The Challenge All Stars: Rivals is here! Throughout the season, Parade.com will speak with the challengers who were eliminated from the all-star competition.
The last time we saw Ashley Kelsey on The Challenge, she was completely different. It was eight years ago, her second season after winning in her debut on the MTV reality series. And she had kindled a relationship with Dario Medrano. Suffice it to say, when she made her return to the franchise on All Stars, a lot had happened in the interim. Ashley was living happily were her young daughter. But Dario was not in the picture, as the two had not only broken it off six years ago, but haven’t spoken since.
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So Ashley’s dream of getting to return to the show that gave her so much quickly became a nightmare when she found out she would not only be on the same season as her ex, but be partnered with him. The two definitely had the most unique “rivalry” among the cast, with years of things left unsaid pent up. But they were able to prevail despite the tension, becoming a star holder early on and even communicating well enough to win an elimination. It was right after that victory where they finally had a sitdown to hash out everything left unsaid. But it was just when Ashley and Dario were getting on the same page that the chapter of their Challenge career closed. With the majority of the house going after star holders, they were once again thrown into elimination against Turbo and Nany Gonzalez. Unfortunately, the stars weren’t aligned for Ashley and Dario on their star puzzle, sending them off without a win, but a reconciliation.
Now out of the game, Ashley speaks with Parade about where she and Dario stand now, forming a relationship with Amber (and how she nearly didn’t vote her into elimination), and how she reacts to Devin calling her “bottom of the barrel” casting.
Related: Everything to Know About The Challenge All Stars: Rivals
It has been almost a decade since we last saw you on The Challenge. What was your reaction to making your return after such a long time away?
I was very excited. It felt like the perfect moment for me. I hadn’t said yes previously. I’ve been asked for a couple of All Stars. But my daughter was too young, and I was like, “She can fully communicate. She’s fully potty trained. I think I’ll be confident enough.” But I was so nervous, let me tell you, Oh my gosh, when I got in that hotel, I was so overwhelmed and overstimulated. Because I hadn’t been in that environment so long, and I almost forgot what it’s like. And I was like, “Okay, I’m back here in cuckoo land.”
Well, you’re given an immediate reality check when you find out that not only is your ex, who you haven’t spoken to in six years, on the season, but he’s also your partner. What was your reaction to that?
Listen, I was not mad about him being my partner. Because I knew we would do well, because he’s a great person. I knew we’d be able to compete well. Now, outside of that, I didn’t really know. And that’s what made me so nervous. I’m like, “I have not talked to this person in almost six years at the time.” That’s a very long time to go from cut and dry, “I don’t want to talk to you,” to “Oh, hi, we’re partners now.”
And there was absolutely no closure at the end of it. So it was definitely one of those situations where I’m like, “Oh my gosh, I’m so nervous.” I didn’t realize he was going to be in the room that I went in. Straight off the airplane, I’m like, “What do I look like?” [Laughs.] Also, you never actually know what the theme is going to be. We can all make our guesses, and we see who’s there. But you don’t know until you step on that sand of who you’re actually working with, where it’s the confirmation. You can tell how nervous I was. I’m like, “Hi!” [Tilts head nervously.]
Do you feel like what we got to see of you and Dario fully highlighted what happened with your relationship six years ago? Or was there more to the story that we didn’t get to see?
There was definitely way more to the story. But I feel like at this point, I was so far all gone from it that I didn’t want to hash to any of the negative. I was like, “We have to work together. I’m not going to sit here and list the things you did wrong.” But at the same time, when we had this conversation in the house, I said so many things. Like, when we moved to Vegas, I did that for him. And, when you solely do something for somebody else, that usually doesn’t end well for you, because you gotta have a little skin in the game. And I felt like that was the change of our relationship. I felt like he got kind of back in the scene. People were giving him attention, and he liked that. It was kind of like, “Where’s Ashley?”
