Paulie Calafiore says he 'never was blacklisted' from The Challenge: 'I had to take a break'

Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Challenge: USA 2 episode 3, "Civil War."

Paulie Calafiore is ready to set the record straight on why it's taken him four years to return to The Challenge.

After his dominating but controversial run on The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2 in 2019, Calafiore and his girlfriend, two-time champ Cara Maria Sorbello, were noticeably missing from every season after that, until the Big Brother alum was cast on The Challenge: USA season 2. His long-awaited return didn't last long, as he was eliminated by his former rival Johnny "Bananas" Devenanzio in episode 3, but Calafiore is grateful that he can finally squash all the rumors claiming he was blacklisted by production.

"The rumors of being blacklisted, I think that's just what a lot of my competitors put out there because that's what they secretly wanted, so they were trying to manifest that so they never had to go against me," Calafiore tells EW. "They should want me to be blacklisted because that means they have a better chance of making it to the end. But I never was blacklisted, am not blacklisted. I'm here."

Below, Calafiore addresses why he was pulled from The Challenge: Total Madness at the last second, how his break from reality TV helped him become a better version of himself, and how he was able to finally end some longstanding rivalries this season before his early exit.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Now that you've seen your exit on TV, was there anything that surprised you while watching the episode that you didn't know at the time?

PAULIE CALAFIORE: Not really. I had an idea my name was being tossed around on the CBS side. I also kind of know who was behind getting my name tossed around on the CBS side and on the veteran side, and who was helped by the edit there. [Laughs] They were looking to get out a good competitor and using a good competitor to get out another good competitor, and I've done that in the past. On War of the Worlds 2, I used Theo like every single time I wanted somebody gone. [Laughs] And he kept coming back until Jordan beat him. So I understand it. They took a shot, and they took a shot early, and there was nothing I could do. The hopper made it a somewhat uncontrollable game. With a twist like that, you have to just come to grips with the fact that every elimination could be your night. I went into every elimination with my mind made up that I was going in.

It's been a long time since we last saw you on The Challenge, and you and Cara Maria have both been very vocal on social media about wanting to come back for a while. Why did it take so long?

I think it was a combination of perfect timing mixed with other things. I had to take a break. I got pulled off Total Madness last minute for some stuff that happened the night before the reunion. There were a lot of parties at fault but ultimately I was in control of my actions and the way I responded to things that were going on ultimately caused me to be pulled off. After that, COVID hit, and in that time, I was building a business, trying out for the Winter Olympics, so at that point it was just a timing thing. But I'm pretty alright at keeping people talking in the time off in order to make sure when I do come back, it's a welcomed return. I'm glad that the timing is finally great and now my mind is clear so I can focus on trying to get that elusive first win that keeps escaping me.

But were the rumors true? Were you were blacklisted from coming back?

From a production standpoint, they have a method to their madness. I came in really hot on my first three seasons. I felt unstoppable and untouchable. I made it to the end every time, no one could really get me out, and I had every reason to believe I was on my way to cementing myself as another male face or the next person to carry the torch. But if you're not fully, truly in control of separating the game on and off the field, you have to be reminded not to get too out of control, get yourself in line, shift your mindset. I had to have those conversations [with producers], and those were hard conversations to have. But ultimately I had to look at myself and realize I could make excuses of people doing things and that's why I reacted that way, but instead I took the approach of, yeah, all those things were going on, but I'm ultimately in control of myself and my actions. If my long goal was to win, I kind of lost focus of that by letting other people push me to act out of character.

The rumors of being blacklisted, I think that's just what a lot of my competitors put out there because that's what they secretly wanted, so they were trying to manifest that so they never had to go against me. But it's pretty hard to blacklist a character like me — [look at] the impact I had in three seasons and even in three episodes. Good or bad, you saw a version of myself the first time around that was authentic that gets people to feel a certain type of way, and this time around you're seeing another side of me that's also authentic that gets people to feel a certain type of way. But love me or hate me, you're not going to feel nothing or say nothing about me.

They should want me to be blacklisted because that means they have a better chance of making it to the end. But I never was blacklisted, am not blacklisted. I'm here. So all those tweets, you better hope I'm as forgiving as I was with Johnny and Josh this season. Otherwise it could come back to bite you!

A lot of people can really get lost because they overthink things, like, "What should my storyline be this season?" "Who should I hook up with?" "Should I be friends with this person?" "Do I want this person to be my rival?" Just go in and let the pieces fall where they need to, and everything comes across in an authentic manner and that's what translates to viewers. I'm very grateful that, even when things weren't in such a positive note, at least people were tuning in to watch. I'm a team player, I want the show to succeed. Because if the show is succeeding, everyone succeeds. So I don't care if I'm the protagonist, the antagonist, the hero, the villain, whatever the perception of me is, as long as you're watching, the whole team is winning.

Were you surprised you were cast to come back before Cara Maria?

I wasn't really surprised. They have a plan for everything. They see the bigger picture that none of us have any idea about, so I trust in the plan that they have for me as an individual, for her as an individual, and for us together. I think everyone's going to be really happy with it. Last time around with us being there together, it was a lot for a lot of people to handle. Easing us in separately is a great strategic move before bringing us back together, because we're pretty dominant when we're there.

You opened up a lot this season about how you've gone to therapy and worked on yourself in the years since we last saw you. What were the biggest realizations you've had about yourself as a result and how did that change you going into this season?

Outside of the obvious, of suppressing my sexuality for all these years, the main thing was digging down deep into the roots of that competitive aggression. Everyone wants to be the best and I had to break down why do I need to be the best? And do I need that for myself or for the validation of others? Once I shifted gears into how I need to do it all for myself, that's what changed everything. That's when I started to have the conversations about why did I feel the need to suppress my sexuality for so many years? How did that make me feel? What are my long term goals? It got me on the right path and that's why I was so much lighter this season.

I always thought I needed aggression and anger to compete well, but I realized the times I competed my best were when I wasn't angry, I was very happy. I had to figure out how to switch it on during daily challenges and eliminations and then switch it off. There were times people came up to me and told me, "I voted for you." Normally I would have gotten aggressive about it because I would feel personally attacked. But now I'm like, "Okay, that's just the game." And then in your mind you're like, "How can I strategically handle this?" On War of the Worlds 2, I proved, politically and strategically, I could hang. But having a clearer vision of things, there are some moves that strategically would have made more sense, but I was letting my emotions cloud those decisions which ultimately led to us not winning that final. If I want to win, I have to come in strictly strategically, rely on my athleticism, and have almost no emotions or attachments to anything.

What did you learn from this season that you're going to apply to future seasons?

The biggest takeaway was being able to have conversations with people I didn't before. I learned a lot from Johnny this season from a strategic and game standpoint, and who knows, if I'd learned those lessons sooner maybe I would have been a champ faster. That was something I was really grateful for, to realize that you should never completely close doors because you never know what you can learn from it. That was a truly amazing experience and something I'll carry with me for future seasons.

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

The Challenge: USA season 2 airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT and Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.

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