Ahead of the season 2 premiere of 'The Challenge: USA,' we got some tea from host T.J. Lavin about what to expect, who to look out for and more!
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00:00 Well, obviously a new season of Challenge USA coming up.
00:02 I feel like there's so much challenge content these days
00:05 to keep the fans satisfied.
00:07 So why specifically should they tune in to this one?
00:11 - Well, this one has everything that Challenge USA one had
00:16 and then some.
00:17 So it's got a lot of whipped cream,
00:18 cherries on top and the whole kit,
00:20 which comes in the form of bananas and Tori.
00:23 And it's the best of the best, you know, coming as well.
00:28 It's gonna be an incredible mixture of talent
00:33 and people and attitudes and lovely, you know,
00:39 things that come.
00:41 I love it.
00:42 So I'm very excited about it.
00:44 I think it's probably the best of both worlds.
00:48 - Do you think that like those flagship veteran players
00:51 are kind of something that was missing
00:52 from the first season of Challenge USA?
00:55 - I do.
00:56 I think so.
00:57 I really do.
00:58 It's something that I was pushing for all along.
01:01 I really, really wanted to have those players in there.
01:04 One, because they're really good at the game,
01:07 but two, because they're so gritty
01:10 and the CBS players are so sweet and nice and kumbaya.
01:15 No, they like that with the MTV cast.
01:18 So that's a whole different deal, you know?
01:20 - How much of a say do you even have in like really
01:23 what goes into casting and formatting and stuff?
01:25 - Zero.
01:27 I have zero say.
01:29 But I do put my two cents in regardless, you know?
01:32 It's like, I do say what I feel
01:35 and whether that comes into any kind of play or not,
01:38 I don't think so.
01:40 But I still say, you know, it doesn't matter.
01:44 I still, I have a link to every single person
01:48 that makes the decisions and that knows, you know,
01:51 what's going to be what.
01:52 And so I don't think that, you know,
01:54 they fall on deaf ears.
01:56 I don't think that they,
01:57 I think they probably consider what I say.
01:59 I don't think it's- - I'm sure.
02:00 It's got to hold some weight after all these years.
02:02 - A little bit, you know what I mean?
02:03 18 years of thinking, you kind of know what you're doing.
02:06 - Yeah.
02:07 Well, so we actually saw,
02:08 and I think the clip was released today,
02:10 that we're going to have three teams this season.
02:12 So how, what else can you say about the format?
02:16 And like, is it similar to anything we've seen before?
02:19 - Well, yeah, I mean, it is a little bit similar.
02:21 It's kind of a throwback format, you know?
02:23 And I love the format.
02:24 I love having teams.
02:26 I think teams are really cool.
02:27 And it's like, you get into that
02:30 all for one and one for all kind of attitude.
02:32 And I love that.
02:33 So it's fun.
02:34 And the only thing I don't love about the team thing
02:37 is picking the teams,
02:38 because there's somebody has to be last picked
02:41 and that kind of sucks, you know?
02:42 - Yeah, it's so awkward.
02:44 - It's so awkward and so sad.
02:46 And I'm like, man, that bums me out.
02:48 But they handle it well.
02:51 We're all adults here.
02:52 It's okay.
02:53 - Yeah, they knew what they signed up for.
02:56 - They knew what they signed up for.
02:58 They knew it was going to be weird.
02:59 It was going to be difficult and everything else.
03:01 So it's okay.
03:02 - Are there any new players this season
03:04 that you were impressed by
03:06 that you think people should keep an eye out for?
03:08 - I think Tyler was really good.
03:11 Alyssa's always good.
03:14 She's a challenger as well.
03:15 I'd love to see both of those people come back on.
03:19 Desi's always good.
03:21 She's always good.
03:23 Yeah, and stacking up against some of the greats
03:26 like John A and Tori and things like that.
03:28 She held her own.
03:30 So it's interesting to see some of the best MTV players
03:35 play with the people from CBS, you know?
03:40 - Yeah, I'm partial to the Survivor people
03:42 'cause I've been watching that since day one.
03:45 (laughs)
03:46 - Yeah, cool, yeah.
03:47 - Yeah.
03:47 I feel like we can't talk about the Challenge USA
03:51 without talking about that crazy season one final,
03:54 which really took a toll on so many of the players.
03:58 Was that a factor in this season at all?
04:01 And how will this final compare to that
04:03 and what else we've seen?
04:05 - Well, a little bit.
04:08 Yeah, I mean, I think it's something
04:13 that you have to have hard.
04:16 You have to make things very, very difficult.
04:20 Otherwise, it's not the challenge.
04:22 That's why we're here.
04:24 We're here to change the game every time
04:27 and make it more difficult every time
04:29 and make it harder and make it crazier.
04:31 And you have to dig as deep as you can
04:34 and then a little bit more past that.
04:37 So that's the idea.
04:38 And so, I don't know, we didn't make it any easier,
04:43 if that's what you're thinking,
04:44 but I think that now they know what to expect.
04:47 So it's going to be easier for them
04:50 because they know what to expect.
04:52 Whereas before it was like, this is impossible.
04:55 - Right, right, right.
04:57 They want people to finish it,
04:58 even if it takes them a while and it's difficult.
05:01 Well, if you have any suggestions to give that,
05:03 like, I know you said you have 0% say,
05:06 but I'm over the eating portions of these finals.
