‘The Challenge’ Star Sydney Segal Reveals All About Gruesome Injury and More (Exclusive)

Sydney Segal came into The Challenge Season 42 on a very high note. The Survivor alum finished first in the opening race and was an early draft pick for Team Grey, which meant she got to work with her number-one ally in the game, Chris Underwood. Plus, she’d just had an incredible showing, even making the final, on her first outing in Vets and New Threats, so she was automatically one to watch for the Cutthroat competitors. If her performance didn’t indicate as much to the others, too, she was very loud and proud about her athletic abilities and all-around talents.

Unfortunately, though, Wednesday’s (August 26) episode ended in agony for Sydney, as her knee was badly injured during the daily challenge, “Jungle Brawl.” Sydney immediately blamed Deb Chubb for jumping on her unnecessarily during the mud pit-based clash, and she proceeded to say some harsh words about the Love Island star back in the Challenge house, before host T.J. Lavin announced that she’d be medically disqualified from continuing.

So how does Sydney feel about her contentious exit now, and what’s the status of her injury at this time? TV Insider caught up with Sydney Segal to find out!

You were a first-round draft pick this season, and you were coming off a heck of a rookie season. How did that boost your confidence at the outset, or did you even need that to pep your step?

Sydney Segal: I knew I wanted to work with Chris, and I know Chris and I both kind of went in that second part of the competition with the idea that only one of us could be top three. So I knew I was going to be a top pick. It’s just The Challenge. You’re rewarded for being incredible, and my resume speaks for itself. My run the day before, again, spoke for itself. My life resume — even if I wasn’t, I’d be like, “All right, you’re just dumb at that point.” But I knew Chris and I were locked in.

Yeah, I know your moxie can put some people off, but was there anybody on the cast that really embraced your self-confidence and liked it that about you?

I think a lot of people embrace it. I mean, maybe I’m delusional, which I think I can be, but I think the people that don’t embrace it are just kind of pathetic pieces of sh*t who just, like are sad with their own existences. But my team, Adrienne [Naylor] and Izzy [Fairthorne] — I mean, Izzy wasn’t on my team, but Adrienne and Izzy completely… embraced it. Leo [Dionicio] is hilarious; he did the same. Anna Leigh [Wilson] and I completely connected. Same with Josh [Goldstein] and I. There’s Keanu [Soto] appreciated it. Chris laughed at it, and Johnny [Bananas], we’re kind of like a twin flame. Genuinely, people who love the show and also have their own self-confidence and don’t take life too seriously embrace me, and it’s really only the people that are sad at their own existence or battling their own demons that can’t. And you know what? I don’t really care because I don’t f**k with the devil.

See, I personally love it…. So, digging into this episode, sadly, obviously, you hurt your knee. What was the diagnosis? What was the treatment? What did you have to do afterwards? 

Yeah, so it was a torn ACL [and] meniscus, and it was pretty bad. It was a full tear, bursitis, the Baker’s cyst, everything that comes with it. But yeah, I tore it on a Friday, and less than two weeks later, on a Thursday, I had surgery. I had the pre-op appointment booked before I even had the MRI results. I called home, and I’m like, “We need to make this appointment,” because I knew — I just knew — it was torn, and I didn’t want to waste time. I’d gone through the same thing five years ago, and it’s torture. It just really is torture. So I mean, luckily I had the time off work, obviously for filming, but I was able to use the rest of the time to be able to get healthy enough in L.A. before I made my way back to New York City.

Having had that injury before, did you have any hesitation about coming on The Challenge and potentially risking your injured knee?

Actually, it was the other knee, but it was five years old at that point … or three and a half. I remember having a thought, being like, “Dare I say I’m at 100%?” Because I remember people would say, “You have to be OK with your knee being at 90 or 95%.” [I was] like, “No, me? It’ll be at 100%.” And it was 90, 95 for a while, and I was like, “All right, I’m fine with it. I’m OK with it.” And then, “Dare I say, 100%?” And it was always in the back of my mind. But funny enough, it just wasn’t that day, really. I don’t know. Maybe, honestly, it should have. It really should have.

Jonne Roriz / Paramount+

Now that you’ve been through it again, does that make you hesitant about any other return to the show? 

