Cassidy Clark breaks down “The Challenge: USA”'s final elimination and why she was seen as 'weak'
Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Challenge: USA episode 13, "The Treason For the Season."
The fourth time wasn't the charm for Cassidy Clark on The Challenge: USA.
The Survivor alum fought an uphill battle all season long on the CBS spinoff of the MTV series, as she found herself thrown into the elimination arena over and over (and over) again. She won three times, but in the last elimination of the season, she lost a Hall Brawl/puzzle combination against fellow Survivor alum Chanelle Howell and was sent home right before the final.
"It's really tough to get so close to the final and lose right before, but I'm really proud of myself for everything that I had to go through to get up to that point and for winning three eliminations," Clark tells EW. "I still had a pretty good rookie season considering what happened. I could have gotten knocked out second."
Below, Clark breaks down her elimination loss, how it felt to be seen as "weak" by the self-proclaimed "strong girls" alliance, and what fans didn't see this season.
Jonne Roriz/Paramount Cassidy Clark on 'The Challenge: USA'
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What happened? Why did you find yourself down in the sand over and over again, making your season so much more difficult than anyone who made the final (aside from Chris)?
CASSIDY CLARK: One thing about The Challenge is when you're seen as somebody who's a weaker player, people are naturally going to want to throw you in more. All of the strongest girls linked up and protected each other, which was a smart move, but it's a bummer that I was fighting this image that I wasn't a strong player. Then again, I didn't win any dailies, so I can't fault them for making that alliance because it did get them to the end. It's just hard when you have to fight this perception the whole season that you're a weaker player.
Also, once you get thrown in by somebody on the show, it's just easier for them to target you again and again and again, and lucky for them if you keep coming back, because then they don't have to make a new enemy and they keep throwing you in. When you get trapped in that cycle too, it's hard to get out of. Besides Michaela's opinion of me, I don't think it was because people didn't get along with me or disliked working with me. It just ended up being I was the easiest person to target toward the end, and it is what it is.
Why weren't you included in the "strong women" alliance, since everyone thought all the Survivor women would be working together?
Tori was one of our targets for a lot of the game, as Survivor women. The problem was the Blue team kept winning, and she was on the Blue team, so there was very few chances for the Survivor girls to actually throw in a big player like Tori. Once it got down to the wire and there was only so few players left, someone was going to have to go against her, so people started getting fearful of that. That fear combined with just the fact that she might win some dailies, so if they make this deal with her, they may be better protected, it makes sense in my head.
At the time, I didn't know that it was happening until it actually happened because I roomed with Tori and we had formed a pretty good relationship up to this point. I felt like it was me in the middle between Tori and them, but they were actually behind my back making plans. Good move on their part, because it worked.
If you could go back and redo this season, what would you have done differently to avoid this fate?
Gosh, I don't know what I could have done differently. I'm trying to think back to a pivotal moment that shifted everything. Maybe if I had held my tongue a little more, if I hadn't made such bold moves, that could have protected me. But I wanted to go into this game and play as authentically as possible and let my intuition and my impulses guide me. I didn't want to play safe, because in Survivor I played it safe and I didn't have a big enough resume for the jury to think that I deserved to win. I don't want me holding back to be what keeps me from winning this time, so I went in guns blazing. We're also making TV, so I'm going to give them a show. I think that rubbed some people the wrong way, especially if people have more quieter game styles.
But at the same time, I don't regret doing that. I literally don't regret anything that I did in the game. Maybe if me and Michaela had gotten along a little better, but she's a very hard person to work with, so I was never going to be able to be a minion for her, and that's what she wanted. Looking back, I'm actually grateful for all the people that turned on me and all the people that threw me in over and over again because it allowed me to have such an epic season. I'm proud that I was given the chance to show what I'm capable of to people.
Cory Wharton, Tori Deal, Chanelle Howell, Cassidy Clark, Michaela Bradshaw, Chris Underwood, Desi Williams, Faysal Shafaat, Johnny "Bananas" Devenanzio, and Josh Martinez
Is there anyone you'd want to get revenge on in future seasons?
[Laughs] Oh my gosh, you're trying to get me in trouble. There's some people, post-season, I've found it interesting how much shade they've thrown at me and how they've dragged me through the mud. That's kind of weird. I'd prefer not to be on seasons with people like that, but I don't want to go into the next season with a bunch of enemies. I already made enough enemies this season, so I'm going to try to play nice for now and then we'll see how it all plays out if I do end up returning.
What was it like competing against Chanelle in that Hall Brawl with a puzzle?
It felt very anticlimactic to me, if I'm being honest. I would have preferred a regular Hall Brawl, as long as I wasn't going against Tori. It was just such a weird choice for a puzzle because it became a guessing game. I would've preferred a hands-on puzzle where you're putting something together because those I'm good at, and that I think would've been more interesting to watch. And the whole pillowcase thing, I think they're trying to be more careful because Hall Brawl can be dangerous.
Let me preface it by saying it wasn't personal, me calling out Chanelle that one episode and putting eyes on her that she hadn't earned her place. What I was trying to do was appeal to the veterans' sense of, "You're a rookie, you need to earn it." They would say that all season, so I'm like, "What other options do I have but to try to put the target on somebody else's back?" And so she was really the only person who hadn't been down in elimination. When I said that, it was basically just to get the vets to maybe consider that I had earned my spot and I didn't need to keep going back in. Obviously that didn't work.
I knew Chanelle was a strong player. I knew that there was a good chance she could beat me. I just wish that we had had more of a chance to duke it out because it was over so fast. I hadn't even lost my breath. In my other eliminations I had to work so hard. I really wanted this last one to be one where I was fighting for my life but it was over so fast that it felt unsatisfying, even to lose. And it probably wasn't the most satisfying win for her either. But good for her for for making it to the final. Maybe it was a little bit of karma that she took me out.
What didn't we see on TV that happened this season?
[Laughs] There's some things that I'm glad weren't shown. The reason that the feud with Wes became so intense was because during my first elimination, when I was down on the sand, I called him out for a bunch of stuff in front of everybody. He was calling me a clout chaser and all this stuff, and they didn't show it. I would've just probably gotten more grief from Wes' fans if they had shown that. There was a fight or two that wasn't shown — I woke Josh up one time from sleeping and yelled at him.
At least they did show that moment of you and Michele making out during a party.
[Laughs] Oh, yeah. That's the shining moment of my whole career in reality TV. That was the best romance of the season. I think I kissed another person — I might've kissed Tori that night too but they didn't show that one. That would've been too wild. My grandma's watching this! That was a wild night, there was something in the air. We were letting off a lot of steam. Me in particular, I had a lot of built-up tension.
Did anything ever happen between you and Josh? Earlier it seemed like you were starting a showmance...
Just flirting, friendship. We were trying to work together for most of the game, which wasn't really shown, and there were moments when we protected each other. The Survivor girls early on were trying to get Josh out, and I was trying to protect him. But then toward the end when everybody turned on me, I one time turned around and flipped him off. He would keep telling me he was going to vote for Chanelle and then he'd always vote for me, and I'm like, "Dude, I thought we were good." But I know he feels bad about that, and he's told me he's going to make it up to me in the future, so we'll see. I don't trust him at this point. I don't trust anyone, so I'm not going to hold my breath.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
The Challenge: USA season 2 finale airs Thursday at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.
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