'The Challenge: All Stars' Season 4's Brandon Nelson Gives an Update on His Relationship with Cara Maria

Brandon Nelson

The Challenge: All Stars Season 4 is here! Throughout the season, Parade.com will speak with the challengers who were eliminated from the all-star competition.

It's been ten years since we last saw Brandon Nelson on The Challenge. And that lengthy hiatus, combined with becoming a father, gave him a new headspace when he walked into All Stars Season 4. If he were ever given the chance to take a shot, he would go big game hunting. And he did just that, as he was one of the key individuals to put champions Rachel Robinson and Cara Maria Sorbello against each other in elimination. What that came at the cost of, though, was betraying his friendship with Cara Maria, which stemmed back to his very first Challenge season.

When she survived elimination, Brandon knew she was out for revenge. And she got just that when she wound up in the voting group, quickly leading the charge to put him in. Though Brandon had built a Challenge resume on elimination wins, he was put in alongside another heavy hitter, ally, and friend in Leroy Garrett. And in a tough test of strength and smarts, Brandon narrowly lost.

Now out of the game, Brandon speaks with Parade.com about returning to The Challenge after a decade, his relationship with Cara, and a confrontation with Ayanna that didn't make the edit.

Related: Everything to Know About The Challenge: USA Season 2

It's been ten years since we last saw you on our screens in Free Agents. And I know that in talking with Cara this last episode, you mentioned everything that had happened in your life, including marriage, kids, losing your father, and life-threatening car accidents. Can you catch us up on what's been happening the past decade?
Since Free Agents, me and Leroy were actually living together in Vegas for a little while. I was in Vegas for about 13 years. I just moved back to Arkansas last summer. But during that decade gap, I was surviving out in Vegas. And then I had my son, then got married. Had my daughter. Then my dad got sick. I came home; he passed my arms, which...don't sign up for that. I know in the movies, it's all, "I've got to get home to see them!" That [expletive] sucks. But he was happy to be there for me and my sister. Then, right after that, I got into a bad accident which almost cost me my life. Then divorce, then got into another accident. And I was like, "You know what? I need something because this is getting out of control." And then I get the call for All-Stars 4. So it really pulled me out of a rut, and I was so thankful for it. So thankful for it. I got back to being me a little bit. I'm almost 100%.

That is great to hear, and I am so sorry for everything you've been through. When you got the offer for All Stars 4, had you been in the running for other seasons before this? Did you accept the offer this time because, to your point, you felt it was something you needed at that moment?
Oh, I'm pretty much a Challenge slut. If you call me, I'm gonna say yes. So it wasn't me saying, "Oh, not this time." I was like, "Oh, where's my phone call?" I was an alternate on All-Stars 2. So that was during the whole COVID thing, so at that time, alternates had to be on site. So I was in Mexico for that just in case something went wrong. They could just pluck me out of the hotel, and I'd be in. So that didn't happen clearly. But that let me know that I was still on the radar. So I was excited for that. And then I was like, "I'm gonna be on All-Stars 3, because I was an alternate for 2 and was out there. They know I'm good."

It was crickets. So I'm like, "Okay, well, that was fun." And I thought I was done for real. It had already been 10 years, you tease me as an alternate for All Stars 2. And originally I was an alternate for All Stars 4 as well. And then a week before we were about to leave, I get the call saying, "Oh, you're on the main cast." And I was like, "Thank you!"

You clearly came in wanting to play differently than you did before. In the premiere, you said your reputation was that you were too nice and that you wanted to come in and show a different side. In this past episode, you declared you weren't going to get in line with everyone, and you wanted to play for yourself. Was that style of play more determined by how things went in your previous seasons, or everything you had been through in the past decade?
It was a mix of both, my previous seasons, and what had happened to me as I've been gone for ten years. The game that I would play would be, "I want to make everybody happy. Don't cause too many waves. I'll just beat you in the challenge. And that way, I don't have to do this whole drama/political thing." Because I mean, we're filming a TV show, ultimately. And some of y'all take it way too seriously. I get it; there's a lot of money on the line. So that is serious.

