“The Challenge”'s Cara Maria reveals why final season 40 elimination got so intense

Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Challenge: Battle of the Eras, season 40, episode 17, "Location Change Era."

The only thing worse than competing in the first elimination of the season on The Challenge? Competing in the last elimination before the final. And Cara Maria Sorbello had the honor of doing both on season 40.

While the two-time champ beat KellyAnne Judd to stay on Era 2 at the beginning of Battle of the Eras, her luck finally ran out when Jordan Wiseley voted her into the final elimination instead of Rachel Robinson against Tori Deal (who had gotten last place in the challenge). The two fierce women battled it out in a nighttime water endurance challenge to see who could tread water the longest, and after nearly three hours, host TJ Lavin made it even more difficult by forcing the competitors to tread water without using their arms. Ultimately, Cara went under the water and was eliminated right before the final began.

Below, Cara breaks down why TJ had to crank up the intensity on the elimination, why she's not sad about going out right before the final, what wasn't shown this season, and more.

Related: The Challenge's Cory responds to backlash over MTV's portrayal of Nelson's drunk driving accident

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: This elimination was badass for so many reasons, but mostly for the fact that it's a water endurance challenge and you lasted for more than two hours. That's an impressive showing from you, who is... well, not so great in the water.

CARA MARIA SORBELLO: They told me after that it was more like almost three hours we were in there. I was like, "Holy s---." I promise you, I would've been there until the sun came up. I just think them knowing realistically that the final is going to start immediately as soon as the sun comes up, it wouldn't be fair to whichever person survived to do that all night and then go right to the final. So TJ had to find a way to make it end because I was not giving up. I thought he was going to take one of those bricks from the castle challenge and have us try to tread water with that next.

What was it like actually competing in that elimination?

There were so many things going through my head in that moment. TJ had told us in the mini final that that's what we should expect for the final, so when I got on a boat to get on another boat, I was a little bit like, "Ah s---, where's the sand dunes?" So there was that. I'm like, "Okay, this final's going to be very water-heavy, and water is not... I'm comfortable in the water now, I'd say I'm a very average or above average swimmer, but those girls that were left? Every girl that was left could probably outswim all of the guys except for Jordan. Those girls are incredible top-level swimmers.

And it was my birthday. I'm here with the best women competitors and best swimmers I've ever seen here. My life is coming full circle where I'm finally going head-to-head against Tor in an elimination and, oh, it's in the water, it's nighttime, I don't know what's swimming below me. There's snakes, there's things biting at me, there's no time limit. What is happening? Am I just going to drown? I'm not wearing a life vest, clearly. Is it just over when somebody drowns? How does this end?

And then I've come this far. I am literally at the final. I can see it. I just have to get through this. So there was so much going on. And if there's one thing about me, even if I'm not the greatest at something, I am stubborn. I am a Taurus to the bone, so I was going to hold on. Anytime I'd get a month full of water or feel like I was going down and TJ would come over with a horn, I'd come right back up. "I ain't quitting, TJ. Get out of here." There were all these people in boats just staring at me with their cameras, me not knowing what's happening with the time. It was a psychological mind f---. There were so many layers as to everything that was happening in the moment.

Related: The Challenge's Aviv explains why she joined Bananas' Angels: 'Did it help me? Absolutely'

It was a literal fight to the death if either of you had drowned.

I wonder if I should have tried to drown Tori. I don't think that was allowed though. I should have just grabbed her legs and tried to pull her down with my legs and then just my hands are up. "She went under!" [Laughs] I don't know, maybe ask for forgiveness and not permission. And that would've been a good way to end things with Tori, just me trying to kill her. But hindsight's 20/20. That would have been hilarious. But I was too busy trying not to die myself. I wasn't thinking correctly.

What were the actual rules? It looked like Tori was floating on her back for a lot of it, which isn’t treading water at all. Was that allowed?

Originally, I thought it was treading. I thought we had to tread the whole time, but when Tori started floating on her back and nobody said anything, I was like, "Well, let me try that." So then I would try that. I was more of a treader than a floater, but I don't know. It was kind of just see how long they can survive, really. So I don't really know what the rules were. They said tread, and then you just kind of go with the flow.

Once you started seeing Tori float, why didn't you try to just float for the rest of it? That's so much easier — you expend a lot less energy doing that.

Maybe easier for her. It was weird. Every time I went to float, I would hear electrical pulses beneath me, like the little fishes that were eating me alive. And I'm not a good floater, so maybe I have a little bit more muscle mass and she's got her devices, I don't know. But it was a little more difficult for me. I tried. I've never been one to just float in a pool before. I am just figuring it out as I go. But Tori, God, you'd think she was on vacation. She did not give me one speck of hope. She was just so relaxed and concentrated or in her whatever mind Zen zone that she goes into when she does her breathing exercises and stuff. She was unbreakable for sure.

Related: The Challenge's Aviv reveals what really happened with footsie-gate, her DQ, injury, and more

She seemed so relaxed, but in her confessional interviews she said she was hiding how much she was struggling. Did you have any idea how she was really feeling in the moment?

No, she was a rock. She had just won the swimming challenge. She's very comfortable in the water. So I was just like, "This is me against me at this point." I was nervous. I've never treaded water that long. I was trying to pretend I was on a beach waiting for my margarita. I was doing everything I could, but it was definitely the craziest elimination that I never expected in my life. Me and Tori finally go head-to-head in elimination, this is everything that it's come down to. And they throw us in the middle of the ocean and say swim. And I'm like, "Wait, what? Don't die." So in a way, I'm happy really with how it all ended.

