv Lakshman |
| 4 | 2006-07 | Anthony Yeh | Rannvijay Singha | Raghu Ram, Nikhil Chinapa |
| 5 | 2007-08 | Ashutosh Kaushik | Rannvijay Singha | Raghu Ram, Nikhil Chinapa |
| 6 | 2008-09 | Nauman Sait | Rannvijay Singha | Raghu Ram, Rajiv Lakshman |
| 7 | 2009-10 | Anwar Syed | Rannvijay Singha, Bani J | Nikhil Chinapa, Cyrus Sahukar |
| 8 | 2011 | Aanchal Khurana | Rannvijay Singha | Raghu Ram, Rajiv Lakshman |
| 9 | 2012 | Vikas Khoker | Rannvijay Singha | Raghu Ram, Rajiv Lakshman |
| 10 | 2013 | Palak Johal | Bani J | Raghu Ram, Rajiv Lakshman, Rannvijay Singha |
| 11 | 2014 | Nikhil Sachdeva | Bani J | Raghu Ram, Rannvijay Singha |
| 12 | 2015 | Prince Narula | Gurbani Judge | Rannvijay Singha, Esha Deol, Karan Kundrra, Vijender Singh |
| 13 | 2016 | Balraj Singh Khehra | Gaeyln Mendonca | Rannvijay Singha, Neha Dhupia, Karan Kundrra, Sushil Kumar
Prince Narula(replaced Sushil Kumar) |
| 14 | 2017 | Shweta Mehta | Gaeyln Mendonca | Rannvijay Singha, Neha Dhupia, Nikhil Chinapa, Prince Narula, Harbhajan Singh |
| 15 | 2018 | Kashish Thakur | Rannvijay Singha | Prince Narula, Neha Dhupia, Nikhil Chinapa, Raftaar |
| 16 | 2019 | Arun Sharma | Rannvijay Singha | Sandeep Singh, Prince Narula, Neha Dhupia, Nikhil Chinapa, Raftaar |
| 17 | 2020-21 | Hamid Barkzi | Rannvijay Singha | Prince Narula, Neha Dhupia, Nikhil Chinapa, Varun Sood |
| 18 | 2022 | Ashish Bhatia and Nandini G | Sonu Sood | N/A |
| 19 | 2023 | Vashu Jain | Sonu Sood | Rhea Chakraborty, Prince Narula, Gautam Gulati |
| 20 | 2025 | Kushal Tanwar | Rannvijay Singha | Neha Dhupia, Rhea Chakraborty, Prince Narula, Gautam Gulati, Elvish Yadav |
MTV Roadies Season 1 Winner- Rannvijay Singha
Debut season of MTV Roadies commenced on 15th August 2003 and ended on 8th November 2003. Theme for this season was Challenges Har Kadam Par. The total number of episodes in this season stood at 27. Judges were Raghu Ram and Rajiv Lakshman. Cyrus Sahukar was the host in this season. 10 contestants made it past the audition stage.
Rannvijay Singha emerged as the winner of the first season of MTV Roadies. Natasha Gupta finished as the runner up. The Roadies covered multiple destinations from Chennai in Tamil Nadu to Chail in Himachal Pradesh.
MTV Roadies Season 2 Winner- Ayushmann Khurana
MTV Roadies Season 2 first premiered on 21st August 2004, with the finale on 12th March 2005. The theme for this season was Roadies Returns. Season 2 lasted for a total of 30 episodes. The judges for this season were again Raghu Ram and Rajiv Lakshman. However, Rannvijay Singha, the winner of the first season, replaced Cyrus Sahukar as the host.
10 contestants competed for the title. Ayushmann Khurana emerged as the winner, while Candy Brar finished as the runner up. The journey in this season took the Roadies from Kolkata in WB to Attari border in Punjab.
MTV Roadies Season 3 Winner- Parul Shahi
MTV Roadies Season 3 commenced on 11th November 2005 and ended on 3rd March 2006. The theme for this season was Triple The Danger. 17 episodes were broadcasted in this season. Raghu Ram and Rajiv Lakshman continued as the judges. Rannvijay Singha continued as the host.
13 contestants cleared the audition round. Parul Shahi won the season, while Rahul Sharma finished as the runner up. The Roadies undertook a journey from Jaisalmer in Rajasthan to Leh in Ladakh.
MTV Roadies Season 4 Winner- Anthony Yeh
MTV Roadies Season 4 first premiered on 11th November 2006, with the finale on 3rd March 2007. Theme for this season was Road To Fear. The number of episodes in this season stood at 17. While Raghu Ram continued as a judge, Rajiv Lakshman was replaced by Nikhil Chinapa as the second judge. Rannvijay Singha was the host for this season as well.
13 contestants rode Hero Honda Karizma bikes to cover various destinations, while enduring complex challenges. Actor Gulshan Grover made frequent appearances to introduce twists. The finale was held at Gangtok in Sikkim. Anthony Yeh emerged as the winner. He won a prize money of INR 500,000. Bani J was the runner up.
