‘The Challenge’: Tony Raines Reveals Truth About That Stalemate

It was “Tony Time” again on Wednesday (August 28) night’s new episode of The Challenge — but not for the reasons Tony Raines might’ve hoped. Things started out well enough. As team leader for Era 3 — alongside Averey Tressler — there was a lot on the line for him with the daily challenge. But their squad beat all of the other eras in the event, which saw them paddle canoes around the island, slam a bunch of gross “food” items, and then arrange all 40 Challenge seasons’ subtitles in order. With that, both Raines and Tressler were guaranteed safety — so long as they could find a challenger for the bottom two contestants. That’s where things went right off the rails.

Tressler had a longstanding friendship with Derek Chavez, so she simply refused to consider throwing him in. Meanwhile, Raines was just as stubborn in his insistence that Chavez and Aviv Melmed should be the two people heading into elimination. What resulted was one of T.J. Lavin‘s least favorite things, a stalemate, and they were punished for their indecision by being sent into the arena themselves.

There, Raines faced Darrell Taylor in a strength-puzzle elimination contest, and he did not emerge victorious.

So how did everything unwind? TV Insider caught up with Tony Raines to find out exactly what happened on this fateful episode of The Challenge and what he plans to do next time he comes on the show.

A lot has changed for you in recent years. How much have the changes in your personal life changed the way you play the game on The Challenge?

Tony Raines: Well, I obviously have a lot more at stake, right? I have a lot more to play for back at home, which is, look, you hear that from all the parents, you hear that from all the people that have families back home that go on the show. Now, the show has transformed from kids in their 18, 19, early 20s that didn’t have kids back home to where it’s like a big family show now, right? It’s like all dads and moms.

So yeah, what changed for me is I have a lot more to play for back home. And it just puts you in a different mindset. Early on for me, I took a lot of chances. I did a lot of dumb things. I took a lot of risks out there. Did things that aren’t exactly what a family man would be doing. So being able to see those things on screen for me, to be able to learn from those experiences and learn how to get better and say, “Hey, look, this is right, this is wrong. You have a family now, you gotta get it on track. It’s not all fun and games. Have a lot of fun out there and you’re still playing games.” I think you know what I’m trying to say. So that’s the biggest thing that has changed for me and just the maturity. Look, I took five, almost six years off. The last actual flagship show that I did was The Challenge: Final Reckoning, which was Season 32. So that’s seven, eight seasons in between there… And just those years of me growing as a person away from the show, too, taking a lot of those new qualities of my own and bring it out, they really helped me out, and I just went out there in a good headspace.

You mentioned other challengers with families, but with somebody like Johnny Bananas, for example, I mean, nothing’s really changed. Do you find that you’re more inclined to work with people who are in your same situation?

Look, I’m willing to work with anyone. I’m willing to work with and align with anybody out there that I feel comfortable with, that I’ve built relationships with over the years regardless of what their situation is back home. And look, Johnny, we all know he’s the Peter Pan of The Challenge, right? He goes out there to Never Never Land, he does his thing, he has fun, and that’s his niche. We all know him for that, and I love him for it. I think he’s great. I think he really adds something to the show that keeps it going and gives that different side of it, that different element that it really needs. You don’t wanna just have 20 parents out there… When you see people that aren’t afraid to get out there and cut loose and cut up a little bit. So Johnny is much appreciated in that space for sure.

Obviously, this season there were a lot of folks that haven’t played in a long time. Who were you most excited to play against for the first time?

I’ve played with a lot of those people already — a lot of the vets… As far as the Era 1 vets I’ve played with C.T. [Tamburello] before, played with Darrell before, played with Derrick [Kosinski], played with Cara [Maria Sorbello]… I hadn’t been on a season with Jodi [Weatherton]. I hadn’t been on a season with Aviv [Melmed], but man, my memory of them is so faint because watching the show when I was 15, 16 years old to now I’m 36. It’s like 20 years ago…. But I do tell you, I am a fan of Aviv. I think Aviv is great. I think Jodi’s great. Those two in particular, they definitely left an impression on me and they’re awesome.

And I didn’t think about him in that context because I know him outside the show, but Mark Long. It was great competing with Mark. I hadn’t competed with Mark, but I’ve just known him. I met Mark back in — we’d just got done filming Rivals III or Invasion [of the Champions], and I met him in Los Angeles. We’ve been in contact. I do the Challenge Mania stuff. He’s good with Scott [Yager] and Derrick [Kosinski] with that. And I’ve run into him, so I already felt like I had a relationship with him. I knew him already, but it was really great to be on a season with him and enjoy some time together. He’s great.

Related

The Challenge Interview: Mark Long on Losing to BFF Derrick Kosinski

Moving on to this episode, in the daily challenge, were you comfortable with Devin [Walker] kind of taking the reins when you were the team representative?

