In it to win it — together! Jordan Wiseley and Tori Deal took a brief break from The Challenge ahead of season 34 — but now they’re back and ready to fight harder than ever. Wiseley, who proposed to Deal while filming the new season, opened up exclusively to Us Weekly about why now was the right time to return to reality TV.
“Timing really worked out for the both of us. She’d been writing and illustrating her first children’s book for the last year,” the two-time Challenge champ, 28, told Us. “So, she finally finished with that. I had been starting a company and filming a movie for the last couple of years. It worked out. We were like, ‘Hey, let’s do this thing — only if we can do it together.’”
In fact, the two-for-one deal was their “biggest stipulation.”
“We get calls every year to go to The Challenge, and a lot of times it’s not together, or in the past it’s been not together,” he added. “We were just kind of like, ‘No, we need to be together.’ So, it all worked out. I think the stars and planets aligning is what made this one the right one.”
Deal, 26, debuted on Are You the One? In season 4, then competed on The Challenge: Dirty 30 and Final Reckoning. She met Wiseley in 2017 during Dirty 30, and the pair began dating shortly after filming wrapped. Wiseley, for his part, first appeared on The Real World: Portland then competed on Rivals II, Free Agents, Battle of the Exes II, Champs vs. Pros and Dirty 30.
“I love getting to leave the country, getting to disconnect for a while. That’s always great,” he revealed to Us, adding that while both are true competitors, they also “tried to treat it as a vacation, as much as we can — until the paranoia steps in.”
Us Weekly broke the news that the pair got engaged during filming, something that Wiseley couldn’t help but admit he was “terrified” about!
“We met on the show, we met because of the show, so maybe this would be a cool theme,” he said about his idea to do it in front of the cameras. “We both come back, it’s our first show together. But I thought, ‘What if she thinks it’s super tacky? Proposals are a big thing for a woman, so don’t screw this up!’ Luckily, she said ‘Yes,’ and it was all good! I didn’t tell production about it because I was so terrified. I packed the ring not even knowing how it was gonna go, and I felt like there was no better time than now.”
The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2 premieres on MTV Wednesday, August 28, at 9 p.m. ET.
With reporting by Travis Cronin
