The Challenge’s Kaycee Clark Sets Her sights on the 2028 Olympics

Kaycee Clark is no stranger to the competition, and the Big brother And Challenge champion focuses on the next highlight: the greatest sporting challenge in the world.

“Flag football is going to be in the 2028 Olympics,” Clark, who played women’s tackle football professionally for nine years, told Refinery29 over Zoom. “I’m kind of skirting around it, but I’m going to get into the flag football world and see where that takes me. Maybe I’ll compete in the Olympics.”

Before the Games come to Los Angeles, Clark is working to regain the title of champion on MTV. The challenge. The new season, which premieres on August 14 and is called “Battle Of The Eras,” is the 40th for the reality competition series and the anniversary brings together 40 legends from the past and present to see which Challenge era and competitor prevail.

This is the first time Clark will be able to measure herself against the best of the best in the show’s history, and she’s excited. “I’ve never played a game with Rachel (Robinson). I’ve never played a game with Cara (Maria Sorbello), never played a game with Emily (Schromm). Mark Long, Derrick (Kosinski),” Clark says. “To be able to see their play styles and how they play the game, and be in the same house as them, it’s really cool.”

Clark, who joins other new faces on the Era 4 team such as Olivia Kaiser, Josh Martinez, Horatio Gutierrez, Jr. and Nurys Mateo, is her own winning force. She’s been on every season since joining the flagship show in Season 35. (Against last year’s no-champ selection in “Battle For A New Champion,” she emerged as a champion during the Chaos eliminations and won.) Clark has reached a final in every one of her competitive spots, including the inaugural World Championship Challengeexcept one, winning “Spies, Lies, And Allies” on her third try. And while the show celebrates her milestone, she’s enjoying her own: her engagement to fellow challenger Nany González.

Later, Clark talks about the wedding plans and how she’s dealing with the stress of the Challenge house, and more about her Olympic ambitions.

Refinery29: Belated congratulations on your engagement to Nany! How’s the wedding planning going?

Kaycee Clark: We are definitely enjoying the engagement phase. We are thinking (of a wedding) sometime in late 2025. Honestly, we are not in a rush, but we are super excited.

Do you find it helpful to live in the same season as your partner, or is it distracting and difficult?

I started playing the game with Nany, my first season (in “Total Madness”), and we created this relationship and this bond that we trust each other. Obviously we’re together — actually, we just celebrated our three-year anniversary last week — so playing the game with her and with everybody that you can absolutely trust and that you know has your back, it makes the game so much easier. It’s stressful in (the Challenge home) so when you have someone who feels like home, that’s everything. This is actually the second time I’ve done a show without (Nany), which is really weird, but I would say I’d rather play the game with her there. This season I was like, ‘Oh my god, I wish babe was here to see all of this.’ It’s always a plus when she’s there.

This is The challenge‘s biggest season ever. What was it like playing with older ex-players that you’ve never really competed with?

First of all, I’ve never been in a house with 39 other people. It’s a lot of people! And a lot of personalities and so much history inside The challenge world. I haven’t looked The challenge before I started (the show), but now that I’ve been around for a while and heard all the stories and everything that’s happened over the years, I was excited to play this game with OGs who literally paved the way.

Who surprised you the most, either in terms of their appearance on the show or their reputation compared to how they are in real life?

You know, I hear a lot of stories about Cara. Cara was, Cara was actually pretty cool. I expected a certain kind of energy, but it was different, so that was cool to see. Emily, I hear, was a beast, and I never played a game with her. She was really cool.

This season places Challengers in different eras based on the season they were on the show, but most of you have relationships that extend beyond your era. How did you find being in Era 4 and was that something that was difficult to navigate?

Being in Era 4 – the new guys on the block – I’m all for it. I get that they have the OGs, and it takes a lot of time for the Challenge fans to accept the newcomers coming into this game Survivor, Big brother, Love Island. That’s understandable, so I think it’s great that we’re the new kids on the block. We also don’t have a deep history like the OGs, so we have a little bit of an advantage because we’re not stepping on each other’s toes and trying to outdo each other. (Era 4) has a Survivor champion, Big brother champion, and Love Island champion, so we have different mindsets within this game, but we remain on the same level.

I think the women are incredible this season, and it almost feels more competitive than the men’s side. I’d love to know what you think about that.

I love competing against the best of the best, and the women this season are strong. Laurel (Stucky), Cara, Rachel, Tori (Deal) — there’s such an amazing handful of elite competitors when it comes to the women. It’s going to be a bloodbath, it’s going to be a conflict.

What is harder: winning Big brother or win The challenge?

They are both tough in their own way. Big brother was longer. The challenge is more physical of course. But they are both mentally and emotionally very challenging. The physical part is cool, whatever, but the mental part that people don’t get to see is intense.

What is your self-care when you are in the Challenge house? How do you maintain your mental well-being?

To stay sober and not panic, I like to write and keep a journal. Luckily, we can take a notebook with us and write down our thoughts. I also like to go outside first thing in the morning when everyone is still asleep. It reminds you that you are in a game and what you are doing this for. A lot of times you get so caught up in this game that it becomes your new normal. The first thing you think about is this game, and all day long, 24/7, you are thinking about this game. You go to sleep thinking about this game. As time goes on, it becomes your normal, and it is so hard to think about the outside world sometimes, so it is really good to disconnect in that way. You don’t have a lot of privacy, you always have a microphone on, you always have cameras on you, so (enjoy) the little things you can do to remind yourself that it is a game and to keep your mind clear.

I can imagine that you are in a pressure cooker all the time with all those different personalities, that it is difficult to be alone for a while.

It’s really important to have people you can talk to about the outside world. There are people you can talk to, and there are people you can’t. And it just makes you feel like you’re at home. People would never understand unless they were actually in the game.

What’s your next step?

I always want to get to that next level. Am I going to compete again? I played women’s tackle football for nine years. Flag football is going to be in the 2028 Olympics (in Los Angeles). I’m kind of tiptoeing around it, but I’m going to go into the flag football world and see where it takes me. Maybe I’ll compete in the Olympics.

Yes to Kaycee Clark in the Olympics! I’m manifesting it.

I think that’s the next best thing! Competing at a high level in The challengeI think, ‘Wow, if I can make it to the Olympics…’ You never know until you try, so we’ll see.

Challenge champion and Olympian. No one else will have that.

Look, I’m trying to get that title! I’m trying to be a three-time champion! Big brother, The challengeand the Olympic Games.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

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