This article was published prior to Drew Drechsel’s arrest. NBC and American Ninja Warrior have since cut ties with him.

Drew Drechsel is still on his way to Stage Two of the American Ninja Warrior National Finals. However, the path to get there got a little rocky. In one of the more shocking moments of the second night of Stage One, Drew fell on Tire Run. That meant he needed to utilize his Safety Pass to run again and complete the course.

Drew was visibly upset by the outcome. As he told us previously, he had hoped to never need the Safety Pass.

“I’ve got the Safety Pass, not that I want to use it because, yes, falling on Stage One or Two, yes, I get to go again. But that’s a huge hit to your confidence, and confidence goes a long way on the course. If you’re timid or scared about something, chances are you’re probably gonna eat it on that obstacle. You have to go into it with confidence and just approach it with a sense that you can do it. If you fall on something you’ll lose that, and it’s going to make it very hard to get through it a second time if you failed it a first time, knowing how much is on the line.”

David Becker/NBC

But a path forward is a path forward. Drew will put the fall behind him and move into Stage Two. He shared his thoughts with us on what the producers might throw at the competitors on the next few courses.

“I want to see some new things that we’ve never seen before. Adaptability is definitely a skill set I think every Ninja should have. I think there’s going to be some obstacles that we won’t see anymore. Going by the pattern of the past several years, we have seen Wingnuts a lot, and it’s been a major killer. As much as I would like to see it again, I don’t think we will because we don’t see the same obstacle in Stage Two that many years back to back.”

David Becker/NBC

“So, I think that some of our favorite obstacles, we’re going to see new variations of it, or completely a new obstacle altogether. But, that could go one of two ways. Everyone’s been training Wingnuts, so everyone who feels comfortable on it throwing ... But some people don’t. So throwing a new obstacle out there that is not Wingnuts, people will be very happy, but the people who’ve been training Wingnuts all year probably won’t be as happy because that’s an obstacle that they’ve been training all year for they don’t have to do. I did a whole year of rock climbing and then when I came back, the inverted rock wall was no longer there.

David Becker/NBC

As long as Drew can mentally separate himself from the Stage One tumble, we’re confident he’ll still be a top Ninja in this year’s competition. But, you can never get comfortable with Ninja Warrior, and Drew is well aware of that.

“There’s only two things out there that I can control, and that’s having a good time, that’s a good mentality, and then giving it my all. Anything else could happen.”

Drew will run Stage Two of the American Ninja Warrior National Finals on Monday, September 9.