Yahoo Lifestyle 'The Challenge All Stars: Rivals' Star Corey Lay Says Adam is 'Not This Perfect, Nice Guy He Pretends to Be'
The Challenge All Stars: Rivals is here! Throughout the season, Parade.com will speak with the challengers who were eliminated from the all-star competition.
Corey Lay was the freshest face on The Challenge All Stars: Rivals, having debuted the most recently onto the MTV flagship series less than four years ago. He was coming off a finals finish in Season 39, and was partnered with Tula "Big T" Fazakerley, stemming from when he had betrayed her after she confided in him about her coming out. Despite recently showing his difficulty with balance beams, Corey felt his game was well-balanced in the house. They were performing admirably in the challenges, and were well-positioned with nearly everyone in the house.
The only duo they weren't good with was Adam Larson and Steve Meinke. Adam and Corey had gotten into it during a deliberation, showing the old-school and new-school teams were on completely separate pages. When Adam and Steve, the communal target for four weeks, won safety, the house was sent into an afternoon scramble. Corey took control of the chaos, getting the house vote onto Ashley Kelsey and Dario Medrano. Going into elimination, he was confident Adam and Steve would send in another strong team to match them, continuing the streak of taking out the big targets. Unfortunately, in yet another shocking choice, it was Corey and Big T that were heading down in the sand. And, despite how balanced their game was up to this point, the two had trouble balancing in the elimination, sending them teetering out of the house.
Now out of the game, Corey speaks with Parade about his reaction to being sent into elimination, his conflict with Adam–on and off-screen–, and how he was able to reconcile with his rival on the first night of the game.
Related: Everything to Know About The Challenge All Stars: Rivals
We see, in the elimination scene, you're narrating why you think Adam and Steve will put in either Turbo and Nany or Faysal and Amber. And you're clearly surprised that you were picked instead. How surprised were you in the moment?
I had a little bit of hope that Adam and Steve were not going to put us in. But I also knew that me and Adam just had a very public deliberation fight the last time around. So Big T and I made the decision that, no matter what, we weren't going to try to cut any deals. We weren't going to grovel to them to not vote us in. And so I had a little bit of hope that we'd get a bigger team in there. But it ended up being us. And I said, "F–k it. Let's try to get a star. It is what it is."
To that point, we saw you express a few episodes back how eager you were to go into elimination and get a star. Where did that initiative come from?
Time is so much faster on All Stars than it is on the flagship show. And I felt like if we waited too long to try to get a star, it would be difficult. Because everyone would be trying to get a star, and I wanted the safety and security of knowing that, once I had a star, I could kind of coast and then make it to a final and try to win. I know coming up for the rest of the season, there are people who don't have stars who are going to want them very bad, who are going to be volunteering to go in. And I wanted to beat that hump.
It certainly seemed like a chaotic afternoon from our perspective. What was your POV on it?
Every time I talked to someone about, "Who are you voting for? What are we doing," within 30 minutes, it would just change. It started as Veronica and Katie, and then it was trying to be Melissa and Nicole, and then I think Amber and Fessy's name were in the mix. I was honestly kind of happy that my name was never in the mix for house vote. So, like, that was kind of like, "Yay!" But it was just all over the place. And I realized it was Katie and Veronica kind of causing the instability very early on. But I was afraid to say it, because I was worried then the target would shift to me. So it was a very weird place to be.
What made you clock that Katie and Veronica were the "they" who were deciding the direction of the house?
It was just over the last couple of deliberations or house votes. There was always an undercurrent of somebody trying to manipulate things to put me and Big T in. It hasn't really made it too much in the episodes. And in my mind, it was like, "Who would be doing this out of everybody here?" And so I already got a guard up towards Veronica and Katie, because they're one of the only teams I have no connection with. Neither does Big T. And then to notice that Veronica, for once, was up and about in the middle of the day, instead of sleeping in her room, my guard was up. I'm very aware of people's normal behaviors. And to see her behavior change that day, I knew there was something that was going on.
You mention targets changing consistently. So how were you able to get the vote onto Ashley and Dario in the end?
So I think there's a much stronger grouping of people that I think comes across in the episodes. So Big T and I were aligned with Nany and Turbo. We were aligned with Fessy and Amber. And that group right there is six people, and that would have been enough to kind of flip anything. And we were so tight together. And we had Nicole and Melissa because of Big T. So that's eight people right there. And the only teams that we weren't going to be able to sway were Frank and Sam, Veronica and Katie, who didn't actually matter if we got the majority to do it, and then Adam and Steve, who didn't have a vote. We had a strong unit that probably hasn't come across very well in the episode. But I think we had more control, and I think it came across until this episode.
Speaking of those connections, you and Big T came in as the most recent people to debut on The Challenge. So here you are competing alongside some All Stars who have been on the show decades before you. Talk to me about that experience.
It's funny, because I used to watch The Challenge when I was in middle school, high school. And so I saw Veronica and Katie when they were a lot younger. I never saw Adam, because he was, I think, a little before I started watching. But coming into it, I was like, "Okay, I know they're never going to work with me. But I hope that they don't become my enemies." And so what I wanted to do was just foster my current relationships. I think one of my faults on Season 39 is I tried to play every side, whether or not I had allegiance with them or not. So this time, it was like, "Okay, I don't want to go after the OGs. But at the same time, I know they're not going to work with me. So let me do what I need to do with my corner and solidify my relationships." Because despite this being an All Star season, me and Big T were connected to almost every single team in there. Whether we had done seasons with them, whether we hung out outside of the show or done other events. So I actually felt pretty good walking into the season, despite me being a newer person to the All Stars series.
