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The Challenge USA bid farewell to Big Brother alum Monte Taylor in its eighth episode. He was pitted against his most formidable ally, Tyler, who emerged triumphant in the elimination arena. Shortly after his exit from the show, Monte revealed that he suffered an abysmal injury by dislocating his shoulder earlier in the season, which wasn't televised. The incident severely hindered his performance, impacting his strength and endurance, he said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
Both The Challenge USA men kept each other's spirits up through the face-off that lasted for longer than three hours. Although his condition has improved since, the sheer length of the showdown and the level of physical and mental commitment it demanded made Monte look back at his last day as somewhat "traumatizing."
"We're both [Monte and Tyler] still bruised up from the harness that was holding us to the barrel. It was a grueling experience." - Monte told EW
The Challenge USA: Monte Taylor gets candid about his experience
The Challenge USA's latest episode unexpectedly switched up the show's format, where the contestants went from competing in teams to fighting for the title as individuals. Monte was nominated for elimination by the daily challenge winners, and Hopper ejected Tyler's name.
The intensity was at its peak, and the challengers remained laser-focused. With most of the cast cheering Tyler on, Monte felt more motivated but ultimately fell short, as Tyler had the upper hand, having figured out a successful strategy reasonably quickly. The duo talked each other up throughout their time in the arena and have remained tight since.
Monte highlighted something viewers hadn't been privy to in his exclusive with EW. In a 'Work the Pole' challenge from a prior episode, The Challenge USA star's shoulder got dislocated owing to the impact of his body against the water. This wasn't his first rodeo, though, since he'd faced the same issue twice before his appearance on the show. Medics helped put it back in place immediately, but the injury hurt his performance moving forward.
"I was glad that I was still able to compete even with the whole shoulder situation," - Monte said gratefully
His strength started returning as he continued his pursuit of victory since the following competitions didn't require him to strain his arm much. Unfortunately, his shoulder couldn't pull through the draining elimination challenge.
When Entertainment Weekly inquired about the developments about his injury since his exit from the show, he expressed a "little discomfort." He generally "feels fine," considering he'd had much time to recover after his elimination was filmed.
"It definitely compromised my swimming – that motion is not a very comfortable one after dislocating your shoulder." - Monte said.
He looks back fondly on his journey on The Challenge USA but remembers his elimination as exhausting. Understandably so, considering it lasted unbelievably long.
Monte discussed that there was no point during the challenge when he knew Tyler was taking home the victory. They had to stack balls into a pyramid and hit a button before it toppled. Several times in the arena, both contestants' stacks were dropped. It was neck and neck until the very last moment when Monte accidentally knocked his pyramid over, and Tyler's pyramid stayed intact as he rushed and hit the button. That's when Monte registered that it was game over.
"Yeah, we were going through it, I'm not going to lie... We just wanted it to be over at some point, so we were hoping one person got it done."
He also reflected on the day and how the Survivor squad made him their target. The loyalty of the Big Brother alums was questioned, too, but Monte claimed to understand the sticky situations they were in, having formed alliances with other people in the house. He remained highly thankful for the opportunity.
Monte had to say goodbye, but the race is still on. The Challenge USA season 2 will air episode 9 on CBS on Thursday, September 14, at 10 p.m. ET. It will also be available to stream on Paramount+.
