Sebastian Noel Gives an Update on His Relationship with Tori from 'The Challenge: USA' Season 2
The Challenge: USA season 2 is here! Every week, Parade.com will speak with the CBS reality alumni who were eliminated from the all-star competition.
Sebastian Noel entered his second season of reality TV with a new hairstyle and a new attitude. After making the finale of Survivor: Ghost Island, he was ready to toss his banana Laffy Taffy and "stoney baloney" of five years ago aside to make good at his second chance at victory. But Sebastian seemed to immediately take his eye off the prize when he saw that Tori Deal would be competing on this season. He admitted from the jump that he was attracted to the recent MTV champ, and was able to get close to her when they shared a team for the first half of the season. And though Tori has had torrid affairs with romance on The Challenge, to say the least, the two eventually did get together.
While Sebastian was lying in bed cuddling with Tori, he was also in bed with the Survivor alliance, which up to this week had absolutely dominated and not lost a person. That all would change very quickly, however. When Tori and Faysal Shafaat won the daily, they decided to give a reprieve to the Big Brother slaughter, nominating Survivor alums Chris Underwood and Cassidy Clark. To say Chris spiraled after that would be an understatement for Underwood, as he proceeded to throw as many names as he could to save himself, torching all of his relationships in the process. At the same time, Sebastian was already setting sights on the next target, trying to get veteran Cory Wharton voted in to possibly take him out. Unfortunately for Sebastian, it was he who would be facing off against Chris, as the rest of the house was eager to see a Survivor showdown. And in yet another neck-in-neck battle, Chris was able to literally bounce back, sending Sebastian out.
Now out of the game, Parade.com speaks with Sebastian about his role in the Survivor alliance, his decision to throw out Cory's name, and where his relationship with Tori currently stands.
Related: Everything to Know About The Challenge: USA Season 2
You said you always manifested yourself on The Challenge. What was your reaction when you got the call?
That's a great question, man. Yeah, dude, I was craving it. When I got off Survivor, which is your first TV show, it's this moment of bliss. I was dating Jenna at the time. The first two years after the show, you're floating off this first season and enjoying it all. But after me and Jenna broke up, I just wanted another challenge, another competition. I wanted to compete so bad. I manifested the [expletive] out of this. And honestly, I think it worked. Because after I started manifesting it, here comes the phone call, "Sea bass, we're ready for you." I was so stoked. I was so mentally and physically prepared for this. I was just ready, man. I waited five years. That's a long time.
So you probably come in with this game plan of how you want to do things. And then around the corner come these jet skis with the vets, and specifically Tori, who ends up becoming a huge part of the game to say the least. How did your relationship with Tori change the way you approached this game?
it's crazy, because I came into this game with a straight focus. "No girls. Do not do this again." Because last time I was so sidetracked with with Jenna, and it completely controls your game the way you think. So my grandma, she said, "Don't fall in love again, Sebastian." And I said, "Okay, you got it." First day here comes to her and [I'm] like, "Oh my god, she's so hot."
But it was actually funny because I really didn't watch much of The Challenge [until] a couple of years ago. And my sister, she's like, "Sebastian, you have to watch my favorite competitor on the show, The Challenge. You need to do this show." And it was Tori. She sent me the link to the YouTube clip or whatever of her getting engaged on The Challenge, Jordan getting down on one knee. And I was like, "Damn, she's hot. But she's definitely a competitor. That was the first time I ever saw The Challenge. Three years later, here she comes." And I kind of asked, "Are you kidding me? The only person I really, really studied. And now she's here. "That's kind of manifesting it, right?
That is amazing. So what was your family's reaction to you getting in a relationship with your sister's favorite Challenge player? What's grandma thinking?
She knows I'm a lover, man. She was just like, "I didn't think you'd do it again. But I'm trying to protect your game." Because she watches this show. And she's like, "You can get so sidetracked with love." But I think, honestly, it really didn't pull me in any direction too far. Tori was always with the vets. I was always with Survivors. Just kind of nice to have that connecting link. I would get info from her while we were smuggling and smooching in bed. And it was kind of cool to have her on that side of things. But it didn't really affect my game, besides the fact that I couldn't stop looking at her. I did lose focus a little bit, but not entirely.
Well, to that point, let's get into some of your strategy. You were a part of the dominating Survivor alliance this season. But up to this point, we didn’t really know a lot about the dynamics. What was your role and relationship with the other six fellow castaways?
