Hughie Maughan of The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies was one of 19 rookies brought to compete in MTV’s reality competition show and has already won over many fans.
In the fourth episode, viewers saw him and Amber Borzotra team up for an elimination event against rookies Michele Fitzgerald and Corey Lay.
They’d go on to win that thrilling event, which gave them the option to stay together or choose new partners. During a recent interview, Hughie explained why he made the decision he did.
The Challenge spoilers up through Episode 4 of the Spies, Lies & Allies season will be part of this report.
Hughie and Amber defeat rookies in Down to the Wire
Going into the elimination in Season 37, Episode 4, Amber Borzotra and Hughie Maughan both felt blindsided by their castmates and friends.
For Amber, it was due to Fessy Shafaat, part of The Agency power team with teammate Esther Agunbiade, throwing her into elimination despite the fact she trusted him as part of the Big Brother Alliance.
Meanwhile, Hughie felt he was blindsided by fellow rookie Corey Lay, who went to Fessy and asked for Hughie as his opponent. During The Challenge Aftermath, Hughie made it seem that he and Corey had talked about never saying each other’s name for elimination.
Amber and Hughie relied on the energy from those powerful emotions to triumph in Down to the Wire, an elimination event involving them handcuffed together by a pole and having to move around a metallic obstacle course.
It featured Hughie taunting Corey during the event, as he was basking in the glory of him not performing so well. Following the win, Hughie also got in Corey’s face with more taunting, resulting in a shove back from Corey.
After things calmed down, the rookies were reprimanded by host TJ Lavin for their actions. After Michele and Corey said their goodbyes and left for the season, it was decision time for Amber and Hughie.
Josh suggested to Amber that she choose to steal Devin as her partner. Meanwhile, his teammate, Ashley Mitchell, strongly advised Hughie not to stay as her partner, so he opted for veteran competitor Nany Gonzalez.
Hughie explains why he made the choice he did
Following his first elimination win, Hughie was a guest on The Challenge: Redditors React podcast, and he was asked why he decided to take Nany as his new partner for Spies, Lies & Allies.
“I was like, ‘Who’s gonna steal her from me?’ Like she’s not the best competitor…but not the worst, she’s amazing. Hasn’t she been to a final before?” he asked.
He went on to say that he also chose Nany due to her connections in the game, feeling it could benefit him going forth.
“She’s obviously like shagging Kaycee [Clark] now, so Kaycee’s got all her friends. Maybe Fessy won’t ever vote me in again because I’m with Nany. I was trying to think about [how] she’s still Ashley’s friend, and their little alliance doesn’t share a bedroom together. I was thinking, this girl is literally like in the middle of everyone,” he shared.
Hughie also said he felt nobody would steal Nany from him, and it would mostly be Kaycee or Tori Deal that people would try to steal as their teammates.
However, he also revealed that viewers would see what happens in the next few episodes, including Spies, Lies & Allies Episode 5.
“Like in the next episode, she ends up being such a great, great partner. She was so supportive, and I can see why Gabo [Szabo] loved her. I felt really horrible when I took her off of Gabo,” he shared.
Hughie’s move not only took Gabo away from Nany but also put him into an all-rookie pairing with Emy Alupei by default. That will likely put the target on the rookie-rookie team moving forward.
Meanwhile, Hughie now gets to work with a teammate who is coming off third place in the Double Agents final, so it should be interesting to see how they fare and if Nany helps keep him in the game.
The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on MTV.