‘The Challenge USA’: Shannon St. Clair Thought She Was Going on Vacation, Not ‘the Challenge’
Love Island USA alum Shannon St. Clair wasn’t prepared to appear on The Challenge: USA. In a recent interview, she admitted she planned for a two-week vacation as an alternate and didn’t expect to end up on the show.
Shannon St. Clair was an alternate for ‘The Challenge: USA’
In the summer of 2021, Shannon St. Clair made her reality TV debut on Love Island USA. A few months later, she joined the cast of The Challenge USA alongside other season 3 alums Cashay Proudfoot and Cinco Holland Jr. Although she flew under the radar, she was perceived as a weaker player and eliminated during Week 6 after revealing she injured her hamstring.
Following her exit, Shannon went on MTV’s Official Challenge podcast, where she discussed her first, and probably last, appearance on the competition show. At the beginning of the season, Shannon cried and seemed uninterested in participating, annoying a few of the players.
She clarified this on the podcast, explaining that she and then-boyfriend Josh Goldstein expected to compete together. They were flown to Argentina as alternates or players who only entered the game if something happened to a main cast member, and Shannon thought she would be tanning in her swimsuit for two weeks over her birthday.
Considering it a vacation, the reality personality admitted she didn’t prepare to compete and hadn’t watched Big Brother or Survivor. If Shannon knew she would become a cast member, the Love Island alum claims she would have researched the other competitors and studied how they performed on their previous shows. While Shannon ended up participating, Josh didn’t. The couple broke up shortly after she returned from the competition.
Shannon went home during Week 6 of ‘The Challenge: USA’
Shannon remained under the radar as part of the Love Island alliance, but the others considered her, and others representing the dating series, weak players.
She failed to win a daily mission with any partner but avoided elimination as those in power preferred to satisfy vendettas or target bigger threats.
During Week 6, paired up with Derek Xiao, the reality personality announced she injured her hamstring while competing in the challenge. On the podcast, Shannon said she regretted her decision, noting she only meant to communicate that with Derek.
Regardless, the others heard and ultimately chose to send the pair into elimination. Facing the daily mission losers Enzo Palumbo and Justine Ndiba, the two failed to pull out the win and went home.
Shannon and Josh Goldstein broke up in June 2022
Josh and Shannon met on Love Island USA in July 2021, where they coupled up after the first impressions. The two were inseparable but hit a bump when bombshell Aimee Flores entered the villa.
They eventually overcame it, started dating, and solidified their connection with a private night in the Hideaway Suite.
Even though they appeared to be frontrunners to win America’s Favorite Couple, the pair left the experience together due to his sister’s death.
After their exit, they remained by each other’s side and began living together. However, in June 2022, the two announced their separation after 10 months of dating in a joint post on Instagram. The Challenge: USA airs Wednesdays on CBS.