Well let's get into a connection you certainly didn't have in your conflict with Adam both on and off-screen. We need to get into the argument you two get in during the deliberation in last week's episode. On social media, you said that Adam had actually offered you an ultimatum, which made you hit your breaking point and prompted your, "I wasn't gonna play your game" comment. Talk to me more about what happened.
So Adam and Steve–well, I don't know how much Steve was [involved]. Steve is awesome. Adam's kind of where my issue comes from. Adam comes up to me and Big T before that house vote, and it's like, "You guys need to flip it [away] from me and Steve. Otherwise you guys are gonna get thrown in next." He gave us some type of ultimatum. "Do what I want and make me not the house vote, or you're going to suffer." Big T and I are both very stubborn, and if you ever back us into a corner, we're probably going to bite back.
And so my tensions were a little bit high walking into it. I also knew that Veronica and Katie have been trying to get the house to vote for me and Big T since day one, and Adam and Steve are aligned with them. And I just felt like I was starting to be backed into a corner. Veronica and Katie have voted for me and Big T every single time, except for once. And they act like it's a burn vote, and it ultimately wasn't a burn vote; they just couldn't rally my friends to vote for me. And I know for sure they were trying to, because Amber and Fessy and people would tell me, "Veronica and Katie are trying to get the House to vote for you." So I just didn't have a lot of trust for that unit. And for Adam to try to give me an ultimatum, like, "No. I don't give a f–k what you have to say. I'm not going to do what you want. I'm playing my own game. We're going to keep throwing you in until you go home. So have fun like that." That's where my mind was.
You also said in the same post, "Don't get bold with me because the edit of this season is doing you favors." Can you elaborate on that?
I think Adam is just very good at portraying himself a certain way that is not necessarily in line with who he actually is. I think the cracks underneath his exterior start to show if you pick at him. We saw on All Stars 4, he lashed out at Steve. And then we saw in this deliberation, he yelled at me. He did more than I did. I was a little bit confused while I was getting voted for. He took it to the next level. And he also is the person who tweeted me randomly at 7:00 a.m. in the morning to pick a fight. So Adam is not this perfect, nice guy he wants to pretend to be. And I just wanted to expose that he's he's not. He's very good at playing it up in front of the camera and not letting you guys see who he really is.
You caused a bit of chaos of your own in last week's episode when you chose to tell Devin about Dario throwing out his and Leroy's names. Was that a way to stir the pot in the house?
Not necessarily. Michele is one of my good friends, and she is Devin's girlfriend. So I was not going to be part of a plot that was going to throw in Devin. And also Devin and Leroy were in my alliance from day one, and they're one of the strongest teams in my alliance. So I'm not going to sit aside while someone's about to blindside them and throw them in. So it was a little bit of protecting my relationship with Michele and my friend, and also protecting my alliance in the game. Because once Devin and Leroy were gone, that's a strong duo that could win dailies and keep me safe. So it was a little bit of everything.
To that point, what was your endgame plan? Because, while keeping around a team that can win and keep you safe is nice, it also means they could be a huge obstacle for you to win in the end.
One of the things that the producers told us constantly is," Don't expect that a male/male team is going to win the final just because they're physically stronger." And I feel like, looking ahead, for all I know, there's going to be a lot of puzzles, a lot of swimming, a lot of running. I don't know what the final is going to have. And at the end of the day, if I don't win, I would rather my friend to win. And I would love to do a final with a bunch of people that are my friends and are my alliance, than to just backstab and hurt the people around me. I did that already in 39, and I regretted it as soon as I did it. And I wasn't going to do it this time around.
On that note, let's get into your partnership with Big T. Because it was clear things were still incredibly tense between you two at the Season 39 reunion. But, after you're eliminated, you get emotional, talking about how betraying her was the biggest mistake you ever made on the show. So when were the two of you able to mend fences?
So after the reunion, I think we both just kind of went our separate ways and didn't really talk and interact. I mean, she lives in the UK; I lived in Seattle at the time. And we just kind of let it die down. And then going into this season, we had a talk. It didn't make it into the first episode. But the first night, we sat down, and I was like, "I apologize for hurting you. I know what I did was wrong. And I'm sorry that I was so combative when you would bring it up to me." One of my faults is that I'm I always want to have the last word when people are talking to me. And I just wasn't willing to admit that I did something wrong, and I threw all that aside. And I said, "Big T, I'm sorry what I did for you. It wasn't okay. I'm sorry that I minimized you and made you feel so small, because you're a great person." And I wanted to earn her trust back. I wanted to show people that she's actually a good competitor in this game. I think she doesn't get a lot of credit. And so I saw it as a second chance at redemption and rebuilding our friendship. And I can proudly say that Big T and I are friends now. I could text her; I can call her; I can FaceTime her. We went through the trenches together, and we came out on top even stronger.
That is so touching. I'm glad to see it's onward and upward for the two of you. I usually finish these interviews by asking players what the one moment is that they wish made the edit. Is that reconciliation the moment for you, or something else?
I just think it was important for me to rebuild what I have with Big T. I wish that that could have been shown. Because we did sit down, and we had some tough conversations. We cried to each other. And then we decided to go out, and we did well, as well as we could in every single challenge, except for the heights one. [Laughs.] So I just wish that could have been shown, just because it was important for me coming into the season, and then especially once I knew I was partnered with her.
