Exclusive Interview
‘The Challenge’: Tori Admits She Had A ‘False Sense Of Confidence’ Against Jenna — ‘I Choked’
After Tori’s photo-finish, grueling elimination match against Jenna on the May 13 episode of ‘The Challenge,’ she dished to HL about what went wrong and much more.
Tori Deal was eliminated by Jenna Compono on the May 13 episode of The Challenge: Total Madness. Tori nominated herself into elimination in hopes of earning her red skull so she would be able to compete in the final challenge (if she made it that far). She let everyone know that she wanted to go against Jenna, who she felt was mentally checked out of the game due to her personal drama with boyfriend, Zach Nichols, at home. Jenna was chosen by Nany Gonzalez and Tori’s fiance, Jordan Wiseley, to be in the tribunal, which meant that she got to decide whether she wanted to go in the elimination against Tori — or throw someone else in.
Jenna ultimately decided that she wanted to get her red skull so she had a reason to push herself to stay in the game, despite Zach asking her to come home. She and Tori went head-to-head in an elimination that was all about endurance. They had to transfer heavy bricks up a ramp, then smash them over a grate and into a wheelbarrow below. Once the wheelbarrow was full, they had to transfer the debris into a giant tank. Whoever filed the tank to the specified line first would be the winner.
Despite Tori’s hopes that Jenna would be “checked out,” Jenna came to play — and she fought HARD! Jenna took an early lead, but Tori eventually caught up until they were neck-in-neck. It came down to a race to the tank with one final wheelbarrow full of debris, and Jenna was the first to dump hers in, which meant Tori was eliminated. Here’s what she had to say about it afterward:
Would you have wanted to go against Jenna if you didn’t feel she was ‘checked out’? Definitely not. I’m not blaming anybody but myself, because, inevitably, it comes down to me, but I was under the impression that Jenna was NOT going to try. When I caught, in the middle of the elimination, that she was really going for it, I was like….what the f***!? I think that really messed with the way I was playing. Then, I wasn’t worried about the elimination anymore. I was second guessing everything in my head.
Do you think you went in with a false sense of confidence? I definitely went in with a false sense of confidence, for sure. I totally thought I had that one in the bag, and I was blown away when I didn’t. I kept looking over, thinking….oh, she’s going to stop now. But then it was like, oh my God….she’s not stopping!
You seemed a little frustrated when Jordan was yelling directions at you — what was going through your head? I know that Jordan was trying to give me the best advice possible. But I was already thinking about how my anticipation of the elimination wasn’t what I expected, and thinking about how Jenna was doing so much better than I thought she was going to. My bricks weren’t breaking, Jordan was screaming at me. I wasn’t in the zone competing. I was trying to figure out so many things at the same time and it just became overwhleming. It just felt like do or die and I guess I choked at the end.
It seemed like you were more worried about Jordan than you were about yourself after the elimination. Getting eliminated before Jordan was always the biggest fear in my mind. I just know that that environment, for Jordan, is very triggering. I know a lot of people there don’t like him, and he’s my best friend. I wanted to be there for him and help him talk through things. I felt like I left him in a way. I felt like he needed me, and that hurt worse than losing myself. I felt like somebody was relying on me, and I just felt so bad about that. It definitely hurt me worse to leave him than it hurt to lose myself. But both hurt really bad! That was a huge blow to my ego!
You were able to avoid the drama this season, but Jordan seemed to always be on the center of it. Do you feel like his involvement affects your game at all? Honestly, it’s just a thrill being with Jordan. I wouldn’t have an enemy on my own, really. I kind of like the thrill that comes with being with him! He’s a polarizing personality, but he’s true to himself and that’s something that I really admire. He speaks his mind and that’s something that I wish I could do more often. So I don’t mind if not everyone likes him. I’m kind of down for the ride.
