‘The Challenge’ Star Cory Wharton Says He’s Still in ‘Win or Bust’ Mode After That Elimination

Cory Wharton said he didn’t want to be known as the best to never win The Challenge, but unfortunately, it happened again in Season 40. After making it into the Top 5 guys — of the 20 that started on the show, three of which he sent home himself — he met his match on Wednesday’s (December 11) episode, “The Must Win Era.”

After coming up a bit short of victory in the daily challenge, “Fire Plunge” — which involved a puzzle, a car plunging from a cliff, and a big swim — Cory was automatically sent into the arena against the day’s last-place finisher, Derek Chavez. Derek was decidedly distracted by his grief over the death of his sister, whose birthday coincided with the arena bout, while Cory was “locked in.” However, Derek still had the upper hand on strategy when it came to the arena, “Closing Time,” by lining up his bricks while he carried them over instead of waiting until he’d transported them all through the arena.

So how does Cory Wharton feel about this season, which saw him win in the sand so very many times? TV Insider caught up with him to find out that (and a few details about what’s ahead in the reunion)!

What does it mean to you that you outlasted 15 other guys this season, a lot of whom were all stars? 

Cory Wharton: It means a lot. I always try to humble myself as much as possible, and that is great, but I also have high expectations. I’ve accomplished a lot in the game, but I have to win.  That’s the one thing that everyone, when I see them out, they’re like, “When are you gonna win? I’m rooting for you to win.” So it’s either win or bust. So a little unfortunate that that didn’t happen this season.

You trained a lot for puzzles ahead of this season. What will you do to train for next time? 

I’ll probably just keep doing puzzles, work on my cardio, and get in shape the best that I can. The one thing about The Challenge that I love is that you never know what to expect. I have done 11 seasons now, and I’ve only seen the same puzzle once or twice.  They find a new way to put a new twist in there to make you uneasy. I think that’s why the fans love it so much is because you really don’t know who’s gonna win, and I think that adds a ton of excitement. So just be prepared for anything.

At the beginning of the season, you and Amanda Garcia had a little bit of a dust-up. How are you guys doing now? 

I mean, pretty much … I don’t know, you might want to tune into the reunion to see how that one goes. But yeah, it’s not like we were friends before. We’re not friends now… It’s like, “I’m sorry, I couldn’t save you from the first challenge.” But like I said, I was working with Leroy [Garrett] and Nia [Moore] at the time. Nia came up to me the night before, cried, said she did not want to go against Averey [Thompson] because I would have sent in Averey. Averey talked to me. Amanda never came up and talked to me. She just thought the one combo we had would be good. And Leroy wanted to go against Tony, he didn’t wanna go against Jordan [Wiseley]. So early on in the game, you try to build as many numbers as you can. And that was one of my ways of being like, “Hey, I’ll give you who you want. Just look out for me.” 

You defeated Brad Fiorenza, Derrick Kosinski, and Josh Martinez in eliminations. How did those wins affect your confidence going into this one? 

Oh, I needed it because I was not winning those individual dailies, so I needed this. I think honestly like winning eliminations down in the sand is the most intimidating thing that you can do in the game because the whole house for the most part seemed like they wanted me out, and I’m just not going anywhere. I’m like that roach that just won’t die, and I’m just staying around like, “Yeah, I’m still here.” It gave me a ton of confidence. It really did. And yeah, it was something that I’ve never done before this season, [which] is go ahead and go down in four eliminations, all individual and then just prove to myself that I have what it takes to compete with the best of the best on 40. 

You came into the elimination with a really good head space, so where did it go wrong? Was it just a matter of the puzzle or speed?  

Hey, I tried to avoid the puzzle for as long as I could. The fourth elimination I got it. My headspace just comes [from the fact] that the older I get, the more that I appreciate The Challenge. And I’m so thankful for the opportunity to come and to compete in Vietnam and to spend the time there. And so I’m there to compete. I’m there to show what I can do. There’s no reason to sit back and hide behind a curtain or say, “No, don’t vote for me.” “Listen, you guys wanna send me down, go ahead. But when I come back, I probably have a reason to send you down.” So it was a good time, and I just think the older I get, the better my headspace gets. 

Do you think that you would have rather gone against Kyland Young in the arena? 

For that challenge? I mean, I don’t know. I think the thing with puzzles is they’re pretty much toss-ups. I bet if you were to ask all of them who they wanted to go against, they probably would have had me in that. But you do the best you can. And Derek had a great game plan going into that elimination, and he executed it great. And I’m happy for him, especially with his sister and everything that happened with that. I’m just happy for Derek and couldn’t be more proud of him. 

I wanted to ask you about something Johnny Bananas said. In a confessional in this episode, he calls you “a used car salesman.” What do you think of that characterization? What’s your response? 

Biggest used car salesman around? You know, it’s just funny to me because for him to go on his podcast, say this, say that, and then ask for me to come on the podcast? And I’m like, “No, bro, like just pick a side.” You know what I mean? I’ll say this though, man: Johnny is great for The Challenge. He is The Challenge. He’s great for the show. He’s a great entertainer.

A lot of fans are really happy to see that conversation you had with Nelson Thomas. Can you talk about how you guys are working together throughout his recovery and what it means to you? 

Yeah, I think that just gave me all the perspective that I needed for the season. Just go have fun and compete, man. And just talking to Nelson and to see his journey, I think Nelson’s not gonna shy away from saying that it was his mistake that the accident happened, and he’s paying the ultimate price for it. And I’m just glad that he can finally turn that chapter and just move forward. I think we’ve all made mistakes, and I’m just glad that he could finally get that prosthetic on, and he’s exercising like twice a day, and that’s all he needs to keep that smile going. He’s in a good place. He just moved to Dallas. And so he’s doing really well, and I’m just really proud of him and happy that he’s at a place where he is in life. 

This was a huge cast and a lot of people hadn’t worked together before. Was there anyone whose performance really surprised you this season? 

Yeah, Kyland. I would say Kyland’s performances surprised me the most. I’ve never done a Challenge with him, but he came to Vietnam with a notebook filled up every season of The Challenge, which locations were at The Challenge, who won that season… I was like, I don’t know if The Challenge was made to be taken this serious, but he turned it up a notch. And I will say that about all the Big Brother players. Ever since they came onto the show — for better or for worse — they’ve taken up the level of competition a notch. And so, yeah, I would say Kyland’s performance probably surprised me the most. He’s the real deal, and I’m happy to have him around. 

What else can you tell us about the reunion? 

I mean, sparks were flying.  There might be some cast members that come surprise some other people. It’s gonna be good, though. I mean, the drama doesn’t stop after the final. It continues in Amsterdam, and there’s gonna be a lot that’s said on that stage that wasn’t said during the season. And I think that’s what gets people the most excited about the reunions is it’s like, “All right, now we get to hear all the stuff that we didn’t hear.” And it continues, and people are fighting and a hot mess, but it will be entertaining for sure. 

[Programming note: Next week in The Challenge‘s usual timeslot, a special previewing The Challenge: All Stars Season 5 will air.]

The Challenge, Wednesdays, 8/7c, MTV