MTV Roadies Season 5 Winner- Ashutosh Kaushik
MTV Roadies Season 5 commenced on 28th October 2007 and ended on 13th January 2008. Theme for this season was Roadies 5.0. A total of 20 episodes were aired in this season. Raghu Ram and Nikhil Chinapa continued as the judges. Rannvijay Singha presented the show yet again.
Number of contestants who cleared the audition round was 13. Ashutosh Kaushik emerged as the winner and bagged a prize money of INR 500,000. Nihal Nikam was the runner up. This season saw the introduction of international destinations like Malaysia and Thailand, apart from India.
MTV Roadies Season 6 Winner- Nauman Sait
MTV Roadies Season 6 first aired on 29th November 2008, with the finale on 26th April 2009. Theme for this season was Hell Down Under because second half of the season took place in Australia and the tasks seemed straight out of hell. Rajiv Lakshman returned to partner with Raghu Ram as a judge. Rannvijay Singha continued as the host.
Auditions were held in various Indian cities like Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chandigarh and others. Due to mob violence in Delhi, online auditions were held in both Delhi and Mumbai. 20 contestants cleared the audition round. Nauman Sait won the title and was a awarded a prize money of INR 362,000 along with a Karizma bike. Lonkiri Timung finished as the runner up.
MTV Roadies Season 7 Winner- Anwar Syed
Seventh season of MTV Roadies commenced on 8th November 2009 and ended on 25th June 2010. Theme for this season was Deadly Sins and 1 Wild Safari. A total of 22 episodes were broadcasted in this season. Nikhil Chinapa and Cyrus Sahukar replaced Raghu Ram and Rajiv Lakshman as the judges. Bani J joined Rannvijay Singha as a host.
15 contestants competed for the title in this season. A part of the season took place in Kenya and Egypt. Anwar Syed emerged as the winner. He won a prize money of INR 90,000. Zaid Bin Nazir finished as the runner up.
MTV Roadies Season 8 Winner- Aanchal Khurana
MTV Roadies Season 8 first premiered on 19th January 2011, with the finale on 18th June 2011. Theme for this season was Shortcut To Hell. This season comprised of 28 episodes. Raghu Ram and Rajiv Lakshman returned as judges for this season. Rannvijay Singha continued as the host.
Auditions were held in various cities across India, including Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Pune, Ahmedabad and Chandigarh. The journey episodes began airing from 5th March 2011. Second half of the season took place in Brazil. 13 contestants made it past the audition round. Aanchal Khurana won the title and was awarded a prize money of INR 400,000. Mohit Saggar finished as the runner up.
MTV Roadies Season 9 Winner- Vikas Khoker
Ninth season of MTV Roadies commenced on 7th January 2012 and ended on 30th June 2012. It ran for a total of 27 episodes, with every new episode broadcasted on Saturdays at 19:00 hrs IST. Theme for this season was Everything or Nothing. Judges for this season were Raghu Ram and Rajiv Lakshman. The show was hosted by Rannvijay Singha.
Number of contestants in this season was 13. A part of the season took place in the United States. Vikas Khoker emerged as the winner. He took home a prize money of INR 617,000. Himani Sharma was the runner up.
MTV Roadies Season 10 Winner- Palak Johal
MTV Roadies Season 10 first aired on 19th January 2013, with the finale on 11th March 2013. Theme for this season was Battle for Glory. A total of 17 episodes made up the season, with every new episode broadcasted on Saturdays at 7pm IST. Judges for this season were Raghu Ram, Rajiv Lakshman and Rannvijay Singha. Bani J returned as the host.
Auditions started on 31st October 2012 and were held in Delhi, Chandigarh, Hyderabad and Pune. 16 contestants competed for the title. Palak Johal emerged as the winner. She was awarded a cash prize of INR 450,000, along with a Hero Impulse bike and a HP laptop.
MTV Roadies Season 11 Winner- Nikhil Sachdeva
MTV Roadies Season 11 started airing on MTV India from 25th January 2014, with the final episode on 18th May 2014. Theme for this season was Ride for Respect. Number of episodes aired in this season was 18. Rannvijay Singha and Raghu Ram appeared as the judges. Bani J continued as the host.
15 contestants made it through the audition round. Nikhil Sachdeva won this season and was awarded a cash prize of INR 320,000 and a Hero Impulse bike. Utkarsh Khanna was the runner up.
MTV Roadies Season 12 Winner- Prince Narula
MTV Roadies Season 12 started premiering from 26th January 2015 and ended with a finale on 27th June 2015. Theme for this season was Your Road Your Gang. This season ran for 22 episodes. Rannvijay Singha was joined by Esha Deol, Karan Kundrra and Vijender Singh as judges. Gurbani Judge replaced Bani J as the host.
22 contestants competed to win the title. A part of the season took place in Nepal. Prince Narula emerged as the winner. He won a prize money of INR 500,000. Gurmeet Rehal was the runner up.