One hundred percent. I mean, listen, last time I said I would never come back. This time I’m not in that camp. I think it’s like, I would come back, and I just need a little time to mentally and physically recover. But I’d probably opt out. If there was another mud pit. I would just opt out. I would compete for a challenge. I think a lot of challenges are ACL and meniscus-friendly. Even some of the more physical ones, even the ones with contact. With that being said, anything with a mud pit, anything with real wrestling, unless I’m actually wrestling a wrestler who maybe understands how to properly tackle? Then I would honestly opt out.

So, obviously, in the episode, you blamed Deb a lot for what happened to you. Do you still feel that way, or do you feel like maybe you were just lashing out at her displaced anger?

Oh, I said it on the show. It was absolutely displaced anger, and I mean, listen, she is the cause of my injury. I’m not happy about it. I wasn’t necessarily a fan of her before. It’s not going to make me like her anymore; I’ll tell you that much. But what I can say is, yeah, obviously [the show] makes things look worse. But you can’t unring the bell. Look, what I said, it wasn’t very becoming, and it was definitely harsh. It was definitely aggressive, and it was hard to watch.

I don’t think I’ve ever really in my life have said something that really felt just so icky, and it did feel icky, and it wasn’t fun watching it back, and I did apologize. And I said what I said, and I’m not going to sit and make excuses. I was unbelievably upset. I was in this heightened emotional state, and would I say it again? Probably because I would be so emotional. Would I want to say it again? No. You can’t stop yourself when you’re already just absolutely terrorized by just being on the show and then just having something that felt so life-altering happen in a moment.

Jonne Roriz / Paramount+

I get that. What do you say about the criticism, though, that you said it about her and not to her?

So, so yeah, I actually took the criticism quite seriously. Last season, saying, “Say it to my face,” and I said last season, “If anyone comes and asks for an opinion, I will give it to them every time.” Because if a producer asks me something in a confessional, I’m going to say it, but I’m not just going to offer something that’s not nice up. It’s still a political game. They didn’t show me talking about it after the fact, right? And I did, and I also apologized in Thailand, and I also admitted to being jealous of her abs because she effortlessly has these abs, and I work very hard, and I have half the abs. So I did do that. I’m not going to go just offer it up. People gossip all the time, and people talk sh*t. Does not mean it needs to be said. Just, “Hey, by the way, I’m just going to offer up something really nasty to you.”

The same thing happened the week before, after the vote, and I explained to Nurys [Mateo] everything that I had said, and it’s like, “Do you want to know the things I said because I said them, and I mean that.” But of course they’re not going to show that. And you know what? If Paramount wants to lean into Sydney as a professional gangster, who cares? I’m great at it. But if you ask me, I will give it to you. And I did say it to her. Yeah, I did.

You brought up Nurys, which I’m glad you did… even after the show aired, she’s called you fake. Do you have any message for her or what she’s saying?

First of all, she’s just saying untrue things. I told her exactly what the sh*t I was talking. So whatever. But you know what? That’s why hearsay is inadmissible in court, and that’s why credibility is always at issue. So I’m very confident that when people consider the source, they will know the source of these opinions are coming from somebody highly incredible. That being said, I didn’t really think too horribly until I heard her talk about my injuries being something she would laugh at, something she was excited to watch, and that’s a reflection of a truly vile character.

I don’t know what demon she’s fighting. I really don’t, but I don’t mess with the devil, and so I had really no thoughts here nor there with her. I understand the environment, but it really is everything after the fact that has shown me her true character. Like, “Let’s go post a devotional on Instagram and then, you know, pray on somebody’s severe bodily injury?” That’s incongruous, if you ask me.

You mentioned you were getting married in the episode. Did your injury put a damper on things, or are they still on track?  

Oh, I was like, “Cancel everything!” But no, we’re good. My last day in L.A., my mom’s like, “Let’s get on my dress,” and I was like, hobbling on my crutches, getting in the dresses, so everything’s still on track.

But I did cancel the engagement party, and then we redid it… I just didn’t want to be happy about anything because I was like, “My life is over, so I’m not allowed to be happy.” I didn’t want to be happy. I just really wanted to feel bad for myself. But now things are good. Things are on track, and if anything, the atrophy is making me skinnier, which is good because my dress is tight. [Laughs.]

The Challenge, Wednesdays, Paramount+