The “Conquest” stage of The Challenge: Battle for a New Champion is proving to be the wildest one yet. In this phase of the game, three contenders are subjected to an intense elimination reminiscent of the show’s “Fresh Meat” exiles. For the first Conquest elimination, Zara Zoffany went up against Horacio Gutierrez and Kyland Young. Despite a phenomenal effort on her part, she was eliminated from the game. After giving it her all in the season’s first three-way elimination, Zara spoke with PopCulture.com about the chaos that Conquest brought.
Zara, Horacio, and Kyland may have found themselves in elimination, but they did try to avoid the situation. As Zara explained, “There was no big pitch, but there was the little talk saying, ‘Hey, you know what? We will have your back if you have ours on this and we will be a hundred percent.'” While it seemed like Ed was considering joining forces with this crew, Zara doesn’t believe that it was that close to coming to fruition. She added, “I feel like now watching it back, Ed had no intention of listening to us, but I felt like if he was actually smart, he could have come on our side.”
In the end, Zara couldn’t avoid facing off against Kyland and Horacio in the season’s first three-way elimination. For many viewers, it was hard to see Zara in this situation, particularly since Kyland and Horacio are two of the strongest male competitors there. But, for Zara, she was up for the challenge.
“Honestly, I’ve always played with guys since I was younger. If it’s football or if it’s running, I always compete against them,” she said. “I don’t ever think of myself, ‘oh, I’m a girl’ even though I probably should. When my boyfriend’s trying to take my luggage, I’m like, ‘I’ve got it.’ I’m not that type of person. So for me, I just wasn’t the best competitor on the day.” The elimination was all the more tricky as it allowed Kyland and Horacio to work together during some of the stages. What does Zara think about two of her allies teaming up against her?
“I knew they came in the house together. Obviously, we got close, but they have a previous history and they didn’t owe me anything,” Zara said. “I know if there was a choice they wouldn’t want me to go out and I can’t blame them for helping each other. I don’t hold anything against them. But that’s also why I went to do my own thing.” This is the exact energy that Zara brought to her game in general on The Challenge: Battle for a New Champion, as she described how she was simply there to compete.
“I can be crazy. I can be that loud person, but also I need the right people around me to be that person,” the reality star explained. “Also, I’m going in there for a reason, I’m going in there to win. I’m not there for a holiday to drink a lot. I don’t like getting involved in drama, unless you directly do something towards me then I’ll go off at you. But if not, why am I wasting all the energy I could put into winning and into you?”
The Challenge: Battle for a New Champion airs on Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. ET on MTV. Stay tuned to PopCulture.com for Challenge coverage all throughout Season 39.