Cory Wharton is still catching heat for his interactions with Izzy Fairthorne on ‘The Challenge: Cutthroat’– and this time, Izzy herself is calling out the father of three for not telling the “full truth” about his relationship status with Taylor Selfridge.
In a new interview with Page Six’s ‘Virtual Reali-Tea,’ Izzy discussed the “sensitive topic” of the “Cory situation,” telling listeners that Cory wasn’t completely honest with her while filming the competition series.
“At the time, obviously I was told what his situation was at home, and maybe it wasn’t the full truth … ,” Izzy said.
As fans know, Cory claimed on the show that he and Taylor– the mother of his two youngest children– were going through some difficulties in their relationship when he left to film the season, despite the two still living together with their children. Though Cory never claimed on the show that he was single, he engaged in some heavy flirtation with Izzy on-camera and even tried at one point to have sex with her in a gazebo outside of the ‘The Challenge’ house.
Cory and Izzy’s on-camera connection ultimately came to an end when Cory left the show after finding out his youngest daughter Maya had suffered a medical emergency. Prior to his exit, however, Cory’s best friend Nelson Thomas pulled Izzy aside privately and asked her to “stay away” from Cory, given his situation at home with Taylor.
“If I go home or not, I’ve got to tell Izzy, ‘Can you please stop?’” Nelson told viewers before speaking directly to Izzy about the situation. “‘Taylor does not deserve this. I know you don’t know who that woman is, but that is the mother of Cory’s kids. She holds it down. Right now is not the time. Figure this sh*t out later down the road. Let Cory figure this out.’”
Izzy told ‘Reali-Tea’ that while she initially believed Cory was being forthright with her about the status of his and Taylor’s relationship, it wasn’t until she was confronted by Nelson that she began to question things.
“ … when Nelson came to me, I was obviously very shocked and taken aback about how rude he was,” Izzy said of Nelson’s ambush. “I was like, ‘What are you on about?’ But then ultimately, that also made me realize, you know, there’s something else going on here and there’s a reason [Nelson’s] doing it.”
Izzy went on to reveal that she and Nelson “actually spent a lot of time together after the show,” and that any ill feelings she had towards him are long gone.
“ … me and Nelson are completely fine now, and I also see his perspective,” she said. “Now I know everything, I’m like, ‘You were just protecting your friend and doing the right thing.’”
While she’s made amends with Nelson, Izzy hinted that she hasn’t forgiven Cory for his previous attempts to blame their ‘Cutthroat’ connection on her.
“There’s been a lot of chat about what Cory had said had actually happened, which wasn’t right,” Izzy said. “He’d obviously come back [home] and said it was me and I was pushing against him, and I’m not going to sit here and let him say that, because it’s not true. And I think you see it in the edit a little bit as well. Luckily they showed it, because if they didn’t, I don’t know what I’d be doing.”
Despite receiving some vindication after the episodes aired, Izzy acknowledged that, in hindsight, she was involved in a “horrible situation.”
“Watching it back, I look at it and I’m like, now [that] I know the full situation, I’m like, that’s not me, that’s not my character,” Izzy said. “I mean, it shouldn’t be me that’s upset, it’s other people in the situation at the end of the day, and it’s horrible.
“It’s horrible to watch, to be honest,” she added.
As you know, Cory initially claimed that the show’s editors were purposely trying to make him look like a “villain” this season, only to issue an apology on social media after the infamous “gazebo” scene aired.
“So I just wanna say this quick, I’ve apologized to the person who needed to hear it the most,” Cory said, referring to Taylor, who has also shared her take on Cory and Izzy’s actions. “I’m gonna continue to handle things behind closed doors. It’s been a very long time since I haven’t been proud of who I see on camera and this is one of those times.
“I’m not trying to make excuses,” he continued. “I’m not trying to put the blame on anybody but myself. I’m a big boy. I knew what I was doing. I didn’t handle myself appropriately for the situation because the harm that it’s causing the people around me.”
Cory also told fans he was “selfish and being a narcissist,” while vowing to “get better” by seeking therapy and continuing to be a “loving and present father.”
New episodes of ‘The Challenge: Cutthroat’ are available to stream Wednesdays on Paramount+.
You can watch a clip from Izzy’s interview below.
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(Photos: Paramount+; Instagram; MTV; Twitter)
