Corey Lay talks with Parade following his elimination from The Challenge All Stars: Rivals.
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00Well, let's get into really where things end, which is, you know, we have this this narration
00:06through this scene going into elimination where you're like, I put Ashley and Dario
00:10in.
00:11So I imagine that one of these other teams is going to get picked.
00:14And yeah, listen, we'll, we'll certainly get into, you know, maybe a bit of the dynamic
00:18that you had with Adam in particular on and off screen.
00:21But talk to me about your reaction for getting picked to go down into the sand.
00:25How surprised were you, especially by finding out that deals were made without your knowing?
00:30Yeah, so I was I had a little bit of hope that Adam and Steve were not going to put
00:36us in.
00:37But I also knew that me and Adam just had a very public deliberation fight the last
00:43time around.
00:44So Big T and I made the decision that no matter what, we weren't going to try to cut any deals,
00:49we weren't going to like, grovel to them to not vote us in.
00:53And so I had a little bit of hope that we'd get a bigger, a bigger team in there.
00:58But ended up being us.
00:59And I said, you know, fuck it, let's try to get a star.
01:02It is what it is.
01:03Yeah, I mean, to that point, we see a couple times throughout your time on the show, like,
01:07all right, I'm ready to go into elimination.
01:10Was it just your eagerness to hold on to that started was it sort of a sense of the competition
01:15that was going in?
01:16What sort of promoted that feeling?
01:18I just felt like we were time is so much faster on all stars than it is on the flagship show.
01:24And I felt like if we waited too long to try to get a star, it would be difficult because
01:29everyone will be trying to get a star.
01:31And I wanted the safety and security of knowing that once I had a star, I could kind of coast
01:37and then make it to a final and try to win.
01:40And like, I know coming up for the rest of the season, like we're halfway through, there
01:44are people who don't have stars who are going to want them very bad who are going to be
01:47volunteering to go in.
01:48And I wanted to beat that hump.
01:51So suffice to say, it was a chaotic afternoon, to say the least.
01:55So I want to get I want to get your perspective on it, because it seemed like a lot from from
02:00our POV.
02:01I could imagine how much more magnified it was in the moment.
02:04Yeah, I think so.
02:06Every time I talked to someone about who are you voting for?
02:09What are we doing?
02:10It was like, within 30 minutes, it would just change started as Veronica and Katie, and
02:15then it was trying to be a Melissa and Nicole.
02:17And then I think Amber and Bessie's name were in the mix.
02:19I was honestly kind of happy that my name was never in the mix for houseboat.
02:23So like, that was kind of like, yay.
02:25But it was just all over the place.
02:27And I realized it was Katie and Veronica kind of causing the instability very early on,
02:35but I was afraid to say it, because I was worried then the target would shift to me.
02:40So it was it was a very weird place to be.
02:42What signs were you picking up on in particular, was it like one exchange or some behaviors
02:46you were noticing?
02:48So it was just over the last couple of deliberations or houseboats, there was always an undercurrent
02:56of somebody trying to manipulate things to like, put me and big T and it hasn't really
03:01made it too much in the episodes.
03:03And in my mind, it was like, who would be doing this out of everybody here.
03:06And so I already had a guard up towards Veronica and Katie, because they're one of the only
03:10teams I don't know.
03:11I have no connection.
03:12I don't know big T. And then to notice that Veronica for once was up and about in the
03:18middle of the day, instead of kind of sleeping in her room.
03:21And I just my guard was up, like, I'm very aware of people's normal behaviors.
03:26And to see her behavior change that day, I knew there was something that was going on.
03:31So you are, from our perspective, able to put things onto a certain name onto Ashley
03:36and Dario.
03:37How did that happen?
03:38Because as of to your point, every hour passes and a new team is thrown onto the block.
03:43So I think there's a much stronger grouping of people that I think comes across in the
03:50episodes.
03:51So me and big T were aligned with Nani and Turbo.
03:53So that was people we had, we were aligned with Fessy and Amber.
03:58And like that group right there is six people.
04:01And that would have been enough to kind of flip anything.
04:03And we were so tight together that I knew if I had them and we had Nicole and Melissa
04:08because of big T. So that's eight people right there.
04:12And the only teams that we weren't going to be able to sway were Frank and Sam, who didn't
04:17have a vote.
04:18Veronica and Katie, who didn't actually matter if we got the majority do it.
04:21And then Adam and Steve, well, no, Frank and Sam had a vote, but Adam and Steve didn't
04:26have a vote.
