‘The Challenge’: Jordan Defends Tori’s Controversial Gameplay & Says He’d ‘100%’ Do The Same For Her (Exclusive)

After his win on ‘The Challenge: World Championship,’ Jordan Wiseley dishes on that grueling final and stands by his ex, Tori Deal.

Jordan Wiseley is Challenge champion once again after winning the first season of The Challenge: World Championship with his partner from the UK, Kaz Crossley. The pair won the show during the May 17 finale after an intense two-day final challenge. “Physically, that one was up there [with others I’ve done],” Jordan told HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY. “The terrain was unrelenting. It was always up and down and loose gravel or something. And then that drink was easily the worst thing I’ve ever had to put in my mouth on that show. It ranks up there. I’m super proud of my partner. She did so good. Every single person in that final was a stud and they all struggled, so I think that just speaks volumes of Kaz and how much she has in her.”

For the second season in a row, Jordan made the final alongside his ex, Tori Deal. At times, Jordan and Tori didn’t see eye-to-eye with their partners this season, especially when it came to voting other teams into elimination. There was concern from other players about how badly Jordan and Tori wanted to protect each other from going in. Tori, especially, received a great deal of criticism, with her partner, Danny McCray, calling her out for thinking about Jordan and fellow contestant, Kaycee [Clark], ahead of herself. Danny insisted that Jordan and Kaycee wouldn’t do the same for Tori if it came down to it.

“He just doesn’t know and it’s just naivety,” Jordan said. “He doesn’t know our relationship and that I would 100 percent do that [for her, too]. I think everyone around me knows that. I like to think that a little bit of my gameplay has rubbed off on Tori. She’s taking hard stances and not so much the easy road or selfish road. So what I’d say to outsiders looking in who think it’s a stupid decision…I’m looking at this as a legacy standpoint. For seasons and seasons, people have remembered that [I] do what I say [in the game]. I think that’s what Tori was doing, just saying, ‘I’m not scared to stick up for my friends.'”

Tori and Jordan were also criticized for putting their personal relationships in the game ahead of their partners’ relationships with other contestants. “They were like, ‘Why do your relationships matter more than ours?’ It’s not that they matter more, it’s just that I’ve had seasons to know if someone [like Kaycee] is going to stab me in the back and they haven’t,” Jordan shared. “You’ve known this person for three challenges. How do you know they’re not going to go back on their word? We’re just a better case study.”

See more excerpts from our interview with Jordan below!

On when he knew he & Kaz had won: It finally came to me when we had gotten our key and were coming down the mountain. As we started coming down, both teams were still at the slide puzzle. At that point, I knew there was not shot they were going to climb and then get down [before us]. I said to Kaz, ‘I’ve been here before, mountaintops mean we’re really close to the finish, so the fact that we made it here means we’re really close.’

Adrenaline takes over at that point. It was crazy to see how much energy she had. We had about 3 or 4 miles to go and we were doing a small walk and she looks at me and is like, ‘Do you want to jog?’ I’m like, ‘YES, I want to jog!’ I can’t say enough how proud I am of Kaz and what she did.

On disagreeing with Kaz throughout the season: The MVPs, in their eyes, they weren’t rookies. They had already done a season. But we [the Legends], were like…but you haven’t done a season with us. You did a season by yourself and played by your own rules and intensities. We were wanting to play the style of the legends and they were wanting to play this new style. I think we found a good middle ground. I definitely put some pressure on her with wanting to nominate ourselves in and all that. I play a very particular way. Sometimes you have to do what you say and it makes you stronger in the long run, and that’s why I don’t back down. To her point, she looked me dead in the eye and said, ‘I’ve never been close to this money.’ So that was real talk.

On whether having too many pre-existing relationships is a concern in possible future seasons: I have to rely on, when it comes down to it, that my decisions in the game aren’t personal and the people who I care about and care about me know that. I still want to have good relationships with people for my name to not be said.

On whether he plans to do another season if he’s asked back: I’ve gotten this cool opportunity that I’ve started in professional car racing and I think I’m going to have some fun doing that for a while. The Challenge franchise is growing so big and I think there’s going to be a lot of opportunities moving forward. So I think you’ll definitely see me, but I don’t think it will be very soon.