“Unnecessary dig at me”— The Challenge 40 star Tony Raines claps back at Averey

The Challenge 40 episode 3 aired on Wednesday, August 28, 2024, on MTV. The episode witnessed Tony Raines from Era 3 leave the show after losing the elimination battle to Darrell from Era 1. In episode 3, players reached the site of their net challenge, where TJ Lavine, the host, informed the teams to choose a male and a female representative without disclosing any contextual information.

The chosen representatives were Jodi and Darrell (Era I), Derek and Aviv (Era 2), Tony and Averey (Era 3), and Kaycee and Kyland (Era 4). The deal was that whoever lost would face elimination, and the winners would decide the opponents. Tony and Averey won while Jodi and Darrell lost. Tony and Averey had to decide between Era 2 and 4 teams as the opponents. Averey, being friends with Derek, did not want to send the Era 2 team for elimination.

Tony disagreed with Averey and wanted the Era 2 team to go for the elimination. Unfortunately, the duo could not come to a consensus, and Tony decided that if not the Era 2 team, then they would go for elimination. The decision did not pay Tony well, as the competition had individual results, sending Tony home. Averey was not satisfied with his decision to take the bait and questioned whether Tony wanted to be in the show.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly on August 28, 2024, Tony clapped back at Averey for taking an unnecessary dig at him. He said:

"That was an unnecessary dig at me, to say that I didn't want to be there. I wanted to be there just as bad as anybody else. I'm there for a reason."

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Tony Raines opens up about what happened in episode 3 of The Challenge 40

Tony Raines was eliminated in episode 3 of The Challenge 40. The elimination turned out brutal for him because surprisingly, he and Averey won the first elimination battle and were safe from elimination.

Tony and Averey had to nominate an opponent for the next elimination round "One Step At A Time," where players participated individually. The task was to build a bridge with heavy tiles of different colors and put them in a prescribed order.

Tony's decision to throw himself and Averey into the elimination battle of The Challenge 40 got him into cold water, and other players, including his teammate Averey, claimed he was not interested in the game. Tony spoke to Entertainment Weekly and recalled his elimination from The Challenge 40. The interviewer asked Tony about his disagreement with Averey and what led to this decision.

Tony answered:

"Me and Averey were walking right next to each other, and she mentioned something about Derek, and I thought to myself, 'Oh s---, she's going to try to save Derek.' Now, when I asked Darrell who he wanted, he was like, 'I want Derek.' That's when I was like, 'Here we go. This makes it a lot more difficult, what am I going to do?'"

Tony further explained that Averey questioning his will to stay in the game was "unnecessary" and that it rubbed him the "wrong way." He was also asked about his opinion of other players from The Challenge 40 commenting on his elimination, to which he replied that he was only aware of Averey's comment as it happened in front of him.

He said:

"I only heard that from Averey out there in person, that I can remember. To hear that from you — because I haven't watched the episode yet so I don't know how it's going to air — so hearing that, it's just disappointing. I was giving it 100 percent but my weakness is puzzles."

Tony also took to his Instagram to post about his elimination and what he felt about it. The post was made on August 30, 2024, where Tony discussed at length how he had no allies in the game and how his teammates from The Challenge 40 criticized him for his decision to participate in the elimination battle.

Fans can check out more about his journey from his Instagram account @t_raines.

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The Challenge 40 will air its next episode on Wednesday, September 4, 2024, at 8 pm ET/PT on MTV.