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We’ve been watching The Challenge for years, and we’ve seen plenty of relationships come to a tumultuous end on the show. On Total Madness, it’s Dee Nguyen’s love for Rogan O’Connor that’s in the spotlight.

O’Connor and Nguyen started a romance on War of the Worlds 2, but it was later revealed that O’Connor was using Nguyen. Now, O’Connor is admitting once again that he’s using Nguyen for his personal benefit on the current season of the show. Here’s what he told the Challenge Mania podcast about what he’s up to.

Rogan O’Connor wasn’t taken seriously on ‘The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2’

O’Connor is back on Total Madness and looking for his second win. But when he first started on the show, we can’t forget that he was the first eliminated in his debut season of Vendettas. Luckily, O’Connor was able to redeem himself on War of the Worlds 2 by getting to the end and winning with team U.K. — but he still doesn’t have the respect of fellow players and fans.

His relationship with Nguyen also didn’t do him any favors. Fans roasted O’Connor for being scared to enter eliminations on War of the Worlds 2. And they also thought it was unfair of him for wanting to get Nguyen out of the competition for her perceived weakness as a physical player.

“Now you burned Dee HARDCORE,” a Reddit user mentioned. “The reason you burned her – fear of her gassing out in a finale – you can easily point back to Rogan’s time on Vendettas and say ‘gassed out like you did the last time we saw you running?'”

O’Connor said he used Dee Nguyen out of ‘boredom’ on ‘The Challenge’

Not only did O’Connor not believe that Nguyen had the physical chops to make it through a finale, but he also expressed to fellow competitors on War of the Worlds 2 that he was just using her out of boredom.

On the show, Paulie Calafiore asked O’Connor, “What’s going on with you and Dee?”

To that, O’Connor answered, “I’m bored. Bro, I just come out of like, a three-and-a-half-year relationship. So I come here to have fun. I was like, I’m a come here, I’m single. I’m a do bits here, I’m a do bits there.”

O’Connor’s true motives were exposed at the War of the Worlds 2 finale, and it left Nguyen in tears. Nevertheless, they kept in touch — and Nguyen told Tori Deal on Total Madness that she and O’Connor were still talking every day despite their rocky past.

He admitted to completely using Nguyen once again

So, has O’Connor learned from past mistakes? It seems he hasn’t. He’s out to win Total Madness no matter what, and he told Challenge Mania he’s completely willing to use Nguyen to his benefit if it means he can get to the end.

“Did I get down on one knee and propose to her last season, or was that Jordan and Tori? Or did I try and send her home? I can’t remember,” O’Connor sarcastically told the podcast after claiming he has zero emotional attachment to Nguyen. “No. I’m an opportunist. And I’m a lot smarter than I look.”

O’Connor then remarked on his decision to go against Jay Starrett in an elimination round, which he won. “I played up on every opportunity there was to get in against Jay because I knew I could destroy him the way I did,” he added. “And yeah, I’m sorry if that offends you. And I’m sorry how he landed and got hurt. But I took an opportunity, just like I did last season.”

We’re curious how O’Connor continues through the game and how he’ll play going forward!

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