The Challenge: USA eliminated player reveals her showmance didn't last: 'Hurt people hurt people'

Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Challenge: USA 2 episode 10, "A Less Perfect Union."

After surviving weeks of getting nominated but never actually entering the sand, Alyssa Snider faced her first elimination in this week's The Challenge: USA. But the Big Brother alum lost her matchup against Survivor runner-up Cassidy Clark and was sent packing.

While she didn't win the second season of the CBS spinoff, she did walk away with a blossoming romance with fellow Big Brother alum Tyler Crispen. However, Snider tells EW that their showmance didn't last after filming ended. "I'm single now," she tells EW. "We're still friends, but that's about it."

Snider adds that she never expected to fall for someone while competing on The Challenge, but she and Crispen "just connected so well" in the house. "We became really good friends and that obviously became a little bit more," she says. "I think the saying, 'hurt people hurt people' is very true. We're both still healing from past relationships. We didn't want to jump in anything right away, so we were really taking time to figure it out. He's somebody that I care about so deeply, but in this time of our lives, we're still processing a lot that's happened this past year and we don't want to rush into anything."

Below, Snider breaks down her exit and more.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How are you feeling about your exit after watching it on TV?

ALYSSA SNIDER: It is such a weird feeling. I'm grateful for the experience, I'm sad that I lost, but everybody was being so supportive so that feels good too, but it's so disappointing. Going on The Challenge, I didn't know what to expect and then actually being there, I'm like, "Wow, I can do these things." I won three daily challenges with my team, so I was finally winning things. I didn't win anything on Big Brother. I wanted to keep going.

How did you feel when you were sent into elimination?

Seeing myself nominated, I was disappointed because I knew Fessy had looked out for me the week before, so I was like, "Maybe he'll do it again," and then he was kind of rude! He was like, "Alyssa got out first on the daily challenge." Okay, it was scary. Don't abandon me! But it was a surprise. Also, Michaela was my roommate. We slept next to each other all season long. I felt like we had a pretty good relationship, so I was just more bummed out and frustrated. In a double elimination, you know you're going down in that sand and that gives you the advantage to mentally prepare for the day to come, but at the same time, I don't know, it was a lose-lose situation.

Did you feel like Fessy betrayed you as a fellow Big Brother alum?

In a way. I know he was more loyal to The Challenge vets, plus I was the only Big Brother girl left. If he kept protecting me and if he kept winning, if he kept doing anything where he was in power or pulling for me, then it was just going to make it worse because people were always going to target me. My name's been thrown in the hopper, it's been in a main nomination before, so I was really an easy target. But it is a little disappointing because I felt like we had a good friendship.

Did you want to go against Cassidy?

I was really just prepared to go against Cassidy. She is not a layup as much as those girls want to say it. She is a fighter. But I feel like any individual woman still in the game would've been a fight because everybody fought their way to be where they are.

What was it like competing in that elimination?

It was truly awful. It was my worst fear. I was praying to the Challenge gods I don't get a Hall Brawl, but I think this might've been worse. I was trapped in a harness 30 ft. in the air and I was so gassed turning around that wheel. Then when I got to Cassidy, it was like a straight-up street fight. I have a scar that's down my wrist from where she took a chunk out of my wrist. I have her nail mark scarred all throughout my wrist here. She almost fractured my pinky. They had to tape it up. I was truly in there punching, kicking, we were biting. We had to get called out for biting and strangling! I was really, really trying because I was up against a wall and I was like, "I want to be here." In that moment, I was thinking, "Just fight, Alyssa." I am not a fighter. I barely speak up as it is, so it was definitely out of my comfort zone and it was really hard.

They kept talking about my wingspan. Do I really have that long of arms? [Laughs] But I could hold her at a distance, so she was reaching, but when I had to go and actually grab her, it was more scary. The second round was so taxing. I was already so tired, but you just had to keep fighting. Those five minutes truly felt like you were probably doing a plank for five minutes, when you're doing a plank and after 10 seconds you're like, "Is it three hours later?" It felt like it was a three-hour elimination.

At what point did you realize that you were going to lose?

I honestly don't think until the last second. I had those two patches on my back and either we tie or I could still win this. I was really, really hopeful, but it came down to the last second where she ripped off those last patches and she won. Even afterwards I was like, "How many do I got? Am I still in it?"

You were at risk for many eliminations this season but you managed to escape them all until this episode. Do you think that helped you, or would you have rather gone into an earlier elimination?

Well, if I could have gone into Sebastian's elimination, I would've taken that. This man threw a ball into a big bucket. Why couldn't I have gotten that elimination?! Why are you hanging my ass 30 ft. in the air?! When it was a double elimination and I was the main nom, usually double eliminations are physical. I think that's why I was so upset — my heart sunk and I'm like, "I'm toast." But I think getting down in the sand, at least being a main nom before, made me feel more comfortable because it's scary. It's dark outside, there's big blasting lights on you, and the entire cast is staring at you. I feel like a main reason that I really couldn't compete in Big Brother is I felt like the whole cast was watching me and I knew it was live, so it was just that pressure. I don't like being the center of attention, so that was definitely difficult.

What do you think led to your downfall this season?

Big Brother was just toast. Why are we so messy? Why does everyone target Big Brother? And freaking Dusty is like, "Screw Tiffany. It's all Big Brother people," when it was all Survivor, which makes us look even more sketchy. Just knowing that we're from that show ... you know what? I'm going to start saying I'm from Love Island because clearly, I'm just doing the same thing [as that show]. So next time, if there ever is a next time, I'm going to come in and be like, "Yeah, I'm from the villa" and maybe people won't see me as this lying, conniving snake. I'll be like, "So, anybody single?"

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

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

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