05:08 - Oh God, you and me both.
05:11 I swear to you, I am so over it.
05:14 I hate it every time.
05:16 I like mind it- - I can't stand it.
05:18 - I mind it less when it's like, okay, fine,
05:21 make them eat something gross.
05:22 But like when they're just trying to force them
05:24 to eat like sheer amounts of food,
05:26 just to make them get sick, I just don't understand that.
05:29 But.
05:30 - Well, it is, there's that.
05:33 And then the gross things, I don't like either.
05:36 But I can't sit here and tell you
05:39 that it's not going to be over that.
05:41 - Yeah, I know.
05:42 - And that's done because I have zero say.
05:45 And I say no every time.
05:47 - No, I'll manifest it by just saying it here.
05:50 (laughs)
05:51 - Let's do it.
05:52 - All right, I mean, don't get me wrong.
05:56 It's my one complaint about the whole thing,
05:58 but it's just gross.
05:59 All right, you've gotten to obviously know
06:02 so many of these players like on a personal level
06:04 after all these years.
06:05 So like how hard is it to separate your like friendships
06:08 with some of them from like having to kind of be like
06:10 impartial as a host?
06:12 - No, it's not hard at all.
06:14 It's very easy because I, you know,
06:17 they know that I'm not gonna like,
06:19 there's nothing I could possibly do to help or hurt whoever.
06:24 You know what I mean?
06:24 There's nothing, it's so,
06:27 like I'm not the referee, judge,
06:30 and I'll be all to the games.
06:35 Their performance is that.
06:37 You know what I mean?
06:37 Like, as long as you follow the rules, it's not a problem.
06:41 And there are so many producers on set,
06:45 the challenge producers, you know,
06:47 the floors and the menus and the guys
06:50 that take care of the game.
06:51 And that really men and women that are building the games
06:54 are so involved and they're so in charge
06:58 that it's a different level of, you know, game.
07:03 I'm not even worried about that at all.
07:06 Neither is anybody else I don't think, so it's good.
07:09 - I feel like you've gotten like obviously
07:12 a front row seat to this now for a while.
07:14 So like, would you say the players generally struggle more
07:17 with the physical part of the game
07:18 or the political part of the game?
07:20 - Well, it depends on what player we're talking about
07:26 because some of them are really, really great
07:30 at the physical stuff,
07:31 but they're not so hot at the political game.
07:34 And then some of them are politics only, you know,
07:38 when it comes to the sporting part of it,
07:43 they're not as good, you know?
07:45 - Yeah, I feel like so many people I've talked to
07:47 even like, you know, who've done it for a while.
07:49 - Look at this, look what we got.
07:50 - Oh, a little guest appearance.
07:52 - A guest appearance by Molly Gill.
07:55 - Hi.
07:56 She can join.
07:59 - I'm always down for a special guest.
08:04 One time I was interviewing someone
08:05 and their baby popped up.
08:06 You never know what's gonna happen.
08:08 - Oh, I love it.
08:10 - Anyway, I was saying, I feel like usually people I talk to,
08:12 even the ones who are like good all around
08:15 always end up saying that like the political part
08:17 ends up being harder in the end
08:19 because it's just like so unpredictable, but I guess-
08:23 - Well, you don't know.
08:24 Yeah, you don't know if somebody has your back for real
08:26 or not, that's something that's heavy, you know?
08:29 - Yeah.
08:30 - It's like, they do and you're good,
08:31 but if they don't, then you're not good at all.
08:34 You know, you can be like,
08:35 I'm not gonna go into elimination
08:37 and then all of a sudden you're there
08:39 and your name comes up on the hopper and then that's it.
08:42 - Yeah.
08:43 And then, you know, obviously when it gets down to the end
08:45 of "Into the Gritty,"
08:46 there's like only so many places you can hide.
08:47 So that's interesting. - That's right.
08:50 - All right, well, you've been hosting
08:52 obviously for a while now
08:53 and they just keep putting more on your plate.
08:54 There's like five seasons a year now, it seems.
08:57 Do you ever see a time where you step back
08:59 or throw in the towel or are you sticking this out
09:02 as long as they'll have you?
09:03 - No, no, I love it.
09:05 So it's kind of become me, you know, I love it.
09:10 And I love all the, me and the crew are family
09:13 and it's like, it's a great job and it's fun and I love it.
09:18 So there's no way I would, you know, wanna give it up.
09:22 It's great.
09:24 So more work, it is definitely more work
09:27 and a lot of time away from home and it's tough,
09:30 but Roxanne, my wife, is like a different level of partner.
09:34 She handles all the business and does everything.
09:37 And then, you know, my mom still works for me as well.
09:40 She handles all my stuff with the housing
09:43 and things like this that I have to do
09:45 'cause I do that as well, I have real estate.
09:48 I have a lot of rental homes and stuff like that that I do.
09:50 And she helps me take care of some of that stuff too.
09:53 And Roxanne takes care of that stuff as well.
09:56 And so those two things are very important to me
10:00 and, you know, it's great,
10:03 but they also know that we're killing it.
10:05 So we're having fun.
10:07 - Yeah, yeah, it seems like it's a pretty good job to have.
10:09 So I don't blame you for wanting to stick it out.