Tori Deal reveals what still haunts her about “The Challenge: USA ”season 2

Sydney Bucksbaum
·8 min read
Tori Deal reveals what still haunts her about “The Challenge: USA ”season 2
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Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Challenge: USA season 2 finale.

Tori Deal didn't win The Challenge: USA season 2, but she still feels like she walked away a winner.

"It was a very hard season — I can't even believe I made it to the end," Tori tells EW. "When I saw that it was Bananas, Cory, and myself, for the people that came in to represent The Challenge, three of us out of the six made it. That's massive."

While Tori and the other Challenge vets made it to the final, it was two Survivor alums who ultimately took home the prize: Desi Williams and Chris Underwood. Below, Tori reveals what led her to DQ before the final ended, what fans didn't see on TV, and more.

THE CHALLENGE: USA
THE CHALLENGE: USA

Jonne Roriz/Paramount Tori Deal

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How do you feel about your season now that you've seen it all on TV?

TORI DEAL: I was really happy with it. Obviously I can look at the season and I can be disappointed, and in certain areas I am, but I'd be doing myself a disservice if I was only disappointed.

What are you disappointed with?

[Laughs] Ax throwing. Spelling. When you get that close to the end, you wonder, "Am I going to win this one, too?" But I did have a different feeling in my body the day that I went in to that final than I did when I went into the Ride or Dies final. I did feel like it wasn't my season. But I did feel like, in another way, it was my season by being the only female vet Challenger left. I think that was my purpose in this game.

What did you think of the four trials on day one of the final?

It was very Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I felt like I was in the Triwizard Tournament! That's cool, so it changed the attitude around it. I knew the style of the final was going to be different, but when I went into it and lost the sled push immediately, and then lost spelling, I was like, "This is just not a good look." I was a little embarrassed, I'm not going to lie.

But then you won and canceled out your time penalties, so how did it feel to make that up?

Oh my god, amazing. As a Challenge vet, you're able to listen to the way rules are described in the game. Something that was made very clear to us was that you couldn't have four in a row, but then it was said immediately after, "But you can have three." And that clicked in my mind. If I'm risking it in this moment, I'm going to try to make a pattern based on three. It was a gamble which ended up working out. And I'm super grateful that it did, because then it made me look a little bit better than before.

How did that eating challenge rank against the ones you've done in the past?

On my very first final on Dirty 30, I had to drink fermented llama's milk with fish oil and moldy cheese, stuff that physically burned your throat when it went down. When I think about the things I've had to do in the past, like on The Challenge [World Championships], it was the saltiest, most fermented tofu drink in the world. I couldn't get it down and was puking nonstop. So in comparison, this did feel like it was a legitimately nice restaurant. I was like, "This is classy." I died when Michaela said I have gas station food standards. She's not wrong! I can pretty much eat anything as long as it doesn't have animal parts in it.

How were you feeling going into day two?

I felt great. I knew that Michaela was going to be the person to keep up with when it came to running, and I really did stay right behind her, and I knew Desi was right behind me. All three of us were very close. But apparently I can't throw an ax, and apparently you should use two hands to do it.

THE CHALLENGE: USA
THE CHALLENGE: USA

Jonne Roriz/Paramount Michaela Bradshaw and Tori Deal

I never predicted that of the eight finalists, you and Fessy would be the last place DQs. Do you blame the ax throwing checkpoint?

Definitely. This final, if you didn't successfully complete a risk station, it was such a disadvantage to run an extra mile with a rock on your back. And then to have the next checkpoint be a purge? The moment I missed that ax was the moment that the game was over for me. I was basically just carrying a rock to my fate. I had thought about stopping because I knew that nobody else had missed it, but I was like, "Nah, I've got to finish the drill." But it's frustrating. I fall asleep at night thinking, "God, why didn't I just put two hands on that ax when I threw it?" This was just another reminder for me to be calmer and slower when approaching [checkpoints]. I was just locked into beast mode in my mind. It was a very rookie move of me, even though this was my sixth final. I'm still learning the ins and outs of my abilities.

Did you know you were in last place or was it a surprise when you got there and saw the sign?

When I saw the sign, for sure. I had this thought that maybe Chanelle could have been behind me if she missed her ax. Clearly she didn't, good for her. But when I pulled up and I saw the little note, I'm like, "Damn TJ. You just broke up with me through a text." He couldn't even say it to my face!

Did you know that Fessy had run the wrong way?

[Laughs] Yeah, because I saw him running back. And then they told him he had to run an extra 0.5 [mile]. He was like, "I didn't hit the ax. I have to run back." And I was like, "Oh God." I was looking over at one of the camera guys, and we were both just dead. He was holding his camera, I'm holding the rock, we're looking at each other, like, "When does this end?"

What checkpoints didn't we see on TV?

We actually had an up-all-night challenge. We stood on top of these little stumps and it was miserable. The challenge was you had to count to an hour in your head, and if you stepped off before an hour or after an hour and five — so you had a five minute grace period — you had to redo it. The first time we counted to one hour and eight minutes. The second time we counted to 57 minutes. And then the last time we counted to one hour and four minutes and 30 seconds. For three hours we stood up there literally counting to an hour in our mind, and I honestly don't recommend it.

We also did work together on it, because we were all like, "This is so bad. Nobody wants to be stuck up here alone." If we all jump down together, then nobody will be standing up here by themselves for an hour. Nobody wanted to be that person. Actually, Johnny Bananas didn't, he jumped off first and got it right. He only had to do two hours.

Do you regret anything about the way you played this season?

The thing that haunts me the most is the thing that I feel pulled me out of my own character: Voting for Josh in the very end. It's still something that I'm like, "Damn, I really messed up on that one." I wish I wasn't trying to be so calculated. With Josh's story, it's a little bit more personal because he hadn't made it to a final yet. I was honestly just hoping my ball didn't matter — I didn't realize that he was going to get another ball from Chanelle as well. Walking away from this season, that's my biggest L that I took, aside from ax throwing. I made the wrong decision on Josh, so in the future, I've got him.

If you didn't vote for Josh, who would you have voted for?

I would've just walked out the door.

... Is that even allowed?

[Laughs] No, it's not allowed. I just don't have an answer for that right now. Then I would screw over Cory, and that's just not what I wanted to do either. It was a rock and a hard place, truly.

What are your thoughts on coming back for future seasons after this one?

I'm so grateful to not be on season 39 — obviously I do come in as a little guest for a moment, which is really cool. But the break feels great. There's no guarantee of anything that's coming up. And in my off season, I've been working on a poetry book called The Soul Spill. This is my second book, and I realized after writing this that I am the Taylor Swift of The Challenge, because there are many exes written about in this book. The Soul Spill is now available for presale, so it would mean the world to me if anybody supported it.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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