The Challenge: Double Agents eliminated player speaks: 'It's kind of embarrassing'
Warning: This article contains spoilers about Wednesday's episode of The Challenge: Double Agents.
When it comes to ranking the biggest current threats on The Challenge, Darrell Taylor is up there as one of the best — and hardest to beat. He's never been in a final and not won first place. And he's the only person in the history of the franchise to ever win four times in a row. But he was beat out by aspiring champion Cory Wharton in an absolute blowout elimination in this week's episode of The Challenge: Double Agents.
"I don't like to say, 'wish I coulda, woulda, shoulda,' because that's all part of the game," Taylor tells EW of his elimination. "Anybody could drop a million excuses, but he was just the better man that day. It was a foot race, and he smoked me pretty bad. It's kind of embarrassing, but it is what it is."
Below, Taylor breaks down exactly what happened in that elimination, what he could have done differently this season to make the final, what fans didn't see air this season, and more.
MTV
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Walking into the Crater and seeing that elimination setup, what was going through your head?
DARRELL TAYLOR: I'm not going to lie, as soon as we pulled up and I saw it right away, I got into my head because I knew how fast Cory was and he'd already beat me in a foot race. And there were conversations before, after Devin and Wes had went, Mechie and him were talking about how Mechie is pretty fast and how fast you can smoke people and you wouldn't even get a chance to play tug of war because he's so fast. And him and Fessy was chirping, and so was Cory. So I was already in my head about trying to make it to a tug of war, like, "I hope this cat doesn't get there to beat me. I need to go fast." But I lost focus. And the rope was a lot longer than usual, because normally you get jammed up a long ways away.
It definitely looked that way. Do you think if the rope was shorter it would have turned into a tug of war no matter how fast Cory was?
Yeah, but that was my fault too because even in Wes and Devin's, it was the same thing. They only had like six feet to go once the line snapped out and they reached their snapping point, they only had like a body's length to hit the buzzer. But he's fast, don't get me wrong, and if you saw how much sand he dug, when he jammed into that sand, when we looked in the aftermath, his feet dug like at least a three-foot hole each step of the way. It was crazy how hard he was going. He was the better man that day.
You had heard your name being floated around, but at what point did you know you were going to be the house vote?
I felt it right away after the challenge, when they announced that Aneesa and Kyle were double agents. I even went to [Cory] and said, "It looks like it's me and you," because I knew he wanted Kyle. The whole house knew that it was going to be Kyle and Cory in the next elimination. But the simple fact that Kyle had won meant he was safe. So then and there I knew it will be me next on the chopping block. Because everybody else was connected. I was the only one not really connected to anybody in the house.
Do you think you'd have been more connected had you not voted with the Big Brother alliance earlier this season, alienating the people you had prior relationships with?
I wouldn't say it hurt me. The only thing that I possibly could have done different is after I won my [previous] elimination, I should have stolen Kaycee. But then, I'm cool with Leroy, so I couldn't really.
MTV
What did you think of how Leroy warned you that you'd be voted in?
I wasn't mad at him for trying to make me the house vote, I get what he was doing. He was looking out for himself, and I will never take anything personal from this game, unless it's Wes. [Laughs] Because he's the only one to ever shake my hand and say, "I've got you. I'm gonna look out for you," and as soon as we get there, he turns the whole house against me and throws me in. Leroy did what he had to do, I get it. And it's not like he tried to blindside me, that's why he told me that night.
I loved your threat to him that if you went down and won, you would steal Kaycee as your partner. That showed you could still politic with the best of them!
Yeah, well I had every right to take his girl then. Because I wasn't going to take her, but now, hell yeah I'll take her if I come back. But there's no love lost, I'm still cool with Leroy, I still talk to him, I still trust him. I trust him more than anybody else that I've ever played the game with, besides Derrick.
What did you think when you found out you were going against Cory? Were you thinking of it as finally your chance to get revenge on him for Dirty XXX?
No, you know what's crazy is I wasn't even thinking about revenge. You just have more pressure when you have a skull and someone's trying to take it. Cory played a smart game, he stayed rogue the whole season and waited to the very end to take someone's skull. I would have rather been in his position. But honestly if it was something more physical, I would have been more excited for it. Pole wrestle is my favorite. And I knew it was never personal from Dirty XXX, it was more of a respect thing. At the time I was mad and I wanted him. But I don't hold grudges. And he was just doing what was best for him, he didn't want to see me in a final, and he said that, and I understood it. And I was actually working with Cory this season, so I trusted him for the most part and wasn't thinking about trying to get any revenge.
How did you feel about Amber B. DQing your team during the challenge? Do you blame her for your elimination?
No, I don't blame her. I was very disappointed at the time, because not only did she DQ, but [in the challenge] before that, she didn't want to eat nothing, so I didn't know where her head was in the game. I felt like she just got complacent. In the beginning she was going all out, giving it all she had, and all of a sudden I felt like she just slowed down. I don't know if she lost focus or was ready to tap out, I just didn't know where she was at. It was time for me to get a new partner.
Do you have any regrets of how you played this season?
No, I don't have any regrets. I feel like I had a good season. Like I said, the only thing I could have possibly done different to change my game was to take Kaycee, but I just couldn't have done that to Leroy at the time. That would have been bad.
What's something that happened in the game or in the house this season that wasn't shown on screen that you think is important for fans to know about?
Well, Amber M. had control of the lights in the house when she was hooking up with Mechie. [Laughs] I don't know how many times we would ask to turn our lights off, and they wouldn't turn our lights off, but when Amber M. said, "Lights out in our room," and Mechie was in there, they would just cut them off and me and Cory would bounce and leave so they could do their thang. I don't know how, but they listened to her.
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