‘The Challenge USA’: Paulie Talks Coming Out and Showing Fans a New Side to Himself (Exclusive)

The second season of The Challenge USA marked Paulie Calafiore’s grand return to the show. While fans are fully used to the Big Brother alum’s penchant for drama, the reality star showcased a different side to himself on the CBS spinoff. Following his elimination loss against his one-time enemy Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio, Paulie spoke with PopCulture.com about how his journey with therapy allowed him to showcase a truer version of himself on The Challenge this time around.

On The Challenge USA, Paulie explained to his fellow competitors how his journey with therapy allowed him to be a less reactive person, particularly when it comes to his appearances on reality TV. Fans got to see the new Paulie in action this season, with his growth being evident in his relationships with former rivals Bananas and Josh Martinez. He owes a lot of his growth to therapy, as he said that working on himself allowed him to express his emotions in the right way even when it comes to people he’s had issues with in the past. 

“As an athlete, I was always into smack talking, and I was always into just stirring the pot, twisting the knobs a little bit, and exploding on the field. I realized if I’m really going to take this therapy stuff seriously, I should actually try and make actual change,” Paulie said. “I can’t use the excuse of, ‘Oh, yes, I’m changing,’ but that change is only really for my immediate circle because they’ve always known this whole time. I think that the full circle moment in therapy for me was finally letting go, having to put up that public facade of the protective barriers and the protective walls.”

Now that he can show the public a more unrestrained version of himself, he’s ready to be fully open about who he is. Paulie had a big moment in episode three of the series when he opened up about his sexuality. The former Big Brother star is bisexual and noted that he finally feels “free” now that he can share his truth with the world. Thankfully, his revelation has been met with a ton of positivity from those in the Challenge world and beyond. 

“All this other support is so amazing, and it’s really been from everybody, all walks of life, every single side of the spectrum, which I think is really amazing because I think that that can also help push the needle forward for the community as a whole,” Paulie said regarding the support that he’s received since publicly coming out. “I love being able to have a voice for myself and for everyone who might be going through this.” He added that he’s received messages from scores of people who related to his story, saying, “Yeah, it was tough and scary [to come out] on TV, but I guess in the long run, the bigger picture of things, it’s helped a lot of people, so that’s an amazing thing.”

For more on PopCulture.com’s interview with Paulie, stay tuned to our YouTube page for the full video interview. New episodes of The Challenge USA air on Thursday nights at 10 p.m. ET and Sunday nights at 9 p.m. ET.