Ben Driebergen talks returning for The Challenge: World Championship : 'I had more to prove'
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After getting medically DQed due to an injury right before the final began on The Challenge: USA, Survivor winner Ben Driebergen wasn't ready to give up his dream of winning yet another reality competition series. It took two surgeries and months of recovery, but now he's back for another shot on The Challenge: World Championship (premiering Wednesday on Paramount+).
"I'm thankful to be back, for sure," Driebergen tells EW. "On [Survivor season 40] Winners at War, I did the same thing where I was playing with all the Survivor legends, and now I'm looking around, I'm playing with all these Challenge legends and it's like, 'What are you doing, Ben? How have you gotten yourself into yet another one of these situations?' I'm a small fish in the big pond."
Below, Driebergen tells EW how he was able to return to The Challenge so soon after his surgeries, what to expect from him this season, and more.
James Dimmock/Paramount + Ben Driebergen talks returning to 'The Challenge: World Championship'
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Take me back to The Challenge: USA final — when did you learn that you weren't medically cleared to compete? Was it really at the starting line or did you suspect that your injury was too severe before that?
BEN DRIEBERGEN: I got X-rayed a little before the final, and honestly, I didn't know until I got to the beach and TJ let me know that I wasn't medically cleared. It was a big bummer. I was trying to fake it 'til I make it, and trying to get it into the final and run it. I wasn't going to give up or quit or anything like that, and so it was a better call because I was in pretty bad shape. My shoulder was messed up, I had to get a screw put in it. They made the right call — I probably would've tore it up even more. It was unfortunate though. I'm still pretty bummed about it, to be honest.
If you hadn't been medically DQed, how do you think you would have done in that final even with your injury?
I love Sudoku, that's something I do quite often, so that wouldn't have been too hard. And onions and garlic I use on a daily basis, so yeah, it would've been fun. I love the nature, Patagonia was absolutely amazing; I know they went through a storm out there, but it was still absolutely gorgeous to see untouched Mother Earth like that. I definitely think I would've won it.
What was it like watching the final, seeing everyone either quit or get DQed, knowing that you would've been able to finish that last puzzle?
[Laughs] Yeah, good on Danny. It was hard to watch, but I just wanted to stay positive with it. Do I think I could have won? Absolutely. Even under the conditions I was in. But I'm not going to sit there and dwell on that. I've done that in my life before with past experiences, and it just doesn't get me anywhere. Danny's a great competitor and he was the only one to finish it, so mad props to him. I was so happy for him, and Sarah as well.
But watching it, I felt like I got cheated, you know what I mean? Not by anyone in particular, but just by karma. I made it through the whole season and it was bad luck. You learn from it, move on, and now I get to come play the World Championship and hopefully I'll have a good showing on this one. I'm thankful for the opportunity, and I'm going to do my best to win one of these things.
Did you know immediately that you wanted to return to The Challenge again, or did that decision come later?
No, I came home from Challenge: USA, and I had surgery on my knee and my shoulder at the same time. They wheeled me around from the prep room to the shoulder surgery to the knee surgery, and got those all banged out in preparation to get healed in time to come back for the World Championship. I didn't know if I was going to be asked, but I wanted to be ready enough to be able to go and compete on a bigger level. I got those knocked out right away and started rehab and got to come back four months later with a shoulder and a knee that hopefully work this time around.
Paramount+ 'The Challenge: World Championship'
How bad were your injuries? What exactly was the issue that held you back from competing?
With my knee, I messed up the meniscus. Tore that up. And then I did something to a ligament in the ACL, or something like that, and then I had a torn rotator cuff, and a separated AC joint. They went in there and they cut about three-quarters of an inch of collarbone off and put in a screw with some rubber bands. I was in a chair for probably two weeks straight, in a lot of pain. I got to start doing PT about a month and a half later, just lifting it up and stuff. And then four months later I got to go to South Africa [for The Challenge: World Championship].
That sounds like an extremely accelerated timeline after multiple surgeries.
I just really wanted to go. I had so much fun on the first season and I felt like I left something out there, you know what I mean? I had more to prove. Looking forward to running TJ's final was all you're looking forward into in the season, and so to be that close and not run it, I didn't want to sit around in a bed full of sorrow, have surgery, and be like, "I'll never compete." I wanted to make sure I was going to get my body in some form to compete against the best of the best of the world. It was a big, big wall to overcome, but I did my best and stayed positive with the whole thing. Next thing you know, I'm in a stadium in Cape Town, South Africa, and we'll find out what happens after that.
What was your reaction when you did get the call to return for The Challenge: World Championship?
There was no hesitation. My bag's packed, what do I have to do? Get the doc's clearance? What x-rays do you guys need? What physical tests can I do to prove that I'm worthy? I was just blessed to be asked, honestly, even beaten up like that.
Aside from your physical therapy, how did you prepare or train differently for the World Championship now that you had experienced a season of The Challenge before?
Going into Challenge: USA, I was training for a fundraiser where you walk four miles every four hours for 48 hours, so I got into really good shape. For this one, I didn't want to know if my body could or couldn't work going into it. I didn't want to know if I could lift something with my shoulder, or run a bunch of stairs, or whatever they might have planned for me, so I stayed away from that as much as I could. I started focusing more on puzzles, got a puzzle app on my phone, and all that fun stuff. I was four months out from having two surgeries, and I didn't know if I could or couldn't do it, but I didn't want to know. When we show up there, we get put through a ringer very early. My body was definitely tested to the limits right off the bat, and it did pretty well, so I was pretty happy with it. From that point forward I was like, let's settle in, let's get to it.
You've already seen how the social and political game on The Challenge is vastly different from Survivor, so what did you learn on The Challenge: USA that impacted the way you approached playing World Championship?
God, it's so different. It's a lot less cagey. On Survivor, you're very withheld, and anything can be a threat which gets you voted off the island so you're very careful with your words and how you present yourself. On The Challenge, you get to be more yourself, and you get to save yourself in a sense where if you lose a daily or you get voted in, you're going into an elimination, and you have the opportunity to get yourself out of that. Whereas Survivor, it's all votes and you don't have an opportunity to save yourself. The social game is hard for me — I used to think I was pretty good at it, but I'm starting to learn that maybe I'm not as good as I think am. Maybe I'm just older now, maybe I'm not as social of a person, but I have to filter myself more.
What can you tease about how this season goes for you?
[Laughs] Buckle up. Hopefully the luck will change. Friends turn to foes, and there might even be a beard battle. My partner ends up being someone who I think I have a lot in common with. She's probably one of the best competitors in Challenge history. She's a winner who has proven herself time and time again, and I couldn't be more happy to be partnered up with this legend.
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