04:27But yeah, we didn't need all of them.
04:28We had a strong unit that probably hasn't come across very well in the episodes.
04:33But I think we had more control and I think it came across until this episode.
04:37Yeah.
04:38I want to talk about maybe that that unit because you and big T came in as the newest
04:42cast members to debut, you know, and on to the all stars of it all.
04:47So what was that experience like?
04:48Because you're sort of like on the other end of the old schoolers who are like, who the
04:51hell are these people?
04:52You're sort of being like, oh, these people were on the show decades before me and now
04:56I have to work with them or against them.
04:58Yeah.
04:59So, you know, it's funny because like I used to watch the challenge when I was in like
05:03middle school, high school.
05:04And so I saw Veronica and Katie like, you know, when they were a lot younger, I never
05:09saw Adams because that was, I think, a little before I started watching.
05:12But coming into it, I was like, OK, I know they're never going to work with me, but I
05:17hope that they don't become my enemies.
05:19And so what I wanted to do was just foster my current relationships.
05:24I think one of my faults on season 39 is I tried to play every side, whether or not
05:29I had allegiance with them or not.
05:31So this time it was like, OK, I don't want to go after the OGs, but at the same time,
05:37I know they're not going to work with me.
05:38So let me do what I need to do with my corner and solidify my relationships, because despite
05:43this being an all star season, me and Big T were connected to almost every single team
05:47in there, whether we had done seasons with them, whether we'd hung out outside of the
05:51show or done other events.
05:53So I actually felt pretty good walking into the season, despite me being a newer person
05:59to the All-Stars series.
06:01Well, let's talk about someone that you certainly did not have great feelings about either before
06:06or after.
06:07Let's get into Adam here.
06:08Yeah.
06:09And you had said some stuff online this past week that was really interesting about how
06:12you're sort of bickering with Adam during that one deliberation ceremony.
06:17You had said that he had given you an ultimatum that didn't make the edit, and this was sort
06:22of like your breaking point.
06:23Talk to me more about how this kind of blow up came about.
06:25Yeah.
06:26So Adam and Steve, well, I don't know how much Steve was like, Steve is awesome.
06:32But like, Adam's kind of where my issue comes from.
06:35But Adam comes up to me and Big T before that house vote and is like, you guys need to flip
06:40it to not from at to not be Adam and or sorry, me and Steve, otherwise, you guys are gonna
06:46like get thrown in next or something.
06:48He gave us some type of like, ultimatum, like do what I want and make me not the house vote
06:53or you're going to suffer.
06:54Me and Big T are both very stubborn.
06:57And if you ever back us into a corner, we're probably going to fight back.
07:00And so my tensions were a little bit high walking into it.
07:03I also knew that Veronica and Katie have been trying to get the house to vote for me and
07:07Big T since day one, and Adam and Steve are aligned with them.
07:11And I just felt like I was starting to be backed into a corner.
07:16And Veronica and Katie have voted for me and Big T every single time, except for once,
07:23and they act like it's a burn vote.
07:24And it ultimately wasn't a burn vote.
07:26They just couldn't rally my friends to vote for me.
07:29And I know for sure they were trying to, because Amber and Fessy and people would tell me Veronica
07:35and Katie are trying to get the house to vote for you.
07:38So like, I just didn't have a lot of trust for that unit.
07:41And for Adam and Steve, or specifically Adam to try to give me an ultimatum, like, no,
07:45I don't give a fuck what you have to say.
07:47I'm not going to do what you want.
07:48I'm playing my own game.
07:49We're going to keep throwing you in until you go home.
07:51So have fun.
07:52That's where my mind was.
07:53I know that you had also mentioned sort of in the midst of that on social media that
07:57you had felt, you know, the edit was not necessarily showing some parts of Adam.
08:01Can you elaborate on that?
08:02I think Adam is just very good at portraying himself a certain way that is not necessarily
08:09in line with who he actually is.
08:11I think the cracks underneath his exterior start to show, if you pick at him.
08:16We saw on All Stars 4, he lashed out at Steve.
08:21And then we saw in this deliberation, he also yelled at me at a higher, like, he did more
08:28than I did.
08:29I was a little bit confused while I was getting voted for, and I didn't want to go through
08:33that.
08:34He actually took it to the next level.
08:36And he also is the person who tweeted me randomly at 7am in the morning to pick a fight.
08:43So Adam is not this perfect, nice guy he wants to pretend to be.
08:47And I just wanted to expose that.
