Derek Xiao and Shannon St. Clair Name Their Biggest "Rookie Mistake" on 'The Challenge: USA'

The 'Big Brother' and 'Love Island' alums address the moves made against the Cookout, and give a twist-filled update on last week's "Condomgate."

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

Derek Xiao and Shannon St. Clair both can say they were underestimated in The Challenge: USA. Derek noted he was competing against former professional athletes, which unfortunately gave him the label of a weaker player early on. Shannon initially pinged on people's radar when she expressed difficulty playing in the first couple of days and was nearly sent into the first elimination. Luckily, both were able to prevail past their perceptions and survive past the halfway point in the game, with Derek even succeeding in his goal of getting "revenge" on the Cookout alliance from Big Brother 23. But in one fell swoop, their game fell over like a stack of improperly-placed tires. When Shannon got visibly injured during the daily, Desi Williams and David Alexander chose to send them into elimination against Enzo Palumbo and Justine Ndiba. Though the duo started with a lead due to their superior spelling, their stack of strategies did them in, spelling their doom in the game.

Now out of the game, Parade.com speaks with the eliminated pair about how surprised they were at being sent into elimination, how they battled the perceptions against them, and a new update on last week's "Condomgate."

Related: Meet the Cast of The Challenge: USA

Let's start with the elimination. Were you surprised to be sent in by David and Desi?
Shannon St. Clair: I was definitely surprised leading up to that. There were a lot of other pairs that were being considered that, honestly, I felt like would have been better for their game. But right before the elimination, Desi and David actually pulled us aside and let us know in private that it was us that was going in. I have so much respect for them. But the whole day leading up, we were game playing, you know. I was in the gym. I was stretching. Derek and I had a little thing going on where we were just walking around very confidently. And that's all you can do in that situation. So yeah, it was surprising, but I wasn't blindsided. 
Derek Xiao: It was definitely a rough injury. I've never pulled a hamstring. But I was talking to Danny in the Compound about it. We're just chilling in the hot tub. And I was telling him about Shannon's pulled hamstring. He was like, "If you pulled a hamstring in the NFL, that puts you out three to six months." I was trying to downplay it, like, "It's not that bad. Shannon's in the gym right now; we're fine." And he's like, "Yeah, I see you're stretching a lot. But is she running?" And I was like, "We can run. Don't worry." Then I went over to Shannon and asked, "Can we run?" And she's like, "No, we cannot run." (Laughs.)

(Laughs.) Well, I want to talk about that injury. Last night on the episode, we saw Cayla comment about how it was a mistake for Shannon to yell that she had an injury since it lets everyone in the competition know. Shannon, tell me more about how the injury happened and your reaction to that comment.
Shannon: I'm really glad you asked that, Mike. So I am Italian. When I talk, I scream. And at the moment when you're up there on the obstacle, you black out. It's just me and DX up there. It wasn't really aired, but I got my sneaker stuck in the rope and was dangling upside down with it. I wanted to let Derek know that I wasn't not pulling my weight; I actually was stuck with an injury. So that wasn't for the whole world to hear, which was my first mistake.

It's a rookie mistake. I never watched The Challenge before this. I wasn't supposed to be on the show. I was actually supposed to be an alternate. So when I tell you I didn't train for this, I mean it. I was pulling my hamstring. I was screaming out that I was injured. It really hurt my game that day. I don't blame Cayla at all for saying, "Challenge 101: Don't announce you have an injury." I already knew I was in the doghouse for doing that. Plus, there were a lot of talks that day because she and Leo were the other pair that could have gone into elimination. So no hard feelings there. I learned the hard way. But I mean, it hurt!

I want to talk about perceptions in the game. Derek, you came in feeling overwhelmed by the male competition. And there were some comments from people like Desi and Sarah who didn't want to be your partner. What's your reaction to that?
Derek: After Tyson started winning, I was like, "Anyone can win these things." I definitely underestimated Tyson. I looked at Tyson and was like, "I could beat that guy." It really is a game of not judging a book by its cover. But when I walked into the house, I judged every single book by its cover. I saw Cinco and Danny and was like, "So should I just walk out now? I can just self-eliminate if that's how we want to do it and save you guys some work." (Laughs.) As much as The Challenge is physical, I think there is a strategic and mental aspect that balances it out. I held my own there and did pretty well in some of the challenges. It's just for other reasons, I was unable to win.

