‘The Challenge’: How Devin Walker’s Mom Played a Part in His and Tori Deal’s Win
The Challenge veterans Devin Walker and Tori Deal teamed up for season 38’s Ride or Dies, where they became first-time champions. The two played a great game, but some essential advice from his mom might also have inadvertently come in handy.
Devin Walker said his mom told them to choose ‘left’ at their next opportunity
After just losing The Challenge: Spies, Lies, and Allies, friends Devin Walker and Tori Deal returned for Ride or Dies as a team.
Despite her ex-fianceé unexpectedly showing up and having to navigate a twist that split them apart, the veterans won the final, notching their first Challenge victory in their seven-season career.
Following their win, the two appeared on MTV’s Official Challenge Podcast, discussing the experience and sharing behind-the-scenes information. For example, Devin revealed that his mother unknowingly played a huge role in their victory.
He explained that he asked his mom what direction to choose, assuming the finalists would have to draw daggers again. According to the team, his mother suggested left due to her identity as a “leftie.” Therefore, they went in that direction to the dark corn maze, following the first stage that required the pairs to throw chalk bombs out of a helicopter onto targets.
His mom inadvertently helped them take the most direct path through the corn maze
Once they arrived, the duo didn’t see Aneesa Ferreira and Jordan Wiseley and thought they received some sort of advantage for finishing the stage first, annoying Tori.
As a result, she demanded they take the right path through the corn maze to host T.J. Lavin.
It turns out that was the most direct way, putting them at least several minutes before Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio and Nany González, who went the opposite direction. The two pointed out that they only went right because his mom initially picked left, inadvertently helping them win.
However, had Tori and Devin not reached the host first, they would have had to compete in elimination against Aneesa and Jordan. While Jordan might have gotten the best of Devin, it’s assumed that Tori would have defeated Aneesa due to her injured ankle. Therefore, the two likely would have ended up facing Bananas and Nany in the last stage.
Tori Deal and Devin are first-time ‘Challenge’ champions
On the final day, the remaining two teams faced a massive multi-step elimination, with the first duo to pull the lever in the middle winning the season.
They started by pulling out nine spears from drywall, similar to Fessy Shafaat’s elimination win against Nelson Thomas, and then removing 200 cinder blocks from the next room to solve a puzzle. The teams were neck and neck until Level 2 when Devin and Tori pulled ahead after Bananas and Nany buried a crucial piece.
Therefore, the two breezed through the following sections until they reached the middle first, becoming first-time champions.
The other finalists returned to watch, and the winners shared their final prize with them, acknowledging their help in the victory. They gave the other three teams $38,000 each, walking away with $772,000 of the million-dollar award. During the podcast, Devin cited tax purposes as another reason why he shared it with the finalists.