I remember I was explaining this. There were so many nights where he’d be like, “Oh, we’re going out with the crew,” because he was working down at the pools. And the first time, I’m like, “Okay, he wants to go with his friends.” Second time, like, “Okay, he wants to go with his friends.” And it just kept happening. So in that conversation, when he’s like, “I just didn’t want to watch her cry,” it wasn’t because I was just crying about him. It was crying because he was doing things to hurt me. So those little things I wish they had put in, because they would have given it more depth and a little bit of a background of what had happened. More than him just being like, “Oh, it’s because she wanted X, Y and Z.” Yeah, at some point, I would have wanted that. But let’s just talk about the things you were doing. So I do wish that the conversation we did have, they put a little bit of my meat in it, and not just what he said. But I think they kind of got the point, though. At least you have complete responsibility and didn’t try to deflect. Because usually men deflect, and he didn’t.
How much did that sitdown after your first elimination change your dynamic?
I felt like we had this uncomfortableness around us. And in the house, I was hanging out with certain people, and we would go to the challenge and compete. But I wouldn’t really necessarily be hanging out with him outside of it. And I feel like once we got that all out, and it felt less awkward. It was like, “Oh, let’s all hang out. Let’s go to the pool.” It was like us more being friends outside of just the game. I think that’s so important, because you can’t communicate. So it just definitely opened up the lines of communication more and us hanging out outside of the game.
So speaking of some of those connections you were making, let’s talk about Frank and Sam, your fellow Real World cast members. Talk to me about your relationship. And what was your reaction to the wheeling and dealing Frank was doing?
So Frank, we had been friends throughout all the years. People don’t know that, when I moved to LA, I lived with him for a month. He helped me find my apartment. We had a connection that had grown way bigger than our Real World season. Sam, I had talked to on and off, but we hadn’t seen each other in so long. But it was so nice to have familiar faces and people that you knew were going to have your back 150%. I knew no matter what, he got me. The issue with that is Frank had to play his own game, and his game wasn’t necessarily a physical “go in there and win those challenges.” So for me, he was playing his own game with teams that weren’t playing with me. And so they were helping him, and I was kind of attached to that. But as the days and weeks go on, I was moved. My team was going farther and farther away the closer he got to other people. Because they don’t care about me, and they also didn’t care about my team, because we were a strong team. So it had pluses and minuses. I always knew he’s going to have my back. But also, I was like, “You have to play your own strategic game. That isn’t always going to be the best moves for me.”
Let’s go from old connections to new ones. You clearly struck up a bond with Amber, starting from apparently the plane ride to Vietnam. Talk to me about your relationship, and how did you react when she was so upset you voted her into elimination?
So me and Amber met on the plane, and we would chat about our girls. She was crying; I was crying. We were just the crying moms, just a hot mess. And so we were instantly connected. And what’s crazy is I kind of knew I was gonna like her right off the bat. And so we hung out all the time. And what people don’t know about this decision, though, is, the week before she goes home, the one that I go in that, I was asked to throw them in. So I was told I was the number they needed to vote for Fessy and Amber. And I said no. There was no question. “Absolutely not. Figure it out.” And it ended up flipping on me, and then we ended up going in. So I was like, “Okay, that didn’t work out in my favor. But thank God we won.”
So when they come up again, I’m like, “They’re gonna keep coming up until they go in. Unfortunately, that’s just what’s gonna happen.” And now I have Fessy and Amber or it’s gonna be Frank and Sam. And I have always sai, Frank and Sam are my number ones. They were gonna always be my number ones. I’ve known them for 13 years. If it’s gonna put them in danger, I can’t do it. So I was about to stalemate and not say their name at all. And Dario looked at me and was like, “I will throw you in this river if you do that. We have to vote for them.” Who knows what’s going to happen? And we’ll probably get sent in again, and then we’re probably going against Frank and Sam. So he was like, “You got to just do it this time. I understand you wanted to save them last week, and you did. But like this time, we gotta think of ourselves a little more.” So that’s why it all happened. And it didn’t really necessarily show all that obviously, because they can’t show every little thing that happens. But that’s why I made the decision, and I did tell them ahead of time. Dario didn’t want to tell them. He’s like, “We’re not telling them.” I’m like, “Yes, we are 100% taking them aside.” Because he didn’t have as much of an investment in them as I did, because he didn’t hang out with them like I did.
