The Greatest Male Players in Challenge History: #23- Tyler Duckworth
6 Seasons: The Duel, Gauntlet III, Cutthroat (Won), Rivals (Won), All Stars 2, All Stars 3
4–4 Elimination Record
6 Challenge Wins
Daily Challenges: 7/10
Eliminations: 8/10
Finals: 9/10
Politics: 7/10
Tyler is one of the hardest players in the history of The Challenge to rank. At his peak, he’s one of the best competitors the show has ever seen. But what do you do when that peak is only for two seasons?
On his first two seasons, Tyler was basically an afterthought. Although he beat his eventual Rivals partner Johnny Bananas in the first elimination (I Can, one of the dumbest eliminations of all time) on The Duel, he was taken out on the next guy’s day by Derrick. He was the second male eliminated again on Gauntlet III, this time by Frank Roessler.
After that he disappeared for awhile, and returned on Cutthroat as an entirely different competitor. Bigger and stronger, Tyler was arguably the best competitor on the red team, taking out his pal Bananas again (this time via CT) and Derrick to essentially destroy the blue team single-handedly.
After earning his first victory on Cutthroat, he came back on Rivals with Johnny and defended his title. Johnny and Tyler were the most consistent team all season, winning three daily challenges, never finishing last and defeating CT and Adam in the final elimination.
Yes, they got extremely lucky that Adam messed up the elimination and that Kenny and Wes’ huge lead after the first day was erased to a mere two-minute head start on day two, but other than CT/Adam they were the best team of the season. When you factor in that Tyler was very sick for the final, it makes his victory even more impressive.
Tyler’s Rivals victory makes him one of just four men (Darrell, Evan and Johnny) to have won back-to-back seasons. He also holds the distinction of being (probably) the best swimmer in the history of the show.
Tyler’s return in the All Stars series didn’t help his career — as he lost to Laterrian on All Stars 2 and Syrus on All Stars 3 — but I won’t hold it against him since he was clearly out of shape.
Politically, it’s tough to gauge Tyler. He was clearly third on the totem pole on the red team, as he had to go into elimination twice while Brad never went in and Dunbar only went in once. On Rivals, he benefited from being partnered with Bananas at the height of JEK’s dominance.
Had Tyler done more seasons after Rivals (he was supposedly going to be partnered with Leroy on Rivals II but was swapped out for Ty), he could have moved up the rankings, but after his first two seasons nobody would have ever imagined he would one day be considered as one of the top males of all time.