08:49He's not.
08:50Yeah, he's very good at playing it up in front of the camera, and not letting you guys see
08:56who he is.
08:57I want to get into a little bit of chaos you were able to bring last round when you decide
09:02to go to Devon being like, just FYI, Dario's been throwing out your name a little bit.
09:09Talk to me about that.
09:10Because as you said, you weren't good with everybody.
09:13Was this a move to just stir the pot?
09:15No, not necessarily.
09:18So Michelle is one of my good friends, and she is Devon's girlfriend.
09:23So I was not going to be part of a plot that was going to throw in Devon.
09:27And also, Devon and Leroy were in my alliance from day one.
09:31And they're one of the strongest teams in my alliance.
09:35So I'm not going to sit aside while someone's about to blindside them and throw them in.
09:40So it was a little bit of protecting my relationship with Michelle and my friend, and also protecting
09:46my alliance in the game.
09:47Because once Devon and Leroy were gone, that's a strong duo that could win dailies and keep
09:52me safe.
09:53So it was a little bit of everything.
09:55Yeah.
09:56So I'm intrigued, then was your perspective like you would want to, to your point, keep
09:59them in the game as long as possible?
10:01Because yes, while they could keep you safe if they're in power, that's, you know, a team
10:04that's in the way between you and Big T getting to claim the prize here.
10:08Potentially.
10:09But, you know, one of the things that the producers told us constantly is like, don't
10:15expect that a male male team is going to win the final just because they're physically
10:19stronger.
10:20And, you know, I feel like, looking ahead, for all I know, there's going to be a lot
10:24of puzzles, a lot of swimming, a lot of running, like, I don't know what the final is going
10:27to have.
10:28And at the end of the day, if I don't win, I would rather my friend to win.
10:33And I would love to do a final with a bunch of people that are my friends and in my alliance,
10:38then to just backstab and like hurt the people around me.
10:42I did that already on 39.
10:44And I regretted it as soon as I did it.
10:46And I wasn't going to do it this time around.
10:48Well, let's talk about your partnership.
10:50Because yeah, I mean, that tension between you and Big T, we even saw it as palpable
10:53as the 39 reunion.
10:56So I'm intrigued, you know, when you found out you were partners had a reconciliation
10:59occurred before that did it occur on the season and we didn't see because obviously very different
11:04from yeah, as you're leaving and you're getting very emotional talking about that was the
11:08worst thing I ever did on the show.
11:10And now I'm so yeah, you know, we're we've gotten over it.
11:13Yeah.
11:14So after the reunion, I think we both just kind of went our separate ways and didn't
11:17really talk and interact.
11:18I mean, she lives in the UK, I live in and I lived in Seattle at the time.
11:23And we just kind of let it die down.
11:24And then going into this season, like we had a talk like it didn't make it into the first
11:29episode, but like the first night we sat down and I was like, you know, I am wholeheartedly
11:34I apologize for hurting you.
11:36I know what I did was wrong.
11:37And like, I'm sorry that I, I was so combative when you would bring it up to me, like, one
11:42of my faults is that I'm, I always want to have the last word when people are talking
11:47to me and I don't like to, I just wasn't willing to admit that I did something wrong.
11:52And I threw all that aside.
11:53And I said, big T, like, I'm sorry, what I did for you.
11:55It wasn't okay.
11:56I'm sorry that I, I minimized you and made you feel so small, because you're a great
12:00person.
12:01And I wanted to earn her trust back.
12:03I wanted to show people that she's actually a good competitor in this game.
12:08I think she gets, doesn't get a lot of credit.
12:09And so I saw it as a second chance at redemption and rebuilding our friendship.
12:13And I can proudly say that big T and I are friends now.
12:16Like I could text her, I can call her, I can FaceTime her.
12:18And you know, we went through the trenches together and we came out on top, even stronger.
12:23Last thing I want to ask, almost on that note, is there a moment that you wish had made the
12:28edit that we got to see?
12:29You made a mention of a couple of these, strategically, personally, comedically, even?
12:33I just think like, you know, it was, it was important for me to rebuild what I have, what
12:38I have a big T. And I just, I wish that that could have been shown because we did sit down
12:44and we had some tough conversations, we cried to each other.
12:47And then we decided to go out and we did well and, you know, as well as we could in every
12:51single challenge, except for the Heights one.
12:53So I just wish that could have been shown just because I, it was important for me coming
12:57into the season.
12:58And then especially once I knew I was partnered with her.