For the first time in his reality TV career, Chris Underwood did not emerge as the winner. He was sent home on episode 9 of Cutthroat when Justin shockingly beat him in Chain Reaction.
But let’s be honest, the odds weren’t in Chris’ favor at this point. He was fated to go into multiple eliminations rounds before the final, simply based on the format of Cutthroat.
And this is part of why Chris is unlikely to return to the show. Recently, he spoke about his defeat in an interview with Parade magazine.
Chris confesses that he almost retired after USA 2, but that decision was based on the filming window. A few years ago, flagship seasons could take up to three months to film, and The Challenge: USA 2 was filmed in about two months. Then, Cutthroat happened, and it had a similar production wind as USA 2 — that’s the biggest reason Chris agreed to so this season.
While the length of filming might have felt familiar, other things were not. Specifically, Chris lost the season, and he might be bitter about this. But not because he lost to Justin, even though he claims he was leading Justin by over half an hour before he got to the puzzle. Instead, it’s because the season made him deal with a totally messy format.
And it’s hard to deny that Chris got a tough deal. It start with two of his biggest allies, Sydney and Cory, leaving. Unfortunate as that may be, production couldn’t have prevented this. Then, Leo, Nelson, and Josh went home, and Chris became captain of his team… just for there to be a Blue/Grey team merger, which took away Chris’ captaincy.
With the new combo Grey Team, Chris lost the captain position. Then, based on the format of Cutthroat, it didn’t matter whether the Grey Team won or lost — Chris was always going into The Arena. Michele is in a similar spot on the Orange Team, but at least there’s a glimmer of hope with Tori as captain.
Understandably, Chris left this season frustrated, and he probably isn’t super enthusiastic about the franchise. But in reality, the biggest reason he wants to hang up his Challenge jersey is the length of filming. Even two months is a bigger commitment than he’d like; a show like Survivor might be too long for his current situation. Instead, he’d like to do a show like The Traitors or 99 to Beat, both of which film in a few weeks.