MTV Roadies Season 13 Winner- Balraj Singh Khehra
Thirteenth season of MTV Roadies began airing from 20th February 2016 on MTV India and ended on 19th June 2016. Theme for this season was Your Gang Your Glory. Journey episodes began airing from 6th April 2016 onwards. Judges for this season were Rannvijay Singha, Karan Kundrra, Neha Dhupia and Sushil Kumar. However, Sushi Kumar was later replaced by Prince Narula. Gaeyln Mendonca replaced Gurbani Judge as the host.
Auditions were held in various Indian cities like Lucknow, Chandigarh, Delhi and Pune. 20 contestants were selected through the auditions. However, two contestants were picked up later, thereby bringing the number to 22. A part of the season took place in Bhutan. Balraj Singh Khehra was crowned as the winner. He was awarded a Renault Duster SUV. Navdeesh Singh finished as the runner up.
MTV Roadies Season 14 Winner- Shweta Mehta
MTV Roadies Season 14 first premiered on 25th February 2017, while its final episode was aired on 22nd July 2017. Theme for this season was Roadies Rising. This season comprised of 26 episodes. Judges for this season were Rannvijay Singha, Neha Dhupia, Nikhil Chinapa, Prince Narula and Harbhajan Singh. The show was hosted by Gaeyln Mendonca yet again.
22 contestants competed as gang members of various judges. Journey episodes started airing from 8th April 2017. Shweta Mehta won the title and was awarded a Renault Duster SUV. Baseer Ali finished as the runner up.
MTV Roadies Season 15 Winner- Kashish Thakur
MTV Roadies Season 15 commenced on 18 February 2018 and ended on 4th August 2018. Theme for this season was Roadies Xtreme. The number of episodes in this season stood at 28. Prince Narula, Neha Dhupia, Nikhil Chinapa and Raftaar appeared as the judges. Rannvijay Singha replaced Gaeyln Mendonca as the host.
24 contestants cleared the auditions. Kashish Thakur emerged as the winner. He was awarded a Renault Duster SUV. Pretti Kuntal finished as the runner up.
MTV Roadies Season 16 Winner- Arun Sharma
16th season of MTV Roadies kicked off on 10th February 2019 and ended on 18th August 2019. Theme for this season was Real Heroes. This season lasted for 28 episodes. Sandeep Singh joined Neha Dhupia, Prince Narula, Nikhil Chinapa and Raftaar as one of the judges. Rannvijay Singha continued as the host. Varun Sood and Divya Aggarwal played the role of Roadies Insiders.
Number of contestants in this season rose to 27. Arun Sharma was crowned the winner. He won a Droom Super Bike. Ankita Pathak was the runner up.
MTV Roadies Season 17 Winner- Hamid Barkzi
MTV Roadies Season 17 started premiering on MTV India from 15th February 2020 onward and finished on 16th January 2021. Theme for this season was Revolution. This was long season with 36 episodes. Judges for this season were Prince Narula, Neha Dhupia, Nikhil Chinapa and Varun Sood. The show was hosted by Rannvijay Singha.
In this season, the episodes were streamed on Voot a day before television broadcast on MTV India. 23 contestants cleared the audition round. Hamid Barkzi won the title and was awarded cash prize of INR 300,000 along with a Jawa bike. Michael Ajay finished as the runner up.
MTV Roadies Season 18 Winner- Ashish Bhatia and Nandini G
MTV Roadies Season 18 first premiered on 8th April 2022, with the final episode airing on 10th July 2022. Theme for this season was Journey in South Africa. Number of episodes in this season was 34. There were no judges in this season. Sonu Sood was the host, while Abhimanyu Raghav and Vishakha Fulsugne played the role of Roadies Insiders.
20 contestants got past the audition round. This season was held entirely in South Africa. Ashish Bhatia and Nandini G emerged as the first ever joint winners of Roadies. They won a prize money of INR 10,00,000. Jashwanth Bopanna and Yukti Arora were the joint runners up.
MTV Roadies Season 19 Winner- Vashu Jain
MTV Roadies Season 19 commenced on 3rd June 2023 and ended on 15th October 2023. Theme for this season was Karm Ya Kaand. This season had a total of 40 episodes. Judges for this season were Rhea Chakraborty, Prince Narula and Gautam Gulati. Sonu Sood continued as the host.
Auditions were held at Pune, Chandigarh, Indore and Delhi. 33 contestants were selected through the auditions. Vashu Jain emerged as the winner and was awarded a prize money of INR 600,000. Siwet Tomar finished as the runner up.
MTV Roadies Season 20 Winner- Kushal Tanwar
MTV Roadies Season 20 was first aired on 11th January 2025, with the last episode on 1st June 2025. Theme for this season was Double Cross. Number of episodes in this season rose to 42. Judges for this season were Neha Dhupia, Rhea Chakraborty, Prince Narula, Gautam Gulati and Elvish Yadav. Rannvijay Singha returned as the host.
37 contestants competed to win the title. Kushal Tanwar emerged as the winner. He won a prize money of INR 10,00,000. Hartaaj Veer Singh Gill was the runner up.
Conclusion
Roadies is a highly competitive and dramatic reality show. It mainly focuses on attitude, endurance and interpersonal conflicts. Despite criticisms from various quarters, it remains a popular reality show among the youth.