EXCLUSIVE | 'The Titan Games' Season 2: Haley says she wondered if 'petite' Hannah would have a lot of power
It's the East's time to shine. Last week, Haley Johnson steamrolled her opponent Cynthia Gauthier at numerous tasks and then gold-medalist Hannah Teter at Mount Olympus and became the reigning Titan.
In an exclusive interview to MEA WorldWide (MEAWW), Haley opened up about her experiences of being on the show and going up against Hannah. She said, "I knew she was going to be fast and very agile, but I when I saw her, when I met her in person, she's very petite. Petite individual. So I was very curious as to whether she would have a lot of power and strength. So initially going up, I remember when we first started, she was actually faster than me for the first couple of obstacles. When it came to the box, that's kind of where things got set apart. I just kept remembering that I had a lot to prove going up against someone of such high stature."
Haley, who is an army nurse, revealed that she has had a lot of training in the past. "I've done obstacle courses in the past being, you know, with the military. I've done them through high school and then in college, and then now I'm outside, you know, active duty. Athletic endeavors that I've done, you know, can come together and prepare you for something like that, but nothing really prepares you for the unknown."
On the show, Haley had opened up about her late father and what an inspiration he had been for her to join the show. Opening up more about this, Haley said, "My dad was definitely the inspiration. When I was first going through the application process, he had just gotten sick. My parents both had always loved American Ninja warrior, shows like this and they always thought that I would be great for something like this. So I knew that once I got reached out about this opportunity, it was something that I had to at least try for because my parents believed in me so much. So I went to the combine, knowing that that's what he would have wanted me to do, even though it was really hard for me. To kind of take the time away from my family, at such intimate moments of our lives was hard and they all pushed me to go. I had to do this for him."
Haley says that she bonded well with the rest of the participants. "We all hung out. We traveled in groups to go when we weren't on set, we would do things in Atlanta together. We would eat together. We kind of like formed a little family. I think the people I was closest to was, Cynthia, the person I actually competed against in the first round. We were close. We actually hung out in LA for the tryout. So we traveled and, you know, went to the Hollywood sign and everything like that together. And then we had no idea we would be going head to head whenever the show actually aired. So her and then Michelle Lewis, who is also in Georgia. And then, of course, Blake Wright, who was on the first episode," said Haley.
Speaking about how it felt to be around Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, who is the host, she said, "So it was kind of off at first... It felt like a larger than life moment. But you know, he walks in, you get to talk to him and then the next time you see him is really when you're finishing the competition. So I think a lot of whether you won or lost, you know, you're still gonna get the hug, the Rock at the end of it. So I think everyone ended up okay. Regardless of that outcome."
'The Titan Games' airs on NBC, Mondays at 8 pm ET.