The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies season featured many promising new stars as there were 19 rookies included in the cast looking to prove themselves as competitors.
Among them was Corey Lay from the HBO reality show 12 Dates of Christmas, who quickly made a name for himself on MTV’s The Challenge.
After a strong showing in four episodes, many fans seem to be looking forward to more of Corey in future seasons. He recently revealed if he plans to continue with the show or it was more of a one-time appearance.
Corey Lay among impressive rookies on Season 37
As Season 37 began for MTV’s The Challenge, rookies Kelz Dyke and Corey Lay were considered the biggest threats for the veteran men based on their size. Corey also showed himself to be quite smart and strategic in terms of his approach to the game.
In the first episode, he quickly found himself a target, as he was thrown into elimination with Survivor star Michele Fitzgerald.
However, Corey dominated the event, which featured him and Michele tied to their two opponents on a platform. Corey used his impressive power and strength to move everyone off the side of a ramp to win it.
That allowed them each to choose a new partner if they wanted, with Corey selecting Tori Deal. Luckily, he avoided going into elimination in the second episode but was on the chopping block again by Episode 3.
He and rookie teammate Michele Fitzgerald nearly pulled off a win in the daily challenge to get immunity and power as The Agency. Despite Corey having his name called to go into elimination, he avoided it due to castmate Tommy Sheehan getting medically disqualified.
In Episode 4, Corey was teamed up with Michele by default, making them easy targets for the veteran alliance. They were the popular vote to go into elimination, and despite a close battle, Amber Borzotra and Hughie Maughan won the event.
The post-elimination dramatics included Hughie yelling and cursing at Corey for asking for him as an opponent. When he got in his face, Corey gave him a shove which got security involved. TJ Lavin reprimanded both cast members for their antics.
A confessional featured Corey breaking down in tears due to underestimating his opponent, which he said people had done to him in his life. They apologized at the elimination site before Corey’s departure four episodes into his first season.
Will Corey return to The Challenge again?
The question that always pops up with every popular rookie on The Challenge is whether or not they’ll return to the show. Corey’s showing in Spies, Lies & Allies was impressive, and his physical altercation seemed minor enough to where he most likely will get a call to come back.
He appeared on the ALISTERS Podcast recently, where he was asked, “Do you think you will return in the future?”
“There’s no doubt if they ask me to return, I will come back, and I will keep coming back for as long as they want me to,” he replied.
“I am a very big fan of the show. Now that I was on there, I had so much fun despite the kind of emotional kind of whirlwind I went through, my back against the wall. I had a lot of fun…I loved the experience, and I feel like I’m a little bit addicted to it,” Corey added.
He went on to say he’s competitive in his nature, even saying how he enjoys playing certain competitive video games online.
Corey’s desire to return to The Challenge also has some other motivations attached to it. He mentioned winning the $1 million prize money would be quite nice and how he could make history by winning the show.
“I want to win for like the black gay community,” he said, trying to recall if there had ever been a black gay man to win the show.
He mentioned former contestants Marlon Williams and Preston Roberson-Charles, neither of whom won a final.
“I don’t think that a black gay man has won the show, and you know I would love to do that to show people watching that we can do this too,” Corey said.
Based on what he showed from a competitive standpoint in his rookie season, it seems that it could eventually become a reality for Corey Lay if he keeps returning for The Challenge.
The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on MTV.