‘The Challenge: USA’: Alyssa S. on ‘Bittersweet’ Elimination, Relationship With Tyler & More

The latest elimination and going home was “definitely bittersweet” for one of the two Challenge: USA players sent home.

It was a double elimination week, so along with Wes Bergmann retiring from The Challenge after his loss to Chris Underwood, Alyssa Snider exited after facing off against Cassidy Clark in the arena. Emotions were running high with those two departures, so TV Insider caught up with Alyssa to take us inside that, find out where she and Tyler Crispen stand, and more.

Talk about that elimination. Is there anything you think you could have done differently?

Alyssa Snider: It was so hard and scary. Being harnessed 30 feet in the air and having to street fight my way out of there is just so not my personality. I remember being up there and — you could even hear me — saying the whole time, “Just keep swimming. You got it. Just keep going.” So many times I was like, “I don’t want to do this. This is scary.” But it was a lot. I was trying to think through it myself and watching it back, maybe just trying to stay away from her as long as possible. But Wes did that and was flying around and then Chris literally Venus flytrap-grabbed him. You don’t really know how to time it or how to do the best you can. Everyone said I had really long reach, so I’m now questioning if I have really long limbs. But I was holding her out as far as physically possible and really just trying my best. We were biting and punching and scratching, and I have scars on my hands from her nails. We were getting scrappy out there, so I think the best I did was what I showed up for.

You voted for Cassidy, so you thought you could beat her. What kind of elimination had you wanted?

I wanted what Chris and Sebastian [Noel] had. Let me throw a ball into a bucket. My thought process there was, the girls that are closer to my size are Cassidy and Michele [Fitzgerald], and so if it was something that was physical, those were my best [shots]. Also, you have to think about [the fact that] Michele has a lot of connections in the game. She’s never really thrown in the hopper, maybe one vote or two votes the whole season. She has the Challengers, she has Survivor, she had me. And so if Michele goes down, it’s really helpful to have the people on the sidelines if you’re doing a puzzle or something that’s not really physical because they can tell you and help you. A lot of people would’ve been helping her. I think the house pretty much was not against Cassidy, but they saw her as a target. So my best guess was to go with Cassidy and it was pretty close.

It looked like things got emotional in the arena after the eliminations, with Wes retiring, then you and Tyler. What was that atmosphere like?

A lot of emotions, and it was bittersweet. I was so sad that I lost. I gave it my all. I was feeling that physical exhaustion because, yeah, we were up there really fighting for 10 minutes, but it felt like three hours. It felt so physically exhausting. So I was tired and listening to Wes —Wes was somebody I really loved in the house. He was also my roommate, and I saw him as kind of like a dad. He really just felt like family to me. And so listening to his story, I could feel his emotions, and then knowing I was going to have to leave Tyler, somebody who I felt like — specifically since Monte [Taylor] left, we just had each other. Knowing that I was feeding him to the wolves, I was like, “Take care of yourself. I hope that you can dig deep and win this thing.” That’s what meant a lot to me.

Jonne Roriz, courtesy of Paramount

As you and Tyler both noted, showmances have been problems for you in the past.

Yeah, coming in the house, definitely wasn’t planning on showmance, met Tyler, and he is the most down-to-earth person. He’s so kind and caring, and he really just listened to me and felt like the safe place to land so that I could let all my emotions out. I said in the show, I’m not naturally a liar, manipulative person. I’m a little softer on the edges. So having someone who really could ground me but who’s also a really good player, he would be like, here’s what we’re doing, here’s who I’m talking to. I would watch him lie and game, and I’m like, wow, I’m really seeing this in person. Big Brother, it was like I was always on the outs. I never really got to see the real lying and gameplay and stuff. So feeling included, it felt like, I’m on the team this time. I got picked for kickball. We really just developed this such deep friendship that turned into more after we had a couple glasses of wine and then we were like, where are we now? It was so beautiful to have him in there, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

What’s going on with you now? Anything? Or was that just The Challenge house?

