Tony Raines didn’t expect to be down in the elimination arena on Wednesday night’s episode of “The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras.” After all, his Era 3 team had pulled out a victory at the daily challenge and, as team representatives this week, he and Averey Tressler held all the power. Unfortunately, the duo couldn’t come to a consensus when deciding who would battle Darrell Taylor and Jodi Weatherton in the arena. Tony wanted Derek Chavez and Aviv Melmed to go down in the sand, while Averey stuck to her guns and voted for Kyland Young and Kaycee Clark. We all know host TJ Holmes hates a stalemate, so he made Tony and Averey head down into the arena themselves. Was being stubborn worth it?
“I’m starting to notice how this is being framed,” Tony tells Gold Derby senior editor Denton Davidson. “I’m the one being stubborn. I don’t understand why I am the one being viewed as stubborn and not Averey. I understand why Averey may have had a better argument on why she wanted to keep Derek out of the elimination, versus my argument why I wanted Derek to go into elimination. I guess I’m being viewed as the one that was being stubborn. I should have just gave in. But for my game, it was a better move for me to give Darrell who he wanted down there so I could use that later on in the game…Unfortunately, it didn’t work out for me. I’m gonna look like the bonehead.” Watch the full video interview above.
Ultimately, Tony lost to Darrell in the game called “One Step At A Time.” Averey defeated Jodi, so she stayed and Tony left. Tony says he was proud of Averey and was rooting for her, but when he went to congratulate her for winning she told him to “eat a dick.”
This was Tony’s seventh challenge overall, and he recalls his scariest moment in “Challenge” history — his very first appearance in the “Bloodlines.” He explains, “I almost died. I was bleeding internally. My spleen ruptured. We didn’t even discover it until the second day so I had already lost four pints of blood.” Making matters worse, “My brother was with me. Him being out there and having that opportunity meant so much to him. For that to happen and for us to get sent home, that crushed me. Also, it was my first challenge. I’m trying to make an impression. That was the most memorable thing in my ‘Challenge’ career and the most traumatizing as well.”
Eventually Tony did make it to a final in the season of “Vendettas,” but that also brings back bad memories.
“It was the only final that I went to and I think about that final all the time. There was a specific moment when I started walking because I felt like there was no way I could win. I regret that moment to this day. If I would have at least kept jogging, I probably would have had a shot. The person that passed me up while I was walking was Cara Maria Sorbello. And guess who won that season? Cara. I’m walking and feeling defeated. Cara walks past and says, ‘What you doing? You gotta keep it up.’ I can’t believe I let myself down in that final.”
