User blog comment:ForeverAloneTV/Total Drama Season 6 Idea/@comment-26344841-20160109224512/@comment-27105641-20160109234920

It was either  this with 26 episodes or  14 contestants with 13 episodes.

I don't think you guys would have liked the 13 episode length anyway and I'm pretty sure 10+ non-elimination rounds would have annoyed you as well (it did for me personally which is why TDA seemed pretty predictable).

And like ArtDraw12 said, having a large cast retains the feel of an actual Reality TV Show.