The Challenge: USA brings stars from Love Island, Big Brother, Survivor, and The Amazing Race together for a spinoff of TJ Lavin’s popular competition show. However, the latter of these shows hast the fewest cast members by far.
Amazing Race will have just three former cast members on the CBS spinoff, including James Wallington. He’s also the only individual of the three to have won on the show.
Here are more details about James Wallington on The Challenge: USA and where to find him on Instagram or other social media platforms.
Who is James Wallington on The Challenge: USA?
James Wallington is a 33-year-old event coordinator and Amazing Race star from Grand Rapids, Michigan. He currently lives in Los Angeles, California, with his husband, William Jardell. They are the winners of CBS’ The Amazing Race 32.
During a promotional video for The Challenge: USA, James brought up that his secret talent is he is “secretly a social glue” that can keep friend circles together. He even said he could make friends with a wall if he had to. He believes this will be helpful for him in forming alliances and navigating relationships with castmates on the spinoff.
He said his interpersonal skills are his biggest strength heading into the show and that he has the “gift of gab too.”
“Don’t be fooled. Just because I’m killing you with kindness doesn’t mean I’m not here to compete,” he said.
When asked if he has any pet peeves, he said it’s when other people are chewing bizarrely. James mentioned that sometimes it even forces him to leave a room.
As far as a personal mantra, James said, “Good things happen outside of your comfort zone,” and confessed that being on The Challenge is scaring him to death, but he’s excited to challenge himself.
When it comes to weaknesses, James says it’s his heart, and some people take advantage of him due to that. He said sometimes he struggles with knowing when to cut his losses with someone.
On his official Amazing Race Wiki page, three words describe James: “Passionate, ambitious, and outgoing.”
His hobbies include hosting game nights with friends, planning parties, traveling, hiking with the dog, movies, and watching reality TV competition shows.
James stated in an interview with US Weekly that he’d been a fan of MTV’s The Challenge since the days of The Real World vs. Road Rules seasons.
Is James Wallington on Instagram or other social media?
Most, if not all, of The Challenge: USA cast members are on social media, including James Wallington. Fans can follow him on his Instagram via the handle @whereswallington, where he has over 17,000 followers.
In his Instagram bio, James lists himself as a travel content creator and a reality TV fan. In a post in early June, he shared the big news of his arrival as part of The Challenge: USA.
“I’m back on your TV’s this summer! ? How could I say no to a good ole’ challenge? ?✨ Im proud & honored to represent #AmazingRace on @thechallenge: USA, premiering Wednesday, July 6th on @cbstv! ??,” he said in part of his caption.
He went on to express it was a dream for him to compete alongside iconic players from Amazing Race, Love Island, Survivor, and Big Brother.
In addition to that Instagram, he’s also got an Instagram account with his husband, William Jardell. Fans can follow them at their @itswillandjames account.
Will was James’ boyfriend during The Amazing Race. He proposed to James at the finish line on the show, and they officially married in December 2021. They shared an Instagram post from their wedding, calling it “A day we will never forget.”
James is also on a few other platforms. He’ll likely be tweeting about The Challenge: USA on his official Twitter, @JamesWallington, which has over 5,000 followers. In addition, he’s active on the Twitch platform, where he enjoys live streaming games as he plays them, including Fall Guys.
The Challenge: USA premieres on Wednesday, July 6, at 9:30/8:30c on CBS.