After facing off against the one and only Wes Bergmann in a grueling elimination challenge, Dusty Harris felt like he was on top of the world on The Challenge: USA last night (Aug. 28)… that is until host TJ Lavin announced that he did not slay The Challenge legend as he had hoped.
Unfortunately, contrary to popular belief, Dusty packed his bags after falling just 37 seconds short of Wes in the elimination challenge. As soon as Dusty completed his time trial, Johnny Bananas went to console Wes, his longtime nemesis, because the entire arena had thought he was going home that fateful night — Needless to say, Dusty was shocked when his name was called instead!
In an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly, Dusty dished out all things surrounding his heartbreaking elimination, including what was going through his mind when it was announced that he was, in fact, defeated by Wes.
“The time waiting for them to announce who won this elimination was gut-wrenching. I felt very confident that I had won… When you look at what happened with Bananas running down hugging Wes goodbye, everyone felt like I did enough [to win], but I just didn’t. I was completely and utterly dumbfounded, to be honest with you. At first I was speechless, but when I heard 37 seconds I was like, ‘Man, I thought it was more than that.’ Then TJ announced that Wes pulled it off, he beat the curse of a knot-tying elimination, he got it done and knocked me out. I’m humbled. If I was going to lose to someone, losing to someone that has the record that Wes does, it is what it is. I’m going to learn from it. There’s a definite huge advantage in experience in this game.”
While Dusty was incredibly emotional on the show, feuding with Big Brother veteran Tiffany Mitchell numerous times, we are pleased to see him walking away from The Challenge: USA with such poise despite feeling “absolute, utter defeat” after the elimination challenge.
“I can’t even put it into words. It was like the world crumbled down around me. It was so fast going from the feeling of ‘I just knocked out Wes Bergmann in an elimination. I’m going to get a chance to make a move. I’ve made my name in the game. I’ve won my first elimination. I can put that in the record books.’ to having it ripped away by 37 seconds. This is going to be miserable. I’ve got to go face the music that I didn’t win The Challenge when I told everyone I was going to win The Challenge.“
After the way he speaks so highly of Wes Bergmann, as well as Johnny Bananas (we all remember the Instagram DM fiasco), it is clear that Dusty Harris has always looked up to The Challenge veterans before, during, and after his time on The Challenge: USA.
In fact, The Amazing Race veteran still keeps in touch with them post-elimination, and hearing this seriously warmed our hearts.
“I have a great relationship with them. We just chat through social media, it’s not like we’re talking on the phone all the time. I do not love Bananas, everyone… Bananas is not my hero, I assure you. He is a legend of the game, but editing is a hell of a [thing]. It’s all been in good fun though. It’s funny watching this with my wife and she was like, ‘Are you leaving me for this guy?'”
Given that Dusty is a superfan of the game, he is more than willing to return to The Challenge in the future, telling TJ Lavin himself that he will be “back and better than ever” as soon as he gets the call.
“I want to go back more than anything. I have unfinished business. I have finished third in The Amazing Race, I let my temper get the best of me there, and I let my temper get the best of me in The Challenge house. I owe it to myself, to my family, and to my own mental sanity to go back and beat everyone. I’m not just going back, I’m coming back to win, and I will win. I will be a Challenge champion, mark my words.”
We admire Dusty’s confidence, and we know he has what it takes to outlast the competition the next time around — he will definitely come back to The Challenge as a force to be reckoned with!
To watch the rest of season 2 of The Challenge: USA unfold, be sure to tune in to CBS from 10 pm to 11 pm ET/PT every Thursday and 9 pm to 10 pm ET/PT every Sunday.
