The Challenge Season 39 star Nurys Mateo is standing by her man following critical comments by Zach Nichols.
Zach, who won Battle of the Seasons with several castmates, questioned if Horacio Gutierrez is really as “honorable” in real life as he appears on MTV’s The Challenge.
During a recent episode of Zach Nichols Podcast, Zach and his guest, Challenge Mania podcast host Scott Yager, spoke about Horacio being loyal and always accepting the moves made against him by castmates without backlash.
They discussed how Corey Lay and his three teammates won Episode 13’s daily challenge and picked Horacio as one of the two elimination candidates. That happened after Horacio’s three teammates sabotaged their team, ensuring he wouldn’t win the event.
Zach and Scott agreed it was the smart move by Corey to try to get rid of a significant threat to him in the final. Horacio reached the previous season’s final with teammate Olivia Kaiser.
Scott started to talk about Horacio “being such an honorable dude,” but Zach interrupted to call out the Season 39 star.
Zach questions if Season 39’s Horacio ‘is that honorable’
“Do you think he’s really that honorable?” Zach asked Scott, adding, “Or do you think he just knows what he’s saying? Nobody is that honorable.”
Scott contended that Horacio’s approach to the game is “coming from an honorable place for him.” However, he said it’s bad for Horacio’s Challenge game since he’s always OK with the game moves when people nominate him for elimination.
“I’d like to see more out of him. I don’t think he’s giving us enough,” Zach said, adding he didn’t think Horacio is “genuinely so gracious about everything.”
Zach continued, calling out Horacio for always saying, “It’s just another opportunity to prove myself” when he’s “the most proven mother****er in this house.”
The former Challenge winner also said he wants Horacio to say how he really feels, even if he’s frustrated by the game moves.
Nurys defended Horacio as an ‘honorable’ guy
As Zach’s podcast remarks arrived, Horacio is currently away filming for another reality competition series, so he’s not on social media.
His girlfriend Nurys stopped by a Zach Nichols Podcast Instagram post to give her thoughts about the matter.
“Horacio is 100% honorable and if you don’t agree it’s because you arent, simple as that,” she wrote.
In a reply to her original comment, she said Horacio didn’t pick up the fact he was being “sabotaged” by castmates in the recent episode’s daily challenge.
“He’s so innocent that he didn’t pick up on it but that’s why he has me,” she commented.
During the episode’s daily challenge, Horacio was randomly put on a team featuring three members of Jay’s alliance: Asaf Goren, Colleen Schneider, and Michele Fitzgerald.
That was bad news for Horacio, as his teammates sabotaged his opportunity to win the event, making it easier for the winning team to pick him to go into the elimination. He did get some luck while at The Arena, as returning champ Brad Fiorenza randomly drew Kyland Young as his opponent, not Horacio.
While Horacio reached the final as a rookie in Season 38, he’s still learning the game’s intricacies in his second season. As he continues, he will likely better grasp how to navigate the backstabbing, sabotaging, and other drama that goes down.
The Challenge: Battle For a New Champion airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on MTV.