Derek, you and Alyssa, from the beginning of the season, were adamant about getting “revenge” on the Cookout. How did it feel in the moment when she and Kyland sent Xavier into elimination? And how do you look back on it, considering some feedback that he could have had your back down the line if he had stayed?Derek: The first thing I want to say is that this was not an act of “revenge.” Let me just put that out front. I was an act out of who we can trust the most. At the moment, I was just super excited that Xavier had lost the challenge. I really thought he was coming back into the house. I was ready to move my bunk because we slept right next to each other. I was going to hide in the closet for another week. So I was really happy that our plan ended up working. Looking back on it, I’d say my feelings stand roughly the same. He was a stronger competitor. If he went to the final, I felt like he was going to win. And that was someone I had to compete with on the male side. And then I felt like Shan was a weaker female competitor. So I didn’t want to partner with her again. It was a perfect pairing and timing to take them out. In terms of breaking show alliances, literally the next week, Tyson put in Sarah. So I feel like it was going to happen at that point in the game. And if you weren’t thinking ahead of show alliances, then you probably weren’t playing the game.Shannon, Cashel and Cinco have both told me they felt on the outside of the Love Island group this season. Tell me about the dynamic you all had, and do you think it contributed to how many of you have left so far?Shannon: I think that there were a lot of unsaid things with relationship drama. The Love Island girls didn’t stick with the guys, which hurt things. But honestly, with the Love Island girls, we were so unbreakable because of just the loyalty that we had. In Big Brother, they had to vote each other out and cause hurt feelings. In Survivor, they had to vote each other out and cause hurt feelings. Love Island, it was all love. We never made out with each other’s boyfriends. (Laughs.) We were just so concrete we didn’t even need to try. Everyone could smell it from a mile away. We were just having fun with it. But also, we’re playing the game a little bit. Everyone looked at us as the “silly fun girls.” But honestly, I think that we were super underestimated. I’m proud of all of us.Finally, in honor of the infamous “[expletive] They Should Have Shown” episode of the old-school days of The Challenge, what’s one moment from your time on the show that you wish had made the edit?Shannon: In the daily, Derek and I actually had to go twice. It only showed that we went one time and got it right. We actually were a number or two off and had to go again. So I got hurt, had to jump off, and do the whole thing again. I wish that they had shown it because it was really tough for me. I looked sick because I was climbing up the ladder with one leg out, screaming. I was in pain. So I wish they showed us actually doing it all over again.Derek: We had a “Condomgate” in the house.Oh, yes! Azah told me about this last week.Derek: I will not say who it was. But someone unwrapped a condom and placed it in the shower to make it look used. And then the next morning, everyone saw it. So then, for the entire 24 hours, we were playing detective. We had court cases set up. We had a judge and jury. We had people on trial. I was framing people. So I wish Condomgate had made it.Wait, you just blew my mind! Because Azah didn’t know that it was planted. And she said everyone suspected Cinco.Derek: Oh my god, I felt so bad for Cinco. He looked so guilty.Shannon: I thought it was Cinco.Derek: The perpetrators did this at night. And as they were leaving the bathroom, they saw Cinco sleeping on the couch outside. So he was up and awake and not in the bedroom at the same time that this was happening. So all these things happened that made Cinco look so guilty. It was completely coincidental.Shannon: I wonder who it was…Derek: I don’t know. But they were creating chaos in the house. (Laughs.)Next, read our interview with Azah Awasum and Melvin “Cinco” Holland Jr., who were eliminated in The Challenge: USA Episode 5.
