With The Challenge: USA 2, Episode 7, a brewing showmance began to heat up even more, and host TJ Lavin revealed a significant change to the format of the game.
As the episode opened, Wes Bergmann celebrated his win over Dusty Harris at The Arena elimination as he and his castmates returned to the house. Wes was now part of the Blue Team.
He gave a speech to his castmates at the house, asking them just to let him play a “fair game.” Castmates applauded, and some hugged him. In confessional, Faysal Shafaat and Cory Wharton said they weren’t buying Wes’ speech.
Tiffany Mitchell said in her confessional she might want to defect to Blue Team now by throwing herself into elimination.
Cassidy Clark called a truce with Wes, and they hugged it out, although Cassidy still seemed skeptical. Meanwhile, Chris Underwood realized he was on the Green Team with two Big Brother stars he had previously called out.
Wes asked Michaela Bradshaw what he’d done to make her dislike him so much. She said she didn’t have any issues with him. In confessional, Wes said she is “so anti-Challenger,” which made her “a threat” to him and the other MTV vets.
Tyler Crispen and Alyssa Snider discussed her breakup with Big Brother castmate Kyle Capener. She said he wasn’t her “person.” Tyler said it was “kind of the same thing” with his breakup with Angela Rummans. In confessional, he said they were engaged and together for four years but “drifted apart.”
Michaela spoke about how she had an early exit from MTV’s The Challenge and wanted to really show people what she’s capable of. She brought up her Godfather passing away since then.
Teams competed in the Wreck and Roll daily event
TJ introduced Wreck and Roll, which featured giant spheres of different team colors. Two competitors from each team were in spheres and rolled them around the playing field, trying to crash into pillars and knock puzzle pieces off. Those puzzle pieces had letters on them.
The teams had to retrieve their puzzle pieces off the ground and bring them to a station where they’d solve a series of lined-up word puzzles. The team to get it done correctly the quickest would win the daily challenge.
The new superteam of Challengers solved the word puzzle ahead of the Red Team and Green Team to win the event. Tori Deal said in the confessional that they had the numbers to do “whatever they want in this game now.”
Josh orchestrated a voting plan, and a showmance heated up
Josh Martinez devised a plan to put two strong women against each other for elimination. He told Faysal Shafaat they’d need to put Tyler up as the guy for a smokescreen. Josh and Faysal spoke to Tyler, Monte Taylor, and Tiffany about their plan to control the vote.
Tiffany seemed unsure in confessional. Later, she cried to castmates Chanelle Howell and Alyssa, saying maybe she didn’t belong there.
In another confessional, Tiffany spoke about always being strong and not crying. She said she always wants her son to see her as someone “who’s never given up.”
At Team Blue’s nomination meeting, all four MTV vets, including Faysal, voted for Michaela. Desi, Cassidy, and Sebastian Noel had different votes. The majority vote for the men’s elimination candidate was Tyler.
Later, Alyssa wasn’t happy to see Tyler up for potential elimination. Michaela called out Josh for setting all this up. She asked him why it would make sense for guys to go after a “strong girl.” Josh shared in a confessional he was trying to break up the “Survivor Strong” group.
Michele Fitzgerald revealed in her confessional that she’s playing both sides in this game and can’t protect her Survivor friends forever. Chanelle and Desi spoke privately about not trusting Michele since the vets seemed to protect her.
At the cast’s night at the bar, Wes and Bananas worked together to play cupid for Tyler and Alyssa to help their showmance heat up. They told Tyler it would be a “guys elimination” unless he kissed Alyssa at the bar, so he did it as they watched from afar.
Who went home in Episode 7 elimination?
At The Arena, TJ revealed how the voting went for The Hopper. Tiffany had two votes. Monte, Alyssa, Josh, and Cory each had one vote, while Chanelle got four votes.
TJ fired up The Hopper and randomly drew Tiffany’s name. She and Michaela competed in an event called Top Heavy.
It featured two giant vertical beams in the middle of The Arena, with a competitor strapped to the top of each one. They had to shift their weight with the beam to get a ball from a bin, then swing back to shoot a basket into a basketball hoop. The first to score 10 baskets won.
Michaela was impressive from the start, scoring early and often, while Tiffany struggled. Castmates tried to yell out advice to help. Tiffany finally made a basket, but Michaela ultimately dominated the event to win 10-1.
TJ commended Tiffany for her effort in the game. She bid farewell as the cast applauded and cheered for her season.
In confessional, Michaela said she was ready to take Tori’s spot on the Blue Team. However, TJ revealed there would be no more teams, and everyone would compete individually, starting with the next daily challenge.
The Challenge: USA 2 airs Thursdays at 10/9c on CBS.