Devin taking the reins and my last name is Raines, which is funny…. Look, I trust Devin. U  trust Devin. Yeah, there’s a funny story. We were on a season together and I can’t remember what season it was — Was it Vendettas? Or it might’ve been the spinoff, Champs vs. Stars… Oh no, it actually was Dirty 30. The first elimination of Dirty 30, we were teamed up together, a couple of us, and he was like “All right, listen guys, hey, let me quarterback this.” Well, we failed miserably. So I should have learned from that experience. I didn’t think about it in the moment coming up on this episode here, and he’s like, “Hey, let me, let me. I’m big-brained here. Let me figure this out. I got it. Let me take the reins.” I wasn’t too worried.

Devin’s a good friend of mine. So I do trust him in that aspect of okay, he’s been playing more recently than I have. He doesn’t have a lot of rust on him like I do. So, yeah, let him take the reins. I don’t have any issue with it. I’m still gonna show up, and I’m still gonna do my part and do what I gotta do for our team to win.

MTV

Well, obviously, it was a smart choice in retrospect because you guys did win the challenge. But even being safe from elimination, you chose to go into a stalemate. Were people right that it was for someone that you don’t know that well?

So I understood the relationship that Averey had with Derek. I get that, but I also have a relationship with Darrell, and I know that Darrell is a very strong player in the game, and I felt like it was better to align with Darrell. I asked him, I said, “Who do you want?” He said, “Man, if you’re leaving it up to me” — and I don’t know if it shows, I haven’t watched episodes… He said, “Man, if I have a choice, I want Derek.” I said, “All right. Well, you gotta get me back, I’ll give you Derek, but you gotta get me back.” And so that’s a deal that I made, right? So I gotta see through my deal and I know Darrell, personally, right? And you know, he’s somebody that’s always reached out to me anytime something’s going on in my life, or in his life, we reach out to. So I’m looking at it as like I’m gonna make this deal, and it’s gonna pay off in the long run…

And look, Averey, she’s got a valid point. I don’t know. I think they’ve been friends for, like, 10 years. They hang out. Their relationship is a lot stronger. Averey and Derek’s relationship is a lot stronger than me and Darrell’s is for sure. I get that. But I’m thinking about the game. I’m not thinking about friendships. I’m thinking about game moves. So, in my mind, long run trying to get to the end, I want to align myself with Darrell: “Hey, you owe me one in the future.” So that was my whole thing. Now, we go into a stalemate. It’s a stalemate. Let’s go down there, let’s handle business. That was my whole mindset.

I wasn’t gonna play — the term gets overused, but I wasn’t gonna play a scared game, and I wasn’t gonna give in because if you give in that one time, then your team looks at you as like what, “Okay, this guy, he’s weak, he’s gonna do whatever we tell him to do.” And that wasn’t the tone that I was trying to set with my team. And that’s how we ended up in a situation we ended up in.

How were you able to keep a straight face when Bananas was trying to give you game advice in a toga and wing? 

Wow, you wanna talk about a good time? That was so much fun. The toga party was great. God, it was just so much fun. Trying to keep a straight face in that moment was very difficult. But at the same time, you gotta kind of take this thought of like, “Really listen, you might be given some good advice here.” So but yeah, that’s a memory that burned in my head, and it was beautiful.

On a more serious note, during the elimination, your instructions were, “Green cannot touch another color besides yellow” or whatever it was. But then the solution had greens touching greens. Did you ever think about trying to contest that?

I mean no, because it didn’t make sense to me. It still doesn’t make sense to me now. I still don’t get it. I still don’t understand it. If the rule of the elimination was, “Hey, you can’t leave the sand until you figure this out,” I would still be in Vietnam. I’d be up dying.

Look, I put it on my social media for the first episode when we had the puzzle that we had to do before we got into the boats and got our pieces, our lights on, “If I have one weakness, it’s puzzles.” And that was a puzzle elimination. It was a thinking game, and with everything that we had going on as well, it’s like I’m not in a really a great headspace as it is. So, yeah. “I’m in a stalemate. Am I gonna go down? Am I really gonna do this?” And then it’s like I’m kind of feeling a little bad for Averey. She’s giving me a tough, tough time. So my head is everywhere. She won’t speak to me. When we’re getting prepped and ready for elimination, she won’t speak a word to me. Man, it was tough. So I already can’t think straight.

