MTV Darrell Taylor's cast photo for 'The Challenge: All Stars 3'
“The Challenge” multi-time champ and fan-favorite Darrell Taylor recently spoke about his future on the franchise’s regular show and “All Stars” spinoffs. Warning: This article contains spoilers about the episodes of season 3 of “All Stars” now airing on Paramount+.
Darrell didn’t make it as far on “The Challenge: All Stars” season 3 as he usually does, following two back-to-back finals appearances on “All Stars” seasons 1 and 2. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly after his elimination in episode 4 of season 3, Darrell was asked whether fans would see him back on “The Challenge” in the future. “No time soon for me,” he replied. “I just opened my gym, so I’ve got to focus on that right now. Maybe in a year or so, but at this moment, no.”
The four-time champ concluded, “I won’t say I’m retired, but just not right now.” Darrell also got into more detail about quitting the heights challenge and his intense elimination loss.
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Darrell Spoke About What Happened in His Elimination Loss & Said He Couldn’t Walk the Following Day
Darrell opened up about his elimination battle against Jordan Wiseley, which will surely go down as one of the more impressive “Challenge” wins in the show’s history. Darrell told Entertainment Weekly that he didn’t mind going against Jordan because he didn’t want to have to face him in a final. He said:
I lost because his a** is stubborn as hell… Anybody else would’ve been like, ‘F*** it. Go ahead, Darrell. It’s over.’ I was about a foot away. I only had about maybe 12 inches or so to finish the thing. But he was so stubborn and he would not give up.
Darrell explained that his legs were “shot” and he’d never felt that before. He shared that he started feeling it within the first 15 minutes but then it got progressively worse every time he moved. He said he didn’t know if it was just cramping or lactic acid buildup but he started thinking he had blood clots. At the hospital, he said he got IVs and shots and “muscle stuff” to manage the pain.
“I was just in so much pain,” he said. “I couldn’t walk the next day. I would get these spasms where they would shoot through my quads and they would go limp. It was weird.” He also said, “I’ve never been in pain like that before. I was more afraid of, I’m never going to be able to walk again. I was thinking the worst-case scenario. I thought they were going to have to amputate my legs or something. They actually put me in a wheelchair. But for a few days I could barely walk. It was pretty bad.”
Darrell Also Opened Up About Quitting the Heights Challenge Earlier That Episode
Darrell also opened up to the publication about what got him in the arena in the first place, which was a shocking quit during the challenge. Darrell has made it no secret that he doesn’t like heights challenges but this was the first one that caused the otherwise strong competitor to back out.
He said he “got in his own head” because there had been a lot of speculation in the house that the next challenge would be a heights challenge. “I was probably defeated before I even went out there, honestly,” he explained. The “Road Rules: Campus Crawl” alum said he was on the platform for a while before officially quitting. “I tried to walk, and my legs just don’t move,” he said.
Surprisingly, Darrell shared that TJ Lavin was “pretty supportive,” although the host is well-known for his disdain of quitters. “He was trying to help me out,” Darrell explained. “He’s like, ‘You’re safe, man. You’re not going to die.'”
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