Why were you two so far on the outs of what was happening? Was it due at all to the fact that you were the least connected to others in the house?
So I think we were on the outs of it because we were one of the strong teams, but then the outliers. I mean, we were the one that was always coming in third. So it was like a dominant team. But like, “Do we care what happens to them?” The same thing kind of happened with me in Champs vs. Pros. I was friends with everybody. I wasn’t doing Dirty 30, and they all knew it. And I was the girl, even though I was doing really well, and they all loved me. They were like, “We can piss her off because she’s not coming with us to the next challenge.” And it was kind of the same situation where it’s like, “They won’t be upset.” We weren’t playing enough of our own personal politics. That’s what I think was the big problem looking back. We were kind of relying on Frank to do that job for us. But we weren’t a team of four; we were a team of two. And so he was building these stronger connections, and getting his game set up, and I wasn’t. I wasn’t doing that for myself. I was just kind of hoping and praying that we were just not going to be targeted again, when I should have just been much more aware of the fact that we were going to be going in.
I’d be remiss not to ask about where you and Dario stand today. Are you back in each other’s lives? Or was this more so an opportunity to finally get some closure and move on?
I think we got what we had to get out. And I think that I almost set a higher expectation of being friends with him afterwards. And we’re friend. We totally like each other; it’s nothing like that. But it’s definitely just separate ways, but we’re friends. Do you know what I mean? It’s not something that we’re chatting back and forth every day, like that kind of friendship. But it is nice to know that I could text him if I needed to, or call him. Or if I would happen to be in the area, we could have dinner, and it’s just fine. I feel like that’s kind of where we’re at now.
It’s been interesting to watch some pairs of rivals this season walk out with an emotional victory rather than a literal one. :And you being able to close one chapter of your life definitely feels like one.
To be honest with you, Invasion because we came in so late in the game, and I got a concussion, I was the first one we voted out. Because obviously I was hurt; I was injured. And they were like, “Okay, we’re definitely gonna send Ashley in. It’s easiest.” I didn’t really get to play the game. I didn’t get to come back and do a challenge. So coming back this season, I got to play. And I played for a really long time, and we did very well. I think we were inches away from getting that actual win, which would probably would have happened if we didn’t end up going in that elimination. But we were so close. And I feel like I just did very well for what I thought was going to happen based on, leaving my daughter for the first time in her entire life, being away from her like that, doing this first thing for myself in years. I hadn’t done anything for myself prior to even having my child. It’s always been about someone else. It’s nice to be able to come back and actually do well.
To that point, would you want to return for more All Stars seasons? And how do you react to Devin using you and Dario as examples of “bottom of the barrel” casting?
I mean, I won my first season. I came in and won a bunch of money right away. So I don’t know how I’m bottom of the barrel. And I’ve done multiple shows. I think he didn’t know who I was going into it. I’ve never met Devin in my life, so he’s got a lot to say. That’s the funny part about Devin. I feel like he’s got a lot to say when no one’s saying anything negative back about him. So that’s very interesting, especially because I spent a lot of time with him. We hung out in the house. Devin is actually really funny. He’s a funny guy, but he had never met me prior to that. So, I mean, I don’t necessarily blame him for not being like, “I don’t really know who she is.” I mean, I wasn’t there on a lot of seasons too. But regardless, whatever. I think I would come back. I think it’d be really fun. I think that I came very close to making it to the end anyway. And so, I mean, I made it past him. So bottom of the barrel, I guess, isn’t that bad!
Related: ‘The Challenge All Stars: Rivals’ Star Amber Borzotra Explains Why She Lashed Out at Frank: ‘I Take Things Personal’ (Exclusive)
