With just one elimination separating the remaining contestants and the finale of The Challenge Australia, Konrad knew he had to put everything on the line to get one step closer to the $200,000 grand prize.
With just four teams remaining, Conor and Kiki managed to secure the win during the daily challenge, at which point Konrad knew he was almost certainly going to end up in the elimination with his partner Brooke Blurton.
"I sort of had this gameplan of flying under the radar as much as I could because I didn't want people thinking, 'We need to get rid of him because he's a contender,'" Konrad told 10 Play.
"I thought the only major win I'd need would be in the final and [I'd] take home the money, but getting picked I thought now I've just got to prove myself... as soon as I knew [the elimination] was something to do with grip, I knew it was going to be a challenge."
The absolutely brutal elimination saw contestants go head-to-head holding onto a pato ball, the first to wrestle the ball out of their opponent's hand two out of three times would win their way into the finale.
Troy, an avid rock climber with Ninja Warrior training, approached the challenge with a strategy to outlast Konrad. Meanwhile, the otherwise gentle Konrad went down the route of brutality, doing everything he could to try and crush, smash and beat Troy into submission.
"There was a point where I picked him up and dropped him on his head," Konrad said, "I thought, this is crazy I could break his neck!"
Both men refused to give up, with Konrad revealing that the elimination lasted over an hour and a half. "The great thing about Troy... he wanted to really fight it out properly.
"I saw him after [the elimination] in Argentina and he was like, man you should have just broken my arm or something. I was like, now you say it!" Konrad joked.
"He's a strong guy, his grip strength is amazing... I mean, my knee was in his face, I picked him up and body-slammed him like 20 times," Konrad added, "it was crazy, it was full-on [but for] $100,000 you want to have a crack."
Getting so close to competing in the finale Konrad admitted was "tough", adding, "I missed out by that one moment. I mean, it is what it is and that's the game. Troy beat me, he deserves to be in the finale and life goes on.
"I didn't have the $100,000 beforehand, but I've got the experience now."
During the show, Konrad experienced multiple highs and lows, locking lips with Megan Marx in a hot tub one week and almost coming to blows with Ryan Gallagher the next.
Looking back at his clash with Ryan, Konrad said it wasn't his proudest moment.
"I don't like confrontation, so I was a little bit embarrassed that he was able to get me to that level... he really just broke me and got me to react that way.
"Looking back on that as a viewer I was kind of a little bit disappointed in myself, but I was also standing up for myself in a sense with the comments he was making and the way he was acting in the house really rubbed me the wrong way," Konrad continued.
While the challenges themselves pushed him out of his comfort zone, Konrad admitted that the social aspect of the game was really what pushed him to his limits.
"I don't know if I'd do [it] again," he said, laughing tentatively. "I'd never say never, but maybe a more wholesome show next?
"It's kind of silly because I had watched a lot of the US seasons," he continued, "I was almost naive to a lot of things going in there when I really probably should have been aware. I was surprised by the social aspect of it, the gameplay, lying, backstabbing and alliances.
"I like to surround myself with positivity and positive people. I don't like conflict, I don't like manipulation, lying and stuff like that... and that's part of The Challenge, it's part of the show. It's not like it wasn't to be expected, it just made me uncomfy!"
The Challenge final episodes airs Tuesday, December 13 at 8.30 on 10 Shake and 10 Play on demand