And then everything that happened in the time that I wasn't on the show just made me look at things a lot differently. You're really by yourself, in your loneliest moments. I mean, of course, I had people that would help, that I could lean on. But you have to take care of things by yourself. And once I started kind of getting into that mode, I was like, "If I ever get back on the show, I'm shooting for the head first. I'm not being everybody's friend." Yeah, I'll be cool. I'm there to have a great time. I'm absolutely honored to be a part of this whole thing. But I'm not coming here to just, "Oh, it's whatever." No, I got kids now, too. I'm trying to get some money for real.

Let's jump to where things ended. From our perspective, it seemed like the elimination between you and Leroy came down to that last ball. And it looked excruciating to have that thing nearly land in the divot and give you the win. How close were you to beating him? Talk to me more about the exhaustion that was mounting as the elimination went along.
Yeah, circling the hole and getting close is...wow. [Laughs.] So the puzzle we were holding had to be a good 50/60 pounds or whatever. But as you're suspended, it's all shoulders and upper body. And then we had to wait and pause and hold for camera movement and stuff like that. It lasted a lot longer than it looked. I mean, of course, you have to edit for time. And there were three rounds. I won the first round. He won the second, and he won the third. But for I'd say maybe three or four days, [pain in] the shoulders, back, the arms up here. I couldn't even put a shirt on. It was because we were up there for a while. It lasted a lot longer than it looked. But it was pretty creative. I liked it. But I was so close to beating him. I still think about it. It was that close. But it's my boy. So I'm not too upset, because that's family.

Talk to me about that. As you mentioned, you and Leroy had lived together. And you actually mentioned on the show that the two of you and Kam were in an alliance. Talk to me about working together, especially with what you were saying before about making sure to be focused on yourself first and foremost.
So the thing about me and Lee, we're realistic. If he and I go play one-on-one basketball, I'm trying to beat him. So we're not just going out there like, "Oh, let's go get some cardio in." I'm trying to beat you. But it doesn't mean I hate you if you beat me or if I beat you. So we were looking at it just like that. Even in elimination, we didn't put each other there. So we didn't really care.

But as far as strategy in the house, of course, we're gonna get as far as we can together. And then if we have to make that decision of, "Hey man, my hands are tied. I gotta vote you in. I gotta go with this." He'd been like, "Alright, I understand. It's all good." But there would be a conversation that would be had, because we're pretty consistent in and outside of the show. The difference with Cara is that we're consistent on the show. We're not consistent outside of the show. So that was a disconnect.

Let's get into that. Arguably, you're talking with me today because you voted Cara in, which she saw as a big betrayal given how you two started on The Challenge together and how she saw you as a legitimate friend. How tough was it for you to decide to send her in?
It was tough, and it wasn't, if that makes any sense. Me and Cara's relationship on the show, it's great. I love it. I'm happy that we can call each other friends. She's probably the face of the whole franchise right now. I mean, her ascension has just been great from where she started to where she is now. And I couldn't be more proud of her. And I'm glad that we're tight. But it's solely based off of the show. We met on the show; we're tight on the show. Outside of the show, she's a hermit. As we've found out about each other, I'm more extroverted; she's more introverted; it's fine. But we don't know that unless we have those conversations. And we only have them when we're in each other's face. And the only time we're in each other's faces is when we're on the show. We don't do that outside of the show. So that's the difference between my relationship with her and my relationship with Lee.

After your elimination, we saw Cara promise to keep up with you outside of the show more. And it's been a while since All Stars 4 was filmed. Has that been the case?
I love her to death. We're working on outside of the show stuff right now. If there were no love there, then it just would have been cut off right there on All Stars 4. But there's so much love there, and there's history there. Even after those seasons that we did together, anytime outside of the season, I would get a call and say, "Hey, we're doing this event. Who would you want to come with you?" She's the first one I'm calling. There's been a couple of events that we've done together. Because I was like, "No, I'm not doing it unless Cara can do it." And so I got her back like that. So we're working on it.

I mean, it's not as big of a deal as everybody's making it. I mean, this show's a competition. And I didn't think she was going to take it as hard as she did, which also is how she is. But now that I've seen it, of course, I feel bad about it. That's my girl. But like I said, the dynamic is different from other relationships that I have. And we're working on it. But it's worth the work. That's how you know it was valuable.

