Warning: This article contains spoilers about Wednesday’s season finale ofThe Challenge: USA.
After competing four times onSurvivor and winning once Tyson Apostoldominated all season long onThe Challenge: USA.
“I was definitely bothered.
Tyson Apostol breaks down ‘The Challenge: USA’ ending.Jonne Roriz/CBS
“This is just a TV show, and for less money than we thought,” he adds.
“We were told it was $500,000 to the winner until the last day.
But they kept assuring us that it was $500,000 to the winner.
Jonne Roriz/CBS
We all didn’t know.
I was like, ‘I for sure wouldn’t be here.'”
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: I’m shocked at all those DQs, so what happened during that sudoku checkpoint?
TYSON APOSTOL:I know the basic gist of Sudoku but I’ve never played it.
My understanding was they were not letting me time out of that.
I was like, “I’ll try this, I’ve never done it.”
And there was really no communication from production as to like what the next steps were.
We were just looking at it, and they were like, “You have to finish that.”
We’re like, “We can’t!
Tell us how, we don’t know.”
My only option is to just drop out.
Did the fact that Danny had passed you already factor into your decision?
Yeah, I was assuming that the finish line was pretty close.
But it wouldn’t have mattered [production] was not letting me time out.
She timed out of the first puzzle.
It was very weird.
How did you feel about it?
I mean, I wouldn’t use that word, but it’s definitely suspicious.
Yeah, that’s how I felt.
We know that that was bad.”
So I honestly don’t know what to say.
It was insane and it was crazy.
Angela’s was the same way.
Nobody finished that digging.
Usually there’s at least some kind of warning before a DQ happens.
And she let her motives be very known to everyone.
But nobody else was even close.
For Angela, they told her she had to move two-thirds of a regular pile.
Plus they get breaks because their partner’s there.
You’re last place on this leg."
There were some times where I was like, “Can I do this?”
And they were like, “No, it’s in the rules.”
I was like, “Where’s the rules?”
And the guy was like, “In my head.”
I was like " [laughs] …
So I do the math, and the showrunner was like, “No that’s wrong.”
I was like, “Angela, what are your numbers?”
And I did it again.
I got the same number again, and they’re like, “No, that’s wrong.”
She’s like, “Yeah.”
I’m like, “I’m sure mine are right, too.”
And I was like, “Here’s the 10 numbers that we have memorized.”
And they’re like, “Those numbers are right.”
I was like, “Then my math is right!
You guys are wrong.
This is insane!”
And I was like, “Yeah!”
[Laughs] I noticed that!Survivoris like the finest oiled machine.
This doesn’t have any of that.
This is like the machine that’s never been oiled.
I thought this was like an institution.
And it could be, and it should be.
And I’ve only seen him do that two or three times onSurvivorin four seasons.
So it was like this throughout the whole season, not just the final?
Yeah, somebody from production was stealing our clothes.
If you had something expensive or unique, it went missing when we submitted it for laundry.
I still have missing clothes.
Justine has missing clothes.
Anybody who brought anything nice, it’s gone.
And then we were like, “Can you get those back?”
Never got them back.
I shouldn’t have brought such a cool wardrobe out there.
One of my really nice sweatshirts is gone and one of my favorite pair of sweatpants.
Sacrificed forever to theChallengegods.
[Laughs] Or demons, I don’t know.
After your experience this season, would you ever return for another season ofThe Challenge?
I definitely had different expectations of what this was.
And I don’t feel like I have to prove myself to anybody.
It felt dehumanizing having 40 people there watching you throw up.
I asked them if I can see that rule and they said it was in their head.
We have seen people make themselves throw up many times onThe Challengebefore.
[Laughs] They stopped me from doing that.
They’re like, “You have to do it naturally.”
[Laughs] That’s the thing, I don’t know!
I was like, I could throw up unnaturally probably if I was mentally strong enough to do it.
At least there’s that.
That’s the truth, bro.
