‘The Challenge USA’: Ameerah Addresses How the Vet Invasion Changed the Game

The Challenge USA wasted no time in shaking things up for Season 2. Much like last season was dominated by the dreaded “Algorithm,” Season 2 is ruled by the “Hopper.” Unfortunately, for Ameerah Jones, the Hopper determined that the first elimination would be played by the women when Michele Fitzgerald’s name was chosen. Ameerah put up a strong fight but, ultimately, Michele emerged as the winner for the season’s first elimination. 

Ameerah was one of many Big Brother alumni who were brought on to compete in the second season of The Challenge USA. The show threw a wrench into things when they decided that this season wouldn’t be limited to Big Brother, Survivor, and The Amazing Race, as six MTV veterans were introduced into the mix. How did this switch-up affect Ameerah’s game? And what were her thoughts on that intense elimination? Read on to see what the Big Brother 24 alum had to say about her Challenge experience. (This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.)

PopCulture.com: The elimination itself, it was so intense. And we only got to see a couple minutes of it, but I wanted to know how long was that actually going on for? Because you guys were getting dunked so many times.

Ameerah: In my brain, it felt like hours, but probably, I don’t know, maybe 10 minutes, 10, 15 minutes, because it was only… Not only, it was 15 rounds, but it’s seconds. So they’re literally, they’re dunking you in there. You’re only there for two seconds, and then they pull you back up and you catch your breath for two seconds and then they drop you again. And you don’t know how much time is in between.

Wow. And it seems so labor-intensive, especially [as] you were describing it too. You were losing your breath in between these rounds, having to do something intensely physical, and you put up an amazing fight. You were only down by a handful of balls. What was that like to find out that outcome that was so close?

I was super bummed. I wanted to win. I wanted to win so bad. I mean, I hate losing in general, but to lose by that little bit amount, I was really bummed. I gave it my all. So as much as I want to tell myself, ‘oh, I wish I would’ve done one more handful,’ I freaking did as many handfuls as I could. I couldn’t breathe anymore. I was exhausted. You can’t catch your breath. 

So what would’ve happened had you did win? Do you think that you would’ve defected? What would your game plan have been, had you gotten back into the game?

I have thought about this. So, I felt very good with the Green team. I know we lost the first challenge. It was just a fluke. I felt like we were very smart, and strategic, We worked well together. We all have very cool chill personalities, minus Amanda. But, I felt like we worked well together.

However, from a personal game standpoint, I may have [defected] to Blue because I want to go to the team that’s targeting me. So if Blue wins again, who do you think they’re going to throw in again? Me. So, I think that I probably would’ve had to say my goodbyes to Green, unfortunately, and go to Blue because they were targeting me from week one.

And whose spot would you have taken?

Cassidy’s … I don’t know. I never thought about… Maybe… No, I think it would’ve been Cassidy. Maybe one of the Alyssa’s, because I’m friends with them and I could spread them out somewhere else. But I already felt good with the connections I had on Green, so I don’t really need one of them over there. But yeah, I don’t know, maybe one of the Alyssa’s or Cassidy.

Speaking of obviously before the elimination — we’re getting back into the game here — and you mentioned that obviously you were friends with the Alyssa’s, you came in with Alyssa S. from your season. What were the alliances? Were you all Big Brother strong? Maybe with a little bit of Survivor? 

I don’t want to say it was Big Brother strong because you can remember there’s those middle Big Brother players too, like Paulie, Fessy, Josh. I like them, but I also know they’re also vets. Maybe not vets-vets, but they’ve been doing this a while. So they were the middle people. Michele, those people from the Big Brother world, I was like, I don’t really trust them fully.

The only person from Big Brother that I really didn’t have a relationship with going into the house, I would say was Tyler. And I actually trusted him. I don’t know what it is about Tyler, but he’s such a cool, great person, and he made me feel comfortable within the first 10 minutes of meeting him. So I did trust him. So yes, I had these connections with the Big Brother [alliance] that had never been on the Challenge. But, there’s also people from Survivor that I really liked and wanted to work with. So Desi, Chanelle, Michaela, those three I felt really good with. And they were from Survivor. So even though I felt comfortable going in with my Big Brother people, I definitely wanted to work with people from Survivor as well. 

And as we’re winding down here, my final question for you would be, would you come around for another season of The Challenge USA? Would you come back?

Yeah. Listen, I’m waiting for this redemption arc. I feel like it’s coming, it’s warming up. I’m like, come on, please. Yeah, I would definitely do it again. It was a lot of fun and definitely my alley. I like that kind of game.

Really? As opposed to a Big Brother?

Oh, so Big Brother is fun too, but it’s completely different. And I like the fact that on The Challenge, once you’re up, it’s still not over for you. You can still win and get yourself out. It’s all in your hands. And I love the fact that it’s up to me. That’s it. If I lose, it’s on me. If I win, I did that.

The Challenge USA airs on Thursday nights at 10 p.m. ET and on Sunday nights at 9 p.m. ET. All episodes are available to watch after they air on Paramount+.