It’s been two years since The Challenge fans have seen Cory Wharton on their screens, but he’s back for season 2 of The Challenge: USA! Cory is one of six veteran players from MTV’s flagship version of The Challenge who will join competitors from CBS shows (Survivor, The Amazing Race, Big Brother) on The Challenge: USA. “The CBS kids were NOT happy to see us pull up,” Cory told HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY. “The minute we pulled up, those kids were sitting there glaring at us. I felt for weeks in that house that they just did not want us there. It’s great TV.”
Season one of The Challenge: USA didn’t have the addition of OG MTV players, so this is a new move for the spin-off series, which airs on CBS. “I think it was a great idea to bring us on,” Cory admitted. “For me, personally, it was the first time I felt like a rookie again. We didn’t have the numbers coming into the game at all. The CBS kids wanted us out. It was their show! They didn’t want us there. It’s going to be a hundred times better than season 1.”
Cory last appeared on The Challenge during the Spies, Lies & Allies season in 2021. Since then, he welcomed his third child, a daughter named Maya, who he shares with girlfriend Taylor Selfridge. Maya was diagnosed with a congenital heart condition after she was born and has already had two successful open heart surgeries. After the second surgery in Jan. 2023, though, Cory knew the “timing was right” for his return to The Challenge.
“It’s hard to fill that void in your life,” he explained. “You don’t really know what you have until you miss it. I did a boxing match, I did a movie, but none of those opportunities filled the void the way The Challenge did.” Luckily, Taylor was also on-board. “Our biggest thing was as long as Maya’s health was okay, then it was like, ‘Go do your thing,'” Cory said. “She was fully supportive. The timing was great and it all worked out. Someone’s gotta put food on the table!”
See more from our interview with Cory below!
On his training for The Challenge after two years away: I was doing more cardio exercises and giving myself less of a break to catch my breath and those types of things. It’s a lot more cardio than normal. It’s crazy to me, though, that I’ve done so many seasons of the show and I still, to this day, don’t really know how to train for it. The things you do are so from left field. You never know what you’re going to get.
On his biggest competition this season: I knew my strongest competition would be [Johnny] Bananas and Wes [Bergmann], too. We are the most experienced. Once thing I’ve learned about The Challenge is that experience does come into play. It’s very useful to have done certain challenges or eliminations multiple times. I’ve always known that I need to either work with these guys or I have to go for their head. I’ve learned in the past that you can’t really trust anyone. But it’s easy to sit at home and be like ‘Trust nobody.’ In the game, you have to put trust in your alliance.
On doing a season without Nelson Thomas, who was in a car crash earlier this year: Love that dude. He’s going through a lot with his foot but I just used it as motivation. He put a lot of things into perspective of how happy I am to be back on the show and just be able to walk and compete. There’s people who wish they were in my position. So it gave me great perspective on everything.
On when he plans to retire from The Challenge: I’m hot hanging up my cleats until I win! Whether that’s this season — you’ll have to see — or next season. Whatever it takes. I love The Challenge and will continue to do it until they stop calling me.