“Second place is losing.
Warning: This article contains spoilers about Thursday’s finale ofThe Challenge: All Stars.
Slow and steady won the race onThe Challenge: All Stars.
Juan Cruz Rabaglia/Paramount+
“I worked hard for that thing,” Duffy tells EW.
“I didn’t come there to lose.
Man, second place is losing.
Yes Duffy on ‘The Challenge: All Stars’.Juan Cruz Rabaglia/Paramount+
That’s last place in my mind.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Congratulations on dominating that final!
You came in first almost every time on the first day.
‘The Challenge: All Stars’'.Juan Cruz Rabaglia/Paramount+
Were you surprised at how well you were doing?
YESDUFFY:I was constantly surprised at everything.
Not just what we had to do, but the fact that I was still there.
[Laughs] The win was an enormous surprise, but not because I was unprepared.
I worked hard at it every day.
And nobody can win this alone, and I didn’t do it alone.
But I had a good time.
It was grueling and long and unpredictable and anxiety-inducing, but I enjoy that uncertainty.
Parenting really gave me all the tools I needed to get through.
[Laughs] These are the things I do with my kids.
There’s no way I’m going to eat that wiggly maggot; there’s no way.
But we learn a lot about ourselves in these finals.
At what point during the final did you know that you had won the whole thing?
When I passed Darrell.
[Laughs] I was catching him, I was chasing him, man.
And he was sprinting.
I thought, “Oh my God, he probably has won.”
I tried to help him.
Anyone I passed, I tried to help them out.
But he was like, “I’m all right, man.
I’m fine, I’m fine.
I like to wear my hat.”
So I was like, “All right then, see you later!”
and I was gone.
I just never looked back.
It’s just surreal.
It was surreal then; it’s surreal now.
I can’t believe it.
Did you know that was going to happen?
Anytime we’re running a leg of a challenge, you never know where the end is.
So you don’t know how much gas to use up.
I thought that was it, but I wasn’t totally sure.
But I thought he knew something I didn’t know.
I thought he knew it was like half the distance because he wasgone.I thought I might be toast.
I got to the top, and I just didn’t believe TJ.
We’re done?”
I was laughing so hard when you passed Darrell and decided to talk s— to him.
What was that moment like?
[Laughs] We are so mentally bankrupt by this time.
The amount of uncertainty in our lives in the previous 30 days has taxed us to our final penny.
I’m just trying to go.
I don’t even remember what I said!
I know I yelled stuff.
Especially given what we ate and had no sleep, my memory was foggy.
Jemmye told me that Darrell and I are going to be the ones.
She told me that in like the first three days we were there.
He didn’t tell me that he runs marathons in short times.
I didn’t know how advanced his fitness career was as a trainer and a coach.
You’re now the only person who has ever beat him in a final.
So we both got firsts.
How did you feel about the partners you got at each checkpoint in the first half?
Oh, that was a serious advantage to be able to get to pick.
I did very well.
And then, from there, being able to pick was great.
Ruthie, I chose last because I know she doesn’t gas out.
When the going gets hard, she’s smiling and laughing through it.
I knew that Ruthie will never break; she’s such a tough survivor soldier of a woman.
But ironically, I get the smallest person for that eating leg.
[Laughs] We had to eat unbelievable amounts of food!
So that was a poor choice, but her mental tenacity was the good choice.
She was amazing she actually helped me through that whole thing.
She coached me through it.
Yeah, I finished before her and then waited for her.
But I was like, “Ruthie you’ve got to talk me through this.
I’m going to freak out.”
And she was so calm.
She was enjoying herself.
She was like, “Here’s what you do.
Mix the thing that you don’t like with the thing that you do like.”
And that got it done.
What kind of food was it, exactly?
[Laughs] We don’t know.
I’m pretty sure it was all the private parts of multiple animals, at a minimum.
From there, it was all the other internal pieces.
Luckily we’re in Argentina, where they know how to barbecue.
It’s not like it was fermented in some jar.
They grilled it, at least.
But man, that was unbelievable.
[Laughs] I might throw up when I watch it.
One hundred percent, Aneesa took a bullet for me.
She went with her gut.
She did what she felt, and I respect that 100 percent.
I ain’t trying to roll the dice in The Arena, man.
the smartest idea is to stay out while you’ve got the option to.
What do you think would have happened if you went into that elimination against Big Easy?
Which female partner would you have picked?
But the bigger thing is nobody was stopping Big Easy that night.
Nobody’s beating him.
He would have sent me home.
Are you interested in coming back to defend your title in a potential second season ofAll Stars?
Defend the title, I know!
I am all ears; I’m fully open to the adventures ahead.
This feels like a beginning to me.
[Laughs] I am a real competitive dude.
I grew up as a wrestler.
The competitor in me is alive and well and happy.
It’s hella fun.
I’ll go up against anybody and just ride the ride until the wheels fall off.