I was 100% Survivor strong. We saw two Survivors win last season; we made it all the way 'till half of us were [the house. There literally seven Survivors, seven other players. So that's pretty cool to see and work as a whole. But we really were Survivor strong. Like with Monte, they had saved my ass. Because we put all of our votes on Monte, and without the power of that, I could have been against Tyler. So I think working with that really helped me all the way to the end. And it was almost like a shield. Ypu kind of use this like, "We're Survivor strong. Get away from us." And you don't really have to do much when you work as a whole.
But I was definitely a key piece. I saw a lot of other avenues, right as the game started to get hot. Which is when I felt my best in the game, right when I went home. I was feeling ready for more. I wanted so much more right there at the end. And I started talking with Wes and Tori and Bananas at the end. And Fess; Fessy was kind of getting closer and closer to me. And so I missed my opportunity. If I was there for another two weeks or 10 days, whatever it is, I definitely would have been making some moves, because you have to.
You talk about making these bonds with these veterans. Let's talk about your move last episode to try to get Cory into elimination against Chris. We saw from Tori's confessional how it was clearly a misfire to try to turn vets against another vet. What was your intention in doing that?
Yeah, man, nobody was doing [expletive]. Look at every season, Cory and Fessy, they float to the end, they go sleep in their room, and nobody does anything about it. So in my opinion, I'm trying to get the name off my back, because I know I'm probably going in as the only other Survivor male, and everybody's targeting us. So really, any name, but why not go big? Why not try someone that that's not expecting it? I told Tori almost everything. We were so close in that house. So I was just relaying it to her. Of course, she doesn't want to hear that. She wasn't the one that told Cory; he just found out through the people I was whispering around. I probably told too many people about that. But that's something you learned. I was also totally drunk that night. Who knows how loud I was speaking. Butyou have to you have to try while you have the numbers. Especially in my position where I knew I was probably going to go in.
So what was your reaction when Cory confronted you about what you did, and you tried to throw the blame onto Chris?
Yeah, I mean, that night, I think Cory kind of knew about the fact that me and Cassidy and all the Survivor girls were on the same page. I think he kind of knew that night. And I was really not wanting to go have my meeting with the principal the next morning like I got in trouble. It felt like I had to go to the principal's room. But as we get to talk, I knew what was gonna happen. But it was kind of perfect because Chris was definitely spiraling. He was throwing all this [expletive] to everyone. It all started with Chris. Nobody knew what was the truth. So I was like, "I love you, buddy. But you're already in that ring. I'm just gonna throw as much as possible on you and get it off my back, especially when I'm talking face-to-face with the principal."
I wouldn't be doing my job if I asked about what happened with you and Tori after the show. We saw in your last reality TV season that you left the beaches of Fiji in a relationship that lasted years. Was it the same case here in Croatia?
Man, we definitely liked each other a lot, for sure. We, maybe it's the lover I am. I waited in Croatia for her. We got an Airbnb and found a cool little seaside town. So I waited for her. And we had an amazing week. We rented a sailboat with a couple other people from the show. So we had a blast out of Croatia, literally the time of our lives. And then she just happens to be my neighbor in Miami. Neither of us want a boyfriend or girlfriend because, we both just got out of five years; we need to get our mind straight. But yeah, we hang out every week. So I love her. She's awesome, just having her. And Josh lives down there in Miami. It's really cool to have a good little crew of people.
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?
That's a great question, man. I mean, they squeezed this tiny .002% of what they film into the game. So we're waiting for this moment [of] "are these things that happen?" and you just don't see them. They focus so much on the gameplay. I wish they showed us enjoying ourselves like we were the entire time. We go all these excursions. I don't know why they don't show us jumping off the boats, having a blast, go inginto these wineries and stuff like that. I wanted to see more. A little mix of game, fun, love, it's all part of the show for me. And they definitely could have showed a lot more of me and Tori being cute, because they just put a couple of clips of us. I'm not gonna lie; I'm totally drunk on these clips. [Laughs.] Like fumbling my tongue; it's all hanging out. But we were super cute. And we were together the whole time. So I wish they showed a little bit more of us, but you can't ask for that.
Next, check out our interview with Monte Taylor, who was eliminated on The Challenge: USA season 2 episode 8.
