The first part of The Challenge: Battle For a New Champion reunion featured a Horacio Gutierrez appearance despite him being away to film another competition show.
It was an emotional moment for his girlfriend, Nurys Mateo. She shared it’d been a rough time for her without him at the reunion to support her as she relived and rehashed all the drama from Season 39.
That included calling out Olivia Kaiser and Jay Starrett, as Nurys went into the season believing they were close friends who had her back.
The issue with Olivia was presented as her backstabbing or betraying Nurys during the season by choosing castmate Moriah Jadea to save from potential elimination rather than her friend Nurys.
At the Season 39 reunion, Nurys and Olivia argued more over what went down, with Olivia getting emotional and crying over their ruined friendship.
There was also mention of Nurys’ brother being on a video call during the season to tell her Olivia had been talking smack about her and would eventually betray her. Based on details at the reunion, this information came from Olivia and Nurys’ Ride or Dies castmate, Aneesa Ferreira.
During a Season 39 reunion segment, Horacio was brought in via live video chat so he could participate. However, more than a few fans called him out for his response to one question about Nurys and Olivia’s situation.
The Challenge’s Horacio was asked about his friend and girlfriend’s drama
Viewers saw Horacio team with Olivia during their rookie season, Ride or Dies, where they were portrayed as good friends and reached the final.
An unfortunate mishap during part one checkpoint task resulted in a severe injury for Olivia, putting her in the hospital and disqualifying them from continuing.
Fast forward to Season 39, where Horacio returned, along with Olivia. However, Olivia indicated she didn’t know her Ride or Dies teammate would be there, as he hadn’t told her pre-season. That led to her forming other bonds with different castmates as allies heading into Season 39.
It also resulted in some surprising game moves, where she even told castmate Jay Starrett she didn’t want to run a final with Horacio. With that, Horacio became a target often, as he was sent into multiple eliminations.
However, he might still be OK with being friends with Olivia. During his appearance at the reunion, host Maria Menounos suggested Horacio is “caught between two women.”
“I’m wondering what you hope for the future?” the reunion host asked him about Nurys and Olivia’s situation.
“I don’t want to step into that. I don’t want to play- I don’t even know how to say it. Be the peacemaker. That’s not my business. That’s not my job. If I have to fix my relationship with Olivia, then I’ll do it. That’s on the side, but between them two? I have nothing really to add,” Horacio said.
Viewers blasted Horacio for his responses during the reunion
While some viewers may have felt Horacio did the right thing by not getting involved in his girlfriend and Ride or Dies friend’s drama, others thought he needed to say or do more.
One commenter indicated that Horacio “seems great” but is “such a simp and push over.”
“Olivia did him wrong, then did his girl wrong, and he refused to pick a side? He’s announcing come at me, and there will never be a consequence,” the commenter said.
Another called him a “great guy” but said, “he needs to let people like OLIVIA know they can’t take advantage of him.”
“What he did here, was just let that door open for her to do this again. STAND YOUR GROUND!!” they wrote.
Additional comments arrived with one individual asking, “Who’s side is Horacio on?”
“He’s really falling for crocodile tears-thought he was smarter than that,” the commenter wrote.
“Sad bc Olivia don’t give AF about Horacio he’s such a nice guy he can’t see it,” another wrote.
As the season’s episodes played out the drama with Nurys, Olivia launched a video podcast with her sister several weeks ago covering various topics, including The Challenge.
During an episode, Olivia shared details about her situation with Nurys and Horacio. That included revealing that she and Horacio weren’t friends before Ride or Dies but rather introduced by an agent and bonded during The Challenge season as teammates.
She also indicated that she’d apologized to Nurys at the reunion and that rebuilding their friendship might involve more one-to-one conversations.
The Challenge: Battle For a New Champion Reunion Part 2 airs Wednesday, March 6 at 8/7c on MTV.
I was so thrilled to see Horacio & Nurys get together but having said that then she takes precedent over Olivia; Horacio could’ve stated as much while still being diplomatic and leaving the door ajar for Olivia in the future. I was so surprised when Olivia chose Moriah over Nurys. He , Horacio, does need to get a bit of a background. But I still love him!