Why Did Cory Wharton Leave ‘The Challenge’?

Cory Wharton has often called himself “the greatest to never win” on The Challenge, and, unfortunately, that nickname will have to remain the same… for now. Warning: The following post contains spoilers for The Challenge Season 42 Episode 7, “You Need Me.”

The title of Wednesday’s (September 9) episode, “You Need Me,” could refer to several different things that happened in the episode, but undoubtedly, the most important meaning of it relates to the call that Cory got from his on-again-off-again girlfriend, Taylor Selfridge, about their daughter’s health crisis.

After a daily challenge got away from Team Gray (more on this in a moment), Cory had a decision to make as the captain — he was the only one immune from elimination as leader — about who to send into the sand against his best friend, Nelson “Nelly” Thomas, from Team Blue. Before he got to that point, though, he heard from Taylor that their littlest daughter, Maya, had taken a turn for the worse and was being transported to Dallas for emergency medical treatment for a collapsing lung, due to her congenital heart defect of tricuspid atresia.

Cory, naturally, was completely despondent and sought comfort in the arms of Nelly, who assured him things would turn out OK with his little girl. He also didn’t hesitate to take the next flight out of Thailand to get home to his family, wishing his teammates the best of luck on his way out.

In April, which would’ve been after his filming was completed on Season 42, Cory wrote about his rush to Maya on his social media page, writing, “My Worst Nightmare became a reality… Being halfway across the globe and getting a phone call saying your daughter is getting Air Vac to Cooks Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas. Is any parent’s worst nightmare. Watching my daughter fight through this has been the hardest thing I’ve ever faced. These days tested everything in me. Fear, pain, uncertainty… all of it. But through it all, Maya never stopped being strong. She reminded me what courage really looks like. I’ll carry this forever. I’ve never been more proud to be her dad.”

A day after the initial post, he shared an update on her condition, writing, “This little girl went through 5 procedures, was put on the ventilator twice… and handled it all with more strength than I could ever explain. What made this so different from her open-heart surgeries is that this time—it was unplanned. No time to mentally prepare, no warning.”

Taylor also shared harrowing footage of Maya during her hospital stay and recovery on her social media channel and, after, also revealed photos of her two weeks later, writing that the recovery had been remarkable.

Taylor has since shared photos of herself with Maya during several family outings, including to Disneyland, Santa Barbara, and more.

Cory’s unexpected exit from the game came after his team narrowly failed to win the daily challenge, “Perfect Match,” which required the players to traverse a half-mile journey in the jungle, grab heavy puzzle pieces two at a time, and transport them back to the beach to assemble them — all the while with the whole team tied together. Though it looked like Chris “C.T.” Tamburello was going to hold Team Orange down, it was ultimately him who put them over the top to win in the puzzle portion, thereby silencing his doubters.

Though it seemed Nelly was a lock to go into elimination, thanks to Josh Goldstein refusing to relinquish his captain title to the comeback veteran in a fiery dispute, host T.J. Lavin announced at the arena that there would be no elimination. However, Team Gray would have to vote in a new captain, and they came to a stalemate twice. T.J. offered them one day to make a decision, but the next morning, when he arrived at the house, it seemed he had some bad news to share… watch this space.

The Challenge, Wednesdays, Paramount+