“Obviously this is the first time that I’ve ever gone home the game, so that puts a huge dent in my record,” Laurel, 32, told HollywoodLife.com exclusively. “I came into this challenge wanting three things, and I got all of those things: I wanted to lose weight, get a tan, and have fun. And I’ve already won. I’m not gripping and striving for anything anymore like I was in the past.”
Laurel, who has been on four seasons before Invasion, went to the final on all four — Fresh Meat II, Cutthroat, Rivals, and Free Agents. She took home the W on Free Agents. However, she had a different mentality those days.
“There was a reason why I was so hellbent on killing everyone, and reaching that goal of winning that challenge. I achieved it and now I can move on. Am I upset now that I went home? Yeah, probably,” she admitted to HollywoodLife.com. “We did one challenge – the ‘Curry Up’ challenge, where there was a lot of running. I lost my toenail that day. The shoes that they gave me were one size too small, and normally I wouldn’t even bring that up. I was like ‘f–k this, I really don’t even want to go to a final.’ I thought, ‘This must be what Big Easy feels like when he quits.’ Because I literally said, ‘I don’t want to do this,’ in my head. But then I was like, ‘No, if I quit right now, it will affect all of the champions,’ so that is what made me continue.”
‘The Challenge: Invasion’ — Photos
We saw a whole new Laurel this time, falling for Nicole, who was on the rival team. Laurel actually thanks the late Diem Brown for inspiring her to be more open, and not bottle up her emotions or keep anything inside — regardless of how scared she may be to share what it is she’s feeling.
“You see a different me on this show, and that was by my own choice. I allowed people to see that side of me,” she said. “My life changed after Diem passed away… I just think that this show is different, for me, than any of the past ones. I think I’m gonna have to learn how to maneuver my emotional side with my competitive side. Normally when I’m being competitive, I can’t be emotional. And when I’m being emotional, I can’t be competitive. They don’t work together for me, it has to be one or another. I think I’m going to have to, in the future, learn how to balance that.”
HollywoodLifers, were you bummed to see Laurel leave? Do you think Camila will win? Let us know!