Kefla Hare Recaps His 25-Year Journey to 'The Challenge: All Stars' Season 4
Kefla Hare
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 a long road (rules) to get Kefla Hare back on The Challenge. After appearing on the very first season (simply dubbed Real World/Road Rules Challenge) back in 1999, he was a face that many thought would be a "one and done," especially with how different the series has changed. But, after 25 years of lying in wait, Kefla finally got his opportunity with All Stars Season 4. Immediately he proved himself with infectious personality, dance moves, and athleticism when he beat Syrus Yarbrough in elimination. Unfortunately, for Kefla, the biggest thing he missed out on in his 25-year hiatus was the key to this season: Building relationships. Every time he wasn't safe, he was the easy target to throw into elimination. And when he got sent in against fellow star-holder Steve Meinke, he suffered a surprising upset. His strength and weight advantage lost out to Steve's wrestling experience, and an injury suffered during the daily had Kefla quite literally at the end of his rope.
Now out of the game, Kefla speaks with Parade.com about how he came back to The Challenge after decades away, what surprised him the most about the season, and how his elimination actually served as a "blessing in disguise" for a larger diagnosis.
Related: Everything to Know About The Challenge: All Stars Season 4
It's been 25 years since we last saw you on The Challenge. A lot of fans, including myself, were surprised to see you back for many reasons. So what led you back to the show after such a long time away?
I've always wanted to. I've had two callbacks for Inferno and Battle of the Sexes. Battle of the Sexes, I had just got engaged to my now-wife. And at the time, I think they were trying to get the rekindled love affair with Roni and myself. And then Inferno, my wife was on bed rest, pregnant with the twins. So I had to turn them down for those two things. And then after that, I just kind of like fell off the chart. But I had spoken to someone once, and he was like, "You're high on the athletics part in the competition. But then when we look at the drama, you don't have that. So they always go for someone that has more drama than that." And so I've always tried to keep the door open. But I was just thinking, "Man, it's going to close in."
So when Mark threw the idea out, he DMed a few of us. And he's like, "What would you think about doing a Challenge with the old school folks like ourselves that started it all? And we do some fun stuff, stuff that won't get as hurt and killed." And I was like, "Dude, you know I'm down!" Because we have so much fun doing the first one. I said, "Hey, whatever you need. You ain't even got to pay me right now. Let's do it." Because it'd just be fun just to you know, create some content with Mark.
And all of a sudden he did the "#WeWantOGs." And that started rolling like wildfire, man. And here it is. And that's what kind of kept me in the loop right there. All Stars makes it safer for the "britter bonelers," people like ourselves. [Laughs.] If you look at the episode, you saw Steve had a CPAP. I had a CPAP also. I had all kinds of stuff. I had cream from my bones and my joints. I had OOFOS, the shoes that "older" people wear now to help them recover better. So this setup was perfect for me to come back in.
Had you been keeping up with The Challenge in your time away? What was your expectation going into All Stars, and how much did the experience defy it?
Well, I didn't keep up with the show as much. Because it hurts me to watch it, knowing that I should have been there. Like, "Dang, why didn't they have me?" I've always tried to keep myself in shape. The only time I wouldn't be in shape is when I hurt myself trying to get in shape. And so every time, I would always look and see who's the new cast. Because I would say, "Oh, they brought such and such back?! I'm ready!" And I would see it and then I just wouldn't watch it. And I would see people and they'd be like, "Hey, so what do you think about The Challenge?" I'd say, "Man, I'm sorry, but I don't watch. I'm not hating. I just don't watch it because it makes me feel some kind of way."
And then so when I got into the house, I really didn't know what to expect. But I did see All Stars Season 1. And that led me to say, "Okay, I can do this. This is not as bad. It's not a lot of drama." Because some of these people are grown. They have jobs they gotta go back to. They can't be messing up their mortgage payments. And so I said, "I can do this." And when I got the call, it was actually for Season 2. I injured my ankle, and thought I was going to do it because I was like, "Well, I can wear a brace." But then right when they said they wanted me, the very next day, the doctor called and said, "We need to do surgery." So they had to do a full reconstruction repair on my ankle as far as the tendons and everything were concerned. And so I had to let them know that I couldn't do it. And that's disappointing. I was like, "God, why did you tease me like this? You bring me right to the door and then you slam it in my face again." But then I told myself, "That's okay. He did it for reason, whatever it is. Just be patient, be faithful, and everything will work its way out."
And I'm glad that I did this one. Because talking to people that did [previous seasons], they said that four was set up much better than the other ones. They said, "Even the way production worked with us, even the gaming, how they had everything design was better." So I felt I felt like that's what God was doing. He was like, "Look, I'm gonna show you. Get ready. But not this one. I got one perfect for you." And it seems like man, he gave me the exact one that I needed. Because I'm getting so much love. And and I'm not even the major piece to the puzzle. And it just feels good. But less and less people know that, even without the drama, even without vying for screen time and camera time, you're still going to be an important factor, an important piece, and influential to a lot of people out there if you just be your authentic self.
So you talk about some injuries that kept you out of previous All Stars seasons. Let's talk about one that arguably took you out. Can you describe what happened with you injuring your hamstring during this past daily challenge?
Yeah, man. It was either the second or third place we had to run to. And I remember, we're running off of the bleachers. And I had to run onto what they call the "pitch." Right when I leave and landed, I tried to explode, and I felt it pop. And I mean, if you ever feel something pop, you know that there's something wrong. And so I did not slow down, but my mind was saying, "Slow down, slow down, slow down." But then the other part of me was saying, "Keep going. If it tears, it tears. Whatever happens, just go full out." And so I just kept rolling, kept rolling, kept rolling. And every time we get to somewhere, it will hurt even more and more. Aand then we go somewhere else and then start hurting more, go somewhere, start hurting more. And that affected me going up the bleachers and all that kind of stuff in that in that challenge.