I feel like I gave my best effort. I did really, really, really well in the challenge — I came in second even with the time disadvantage. I should have come in first, so it's my fault, but I did well. I made a lot of friends. That elimination, I did very well until the very end. I did everything I could do. And I think at the end of the day I won in so many ways, especially not having to do that final because I feel like it's going to be a lot of swimming. With that plus a popularity vote, maybe it's good that I ended where I ended. Honestly, I had an incredible season.

You did have such a great season, especially from the social aspect. You became close with so many people you had previous rivalries with.

This season, once Laurel left, I was able to let my guard down. Usually I'm always on hard defense, which is why people root for me because I'm always trying to survive. That's how most seasons go for me, in survival mode. How many eliminations do I have to go into? How many people are going to keep targeting me? How many people are going to just make my life hell? This season, it started that way with Johnny and Laurel wanting to be the center of attention in my life. And once Laurel was gone and I had my side of the house that I was on, and the way that the game was formatted, there were a lot of chances to just chill. The girls weren't targeting the girls. It was the first chance that I really had to let my guard down and truly be me — even if me was Carl — and everybody accepted it and they embraced me and it was genuine. That little birthday party they had for me an hour before I had to go into the elimination, it was just the sweetest thing. I really, really had a good time. I definitely feel like I won.

I didn't feel used. I didn't feel like people were only around me for what they could get out of me. I'm thankful for this experience. And also with that break [from the franchise] that I've had — granted, All Stars was just getting chucked into the deep end right away because of Laurel. With the break, I've really learned to separate TV from real life. Now, The Challenge is The Challenge and the game is the game, and then real life is real life. This doesn't need to be personal outside the show, and it's just brought a whole different sense of peace to me. It's a load off my shoulders and I'm just in a lot happier place.

Who are you still close with after this season ended?

I'll always check in on Meesh and Olivia, I check in with randomly Derek. I still check in with Brandon and Tori. For the most part, I've really gotten a whole lot closer to Ryan. He really is my soul brother.

Related: The Challenge's Josh says he's 'taking a step back' from the Vacation Alliance after season 40

With the karma points, we saw you give Rachel a five and then Bananas a one. Who else got a low score from you?

No one else. Everybody else got a five. Johnny, of course, wants to be No. 1 in my life, so I gave him the one. But for everyone else, I didn't want to mess with their game for whatever reason. Even Jordan, despite our past, I told him, "If you vote me in, I understand, based on War of the Worlds 2. I know we're in a different place now, but it's not going to change the way I feel about you." Especially because Paulie's really close to Jordan, I've seen Jordan outside of the show, so we're so past all of those things. But Johnny, you'll always be No. 1. I know that's what you want. So that's what he got.

What else happened this season that wasn't shown in the episodes?

Oh my God, bed-gate! I'm surprised that nobody's talked about that. Olivia and Theo, once Era 1 was completely cleared out with the exception of Rachel, they wanted a... shag shack. They also wanted a little bit of privacy and to be able to sleep because they were right in the wide open on Era 4['s side]. So they moved their bed all the way to the back of Era 1, and Johnny was like rips--- about it. He didn't want them on that side of the house. So they devised a plan. Olivia and Theo were all excited about their new spot, and when they went to go to bed, they're like, "There's somebody sleeping in the bed that we made." And all of Olivia's stuff, everything that they had brought in that room, somebody took it all out. And Nehemiah was sleeping in the bed, and Aviv was sleeping in Nehemiah's bed.

It was just the weirdest thing. Olivia and Theo were so angry that Johnny's acting like they can't be on that side of the house. There was all this drama and we called it bed-gate, and for some reason it was never shown. And then I can't believe they didn't even show me, Tori, and Olivia — we could hear Johnny when he does his sermons with his followers upstairs in that room. We would hear him talking loud and we're like, "He's talking s--- about us." We were literally making a human ladder to go all the way up to the balcony to where Johnny was talking and we were listening in on all the s--- they were talking. And then Michelle got so angry and that's when she stormed into the room and said what we were doing. I was like, "Damnit, you blew up our spot! We could have heard so much more."

This season was so much fun. We made the best of living in Satan's a--hole. It was very hot, but we did our best. I never went outside voluntarily unless it was dark. Tori was training for this s---. She would go out there in the burning hot sun and run her laps outside.

Speaking of hot, what's your hot take about this season?

My hot take is why bring 40 people if you're going to just ditch a lot of them in the first episode and not do, at the very least, a reunion of just those people? Do an after-show. I know maybe budget didn't allow, but do something with those people that got sent home first. If we weren't going to have a redemption house, then I feel like it was a miss. We didn't get enough Amanda, we didn't get enough Paulie blowing up in the house, Katie was gone too soon. It was a waste.

And then I think the targets should have been kept secret. I think it would've been way more crazy if, before they did their elimination, they wrote their targets down but nobody would know who the targets were. Keep the targets anonymous until after, because then that would've been more of an insane twist and would've made us go crazier on challenge days and be way more paranoid.

And with the whole star twist on my All Stars season and stuff like that, I hate when losers have an effect on people's games [with the Karma vote]. I don't believe in handouts and give-mes. I believe in a meritocracy. I know that's part of the game. I know that's Big Brother. I know that's Survivor. I know voting's part of a game and you can't hate the game. But I personally [believe] that if you earn first place, you earn first place. Not you earn first place, but sorry, you actually got third because more people voted for this person. I just hate that s---. So we'll see if that comes into play.

This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.

The Challenge: Battle of the Eras airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on MTV.

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly