'The Challenge USA': Dusty Harris Shares His 'Biggest Regret' From the Season (Exclusive)

It's safe to say that The Amazing Race alum Dusty Harris left The Challenge USA with a bang. The fiery contestant put on quite the show before he ultimately lost in elimination against MTV legend Wes Bergmann. Between having a major argument with Big Brother player Tiffany Mitchell and penning a very interesting note for Johnny "Bananas" Devenanzio, Dusty left his mark on The Challenge USA. 

After a heartbreaking elimination loss, Dusty had a lot to say about his time on the CBS series while catching up with PopCulture.com. Read on for everything he had to say about that Tiffany drama, that tight elimination, and his status as a Bananas "fanboy." (This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.)

PopCulture.com: I want to start from the top here because you started that episode with a bang. So, why the blowup against Tiffany? Let me hear all about it.

Dusty: I'm going to be completely honest with you. Not one of my proudest moments on my inaugural season of The Challenge. It's probably the thing that I look back on the most and I have the biggest regret on. No secret, I definitely have a temper. I literally wrote in my journal the three things that were going to make me successful to win this, and number one with a big circle around it was, "When sh*t hits the fan, take a second to breathe and walk away." 

And so what you don't see is I'm literally putting on my workout shoes to go outside. This is two in the morning when this argument happens, to go burn it off to have this conversation in the morning. There's one way in, one way out of the dungeon. Tiffany's coming down with every camera person in the house, and I can't control myself, and I pop off.

The next morning I woke up, I apologized profusely to her, and at the time I still thought she had voted for me. But, there's a right and a wrong way to communicate with someone. And Tiffany is a mother to a child at home and as a father to kids, it made me feel very terrible at how I communicated with her and there are better ways to do it. And so I do feel terrible. And Tiffany, I've apologized. We spoke on the phone, but again, just so you know, I am sorry I shouldn't have communicated with you that way. I'm a fiery guy and it got the best of me. And really it was my crux and I think it's what put me in the arena with seven balls. I mean, I was going to catch some, but to catch seven, it's no secret if you cause a scene in a Challenge house, you're going in to dance.

PC: And did you eventually find out who voted for you in the house after that situation? I know you still thought it was kind of Tiffany, but did you find out?

Dusty: I'll be honest, I literally had no clue that Chanelle and Michele were voting for me and now watching it again, they were voting for me quite a bit. But, as an Amazing Racer with Luis gone and no blood on their hand, I mean, I get it. It makes the most sense. And at this point, they kind of realized the line that was drawn. I was running with the vets. To see Michele do it, I was like, I thought she'd maybe play the vet card a little longer because they were trying to pull her in and to see it all unfold, and I mean, she was gunning. She was definitely Survivor-strong. Played a great game up to this point, man. I will give it to Chanelle, Michele, Michaela, and Desi you're wizards girls. You're doing well.

PC: And I mean, you even mentioned too, that you were kind of involved in the vet alliance there and you were even involved in that Hat Trick situation. And of course there's been a lot of talk about your relationship with Bananas there. I got to know, Dusty, why the letter? Why the letter?

Dusty: So first of all, the hero thing is... Johnny Bananas is not my hero. Let's just say editing is a beautiful thing. So, the letter is a hundred percent real. Johnny went into elimination, and as anyone knows who watches it, you don't get to say anything to anyone. Once you're eliminated, you're hauled out in the paddy wagon, they get you out. It was a mere letter just thanking him for a little bit of advice that was given to me from him when I hit a hard patch. I had my wife at home with a child on the way. It was the two-year anniversary of my dad dying, the walls are closing in, and he just gave me some good advice. And I didn't know if I was going to get a chance, if we had ever even talked again after the show aired. It was just a token of my friendship. Man, I appreciate the advice you gave me. You're a true champion in the business.

And it is what it is. I mean, what a weird edit, but I'm good for it. I'm a big boy. I can roll with the punches, keep them coming. I have seen some of the funniest things I have ever seen. I don't love Johnny Bananas. You're not my hero brother, you're my buddy, but my dad's my hero, just so he knows looking down on me. But, he knows I'm not cheating on him with Johnny Bananas.

PC: And speaking of a legend here, you were unfortunately up against another legend in this elimination, Wes, and I wanted to know a little bit more about what this elimination entailed. I wanted to know, did you go first or did he go first? I imagine the person who went first had a big advantage there. So I didn't know if the editing actually showed us the correct order.

Dusty: So I was actually standing on the drum first, which I was excited about. I compete in Ironmans. Physically, I was ready [to] balance all this. I'm like right in my wheelhouse, let's go. Turning big heavy things. I was excited to see if he was going to go for the first wheel and try to turn it a few times before going to the second ... I felt like I did enough to win, though. I mean, I really did. I dumped him off. I think you see the look on everyone's face in the cast standing there. Bananas is hugging this sloppy man, goodbye. Wes even told me goodbye [and] that I beat him. Right when I heard 37 seconds, I was like, I thought I won by minutes, this may not be good for me. And just still, it sucks.

PC: What about if you came back for a third season of The Challenge USA? What would Dusty look like on The Challenge after this situation happened?

Dusty: You're going to see, it's not if, you will see a guy that's going to walk into the house, and I'm not going to let people be A's and work themselves down to F's. You're going to be an F on my book and you're going to work yourself up to an A. I gave everyone the benefit of the doubt. Whereas the Amazing Race cast, they're some of my best friends. In the back of your mind it's like, oh, I'm going to come make all these great new friends. 

These people are going to be gum on the bottom of my shoe. There is no time for love. It's time to take heads and you can't trust anyone. There's no innocence amongst thieves, and trust me, I'm going to be a bigger specimen when I come back. I'm going to be a badder specimen when I come back. I'm going to cause more sh*t than I did this season. And I'm just going to take you out one by one because now I'm not scared of elimination. I've done it once, I know I can compete with the best and I can beat the rest of you. No question. 

For more of PopCulture.com's interview with Dusty, head to our YouTube page to watch it in full. The Challenge USA airs on Thursday nights at 10 p.m. ET on CBS.