It was getting out of The Challenge and then now you’re processing all of those emotions and then we knew we were going to have to watch it back. He and I were both, not newly, but within, I don’t know, six months to a year out of relationships that were a lot on our hearts. The saying hurt people hurt people is very true and I don’t want to ever put either of us in that situation. Neither does he. So he was like, I think it’s best if we stay friends for now, I can do my healing, and we can see what happens in the future.

Is there anything that didn’t air that you think fans should know about?

I think in general, since there’s only an hour to be shown, there’s a lot that’s left out, especially in the challenges. Some of them are very long, so it’s hard to get everything in there, and how hard things really were and how much people really struggled definitely isn’t shown as much. Plus in this last elimination, the guys actually went first and the girls went second, and it showed it as the girls going first, so I had a second to watch it and know what I was working with, which is why I didn’t do the push off and run away thing. I watched Wes get Venus flytrapped in there.

How did you feel about team vs. individual play? 

I loved my team. When I was on the Blue team, I said, do not get me out of here. How did I get picked for this? I was so excited to be on the Blue team. I’m like, perfect. We were doing so well, and I loved working as a team and getting to know people individually. Someone who I had no idea who they were was Cory [Wharton] coming into the show. I didn’t know who Cory was, I didn’t know anything about him. But getting to know him, he’s so funny. He made me feel so comfortable. He’s a dad, so he just was someone I felt like I connected with super well, and it just really gave me this confidence in the game. It was like, I know these people have my back. They kind of have to. So I loved having teams. Going individual’s a little scary, but also another opportunity to prove yourself.

Jonne Roriz, courtesy of Paramount

Would you do another season of The Challenge: USA?

Absolutely. I remember after my elimination just crying and feeling how grateful I was. I was so scared to come in here and do anything physical and a hall brawl — obviously I thank the Gods that it wasn’t a hall brawl, but this was almost worse. Getting harnessed up and fighting someone that I care about and I love really showed myself that I have that fighter in me, and I didn’t think I did. I don’t speak up typically. I kind of just go in the shadows and want to make sure I’m a people pleaser, but I know that fighter’s in there, and I think if I went back on another season, I would be able to tap into it a little bit more.

Is that what you would focus on, to prepare differently going into another season?

I would try to bulk up. People saw me as a weak person, and I’m like, I need to put on some really strong muscle and just really focus on that. I think my social game is good, but I think I [need] to practice containing my emotions, but it’s who I am and I’m pretty proud of it. So if they want to see me as a weak person and put me down in the sand, I just want to be able to be prepared to come back.

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And The Challenge is designed to bring out your emotions.

Sure is. I was not expecting that. It’s almost different than Big Brother. Big Brother I felt like was just mental torture for three months. But it felt like just really true emotions, and you have time and space to think and be yourself and feel it. The feelings are heightened, but still it’s who I am, it’s who I’ll always be, and if people want to like it, they can or they can’t.

Is there anything you think you could have done differently at any point to change how things ended up?

I don’t know. I would just say stop letting fear consume me. I let fear consume me a lot, but then certain things — with the box challenge, when we had to jump off the cliff and swim down, dive down and do the word search, I was really scared to jump. I was like, this water’s going to be really cold, and it made my time slower, and yes, I won that heat, but if I believed in myself and really pushed myself that little bit further, then I could have done better and maybe won that and avoided putting me and Tyler up as main noms and Monte going home. There’s just always that, you could try a little bit harder, dig a little bit deeper, that I’ll regret that I didn’t do.

And that’s when Tyler was campaigning to go in himself to protect you.

What are the odds of that? I was like, never heard this before. But it was so sweet. It was a lose-lose situation, and it was just me, him, and Monte [from Big Brother] at the end of the day. So it just was the worst-case scenario, honestly.

The Challenge: USA, Thursdays, CBS