Wes Confirms He’s Not Really Retired from The Challenge

Surprise, surprise. Wes has made an announcement stating he’s not really retired from The Challenge.

After The Challenge: USA 2, many viewers were left with the impression that Wes was done with the show, and it’s hard to blame them. During that season, he talked about his pregnant wife and he expected that he wasn’t going to be returning to the show. In fact, when he called his wife, he stated he was embarrassed that he left during her pregnancy to film a season of The Challenge.

Apparently, Wes didn’t mind leaving his wife and newborn baby to hang out with Kandy Muse from RuPaul’s Drag Race. Recently, his face popped up on the House of Villains 2 cast, leading people to question why he’d do that show instead of The Challenge.

Wes responded on Instagram, stating that The Challenge is a huge time commitment, but he’s not retiring. Committing to film a full season requires him to take months away from work and lose business opportunities. However, House of Villains only required him to film for three weeks max.

To be fair, Wes did say he wasn’t retiring in an interview following USA 2, but he did say that filming for the main season was too much of a commitment — and that seems to be the story he’s sticking too.

But, to imply Wes never stated he was retiring comes down to semantics. He never explicitly said “retired,” but he seems to have said everything but that word.

On episode 6 of the Challenge USA 2, after calling his pregnant wife, Wes said, “I am coming to grips with the fact that this could be the last time that I ever get to see a Challenge house for the rest of my life.” Later, when he thought he lost to Dusty, he stated that it could be his last time being in an elimination arena.

On episode 10, following his elimination, Wes said “I’m not coming back” during his goodbye speech. Then, he talked about how he’s content with his legacy in the game. And, in TJ’s words, Chris “sent him into retirement.”

Viewers would be forgiven if they thought Wes was on the retired list, but like most Challengers, “retired” doesn’t mean much. I wouldn’t be shocked to see Wes return for All Stars or another project that doesn’t require him to dedicate multiple months to MTV.