The Challenge: USA said goodbye to another two competitors on Wednesday’s shocking episode.
Derek Xiao and Shannon St. Clair were the unlucky duo thrown into the elimination.
Shannon believes she hurt her place in the game by revealing her injury, but she maintains that she only meant to say that to Derek.
“But I’m really loud. Like, I scream when I talk. So, they could all see me danging. I got my sneaker caught in the rope ladder, and that’s when I pulled my hamstring,” St. Clair tells TV Fanatic.
“That was my first mistake, saying it too loud so everyone could hear. I knew there was a target on our back, but then again, we finished, and many people didn’t even attempt and got disqualified.”
Shannon revealed that David and Desi pulled her aside and let them know they were being put in, something Shannon “appreciated.”
“That was a little behind the scenes. I don’t think that was aired, but you know, we had hope that we would be able to social game our way out of it.”
Shannon understood her injury could negatively affect her place in the game because the game was played in pairs.
She knew nobody would be interested in taking a person with an injury to the finals.
“Hey, look, I would take you to the final,” Xiao chimed in.
Derek said the decision to throw them in was tough, but he recognized that he didn’t have a great relationship with David and Desi.
“I talked to David and Desi probably the least in the house, so I knew their win wasn’t going to be good for us.”
Derek revealed that Tyson formed an all-winners alliance with the people who had won a daily challenge, and he “only heard about this through the grapevine.”
“I think the winner alliance ended up being a brilliant strategy because one, it secured you going to the finals of like strong players from the opposite gender,” Derek added.
He said the people who had won a daily stood a good chance of winning again.
Derek said he would have “100 percent targeted” Sarah and Ben if he won the daily.
Shannon agreed.
“If this were Family Feud, Steve Harvey would be like ’99 out of a hundred people responded with Sarah and Ben’,” Derek added with a laugh.
He shared that he wouldn’t have chosen them for personal reasons, it would have merely been strategic.
“I think they’re good TV. They’re very entertaining,” Shannon said.
“They pop off, take it very seriously, so I think it would’ve been good for the viewers.”
However, Shannon doesn’t think Justine would have been too pleased about going up against Ben and Sarah.
“You don’t know unless you’re like sitting down thinking about it all day,” Shannon shared.
Shannon spoke about being an alternate during the casting process and how every little milestone was huge for her.
“I would say that the best part of my experience was just how far I could push myself physically, mentally, and socially too. So I was just really proud of myself. It was really rewarding,” Shannon concluded.
Derek said the experience was great because he watched many of the competitors on their original shows.
“I remember watching Justine and Cely and, like my friends and me, had a whole group chat. We were watching every episode live. So to go into the game and meet them in person was like a cool moment.”
“And even like every single person Love Island was like super dope. So getting the chance to like meet all of them was cool.”
The Challenge USA airs Wednesdays on CBS.
Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.
:quality(85):upscale()/2026/07/08/580/n/1922564/f78867556a4e48f63e2a99.33534786_.jpg "Keke Palmer Wowed in a Metallic Corset at Essence Festival – Get Her Look Starting at")
:quality(85):upscale()/2026/07/06/655/n/49352476/b5895de25ab74fb2_imgi_1_733172791_18633218026037720_235082600448149611_n.jpg "Shop J Lo's Wedding Guest Look For Taylor and Travis's Wedding – Starting at")
