Deb Chubb got a two-week notice before she flew to Thailand for The Challenge: Cutthroat, which didn’t leave much time to cram. She knew what the show was but had not, in any meaningful sense, watched it.
“I thought maybe people would think I was disrespecting the franchise for coming in just being like, ‘I don’t know what I’m doing,'” she tells Gold Derby. “But people were like, ‘No, it’s kind of refreshing and fun.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, OK, thanks.'”
In her rookie season, Deb won an arena, flashed the crowd in celebratory pasties, married Will Gagnon with a plastic ring, accidentally ended Sydney Segal’s season, and lost to Cara Maria Sorbello in “Air Time” — the 15th elimination win of Cara Maria’s career. Not a bad way to kick off your Challenge résumé.
Below, Deb talks about her loss in the arena, why Tori Deal sent her in over Izzy Fairthorne, where things actually stand with Sydney after the apology, and what happened with Will once everyone got home.
Gold Derby: Rookie season, and you made a name for yourself. How are you feeling after this elimination?
Deb Chubb: Honestly, I’m just feeling overwhelmed with love and support. It’s crazy. I did not think that this was going to be my experience on the show at all, from my team or from the audience.
You didn’t think you’d be well-received?
Yeah. I had a two-week notice going in. I didn’t have a lot of time to watch a lot of the show. I knew what it was, but I thought maybe people would think I was disrespecting the franchise for coming in just being like, “I don’t know what I’m doing.” But people were like, “No, it’s kind of refreshing and fun.” And I was like, “Oh, OK, thanks.”
The elimination that sent you home, you pull Cara Maria, who’d been in 21 of these before. Did you understand her Challenge history? What were you thinking going up against her?
I knew she was a legend in the Challenge world. I didn’t know she was an elimination legend. I didn’t know she had 21 under her belt. That’s crazy. But like I said, I was like, “I’m kind of honored to be paired up with you.” To be in the ring with her is kind of cool. And obviously I wouldn’t have wanted to be taken out by anybody else. At least I gave it a fair shot.
“Air Time” was rowing plus memory. Which of the two was harder?
I thought I was going to be really good at the memory. I was like, “I got this, this is something in my wheelhouse.” And because I can row, I was a little worried about the cardio aspect of it. But once I saw those symbols — it’s really hard to memorize things you’ve never seen before in your life. I was like, “I don’t even know how to associate these to anything.”
And then to sort through all the puzzles, and the puzzles were on transparent glass, so they were mirrored or upside down or left or right. Getting the coordination of the tiles to match perfectly was also really difficult.
Tori told you and Izzy going in that Michele Fitzgerald was off the table and that, in her mind, you two were the rookies. Why did she ultimately choose you, when you’d already been in once? Were you upset by that?
Yeah, I was. And looking back, I wish I would’ve fought harder for myself. But her reasoning to me made sense. She goes, “As I’ve been captain, you haven’t gone in, and you’re the rookie.” So I was like, “But I did. I technically took out two girls.” And she’s like, “You are the newest, so you.” And then she said, “But then you won’t go in again.” She was going to toggle Izzy and I.
You’re a former competitive gymnast who was in the Junior Olympics. What made being 30 feet above water in this week’s daily challenge so scary?
I think it was more than 30 feet. That was high. I remember looking around just trying to be like, “Oh wow, you know what? It is really beautiful up here.” Trying to think of anything other than looking down.
It was just the leap of faith, going from the platform to the monkey bars, that was so scary. I’ve never done anything like that in my life. But once I was going, I was like, “Oh wait, I could do this.” And then my forearms gave out, which they didn’t show. They didn’t even show how good I did! I made it a quarter of the way. But yeah, the heights were kind of paralyzing.
Let’s talk about Sydney. You tackled her from behind in the daily, her knee buckles, and she’s out of the game. Take me through that moment. How stressful was it, not only injuring someone but then dealing with the way she reacts?
