Tommy Bracco on why his childhood “setbacks” made him join “The Challenge”

Tommy Bracco has told Newsweek about what inspired him to sign up for The Challenge: Ride or Dies.

The reality television and Broadway performer is starring in season 38 of the MTV show, which sees duos put their seemingly unbreakable bonds to the test as they compete to win their share of the $1 million prize.

The competitors include married couples, siblings and exes—and plenty of familiar faces from reality shows such as The Real World, Road Rules, Big Brother, Love Island and Ex on the Beach.

Bracco, 32, who is paired on the show with his former Big Brother co-star and best friend Analyse Talavera, 25, has been open about his asthma and says it was his experience of living with the lung condition that made him join The Challenge lineup.

“I think that it goes back to my partnership with Regeneron and Sanofi through this LungZone campaign,” he told Newsweek, adding: “I always wanted to push myself because of my setbacks as a child. My asthma was a huge deal when I was younger, especially so growing up.”

Bracco has teamed up with LungZone, a website that shares resources for people with moderate to severe asthma to find helpful steps toward better lung health.

“I wanted to prove that I could be a normal kid and do everything that normal kids could do. I’ve always been the kind of person who wanted to push himself to his limits, and so that’s why I grew up as a gymnast, a dancer, then went into Broadway and then started this reality TV world,” Bracco said.

He added that The Challenge was the “perfect way” for him to test his limits but admitted: “It was nothing like I could have ever imagined, way more difficult. But I didn’t have difficulties because of my asthma, which I’m very grateful [for].”

Despite his severe respiratory disease, Bracco said he did not worry about suffering from any symptoms during his time filming the show, hailing asthma medication Dupixent as his savior.

“So my honest truth is that I have not had to worry about my asthma since I started taking Dupixent. I’m a very dramatic person, so sorry to be dramatic, but it really did change my life,” Bracco said. “It really helped me manage my symptoms in ways I could never even have thought of, and the truth is, before, I didn’t know what I was missing.”

As for what’s to come on the rest of this season of The Challenge, Bracco promises fans they should expect the physical challenges to get even “crazier.”

“Just when you thought it couldn’t get any crazier, they find a way to push the envelope. I knew I would be in for a lot, but, man, it was tough!” Bracco said.

The Challenge: Ride or Dies airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on MTV. Episodes can also be streamed live on Philo, fuboTV, Sling, DirecTV Stream and Paramount+.