David Alexander Says He Loved Being Underestimated on 'The Challenge: USA'

The two-time 'Big Brother' player gets into his heated reaction to Enzo being put in, and a surprising motivational moment we didn't see on screen.

The Challenge: USA is here! Every week, Parade.com will speak with the CBS reality alumni who were eliminated from the all-star competition.

David Alexander has built a reality TV career on being counted out. Despite being now on his third season of CBS reality, he has come across as largely an unknown. His reputation preceded him on The Challenge: USA, where he was not necessarily seen as part of the movers and shakers of the season. But, when push came to shove, he was able to prove himself, winning an elimination with Justine Ndiba and a daily challenge with Desi Williams.

After the most recent daily performance automatically sent him into elimination, David pegged his partner on the pegs in Tyson Apostol for an opponent, feeling he could defeat the frontrunner physically. Little did he realize the alliance that the winners Angela Rummans and Ben Driebergen were a part of. With the Survivor men all safe in the coalition, the only person left to go against David was his closest ally in the house, Enzo Palumbo. And so the two Big Brother all-stars faced off in a Challenge classic, going all-in on "balls in." Unfortunately for David, exhaustion and some critical tactical errors had him lose his lead in the challenge, giving the Meow-Meow the upset.

Now out of the game, Parade.com speaks with David about him "gassing out" in the elimination, his emotional reaction to Enzo going in, and how he felt about having to "prove himself" in a show once more.

Related: Meet the Cast of The Challenge: USA

Let's start with your elimination. We heard a lot of comments about how you were "gassed out" after the first round, and we saw a lot of exhaustion from you and Enzo by the final couple of rounds. Is that why you ended up losing?
Oh, I was gassed out. When I shot the ball, it wasn't a strategy. I just didn't have the physical ability to push again. What they didn't show was, in the first round, it got to a point where Enzo laid on me twice. It may have been bad strategy on my part, but I spent maybe two minutes trying to get up before they said, "All right, reset." So I was fully exhausted by the time I got to the second round. I'm literally exerting all my energy to try to get up with him lying on top of me. So by the time we got to later in the game, I had nothing left in the tank.

I have never been exhausted like that before ever in my life. Honestly, when the elimination ended, I was relieved that it was over. I didn't want to lose, but I was so exhausted. I sat down there on the ground for 10 minutes; then, I finally walked to the back to reset to come back out and graduate Enzo. But it took me 20 minutes in the back to get myself together. I was throwing up, lying on the ground, trying to get water. They tried to send me home in an ambulance, and I was like, "No, I'm not going home. Give me some time; I'm going to come say goodbye to Enzo." But I gave it everything. Watching it last night, it sucks to see yourself lose when you know you gave it every ounce you could. But the only thing I'm upset about is I wasn't as prepared physically as I should have, which I am now in case it happens again.

We saw a different side of you when you discovered that Angela and Ben would be sending Enzo in. What prompted such a reaction?
I felt like for the four of us Big Brother people that were still there, we all represented it in different ways. You got Alyssa, the last one of season 23, that came in with six. Angela's representing her entire season by being one person. Then you've got Enzo and me. I was really being doubted through the entire season. But this close to the end, it was about representing Big Brother. And then there's a bigger game to this, the global one, so we can represent Big Brother on that scale. And so it was like, "You put in Enzo against me; I thought we were tight. I thought we were good. I thought we were BB." My immediate thought was that Survivor was running [expletive].

It's interesting because, up until that moment, I didn't really get a sense that the Big Brother people were looking out for each other, especially during that period when you all kept sending each other in. But was that a loose coalition?
Yes, but obviously, it was very loose. Very, very, very loose. I think I was on the outs during most of this. Even when I was considering Derek, I talked to Angela. Angela was like, "Please, not Derek." I'm like, "What about Shannon? She has a hurt hamstring. You're not worried about Shannon potentially getting partnered with me?" She was just like, "Well, we don't know that. But just don't do Derek."

