Sydney Segal came into The Challenge: Cutthroat believing the universe owed her one. She made the final in her rookie season and finished second alongside partner Turabi “Turbo” Çamkıran, and she spent the months afterward convinced that Season 42 was the correction.
“I really felt like in some delusional way, the Challenge production or the Challenge gods were really setting me up for success because of the upset that was last season,” she says. “So I was confident that without a Turkish meatball holding me back, there was nobody that could stop me.”
Instead, a scramble in the “Jungle Brawl” mud pit ended her season and cost her a lot more than a shot at the money. Deb Chubb tackled her from behind, her knee buckled, and Sydney knew before she’d even finished jogging it off. She was medically removed at the arena, had surgery within two weeks, and five months later still can’t run for more than 15 minutes at a stretch.
Below, Sydney talks about the tear and the recovery, why she wouldn’t let Deb apologize, whether she’d do the show again — and what she makes of Nurys Mateo calling her “the fakest bitch in the house.”
Gold Derby: You said you really thought you were going to win this season. Why were you so confident going in, and how difficult was it to go out that way?
Sydney Segal: I was confident. I really felt like in some delusional way, the Challenge production or the Challenge gods were really setting me up for success because of the upset that was last season. So I was confident that without a Turkish meatball holding me back, there was nobody that could stop me. So yeah, I was definitely confident going into the season.
Walk me through that tackle. Deb comes from behind and leaps on you and pulls you sideways, and your knee buckles. What were you feeling in that moment, and did you know immediately what had happened?
I knew immediately. Listen, I was so frustrated because at least in that moment, from my perspective, I was like, “Oh, ball, no one’s really around.” I just go down to grab it and then someone’s on my back. And I had specifically practiced wrestling moves before going on the show. So I at least felt like I was tackling in a proper way, which may have been a misstep on my part, to assume the same in everybody else.
But I knew immediately. I went “I think I’ll be good, let me just jog real quick.” I do a little jog and I immediately knew. And at that point it was just hysterics. The moment I felt that wiggle, I was just sobbing probably for 48 hours straight.
It wasn’t even pain. It was panic. I’d gone through the same injury five years ago, other knee, and it’s just all of the recovery, the surgery, the pain, the lack of sleep, going back to New York City — it was just flooding, flooding. And when I tell you, everyone’s like, “Don’t doomsday, don’t doomsday.” Everything happened and it was as miserable as I imagined, not going to lie.
What has it been like since? Have you had the surgery?
Yeah, within two weeks I had the surgery. I had the pre-op appointment before I even had the diagnosis. I called my fiancé and I’m like, “Make it, I should be home by Friday.” And it’s been a long recovery. Today’s five months to the day and I still can’t run over 15 minutes at a time.
Maybe I had youth on my side last time, but it really has been — it’s been torture. I can’t really sugarcoat it. It affected my everyday life for a long time, and now it affects my daily activity. I’m a runner. And the hardest part is that I’m never going to play tennis again. I played so much tennis, I played so much squash, even pickleball. I have no desire. I’ve never stepped on a skimboard since my last surgery, and I used to love that. It’s like I feel like I’m giving up everything, because I cannot go through this again.
Do you feel like you could ever do The Challenge again?
I would. Last time I was so gung-ho on “I’m not,” and this time I feel like I just need a little bit of a break. But if there’s a challenge that feels not ACL-friendly, I really think I would opt out. I do. Or half-ass it. Or I’d have to protect my knee — both my knees.
You and Deb really couldn’t see eye to eye after that. She said she tried to apologize and you said she’s a waste of space. What was that like in the moment, rejecting her and not wanting her around you?
At first she tried to come over immediately and I kind of just shooed her away. And then I really appreciated the fact that she just left me alone. Everyone’s like, “Oh, she wants to apologize.” I’m like, “I don’t want to see her.” And is it displaced anger? Of course. But I’m going through emotional torment at that time, so why do I need to then let her feel better by apologizing to me? That’s what it felt like.
Yes, of course she deserves the opportunity to be able to apologize, but I think people needed to consider the source. Obviously the things I said were uncouth, they were unbecoming, they weren’t related to the actual injury. But it was just a way for me to put some energy into somewhere, because there’s nowhere else to put it when you’re in that stupid house.
When I’m already emotionally compromised just being there — I don’t think it’s any secret that I have a very hard time being in the Challenge environment — but then having that injury happen to me too, it was torture.
I obviously said awful things, and my dad says you can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube. I apologized in Thailand and then also after the fact. Deb and I aren’t friends. We weren’t friends before, not going to be friends now. I don’t think she’s a total waste of space, but I don’t think she’s necessarily doing anything to really effectuate positive change in society — but who is, besides me, a public defender?
She said maybe you’re just jealous of her abs. Are you jealous of her abs?
I told her to her face when I was giving my apology. I’m like, “I’m so jealous of your abs.” I said that. And yeah, she has great abs.
One of the other rivals in the house was Nurys, and when I spoke to her she told me you were the fakest bitch in the house — ever — on the show. What’s your response to that?
Here’s the funny thing — it’s so funny how people recall things, and that’s why hearsay is inadmissible in court, and that’s why credibility is always an issue. I want to preface every single conversation I have with those two things, so we can understand the source of this.
That being said. She’s like, “You’re so fake.” The first thing I led with was, I talk shit about everybody. When I had confronted her, I said, “I don’t talk shit about Adrian,” because that was true. And I really had to reflect. I’m like, “Do I talk shit about everyone?” And I realized I talk shit all the time, but it was about the same, I don’t know, four, five, six people. So there was a good portion of the house that was safe.
But she’s completely rewritten history. I told her during our interaction — obviously it wasn’t shown — “Would you like me to tell you the things I’ve said about you?” She said yes. And I said, “I think you’re verbose and you talk too much and it’s really insufferable and annoying,” which I think is pretty innocuous. She’s like, “I do talk a lot.” I’m like, “OK, case in point. In a regular environment this wouldn’t bother me, but in the Challenge environment I’m beyond annoyed.”
But when you pray and laugh at somebody’s injury and look forward to severe bodily injury, someone having to get surgery, I think that is anecdotal versus her clickbait. We have anecdotal evidence that you are of poor character, and I would never, ever, ever let a future daughter of mine look up to her in any way, because it truly is vile.
You go back and you have one female draft pick and one male draft pick, any era. Who are you choosing?
Ooh. Well, it depends. Am I trying to have fun, or am I trying to win?
Let’s try to get a win in for you here.
I’m going to go fresh blood. I’m going to go Anna Leigh [Wilson] and Josh [Goldstein]. If it’s political, we’re losing. But if it’s strength and if it’s brains, I think we’d be great. And those are two people I really enjoyed this season.
If you got thrown into Rivals — Deb or Nurys?
Deb. I have no issue with Deb. I don’t think Deb is a bad human being. I just obviously articulated awful things about her. It’s not even awful — I don’t think anything I said was that objectively awful. It was just my delivery, and obviously the environment. But no, I would 100% rather be with Deb. If it’s Rivals and I’m with Nurys, or I’m with my partner from last season (Turbo), or someone else I hated, I’d probably opt out. Bottom line, I don’t hate Deb.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