How about you, Shannon? You mentioned feeling out of your element in that first episode. How did you feel you were able to overcome that perception?
Shannon: For starters, because I was an alternate, I was flown out at a different time. Everybody had met at the airport prior, drinking on the flight going in. So when I showed up on the bus, it was like everyone was rubbernecking. "What is Shannon doing here?" I was asking myself the same thing! (Laughs.) When they came out and said,  "Shannon, you're going in," I started laughing. It was like, "You guys are so hilarious." 

I was absolutely intimidated by The Challenge as a whole. I hadn't watched the show itself or any of the other shows like Survivor or Big Brother. I got through half an episode of The Challenge 30 minutes right before I went in. So I knew a little tiny bit. It wasn't the challenges that I was necessarily scared of. Because I am in shape and I have a good social game. It was how to utilize my assets. I didn't really understand the whole manipulation and the politicking. If I had watched, studied, and done my homework, I'm telling you right now, I would have made it to that final. I would have known exactly who to vote for and who to target.

But going back to your question, I was very depleted in the beginning. I was ripped away from my boyfriend, who was also an alternate, and thrown in. So I felt after the first challenge was over, I got my confidence back. One pair couldn't even get the math right. So I felt like any small milestone for me was a huge one, essentially. And I felt like people were respecting me more because I was respecting myself more. Turning over a new leaf really helped my game and just helped my mentality in general.

Derek, you and Alyssa, from the beginning of the season, were adamant about getting "revenge" on the Cookout. How did it feel in the moment when she and Kyland sent Xavier into elimination? And how do you look back on it, considering some feedback that he could have had your back down the line if he had stayed?
Derek: The first thing I want to say is that this was not an act of "revenge." Let me just put that out front. I was an act out of who we can trust the most. At the moment, I was just super excited that Xavier had lost the challenge. I really thought he was coming back into the house. I was ready to move my bunk because we slept right next to each other. I was going to hide in the closet for another week. So I was really happy that our plan ended up working.

Looking back on it, I'd say my feelings stand roughly the same. He was a stronger competitor. If he went to the final, I felt like he was going to win. And that was someone I had to compete with on the male side. And then I felt like Shan was a weaker female competitor. So I didn't want to partner with her again. It was a perfect pairing and timing to take them out. In terms of breaking show alliances, literally the next week, Tyson put in Sarah. So I feel like it was going to happen at that point in the game. And if you weren't thinking ahead of show alliances, then you probably weren't playing the game.

Shannon, Cashel and Cinco have both told me they felt on the outside of the Love Island group this season. Tell me about the dynamic you all had, and do you think it contributed to how many of you have left so far?
Shannon: I think that there were a lot of unsaid things with relationship drama. The Love Island girls didn't stick with the guys, which hurt things. But honestly, with the Love Island girls, we were so unbreakable because of just the loyalty that we had. In Big Brother, they had to vote each other out and cause hurt feelings. In Survivor, they had to vote each other out and cause hurt feelings. Love Island, it was all love. We never made out with each other's boyfriends. (Laughs.)

We were just so concrete we didn't even need to try. Everyone could smell it from a mile away. We were just having fun with it. But also, we're playing the game a little bit. Everyone looked at us as the "silly fun girls." But honestly, I think that we were super underestimated. I'm proud of all of us.

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?
Shannon: In the daily, Derek and I actually had to go twice. It only showed that we went one time and got it right. We actually were a number or two off and had to go again. So I got hurt, had to jump off, and do the whole thing again. I wish that they had shown it because it was really tough for me. I looked sick because I was climbing up the ladder with one leg out, screaming. I was in pain. So I wish they showed us actually doing it all over again.
Derek: We had a "Condomgate" in the house.

Oh, yes! Azah told me about this last week.
Derek: I will not say who it was. But someone unwrapped a condom and placed it in the shower to make it look used. And then the next morning, everyone saw it. So then, for the entire 24 hours, we were playing detective. We had court cases set up. We had a judge and jury. We had people on trial. I was framing people. So I wish Condomgate had made it.

Wait, you just blew my mind! Because Azah didn't know that it was planted. And she said everyone suspected Cinco.
Derek: Oh my god, I felt so bad for Cinco. He looked so guilty.
Shannon: I thought it was Cinco.
Derek: The perpetrators did this at night. And as they were leaving the bathroom, they saw Cinco sleeping on the couch outside. So he was up and awake and not in the bedroom at the same time that this was happening. So all these things happened that made Cinco look so guilty. It was completely coincidental.
Shannon: I wonder who it was...
Derek: I don't know. But they were creating chaos in the house. (Laughs.)

Next, read our interview with Azah Awasum and Melvin "Cinco" Holland Jr., who were eliminated in The Challenge: USA Episode 5.