Keanu Soto on That Elimination With Nelson Thomas and More (Exclusive)

After becoming “America’s Favorite Houseguest” on Big Brother by winning countless power of veto and blockbuster battles with his pure strength and resolve in Season 27, it seemed like Keanu Soto‘s natural next step might be The Challenge. And so it was.

The BB alum joined the cast of The Challenge Season 42 and put on quite a showing for his rookie season, proving himself in the dailies and ousting longtime veteran Brad Fiorenza in the elimination arena. However, on Wednesday’s (August 26) new episode, “Down and Dirty,” after his Team Grey was outmanuevered by a tricky maneuever from Team Orange (and a few dirty tricks from Team Blue), he was chosen by captain Cory Wharton to go back onto the proving ground again — this time, against the one and only Nelson Thomas, the lone option from Team Blue (since team captain Josh Goldstein was announced as automatically safe by host T.J. Lavin).

In the arena, which was another “Knot So Fast” adventure, Thomas had the backing of many an OG vet giving him pointers on how to twist the rope into a too-tangled mess, and it helped push him into a historic win, with Keanu showing him major respect immediately after the fact.

After such a tough battle, TV Insider caught up with Keanu Soto to break down his Challenge experience and more.

I watched your season of Big Brother, and I remember all those challenges you did. I thought this would be a natural next step for you, especially after you got to meet Kaycee Clark. Did she have any good words of wisdom for you there?

Keanu Soto: Oh man, yeah — well, not in the Big Brother house. When they come in, they’re not really allowed to talk to us, just because, obviously, they would have outside information and things like that, but after the season was over, I was very fortunate enough to be able to do one of those Big Brother cruises, and she was one of the Big Brother players that was on that cruise with me. And yeah, we were just kind of talking about it, and she was giving me tips and advice, things to to watch out for, seasons to watch, and things like that. So yeah, having that pre-existing relationship with her helping me in the house was definitely beneficial to me. I was actually really bummed she wasn’t on this season.

This season of The Challenge was your rookie season, but you put up a good fight both in the dailies and in the elimination ring. When you went up against Brad, he showed you a lot of respect after you took him out. What did it mean to you that he was so kind and generous with his exit?

It’s nice because respect is not given; it’s earned. And so, for me to have earned that respect from not only him but you know other veterans — now that we’re out of the show and I see their thoughts on that elimination and things, that means everything to me. So I’m huge on earning people’s respect. So to know that I got it, like I said, means everything.

About today’s daily, were you mad at your team for not targeting Orange?

Oh man, yeah. So before the daily started, I got together with the majority of the Blue team, and I was like, “Listen, guys, today is not about either of us winning. It’s about Orange losing… One of our teams is going to go into the elimination. It is inevitable, but it doesn’t do us any favors for us to take each other out because that’s playing into Orange’s hands. They need to lose somebody.” You know what I mean? And so it really, really upset me when, I think it was maybe Will [Gagnon] or somebody was like, “Oh, Blue doesn’t have any balls in their net!” And then it was like, all of a sudden, Cory, Will, and Chris [Underwood] went into Terminator mode, and I all of a sudden it was like watching LeBron James, Michael Jordan, and Dwyane Wade all playing against the JV team over there. I was like, “Oh, come on, guys! What is going on here?”

Jonne Roriz / Paramount+

I wanted to ask you what if you agree with what Leo [Dionicio] said about your little speech to the group, that you were essentially volunteering yourself? I couldn’t tell if you if that’s what you meant.

It wasn’t necessarily volunteering. I’m not oblivious; I knew my position on my team. I knew after such a dominant win against Brad, they were going to throw me in there every single time. And honestly, had I gotten a dominant win against him or not, I was going to get thrown in there every single time because I was the only rookie on my team. So I understood my position on my team. I wasn’t oblivious. I was very willing to play it.

Being [with] my back against the wall is probably where I feel the most comfortable. So it wasn’t like I was out of my element. I wasn’t scared. But my problem with it — and the context of that speech, when we got back to the house, and the reason I was upset — was because it was like we had just had a conversation before the daily start. I was like, “Guys, this is what I just told you. It’s not about us winning. It’s about them losing. So if I do have to go in there, or if Nelson has to go in there, or Josh” — because we didn’t know at the time that the team captain was immune from going in — “then it would mean something. One of us could potentially go home no matter what, but if we’re gonna guarantee one of us goes home, then we’re making lateral moves. We’re not making any moves. We’re not progressing.” And so that’s what really upset me. And that was the context of that whole conversation. I was like, “Listen, I’m down to be a hitman and take them out. It doesn’t matter to me because that’s my position anyway. But we have to make sure that it’s one of them. Now we’re guaranteeing that one of us goes home. And what does that do for us?”

So it sounds like you aren’t holding it against Cory? Because Cory made it sound as though he chose you for elimination because that’s what Nelly would have wanted. But you’re saying you think you would have gone anyway.

Well, let’s say it was Blue somehow would have won. And it was gonna be Grey versus Orange; he definitely would have thrown me in. I feel like no matter who it was against, he would have probably thrown me in… The thing about me, and maybe it’s a great skill to have in regular life and maybe not so much in these competition games, but I am very aware of the fact that we’re playing a game, and I can separate game from personal. Personally, I love Cory. I don’t hold anything against him in the game. Do I think that was like the smartest move for our team? Obviously not, because I ended up going home. But yeah, I don’t hold it against him.

You were really gracious to Nelly, too. I was really impressed with it. What made you just immediately run over him and say what you said on the field?

Oh man, are you kidding me? I knew that that was a huge moment, and that was part of the thing I told Cory, too, in that conversation that I had with him. They didn’t really show it, but I told him I was like, listen, “I know that I’m probably the front runner to go in there, but on top of the fact that I’m probably the front runner, I think I’m the best person to throw in there because if I win, I’m gonna win with grace, and if I lose, I’m gonna lose with just as much grace because I understand that losing against him is gonna be such a monumental moment for him and his comeback.” I basically explained to him that whether I win or lose, I really can’t lose because either way, I’m going to be part of a great moment.

So it sounds like you are planning to, as long as you can get back on The Challenge, you want to come back.

Oh yeah, absolutely…I love any sort of competition that I get to be a part of. I’m all for it. But this game in particular, I feel, is very well-suited for what I bring to the table. I know a lot of people want to see those gritty eliminations, and you didn’t really get to see this part of me on the show, but for the people that are unaware of me on Big Brother, I’m not just a brute. I have brains, too, and I can do a puzzle, and I can do all those things. So I feel like my skill set is very well geared towards something like The Challenge. And my social game will only get better the more that I do these things, which I know is my biggest criticism.

Well, speaking of your social game, you and Anna Leigh [Wilson] came into the season as friends. What do you think of all the heat she’s getting for this Leo stuff?

Oh man, it’s tough because while I was in there, it never really seemed like very much to me. Should you be flirting when you have someone else? Yeah, probably not. But it seems so harmless, and me being in the house and knowing what it was, it’s hard to have an opinion either way. It doesn’t seem like it was [much]. Maybe she shouldn’t have said some of the things she was saying, but I know for a fact they didn’t do anything. So if people are worried about if they did anything physically, they didn’t. It’s hard to comment it one way or the other.

The Challenge, Wednesdays, Paramount+