So when I saw that, that was a hit to me that I've been on the outside of this entire thing. That it's BB23 plus Angela. I think at the end of the day, for me having the doubt so early on, I read that in the house. I think I'm having my fame from my first season of Big Brother from reading the room. I read the room. I'm very self-aware. I knew people were doubting me. So that was kind of like extra fuel. This isn't Big Brother; you can't vote me out. You can't play a social game around me. You literally have to beat me, and that's the energy I took all the time.

Let's talk about your relationship with Enzo. I know you two played on Big Brother 22 together. How did that build into the friendship we saw on the show?
So we spent maybe 60 days together playing Big Brother. Big Brother is a mental mind [expletive] that you're literally playing live, getting people out, so you kind of bond in that experience. But Enzo did vote me out on Big Brother All-Stars. It was a 3-2 vote. So he had a deciding vote on me staying over somebody who had already won the game, but he was so loyal to someone else. And he regretted it after the season. He literally called me the night we got out and was like, "Yo, my family trashed me for voting you out." (Laughs.)

So we had this relationship that was pre-existing. And if anything, he was somebody that I could trust, wouldn't have the same type of doubts or whatever they thought about me because he played with me, he got to know me on a personal level. Nobody else there did. Nobody else knew what type of person I was deep down. And as a result, we did get closer. I was like, "Yo, you voted me out last time, so I'm not going to really trust you." So when they saw that scene of me saying, "Yo, I need you to win some [expletive], it's me telling him, "I'm not sitting here about just to trust you to the end. I need you to prove it. I need you to to not play the social game. We build this relationship because you're funny. But I need you to show me that you actually got my back." And once we had that conversation, I think we were locked into the end.

I see comparisons between your seasons on Big Brother 22 and The Challenge: USA. In both cases, you were definitely regarded as a "lesser player" and told you had to prove yourself by undergoing a trial by fire early on. How did it feel to have to re-experience that on this show?
Yeah, I hated that. Memphis is a whole other discussion. But I think some of it deals with me having social anxiety. It is triggering in these moments where you're around a lot of people. The very first time I was around a lot of people experiencing this, I was gone within a few hours. That emotion and feeling does not go away. And so sometimes I can be a little bit more reserved early on, trying to build these relationships. Because the first time I did it, it was used against me, and I was gone.

But I actually really liked being underestimated because people had to beat me. So no matter if you doubt me or not, you have to beat me. And that type of energy motivated me. I can tell you a cool story about this. Xavier, Cinco, and I were in a bar one night after the third challenge. And Xavier says to Cinco, "Between me, you, and Danny, I think we're the fastest in here." I was sitting across from them all at the same booth.

And as they're saying this, maybe it's true. Maybe it's not. We don't know that. But two of them are collegiate players. And one is a retired NFL player, so I get why he's saying it. But at the same time. I'm like, "Oh, okay. Noted. There's more fuel. Thank you. I appreciate it." And I think we saw what that meant when it came to my elimination against Xavier., I wasn't scared. There is no moment or person that I'm scared of because I feel like I have everything needed to win this entire game. It's just moment by moment you got to win. 

Finally, in honor of the infamous "[expletive] They Should Have Shown" episode of the old-school days of The Challenge, what's one moment from your time on the show that you wish had made the edit?
Before Leo and Alyssa's big elimination, Leo comes to me. He knows that he's about to go into elimination. He is also not worried about going home because he just tried to walk out the day before. And so he's at this very binary moment of either he can go home and take care of his businesses, or he can fight to stay. And he doesn't like the doubters and haters as well. So we have this relationship of "these mother [expletive] are doubting us."

Then Kyland walks into the kitchen and says, "Yo, Leo, you don't want to see me in elimination." And I said to Leo, "Leo, you are about to have the most amazing story this season. You almost went home. You're in elimination. And now this person is scared to go against you. They're scared to go into elimination. So guess what? I think Kyland might go in there. And if he does, send them home. If he's trying to intimidate you, that means he's scared; send them home." I think that was a huge moment. And when Leo won and did some kind of harm, I was so happy for him.

Next, read our interview with Cashay Proudfoot, who was eliminated in The Challenge: USA Episode 9.