Leo Temory Reveals an Out-of-Context Elimination Moment on 'The Challenge: USA'

The three-time 'Amazing Race' alum breaks down the moment he nearly quit the game and responds to the comments about him being a weak partner.

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

Fittingly, given his favorite animal and topic of conversation, Leo Temory had nine lives on The Challenge: USA. The three-time Amazing Race contestant was consistently talked about as a weak player for his lack of physique and the perception he wasn't taking things seriously. But when the going got tough, he always landed on his feet. He created a strategy that gave him and Sarah Lacina an elimination win. Despite concerns from home causing him to quit the game nearly, he rallied and won yet another elimination with Alyssa Lopez. When the game turned physical, Leo took it as an opportunity to rebrand himself. He nearly won the next challenge, just losing out to Ben Driebergen. Unfortunately, he was thrown into elimination once again to face Enzo Palumbo. And the third elimination wasn't the charm, as the "Meow Meow" ran roughshod over the cat-loving underdog.

Now out of the game, Parade.com speaks with Leo about why he chose not to go out to the arena after his elimination, his thoughts on Ben sending him in, and his reaction to all the comments about him being a weak partner.

Related: Meet the Cast of The Challenge: USA

We have to start with the last thing we saw of you on the show: you declined to return after elimination and formally say goodbye to T.J. and the other contestants. Why did you feel that way at that moment?
Mike, you know me. I'm a happy guy. That's totally unlike me. And there's a really big reason for that. The medics and the stunt guys held me back because they wanted to get me checked. So I was waiting out there for an ambulance. That's why, when they said, "Do you want to go out there?" I said, "There's no point." Because the ambulance just got there, and I'd rather check myself. So I went straight to the hospital, and they told me I had a concussion. Wow. Yeah. So I didn't get to do my exit interviews because I wasn't there.

They actually use that clip from when Sarah and I were blindsided. I'm a team player. I love T.J. Forget the cast. If anyone would have deserved my handshake, it would have been T.J. I would have never done that to him. I would have gone out there and said, "Thank you, T.J., for an amazing time." He's a great guy. And, of course, I would have said goodbye to Cayla, too.

Let's get to the cause of that concussion with the Hall Brawl of it all. Were you surprised to get sent in, and what did you expect your chances were given the size disparity between you and Enzo?
I was quite shocked. I didn't expect to see a Hall Brawl because we were told there wouldn't be any Hall Brawls. Because that would be too intense. And what they did was they shortened the runway. So seeing that, I'm like, "Dude, there's no way I'm going to win against any of these guys." Enzo especially has like 60 pounds on me. It's just quite simple physics; his momentum would just take over me.

I put up a good fight. I tried going low. But there wasn't a lot of runway to get any more strategic than that. But it sucked because, after doing so well on the challenge that day, going into the elimination, I was on an uphill trajectory to winning from how I started. So, that definitely sucked.

If you were in Ben's shoes and won that challenge, who would you have sent in against Enzo?
Mike, I've been telling you what I've been telling everyone. You should audit the footage. I won that challenge! Hands down. I was sprinting. No one was running as fast as I did. Trust me; I won that challenge. I would put myself in Ben's shoes, but I have a spine, and he really doesn't, so...

Wow, harsh words for Ben!
I'm pretty sure that Ben was missing a spine or eyes or something. Because him throwing me in doesn't help his game at all. I was his friend. And people say, "It's a game," and all that. People literally called security, Mike, because they were scared of sleeping next to him. And yet, you don't throw those people who are painting this horrible image about you. But then you throw your friend who had your back from day one. No one wanted to sit next to him on the bus, so I did. But then he throws me because he's so scared of what Survivor's going to do to him if he goes against them.

