The last time CT made his mark on "The Challenge," the dominant competitor departed "Battle of the Exes 2" after his partner Diem fell ill. Now, the "Rivals 2" champ is returning to the game with his longtime love's "bloodline" -- and honoring the memory of his fellow cast member in the process. But before the Bostonian steps into this unique environment (during tomorrow's brand-new episode), he spoke with MTV News about his decision to come back to this familiar turf.

"Originally, I didn’t think I was going to do anything related to TV anymore," the "Real World" alum reveals. "After what had happened, I basically dug myself into a hole and detached myself from everything."

But as the months passed, the beloved vet had a change of heart and felt like he "needed to" re-emerge -- especially after the unbelievable outpouring of comforting messages from his fans.

"I felt some sort of sense of closure – not just for me," he explains. "Not to move on, but to move forward -- with everybody online and the support from everybody and from everyone who has followed D and me. People watched us grow – watched her grow, watched me grow, watched us grow."

And when MTV and (production company) Bunim Murray contacted him about doing a special tribute episode with Diem's sister Faith in Turkey, he knew it was the right moment to let his loyalists know he was "okay."

"If I was going to do it, I can’t think of a better way to do it," CT states. "Where it all started. Diem used to always say 'Faith is my heart, that’s my heart.' To me, it made it a lot easier going into it like this."

How pumped are you to see CT? Sound off in the comments and be sure to catch CT and Diem's sister Faith during "Battle of the Bloodlines" on Wednesday (that's tomorrow!) at 10/9c!