To that point, you even said last elimination that you wished Cara would go so that you can have a clean break and rebuild the relationship once the season ends. So what was it like having her come back and dealing with the fallout?
Well, I was expecting it. I was already like, "What are you gonna do? It's fine. I'll take it. She won and came back; I want to do the same. And now we're even steven, let's talk. Let's keep it moving." Unfortunately, we never got to have that conversation because of what happened. But I was hoping, when I got back in, "Let's talk about it. Let's squash it. And now that I know where your head's at, you know where my head's at--more importantly, our hearts--let's work together and go to a final."

You were among the most outspoken people about Ayanna's drama on the show. You spoke about how she would stir the pot, step back, and let everyone else get burned by the hot water. You even said at one point, "If I could vote for Ayanna twice, I would. But that means she'd come back." I would imagine at least part of that is from some apparently very charged things that were said during the conflict with Janelle that didn't make the edit, and the fact that she was targeting your allies in Kam and Leroy. Talk to me about what it was like coming back from a ten-year break into all this drama.
I didn't know it was gonna be like this. Plus, it's All Stars. Everybody early on kind of touted All Stars as this "retirement home" kind of situation. And then I get to see the roster. And I'm like, "No, we got some, we got some people." Even before we got in the house, we're in the hotel. And Ayanna conveniently "forgets" where her room is one night. And she's knocking on my door. I had just gotten out of the shower, and I crack my door. And she's like, "Oh, I forgot. Is so and so in there?" And she's looking me up and down. I'm like, "Go!" So it was funny, because she was a little flirt with everybody anyway, but she would always be messing with me. So I took it as, "Okay, she's cool. Maybe we can work together." Because I've seen her on the previous All Stars, and she's a beast. And it's my first time meeting her.

But, man, there's so much. Even in that whole little thing that happened [with Kam and Jasmine], my part got cut out. She laid into me. I gave her some heat back, though. But I didn't expect all of that that quickly. When I heard what was going on at that previous challenge, I was like, "I'm gonna go see what I can do with this information." Because how are you going to say out loud in an earshot of me? Knowing that I'm with them, that you want to break that up, and then go and lie about it. Like, "I don't know what you're talking about. Where's the people?"

When she said that, that's when I was walking by. I turned around, and I was like, "Nah." But that part didn't make air. And then they just cut to me sitting on the bed. It was kind of out of order. That's another thing, too. On previous seasons, I would always avoid if the drama wasn't directly with me. I would just be in the corner, or I might try to break up a fight or something like that. I would never be a part of it. But on this one, I was like, "Oh no, no, no, no, no. That's not what happened. I was sitting right there. I heard you. I can't walk by and let you lie."

Well, on that note, in honor of the infamous "[expletive] They Should Have Shown" episode of the old-school days of The Challenge, what's one moment from your time on the show that you wish you had made the edit?
I think probably the relationship with me and Ace. Me and him would sit and talk for a little while, man. And I liked that dude. He's really interesting. And we would like to laugh and joke. He has this dry kind of dark humor that I get. He seems kind of quiet. And he seems like he's in the background. But he's over there talking shit about everybody. It's so funny. But yeah, he's probably one of my favorites. Our conversations and just our interaction, I really wished would have been highlighted.

And then, more importantly, there's one line from TJ that didn't make air from Rachel and Cara's elimination. So right before they started playing, we're standing up there. Cara and Jasmine are going back and forth. But before that happened, TJ was like, "Alright, we've got Cara. We've got Rachel. So guys, what made you come to this decision to put these two in?" And everybody's kind of quiet, and I go, "Well, I always said, 'If I ever got the chance to come back, and I had the chance to vote, and I had control the vote, I was gonna vote in the biggest threats in the house.' And that's what I did." And he was like, "That's probably one of the smartest things I've heard anybody say on this damn show. Because y'all put in all these people you think you can't beat. That's what I'm talking about. Brandon." I was waiting for that to come out, and they didn't air it.

Next, check out our Challenge All Stars Season 4 interview with Kam Williams.