'The Challenge: USA': Cashay Reveals the Real Story Behind the Fab Five, Talks Post-Reality TV Future
The Challenge: USA featured its first solo female elimination on Wednesday's episode. After Big Brother stars Alyssa Lopez and Angela Rummans took aim at the Fab Five during the daily challenge, Sarah Lacina found herself in the elimination round after coming in last place. While another member of the Fab Five, Desi Williams, won the daily, it wasn't enough to prevent another member of the alliance, Cashay Proudfoot, from being sent in against Sarah.
Following her loss to the Survivor winner, Cashay spoke with PopCulture.com about her time in the game. During the chat, she not only shared the real story behind the formation of the Fab Five, but also teased some of her post-reality TV plans. (This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.)
PopCulture.com: So we're going to start with the elimination. And I wanted to know, it almost seemed a little bit like you weren't too surprised that you were going to be sent in.
Cashay: No, I think for a lot of different reasons. One, the most obvious one, Desi and Danny [McCray] told me that I was going to go in before I went in. And then two, even though there was the Fab Five, I never fully trusted Desi. We never talked game and we weren't friends. So, I just knew that there was a chance that she would go against the alliance and lean somewhere else. And then three, I just, Danny sees me as a weak competitor. He never really saw me as a competitor. 100% underestimated me, fed me lies. I just knew it was one of those things. When we had a conversation, he was like, "It's between you and Cayla." I saw in his eyes, it was not. And I'm just like, "Don't BS me."
But, my whole reason for pulling him to talk wasn't to try to plead my case, it was more like, "If you're going to throw me in, that's fine, but just understand I'm a competitor." It was just one of those things where it's like, "I hate that you think I'm weak." I said, "I'm not here to change your mind, but just understand that I am a competitor."
PC: And how far in advance did Danny and Desi give you that heads up? Because we did see in the episode, it was really up in the air even an hour leading up to it.
Cashay: It was right before we walked out for elimination. Before they got on the buses to get to the destination, they came up to me. I was stretching in the gym and I knew I was going in there. They're like, "Hey, you're going in." I was like, "Yeah, I figured." I was like, "Thank you for letting me know."
And then the five of us all talked and we're like, "Desi, what are you doing? You're going against us to align with them? That's crazy." But then it's like, come to find out they... Angela and Alyssa and myself, we were all having a conversation. They said that they would throw in Desi out of everyone. And I was like, "Yeah, same." Not actually saying that I would throw her in because I would actually throw in Angela, but I didn't want to let them know that. And so they kind of used that to get me thrown in, to be like, "Don't trust her. She's going to throw you in. She's gunning for you." Which Desi was never a target of mine. Why would I target someone that's like... her arms are the size of my head. I would never target someone. For me, I'm never targeting anyone unless they're coming after me. I mean, again, it's a game. There's no hard feelings. There's no animosity there, but definitely, that was the outcome.
PC: And I mean, you mentioned a little bit, you had this Fab Five alliance there and I've gotten to see a little bit from the other interviews that you've done today, that it was kind of a loose alliance. So, I wanted to know how and when this actually formed and how real was it for you compared to maybe the other people in the alliance?
Cashay: Yeah, we were really involved, but for me, it was always the Fab Four. I really... Justine's a Love Island girl. Sarah had my back through and through and Cayla I really trusted. So, to me, those were my girls. Desi and I, I didn't trust her, but since they trusted her, I was like, "Okay, you and I have a mutual understanding." So that was always the thing for me. So for me, the Fab Four was real. The Fab Five was like, "Ooh, I don't understand why we have to work with her." But, they all trusted her and we're all close with her.
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So it's one of those things where her and I just had a mutual understanding. I never thought that fully she would go against what everyone else wanted, you know? Because I would've never done that. If I won, I would've thrown in Angela and it just wouldn't have even been a thought in my head and I would've stood 10 toes down on that.
But yeah, so it kind of formed on our day off. All five of us were sitting down and we were all kind of always hanging out. But again, I never really talked to Desi like that. But Sarah was like, "Fab Five." And I was like, "Cheers to the Fab Five." Making jokes and just having a good time, and they were like, "Cash, why'd you yell that?" Everyone took it super seriously. And apparently, Ben told Alyssa and Angela and everyone was like, "Fab Five, oh my God, they're working against you guys."
And it became this thing that it literally wasn't because literally 10 minutes later, Angela and Alyssa joined us and sat down next to us. But in The Challenge ... I wish we were more like, "Okay, you are going to win. The four of us are going to block Angela. Let's do this." I wish it was more like someone led the pack and decided "this is 100% what we're going to do." You know?
PC: And I was wondering, I've been seeing some social media interactions. It seems like you are very friendly with Alyssa and Angela post-game. So, I wanted to know how did those friendships develop?
Cashay: I think for me, what people have to understand is I can separate game from friendships. Even though I didn't trust Angela or Alyssa as far as I can throw them, loved them. And Alyssa and I had an understanding as well because when Shannon and Cinco were partnered up, I was like, "Don't throw in Shannon. I cannot be in this house without Shannon." And Alyssa kind of had my back on that and they went a different route. So then I had her back in not throwing her in. It was just one of those things where it's like, there was tit for tat. So there was an understanding there.
Angela and I never really talked game until I was partnered with Tyson and she's like, "I have your back." I'm like, "No, you don't, but you're so much fun." For me, it was always like that. I always just have fun with those girls and it's never any animosity, no secret, like... Secret like "I'm coming for you" kind of energy. It was always upfront. I knew where Angela stood. I know she would, when she was like, "I'm not going to throw you in again." I believed that, but I didn't trust that if something happened, she wouldn't be like, "Sorry." You know? And then with Alyssa, I knew she would never throw me in. With other people in the house, I didn't feel that with them. So that's why I really just vibe with them a lot but it wasn't more so game.
PC: As we're winding down here, I always like to ask, would you come back for another season of the show or maybe even the MTV version? I feel like you would fit in both of those.
Cashay: For me, it's the opposite. I don't really think I fit into this whole, even reality TV. I know I make good TV and everyone's like, "Ah, I love watching you." And that's so sweet, but I just feel like, especially for The Challenge, I have no business being on The Challenge. I'm very competitive. I love that kind of stuff. But yeah, I don't know. For me, it's kind of a "no" currently, but I always say my ego might bring me back. Because I went in heartbroken and dislocated knees and I didn't really take swimming lessons. And I had all these cards stacked against me, but I'm like, "What if I actually..." And I didn't really train for the show. I wasn't doing trivia on my phone. I wasn't binge-watching to come up with a game plan. It wasn't really gaming. But, if I went in with a different mentality, I feel like it could be different.
PC: Okay. So then what do you think is next for you? Maybe outside of reality TV?
Cashay: I'm leaning out of that and I'm just leaning more into like, I do stand-up comedy. I love acting. I love dancing. That's where I should be. Because I just, that's where my personality, I think will shine more versus being on reality TV and I'm edited any type of way and I talk a lot. So, I really can... they can really do whatever they want with me on reality TV.
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