Missing the girls! Cory Wharton struggled while filming season 37 of The Challenge since he had to be away from his daughters. The reality star, 30, shares Ryder, 4, with Cheyenne Floyd, and Mila, 15 months, with girlfriend Taylor Selfridge.
“It was hard mentally, just because the people at home were kind of struggling. Cheyenne was pregnant, Ryder was acting up. Taylor was missing me, and I missed Mila’s first steps,” Wharton said on the “Watch With Us” podcast while promoting The Challenge: Spies, Lies and Allies. “So, I’m missing crucial points in my child’s life that, like, I’ll never be able to get back. So that’s kind of hard to swallow.”
The Teen Mom OG star, who returned for his ninth Challenge this year, noted that he is strictly on the show to work, not to party— which wasn’t always the case.
“I don’t have to work a 9 to 5 [job], so that’s a blessing. So, when I do come home after doing a Challenge, I get to spend all my time with my kids. So that’s kinda how I rationalize it,” he told Us. “This one was rough. I’m not gonna lie. This one was real tough. … I missed my kids.”
The Real World alum added that in the last two seasons, he’s made the final, which meant he was gone for a longer amount of time. This season, he was determined to win.
“It was hard for everyone that supports me. There was a lot that went into this,” the Michigan native told Us. “It was definitely stressful and hard, but I think at the end of the day, you just have to do what you feel is best and what everyone feels comfortable with. And, you know, everyone did support me, but I felt a lot of pushback from the people that I love most.”
Some of that drama will play out on the upcoming season of Teen Mom OG, he added. Last month, Floyd, 28, welcomed son Ace with fiancé Zach Davis. However, since she was still pregnant when it was time for Wharton to film, tensions were high.
“Me and Cheyenne get into a couple of arguments,” he told Us. “I’m happy to be in this position to have this opportunity to show people a deeper dive into my life, and kind of what goes on and how me and Cheyenne coparent, and how it’s not always rainbows and butterflies. Like, we do have our fights and we do get into it. But at the end of the day, we always make sure that our focus is back on Ryder.”
As their daughter gets older, however, her feelings are also factored in.
“I think we start to see that it’s starting to affect Ryder a little bit, the time me being away,” he said. “And that’s when I have to kind of take a step back and realize, ‘OK, I’m not going to be able to get this time back in my child’s life.’”
The Challenge debuts on MTV Wednesday, August 11, at 8 p.m. ET.
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