Tyler Duckworth, a two-time winner of The Challenge, recently revealed that despite being in his prime when competing, he didn’t get any more calls to appear on MTV’s show after four seasons.
He admitted in an interview that it left him heartbroken to see castmate Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio appear in so many seasons after him. Bananas would also pick up a record number of Challenge wins while Tyler was at home.
However, Tyler also shared he was excited to appear amongst OG competitors on the second season of The Challenge: All Stars and revealed why he felt extra-prepared to compete in the spinoff.
Tyler comments on not getting more calls for The Challenge
MTV first introduced viewers to Tyler Duckworth during The Real World: Key West season back in 2006. Castmates included several future Challenge champions, including his All Stars 2 castmate Janelle Casaneve, Paula Meronek, and the now seven-time winner Johnny Bananas.
Tyler made his Challenge debut on The Duel in 2006 and followed that season by returning for The Gauntlet III. He was winless in those first two seasons but followed that up by winning his next two.
The first win came during the Cutthroat season in 2010, as part of a team featuring Brad Fiorenza, Dunbar Merrill, and Tori Hall.
He’d return for Rivals, where he teamed with former RW castmate and rival Johnny Bananas. The duo would go on to capture the championship, adding to their career prize money.
While Bananas continued to compete in more seasons of The Challenge, viewers didn’t see any more Tyler after Rivals. However, Tyler recently revealed in an Entertainment Weekly interview it was due to him not receiving calls to return.
The two-time winner shared a screenshot of the interview on his Instagram, asking fans how many more seasons he would’ve won if he returned.
“Truth be told, I was a little [upset] that I did win two Challenges in a row and I never got called back. And I could have won how many more? No offense to Johnny, but he did 20 Challenges. I only did four, and I was in my prime,” Tyler told Entertainment Weekly.
“It was actually too hard for me to watch because it kind of broke my heart that I never got invited back. But sometimes you just have to let things go. God closes one door and opens up another,” he added.
Tyler also believes that he could have won a “couple more” seasons “easily” if he’d returned to The Challenge.
“There’s a lot of shoulda-coulda-wouldas. I feel like I missed out, but I had to grow up at some point, and I am just so, so appreciative to be able to get back in gear and participate again. But yeah, I probably would have won a couple more, easily. Easily!” he told EW.
The former winner is one of two All Stars 2 cast members to recently reveal they didn’t receive any calls after winning seasons. Former Road Rules: X-Treme contestant Jodi Weatherton recently shared she didn’t get any more invites after appearing in three seasons and winning two.
Tyler revealed why he felt prepared for All Stars 2 spinoff
With his last appearance on The Challenge a decade ago, Tyler said he was surprised when he got a call for All Stars 2, but was excited to return.
He also shared why he felt prepared for his return to the spinoff series. Part of it was due to his post-Challenge experience with graduate school and teaching, which he said helped him with the newer puzzles and logic games.
“They did such a great job this season balancing the physicality but also the mental aspects. It’s not just about who can deadlift the most weight. There’s a mixture of logic or puzzles, so it kind of evens out the playing field, which made it a lot more fascinating,” he told EW.
Tyler revealed he had to have a conversation with castmate Ryan Kehoe due to a previous season to clear some things up. However, beyond that, he said he felt he came back to The Challenge drama-free and with a “clean slate.”
“And truthfully, being away from the game for so long, I didn’t have any drama with anyone. There’s no bad blood, whereas a lot of the cast members that were there, they’ve been doing Challenges and they still remember what happened on Rivals 3 or Exes 2. I came in with a clean slate, luckily. You’ll see, it’s funny how it plays out,” he shared with EW.
Tyler said he isn’t mad at Bunim-Murray or anyone for the lack of callbacks. He also brought up his excitement to reunite with other OG cast members as a big part of why he chose to return to the spinoff series after 10 years away from MTV’s show.
“I’m so happy to be back now. And I’m giving you guys a show this season, don’t you worry. I gave it my all. I don’t know if this might be my last rodeo, so I’m going to give you guys a motherf**king show,” Tyler said.
The Challenge: All Stars 2 premieres on Thursday, November 11, on Paramount Plus.