And so we tried to get therapy. We had a physical therapist come and put stimulation to it. But it just wasn't right, man. And I knew right then from the jump. I said, "I know for a fact, if we don't finish top with this injury, they're going to pounce on me, as they should. They're going to vote me in." Because if I'm injured, and I'm on your team, I may hurt you the next challenge. And I know the game. And so I was expecting to go in without even politicking. I knew what the writing was on the wall.
How much did that affect your elimination performance against Steve?
So when I got into the elimination, that moment when I lift Steve up, my goal was to lift Steve up and the rope, and I was just gonna carry them both so that the rope would come across the board. That was my goal. But as I started moving forward, I felt it snap and twist again. And then that's when I fell. And we started maneuvering and wrestling to the ground. And Steve is a wrestler, and so he got on me. And when he got on me, I was trying to life the rope, which is almost 200+ pounds, Steve is probably right at, I'll say, 190, 200 solid pounds. And every time I would lift, he would land on me and I would lose more breath. Lift, lose more breath. Lift, lose more breath. And it got to the point where I couldn't even put my hands up. I couldn't have any leverage. I couldn't do anything. And I was not getting any oxygen in. And so I was like "Yeah, I can't do this." I couldn't breathe, and I was to the point where I just had to tap out, because I was literally out of breath, like I was gonna pass out. And I was like, "I'd rather tap out than die out."
And so I come to find out after everything, when I went home, my wife was concerned about my health. She was like, "Go to the respiratory doc." Because I couldn't even walk up a flight of stairs without breathing hard. Come to find out, I was only using 76% of my lung capacity. And they said, "It looks like it was fluid and minor scar tissue from probably post-COVID or something like that." So the doctor put me on some treatment, on some inhalers and stuff and to clear that up. And so now I'm in I'm in pretty good shape. I go back in a week or so to get everything finalized and see how it is. But I feel better than I did before I left for the show.
So I think that's a blessing in disguise. Because who knows what would have happened if I went through and how badly I could have damaged myself. But I'm good, good bill of health. But I was good then. And that's what the doctor said. He was like, "I don't know how we didn't pick it up when we did the stress test. We did the stress test and you passed with flying colors. But we didn't do this in-depth test, which shows that people can live perfectly fine like that and exercise. But that explains why you couldn't push past some of those boundaries."
Well I'm so happy to hear you're feeling even better than you did before! Going in against Steve was not your first elimination. You correctly predicted you'd go in against Syrus, as two of the guys who were least connected in the house. Talk to me about the experience of winning your first elimination. Did it leave an impression on the house, booty pop included? [Laughs.]
[Laughs.] Yeah, well, when you come from the South, you learn how to booty pop. That's where it originated! But they set that precedence in the first elimination. When I had the chance to vote, I asked them, "So if this is based off relationships, where does that leave me?" And Ryan was like, "Unfortunately, that's what we have to go by right now." And it makes sense. But I see now where I stand in this group. And so when Syrus and I had to go in, it wasn't that I volunteered. It was just the fact that I told them, "There's no need to politic. Y'all don't have to come to me and say, 'How do you want me to vote?' You vote how you want to vote! If you have to ask me that question, then something's wrong here."
Play the game how you need to play. Because I'd rather for you to be straight up with me in my face and say that you're gonna do something as opposed to you shaking my hand and not lobbying for me, but knowing that you're voting against me. I'd respect you more. And not only that, we're in this house. I don't care if we're in this house for nine months and you vote against me. I'm not going to be having some kind of attitude towards you. Because that's gonna make my day long and worse.
And so when I got injured, I kind of knew I was going in for sure. And they were like, "What do you want it?" I said, "Look, man, y'all know me." And they were like, "I respect you for that. One thing about Kefla, he makes it easier on us. He's not going to tell us, 'Oh, please do this, please do that.'" Just do what you have to do. Do what's best for your gameplay, because I'm gonna do what's best for my gameplay. And of course, they voted me. And I told them, "It's my job to not get in that opportunity where you have to vote me in. And then it's also my job, if I do get voted in, to win so I can get my butt back into the house. It comes on me. It's never on y'all. It's on me. Because I put myself in that position, and I need to get myself out of it."
Finally, 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 some of the relationships that we built. Nicole and I were, really clowning a lot. We would laugh so freaking hard. Like, [In a Nicole impression.] "Kefla, bro, what's going on, man? Yo, come here Keef. Keef, come here, bro." And we would just sit there and be laughing. Even when we're going to the freaking challenge, we're laughing. Going into the elimination, we're laughing. We were just always having a good time. And I had those moments with a lot of people in the house. But of course, they wanted to see what they got. And I understand that; everything can't make the cutting room floor. But that's definitely one thing, the relationship I had with Nicole.
Also, some of the little conversations, TJ would have. For example, when we would pick teams, I would be the last to be picked. And TJ was like, "Yo, y'all must not be watching the same thing I'm watching. Because Kefla's been proving himself every week, every day." And even at the end. I told TJ, like I said, "I understood it was based off of relationships. And everybody up here, I pray that I have put a lasting impression on you. So if we're ever on the show together, I know that now I have somebody that I can build an alliance with. Because I have proven myself worthy of having relationships with all of you." So little things like that, that I wish we could have shown. But I understand the cutting room floor. You can't do that for everybody.