And then you got everybody on the sidelines. I mean, Era 1 was screaming so loud. I don’t know if it translates through TV, but they were yelling and trying to confuse you as much as possible. So all of that factoring in, I didn’t have a shot. I didn’t have a shot. I was trying. And also in my era — I can’t wait to watch the episode back because in my mind, I’m thinking back to it, I’m in elimination, Devin was trying to help me, Jordan was trying to help me. I heard the guys but it’s like, “Were y’all really trying to help me, or are y’all trying to actually mix me up?” Because there’s no way Devin doesn’t get that. There’s no way it doesn’t just click for Devin. I don’t know. I’m curious to see how this episode plays out. And I hate to think that those guys want me gone, but in the same space, at the same time, it’s like, “Well, hey, if we get, we get Tony out, then we just have to worry about Cory [Wharton]” — this is coming from Devin and Jordan’s perspective … And once Cory is gone, if Devin was talking to Jordan, “Hey, Jordan, it’s just me and you now. We got each other.” That whole little circle of Jordan, Devin, and Tori [Deal], it’s like, “Boom.”

But at the same time, me and Devin, we did talk the night of the toga party. We told each other that we were gonna be each other’s number one. We got each other’s back out here and I 100% believe that in my heart. I would have had his back the entire time as well. That’s my guy. That was gonna be my number one out there all the way. So I hate to even allude to, “Oh, were they really trying to help me or trying to mix me up on it.” But your mind thinks about all those different scenarios, all those types of things when you’re in a tough spot like that and it doesn’t work out your way, and it seems like the other teams were really helping those guys out, and it worked in their favor. When they were trying to help out Averey, I feel like they were a lot more vocal. I have to see how it plays out. But regardless, it was tough.

MTV

So next time you are on The Challenge, what are you gonna do differently to prepare for it? Puzzles?

So I’ve already got it in my mind. I’ve already talked to my girls — my daughters. I said, “Listen, guys, Daddy came home early, and I wanna tell y’all why.” I wanna go out there and make them proud, and I feel like I had a pretty good showing — short-lived, but I had a pretty good showing up to this point. And that was the whole thing. That was my stance, to make my little girls proud. Of course, they’re very proud of me and happy and they think it’s great that I beat Leroy [Garrett] in elimination and then they’ll be able to see tonight how we were team captains and we won this and that I ate the crap all that, blah, blah, blah. So, but then it comes out, I’m gonna lose this puzzle.

I explained to my girls when I got home, “Daddy was off with the puzzle.” I said, “If Daddy does another show, I need y’all to help. Daddy could go work out and I can have the biggest muscles in the world. Daddy could go run 10 miles and not be out of breath. But guess what? I can’t get better at these puzzles unless I have y’all’s help.” And they’re like, “Dad, we’ll help you. We’ll go right now. We’ll go to the store right now and get puzzles.” I was like, “All right.” I was like, “But not this puzzle that you put together… We gotta get some mind games.” And like, “Oh yeah, we’re on board, we’re on board. Let’s do it.”

So that is the one thing. That’s the one weakness in my game. And it’s something that, it’s terrible. It’s so easy to just pick your phone up and you have games, you have apps on here. You could actually train your mind, you train your brain, and of course, I just go out there. I don’t think I even played WordScape. I don’t even think I did a crossword puzzle before I went out there. So I might have been doomed from the beginning. But yeah, that’s gonna be the one thing that I gotta add to the repertoire. And you would think after doing eight seasons of The Challenge, I would already have that nailed down. But, I definitely didn’t go and prepare for that. I’ll be honest, I didn’t do any of that type of training.

Now that you’re on the outside, who are you rooting for? 

You know, I really wanted to see Derrick do well, I love him. I think he’s a dog. I love him. We spent a lot of time together outside the show. He’s got a lot of love for me. We’ve got a lot of respect for each other and our families. And I really wanted to see D do well. That was somebody I was really rooting for. And to be honest with you, I was keeping up with the spoilers … And my wife and his wife, they talk, and they were texting the whole time we were out there, and he was when I got back home, she was texting and keeping up,  giving us updates on D and stuff like that. So that’s somebody honestly I was rooting for.

Obviously, there’s a little soft spot in my heart for Johnny as well. I know Bananas. He’s out there, his dad was actually in the Vietnam War and he was wearing those dog tags. I thought that was something really special. So, you know, always gonna root for the Banana man — if I ain’t got to go against him anyway. And Devin, of course. Devin is my guy. He was my number one. So I wanted to see him do well as I want to see him do well as well.

Related

'The Challenge': Paulie Vows Revenge Against Theo, Nurys Reveals Olivia Makeup We Didn't See

And as far as the women go, look, it’s sad how things fell out with me and Averey ’cause me and Averey, we had a short stint on All Stars, and I thought she was a great person. She was awesome. Like we really got along and then coming into Season 40, we just picked up where we left off, we got along, had a great rapport, awesome teammate, was so happy to have her out there… Us having that fallen out and seeing her come through was amazing.

I actually told her at the elimination. I said, “Hey, Averey, great job,” and she told me, “Go eat a d***.”  I was like, “Huh, hey, I deserve that. I deserve that.” But to see her come out, I knew she had a lot of fight in her. I was rooting for her as well.

The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras, Wednesdays, 8/7c, MTV