The Amazing RaceWinner James WallingtonHe is putting the record straight about what appeared to have been a betrayal of his friend and fellow colleague TARAlum Leo TemoryOn The Challenge: USA.
Us WeeklyJames and his partner spoke with us Tasha Fox after their elimination from the show on Wednesday, July 20, to clear up what exactly went down, as it seemed from the show’s edit that there was some sort of betrayal with James throwing out Leo’s name.
“I never once said, those words never came out of my mouth, ‘I want to go against Leo,’” James exclusively tells Use. “I think when you see who wins the daily [challenge], in this case it’s Kyland [Young] Angela [Rummans]They are both, you know that Big Brother, you can kinda assume before you even go into deliberation what options they’re going to work with.”
James Wallington, Tasha Fox Shutterstock (2)
He continues, “So Tasha and I already knew that Leo and Justine [Ndiba]were going to be an option Cinco [Holland Jr.] Sarah [Lacina], Ben [Driebergen] Kyra [Lizama]As well as Dom [Abbate] Cashay [Proudfoot]. I wasn’t actively pushing for Leo and Justine, I just needed to be comfortable knowing that was an option, and I also needed Leo to know he was an option out of my control.”
James, a reality television fan, knew that Leo and Justine could have gone into elimination. “As a gamer, I had to recognize as a gamer, if we did go in and happen to win, I would bank money for my Challenge bank account that would qualify me for a final,” he tells Use. “I would be where I needed to be. I would be at exactly $5000. I recognized the game part of it, but I was never comfortable just putting a knife in Leo’s back and being OK with it.”
The SurvivorPlayers and Amazing RacersWe worked together, so there was hope for a 3rd option. David Alexander Shannon St. Clair but “it just didn’t pick up steam,” Tasha explains. “There were rumblings that the Big Brother [players] were as tight as people thought they were.”
When it came down to their loss, Tasha says, “We probably could have had better communication.”
The Challenge: USAThe program airs Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m. on CBS
