Big Brother alums Tyler Crispen and Alyssa Snider made out during the Thursday, August 31, episode of The Challenge: USA — and they had some interesting wingmen.
While the cast was taking a break from the game and unwinding at a bar, Challenge veterans Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio and Wes Bergmann decided to play matchmaker. “There’s not a lot of entertainment in the Challenge house. The one thing that’s lacking is a little romance,” Johnny, 41, explained during a confessional. “Tyler and Alyssa, this is the longest courting phase I have ever seen.”
Johnny and Wes, 38, then called Alyssa, 25, over to their table and told her that if she wanted to keep Tyler, 28, safe from elimination, she was going to have to kiss him.
“We have control of the way the house votes are gonna go. Let’s just get down to it,” Johnny told her. “You wanna keep this guy around for a little bit? [There’s] one way to save him — and that is by just dirty macking.”
Alyssa got a kick out of the situation. “Our drunk uncles, Bananas and Wes, come up with this plan,” she said during a confessional before making it clear that she was game for the kiss. “Tyler’s such a sweetie, so [I’m] gonna let them think they’re really playing their cards on this one. This one just worked out for me.”
Wes and Bananas then let Tyler in on the plan, who asked, “How does [Alyssa] feel about this?” After the veteran players assured him that Alyssa was down, Tyler made his way over to sit next to Alyssa.
“How do we save me?” he coyly asked her. “We have to save you, we have to,” Alyssa joked before leaning in for a kiss. Wes and Bananas hugged and celebrated as other cast members looked on, smiling and giggling. “I feel saved,” Tyler said, smiling. The pair then continued making out as Johnny shouted, “Encore! Encore!”
Back at the Challenge house, Tyler and Alyssa continued their makeout session in bed. In a confessional, Alyssa noted that the duo were “on the same page” about the game taking precedence over any romantic feelings. “But you can’t deny the connection that Tyler and I have,” she admitted. “He is so cute. I think being in this environment is like a pressure cooker of emotions, so I guess we’ll see what happens.”
While it’s unknown whether Tyler and Alyssa have continued to pursue their romantic connection outside of the game, Alyssa did leave a flirty comment on a photo of Tyler that he shared via Instagram on Thursday. “Lookin good ngl [not gonna lie],” she wrote.
The duo are not strangers to showmances. While competing on Big Brother 20 in 2018, Tyler sparked a romantic connection with Angela Rummans, who competed on season 1 of The Challenge: USA in 2022. Tyler and Angela, 31, went on to date outside of the house and announced their engagement in January 2021. However, they never made it down the aisle. In December 2022, Us Weekly confirmed that the reality stars had split and called off their engagement.
Tyler addressed the breakup during Thursday’s episode of The Challenge: USA. “We were engaged, we were together for four years and then drifted apart,” he said during a confessional. “But it’s all good, it’s all good. It happens, that’s life.”
While talking to Alyssa about how he’s doing post-split, Tyler told her, “I feel like I’m back to myself but, like, [an] elevated version.” He also asked Alyssa how she feels about her split from Kyle Capener, whom she had a showmance with during Big Brother 24 in 2022. (Alyssa and Kyle, 30 — who sparked controversy on the show by seemingly suggesting that the white contestants should stick together — continued dating after leaving the Big Brother house but split in January.)
“[I was] thankful to have that [connection] in that environment. He’s a great person … but he’s not my person,” Alyssa told Tyler of Kyle. Tyler replied, “It’s kind of the same thing [for me].”
The Challenge: USA airs on CBS Thursdays and Sundays at 10 p.m. ET and 9 p.m. ET, respectively.