Throughout the season, we saw the women talk about how they didn't like being partnered with you, particularly feeling like you didn't take the game seriously. Did you get a sense people felt that way at the moment, and what's your reaction to that?
Thankfully, I was raised with a lot of love. There's a lot of power that's stuck in his head. I'm so strong-minded that nothing affects me. So I don't care. I laugh about it, and I move on. But having said that, I did The Amazing Race three times. My cousin and I have the records and the track record to prove how competitive and successful we are. But what they don't understand is that just because I crack jokes, or I talk about this or that, doesn't mean I'm not there to compete. You can see it on The Amazing Race. You could see it on The Challenge and in the eliminations. I'm there to compete.

But because I'm so vocal about it, it puts a target on my back. I'm cracking jokes while I'm dangling off a building. I'm cracking jokes while I'm swimming. My hands aren't connected to my mouth! (Laughs.) I can talk and do actions at the same time. A lot of people don't understand that because this is their first hardcore game show that they've been on. So it didn't really matter to me. I heard Inklings about that. But that's just how people are. For instance, Shannon was injured. I would have loved to have partnered with her. That's who I am. People are so serious that they lose themselves. It just makes no sense. You could have a good time and still be serious and compete, which I proved time and time again when I went to the eliminations. 

At the beginning of the season, you said that The Amazing Race was at an advantage because you could slip into the cracks of the alliances since there were so few of you. But you did go into elimination three times, being sent in by the winning pair twice. How do you ultimately look back on the relationships you tried to manage? 
From the get-go, I felt like I had more similarities with Survivor. They're older; they're all family oriented. So you would think they would be more aligned with Amazing Racers. And that was the game plan for Amazing Race and Survivor to work together. But the one thing is, I had never heard of any of these people before. So I didn't know the backstabbing, the lies, and all the manipulation they all do.

I come from Amazing Race, where a lot of that stuff doesn't happen because you're with your partner. So your partner can't really screw you over. So I didn't really understand that everyone has their own agenda. Everyone wants to go to the end, and they'll do whatever they got to help themselves. They'll sell their livers; they'll sell their hands; they'll do whatever they've got to do to make sure they're safe. I'm a people person; that's what I do. I own bars, and I entertain. So I thought I was quite close with everybody. But as you see on T.V., that's not the case.

You mention your bars. Can you explain what happened a week ago when you nearly left the game over some issues with one of your businesses back at home?
So first and foremost, the businesses are well. There was a minor issue. I've got over 65 employees. And something had happened with their checks. And I've got their back. That's the type of person I am. I'm not going to be on a game show when something's going on with their paychecks. And it was just a minor mishap. And it didn't have to get that dramatic. But I was told I would get additional business calls. And they took those away.

In that interview, when I'm talking to my girlfriend, God bless her, there's a walkie-talkie that says, "Alright, time's up." And I'm like, "No, you've got to be mistaken. I've got an extra 10 minutes." And they said, No." And I said, "Alright, if that's the case, then I'm leaving." That was four days before I walked out. Because they told me I'd get that call four days from then. And then when I didn't, I go up to one of the ladies, and I'm like, "If I don't get this, I'm out." And she said, "No, you're not gonna get a phone call." So I was like, "Alright, well, peace." So that's why I left. Everything at home with the businesses wasn't anything crazy. But it was a minor phone call that I needed so I could address my manager and tell him what was happening.

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?
I love Kyland. He's a great guy. We're super close. But when Alyssa and I lost the challenge, he came up to me after I did my meeting with Dom and Cayla and said, "If you say my name, you're not coming back. I'm not Cinco." (Laughs.) And I was laughing because I couldn't tell if he was being serious. But he's like, "Guaranteed, you're gonna go home if you go up against me." So then I go back to Dom and Cayla, and I'm like, "Hey, this is what he just said. So you've got to make your own decision. I'm here at your service. I'm coming back because I have had a taste of it already. And I know with Alyssa, I'm gonna butt."

Next, read our interview with Kyland Young and Kyra Green, who were eliminated in The Challenge: USA Episode 7.