Obviously it was never my intention to hurt her, and at the time I didn’t even realize that I did. I saw her when she was getting out of the pit, she was crying, and I was like, “Oh my gosh, did I do that?” I had no idea. And then I felt so bad. The second we got out, I went to go say I’m sorry, and she yelled at me to get away from her. I was like, “OK, I get it, I’ll give you your space.” She asked for space and I respected it.
And I understood her talking shit about what happened, about me being the reason for it. Talk shit about the game, that’s fine, I can live with that. But when it came to being petty and saying things about my body, and to men, and it coming back to me — saying I contribute nothing to society, all of this stuff — I was like, “If you’re telling me not to talk to you but you’re wasting so much time talking about me, can you just talk to me and we can duke it out?”
That’s what really set me off. I was like, “Why are my boobs a part of this conversation? Anybody could tell you I have small boobs. Why are we talking about it?”
I spoke to her and she says in retrospect she has nothing against you and wouldn’t consider herself angry with you in any way. Has she reached out?
Yeah, she apologized, which I really, really appreciated. Even in Thailand we talked about it and she said that it was misplaced anger. And again, I get it. I forgive her. But I still hear her giving me these backhanded comments on podcasts and stuff and saying not nice things, basically insinuating that I’m dumb. I’m just like, “I can understand you don’t have a problem with me, but you’re still not being nice to me. I don’t think we could be friends.”
She also confirmed she’s jealous of your abs. So maybe that’s really where this all stems from.
Yeah, but she said that and still says, “I’m jealous of somebody who’s so unathletic.” I’m like, “I work out every single day. I don’t run marathons, but I would consider myself kind of athletic — maybe not coordinated.”
You had a connection with Will in the house. You even got married with a little plastic ring. He said he’d be interested to see what happened outside of the house. Did that ever happen?
We didn’t really talk after the show much, and then I saw him at the premiere party. That didn’t rekindle, but it reignited a friendship. So we’ve been friends. We’ve hung out a couple times, we send each other memes, talk about the show and whatever. But just friends, nothing crazy.
What would you consider the highlight of your rookie season?
Oh my gosh, that’s such a hard question. I think one of the most memorable things was watching Nelson [Thomas] win his elimination. That was so cool to be a part of. And the times we went out were so fun — Tori’s birthday was so fun. Just the downtime and getting to hang with everybody was probably the highlight. And obviously getting to experience this whole thing that I never in a million years thought I was capable of doing.
I love that you brought up Nelson’s elimination but not your own. You won your first arena against Reilly Smedley. That was a pretty cool moment too.
Yeah, I guess that was pretty memorable. I remember when I was going in, the girls were like, “You’re going to be so happy when you come back and win, you’re going to feel so accomplished.” And I truly did. I think that actually made me feel like, “OK, we are in The Challenge, we’re doing this.” That’s kind of what switched my mindset from “oh, I’m just here to have a silly, goofy, good time” to “oh wait, I can actually do this.”
You went into that elimination wearing pasties. Were you prepared to flash the crowd win or lose?
Tori gave them to me, because Aneesa [Ferreira] makes her nip tips — it was little pasties with a little fortune in them, and she’s like, “This is for good luck.” And the girls were like, “But if you win, you have to flash the camera. You have to do it.” I was like, “Fine, whatever.” And I forgot. And then they were like, “Celebratory flash.” So then I did it, and everyone was shooketh.
If you came back and got to choose a draft pick, who’s your No. 1 male and No. 1 female?
Probably Tori or Michele, because I just learned so much from them. Male choice, I don’t know. The person I’m closest with male-wise is probably Will, but I don’t know if I would want to be on a team with him. Maybe him, I guess.
Last thing — I’ve never met a Chubb before, but as soon as you came on screen I thought, Deb Chubb, she is perfect for The Challenge.
It’s so funny. I can’t believe that’s my name. I literally didn’t even rebrand to Deb until after college — I was Deborah my whole life. But Deb Chubb, it just rolls off the tongue and it’s so fitting for my life.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
