‘The Challenge: USA’ Season 1 Finale: Desi Williams Says Every Woman Knew Enzo Palumbo Would ‘Quit at Some Point’ [EXCLUSIVE]
The Challenge: USA Season 1 finale was filled with surprises — including a number of quits and DQs. For many fans, the most shocking quit came from Enzo Palumbo. He tapped out mid-swim before making it to the first checkpoint. And as a result, his partner for that leg — Desi Williams — was automatically disqualified.
Showbiz Cheat Sheet got the chance to talk to Desi about this unexpected and frustrating turn of events after the two-hour finale aired. Here’s what she had to say.
Desi Williams was ‘terrified’ on the plane ahead of ‘The Challenge: USA’ finale
After the Pole Wrestle elimination challenge sent Alyssa home, the remaining competitors packed up and left the compound to fly to the mountains in Patagonia to start the final race. While on the private plane, Desi says she was “terrified” and didn’t know what she was doing. And, she couldn’t help but wonder what they were about to do “when it’s freezing outside.”
“I was honestly terrified…they literally woke us up at 3 a.m. They were like, eat as much as you can right now cause you might not eat again,” Desi revealed. “They were accurate because the people who ran the final literally did not eat until the final was over. But it’s 3 a.m. and we’re all terrified and we don’t know what we’re doing. And all of a sudden you’re on an airplane.”
Everyone woman knew Enzo was going to ‘quit at some point’
The algorithm returned in the final and paired Desi with Enzo for the first leg. It consisted of a 500-meter swim in freezing water and solving a puzzle. We asked Desi what her first thought was when she found out she was paired with Enzo, and she says she was “almost grateful.”
“You know, almost stupidly now, in retrospect, like I was almost grateful to get Enzo out of the way. I think every woman there knew Enzo was going to quit at some point. We’ve seen him play this game, so we know that he’s totally okay saying, I’m not doing this,” Desi told us.
“But in my head I was like, There’s no way he’s quitting on the first leg of the final. So like, great, I get it out the way and then it’s all uphill. Everything’s going to be better from there. Obviously, that’s not what happened, but that was truly like the mindset. I had to talk myself into that. Like, this is actually the best case scenario.”
Desi Williams credits her pageant training for handling Enzo’s quit so well in ‘The Challenge: USA’ finale
Desi never expected Enzo to quit in the first leg. But, that’s exactly what happened, and it was heartbreaking to watch. Still, Desi handled it with class — and she credits her pageant training for that. She says she didn’t want to have to explain to her mom why she “just said every bad word in the book on national television.”
“I mean, years of pageant training, years of media training…There’s part of me that’s still like, this is going to be on TV,” Desi said.
“But I was obviously devastated. I also just was kind of in a state of shock because, like, quitting was something I never, ever was going to do. Like, I literally had a monster in my head. If I’m not dead, I can keep going. Like that was the mantra I went into the final with. So for him to quit on that first leg, I was in a state of shock. I literally didn’t even know how to respond.”
The Challenge: USA Season 1 is now streaming on Paramount+.
