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The Challenge star, Mark Long, hoped that he would get to face the younger contestant; however, he was disappointed to find the opposite.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, published on August 21, 2024, Mark reflected on learning that he had to first compete against your own Era and called it the "crappiest twist ever."
"We all thought that was the crappiest twist ever. Because we've seen that, right? How awesome would it have been if I'm going against Horacio or something, like the old lion versus the new young lion? But TJ, in his perfect way, always loves to deliver that twist that people aren't that happy about," he said.
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He expressed that he wished that his fellow era mates didn't compete against each other. Mark further explained that although it wasn't shown, he had several conversations with Derrick about the possibility of him going in before the deliberation. Mark knew exactly what was happening and gave Derrick his blessing to proceed.
"A win for him is like a win for me anyway, so hopefully his win in the sand gives him the confidence and a little bit more extra wind in his sail to persevere and go a long way. I'm always his biggest fan and vice versa, so it sucked that it played out that way," he continued
"It was a mess. This just isn't my day"- Mark Long reflects on his The Challenge 40 performance
Mark Long made his return to The Challenge franchise in season 40. He was part of Era I and finished last in the first daily challenge when competing against his fellow era members.
In episode 2, which premiered on August 21, 2024, Mark was scheduled to compete in an arena game, Pole Wrestle, against Derrick Kosinski. After a gruesome elimination challenge, Derrick emerged victorious, and Mark became one of the first eight contestants to leave the show.
Post elimination, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Mark reflected on his brief The Challenge 40 journey and admitted that he was frustrated about his performance.
"I know. I'm just as pissed as you. I was off from the very first challenge. I made the mistake of running down to my spot first before all the other boys, so I took the first spot, and as I look up, I just see production looking at me, and there's no one to "cheat" off of, if you know what I mean," he said.
He recalled that for the first five minutes, he was juggling the game pieces. He admitted that he had "no clue" what he was building and said it might have made no difference if he had just thrown blocks in the water.
Adding to his already difficult experience, Mark shared that he found out that his boat had water in it and the bag they gave him had a hole. The Challenge season 40 contestant acknowledged that his performance was a "mess" and felt it wasn't his day.
Regardless, Mark expressed that he was happy just by the fact that he was invited to be a part of the season.
"I started The Challenge in '98 — I'm not even supposed to still be doing this, if you think about it. I'm so thankful and I love the time that I was there. We got to go a week early and were all staying at the same hotel, so it felt like I was there longer, even though, on the show, it looks like I wasn't. I just wasn't that lucky in the first one," he concluded.
The Challenge season 40 episodes are available on Paramount Plus.
