Everyone knows what happens when you stalemate a vote onThe Challenge.
Not only does it piss offTJ Lavin(which should be enough punishment in itself!
), it also sends the indecisive people in power straight into elimination themselves.
Tony Raines, ‘The Challenge’.Jonne Roriz/MTV
And historically, that never works out well (see: Zach Nichols and Amanda Garcia onFinal Reckoning).
Why did you leave early?
TONY RAINES:Talk about back-to-back disappointments, fromAll Starsto this one.
Tony Raines, ‘The Challenge’.Jonne Roriz/MTV
[I went] home early onAll Stars 4because of personal reasons back home.
It was just unfortunate at the timing of the things, but it’s just a personal matter.
Oh my God, yes.
Tony Raines, Averey Tressler, Darrell Taylor, Jodi Weatherton, ‘The Challenge’.Jonne Roriz/MTV
In those carnival games?
Come on, yes, I would’ve.
That was mine to win, for sure.
Tony Raines and Darrell Taylor, ‘The Challenge’.Jonne Roriz/MTV
I finished watching out that season, and I feel like it would’ve been a breeze.
Laurel, she’s a monster.
Look, it would’ve been a challenge, but I think I would’ve had a great chance.
In the first team challenge on season 40, why did you step up as captain?
Were you aware that being team captain usually means you go into elimination if your team loses?
If you win, you’re good, you don’t, you’re in.
In the back of our mind, we figured it out.
So there was really no hesitation.
Era 3 wins the challenge, so youre safe.
Now, when I asked Darrell who he wants, he was like, “I want Derek.”
That’s when I was like, “Here we go.
This makes it a lot more difficult, what am I going to do?”
After talking to Darrell and thinking on it, I thought that was my best path forward.
I’ll look out for you now, you look out for me in the future."
I figure that’s going to be me showing an allegiance to Era 1.
If I need a favor, I go to them, they’ll pay me back.
I thought that was a solid deal.
I also see it from Averey’s side she’s known Derek for 10 years.
In my mind, that was the route.
My mind was made up after that.
Do you regret standing your ground now, knowing that it led to your exit?
I’ll probably regret it after watching this episode back.
I’ve really tried to suppress it and not think about it too much since it all went down.
It didn’t work out, but I stuck to my guns.
I just really thought she’d change her mind.
But here we are.
That was an unnecessary dig at me, to say that I didn’t want to be there.
I wanted to be there just as bad as anybody else.
I’m there for a reason.
1 is to make my girls proud.
While I was out there, did I say how I miss my family?
Yeah, of course.
My little girls and my wife are my entire world.
That’s not the case.
I’m out here battling.
If I didn’t want to be here, I would’ve lost to Leroy.
I could have went out in a better way than I went out on this elimination.
That’s something that really rubs me the wrong way.
And then she had Leroy, who had to leave early with the back injury.
I only heard that from Averey out there in person, that I can remember.
I was giving it 100 percent but my weakness is puzzles.
It just wasn’t clicking for me.
I could not get it figured out, and I’m giving it everything my brain has.
Nobody could sit here and say that I didn’t give 110 percent out there.
I’ll be honest with you, I was bummed out.
But as far as checked out, absolutely not.
When I’m clocked in, I’m clocked in.
It’s unfortunate that I ended up in elimination and it was a puzzle.
There’s no quit in me.
Do you wish it was a paired elimination with Averey, or are you glad it was individual?
No, I’m so happy that it was individual.
I was 100 percent rooting for her.
What happened this season that wasnt shown in the episodes that you want fans to know about?
We haven’t had any throw in of correspondence with each other.
For five, six years, there was nothing between us, no resolution.
And seeing him for the first time, it was very, very awkward.
It was something that needed to be had with me and him, especially being on the same team.
We both wanted to put it behind us.
Now, did his ass throw me into elimination right after that?
The Challenge: Battle of the Erasairs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on MTV.
