by Gina Scarpa

 

Say what you want about San Diego this season on The Challenge: Battle of the Seasons, they were a heck of a team. They were dramatic, and they didn't always treat each other well or get along, but when it came time to win, they always pulled it together. In the final challenge, they were worried Sam would hold them back but she dug deep, and San Diego reached the flag first, winning the $200,000 grand prize. We talked to Sam in an exclusive interview to find out how she feels about her team, the shoving incident during the finale, and whether or not she'd go back for another Challenge.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Your San Diego team said they felt like you weren't there for the same reasons they were. Why did you decide to do The Challenge?
A. Sam: I wanted to do it for the experience. I wanted to be in the military when I was younger and travel the world. When I tried to join, they said no because I have a hyper thyroid. This was my chance to travel and that was the second biggest thing. First off, the money's great!

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: The St. Thomas reunion was pretty brutal, but San Diego's wasn't far behind. What was the status of your team's relationships coming into The Challenge?
A. Sam: Actually, when we flew to Turkey, Frank and I were cool, Zach and Frank were cool, Zach and Ashley had just broken up and it was very awkward, but Zach and I were cool, and Ashley and I were cool. Collectively, we were all on speaking terms. After al the drama in the house and the reunion, it was terrible. I heard from people in the St. Thomas cast that their reunion was awful but the one for this Challenge was bad. They film for five hours and they chop it all up.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: You drew a lot of comparisons to Devyn, and the two of you were labeled as dead weight. What are your feelings on that?
A. Sam: Here's the thing that I tried to make a point on the reunion. We won. We won first place with me. Brooklyn won last with Devyn. I haven't even watched the reunion or finale yet. I had a Christmas party that night and I wasn't trying to ruin that. I pushed and ran as hard as I could. Let me just say, dude. It was not that easy. I wish I had taken my shoes off because it's so much easier to run barefoot. The sand was so fine.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Now, it didn't seem as bad as previous finals but maybe it's because nobody was carted off to the hospital, which is a good thing. But tell me what the worst part was about this one for you.
A. Sam: The worst part was the sand dunes, absolutely! It never ended! You know how in the movies, there's mirages in the desert. That's how it was. The thing is that it wasn't hot. It was really cold, it was wintertime. I'm telling you what, it was below freezing when we were standing there with the camels. Our water froze and then for breakfast the next day, all they gave us was an apple!

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: It seemed like nobody but Devyn was backing you up at the reunion. Was there anyone else defending you and we just didn't get to see it?
A. Sam: Dustin was right there, he understood. We're really good friends and he's great. We roomed together because we have relationships back home and we were trying to stay out of the drama. Dustin was backing me up but at the same time, he understands kinda where Frank was coming from, being competitive. Had I looked like Ashley or Devyn or Jonna or anybody else but what I look like, I think it would be a different story.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: You mentioned drama and there was certainly no shortage of that this season. Why do you think things got so out of control at times?
A. Sam: We were all rookies. That's the only thing I can put that on. Because it's our first one, everything is so different from what we've seen. On past Challenges, there's an alliance on every one, whether you see it or not. I agree with Frank, it should be out in the open and everybody should know where they stand. I tried to stay out of the drama and not get involved. I'd wake up and be like, "Who do we hate today?" because things would change so often.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: How would you sum up your first Challenge experience?
A. Sam: It's a lot of pros and cons, mostly cons. Biggest pro is $62K in my pocket. The mental anguish that you go through to get to that... it's literally a mind game. If your mind isn't strong enough to withstand all of the conniving and backstabbig and actual Challenges and missing home and only being with these people... if you can get past that, you're golden. I definitely learned from my first Challenge, what I'm going to do better.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: I always ask people if they'd do another Challenge and part of them wants to say no and yet, if they get that call, they always say they'll go back.
A. Sam: See? That's what I ask myself! Oh my god, do I wanna go and completely break down every day and cry? Honestly, at the end, it really is worth it if you win. I don't know how it feels to not win. It's a different kind of fight, though. It's you battling your own mental game. Just like Dustin said after Nany and Alton went home, he said, "I don't wanna be here, we're going home." He was just gonna leave because he didn't wanna be there and a lot of us talked to him to convince him to stay. We were that close to the final. That's another reason why nobody got reprimanded when Frank and Dustin were pushing each other. Marie inadvertently hit me, but it wasn't a physical hit. Chet, Robb, Derek pushed people, Nany was spitting on people. That was bad! If you think about all those people and how many are left, if you eliminate all these people because of what happened in the house, there'd be six people left. If it was one or two people, they could have but it was really almost everybody!

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What are you up to now?
A. Sam: I am moving into a house January 1st with my girlfriend. I'm so excited! It's a little three bedroom ranch with a backyard. We have a puppy. It's so cute! It's a dream!

 

 

(Image courtesy of MTV)

 

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