Here's looking at you, Lance Armstrong's Stars On Mars tenure
After courting controversy, Lance Armstrong chose to leave Stars On Mars because of the "social component"
Neil Armstrong made history as the first man to walk on the moon. Lance Armstrong will make history (or…something) as the latest man to walk off the set of Stars On Mars. This marks an end to television’s current biggest drama (all things being relative amid a summer hiatus and a dual strike), which was Armstrong vs. his reality show rival Ariel Winter.
Given that this is reality television we’re talking about, Armstrong and Winter—who have been butting heads the entire season so far—were paired together for a final challenge on Monday’s episode. That was one challenge too many, apparently, because when they both ended up in the bottom three, the controversial cyclist voluntarily bowed out.
“This is a hard part for people to advocate for themselves and you have to make hard decisions, but I will fully confess life on Mars is not easy,” he said (via Entertainment Weekly). “You can’t put 12 strangers in a room and expect everybody to get along and that’s what I’m really struggling with. And so I think going forward that will be a liability, not just for myself, but also for the team.”
In his exit interview, Armstrong said that “The hardest part for me was just the social component.” He added, “I’m not a social person. I didn’t have any expectations about being popular, but every minute of every day that I’ve been here I’ve given it 100 percent. But I’m happy with my decision.”