The recent episode of MTV’s The Challenge: Battle For a Champion brought a stunning betrayal that seemingly fractured several friendships.
In Episode 16, viewers saw returning finalist Olivia Kaiser backstab her Ride or Dies friend and partner Horacio Gutierrez and his showmance, Nurys Mateo.
Olivia’s decision to save their castmate Moriah Jadea rather than Nurys or Horacio led to the couple’s elimination, along with Kyland Young.
Nurys and Horacio were shocked over Olivia’s decision to keep herself safe ahead of the final and not save them when she had an opportunity.
By the end of the episode, Horacio and Kyland were eliminated by Nurys in the three-person elimination event, ending their chances at competing in the final to become a first-time Challenge winner.
Following the airing of all the drama, Horacio gave some thoughts about his situation with Olivia after the season was filmed – seeming to indicate they weren’t speaking quite as much as before.
Horacio addresses his and Olivia’s friendship after Season 39
According to Horacio, he’s not quite sure where things stand with him and Olivia due to limited contact with her following the filming of Season 39.
Horacio, castmates Kyland, and Ed Eason recently appeared on The Right Reality Podcast. Horacio spoke about his time on Battle For a New Champion, sharing that he’d just left his other reality TV competition show and had only been out for about a week.
He shared that he’d been able to watch five or six episodes so far, and it was “overwhelming” for him to watch so much and read so many comments about what was going on with online drama. He said most of the comments about him on the show seemed positive.
Horacio said he also didn’t have his phone while he was away filming and didn’t attend the Season 39 reunion, so he had a lot of catching up to do. He admitted he’d only spoken to Olivia once since filming the season.
“I don’t know what’s going on with her. She’s kinda doing her thing, I’m doing my thing, and that’s it,” he said.
When the podcast hosts brought up how some people just got put together as Ride or Dies in Season 38, Horacio spoke about reaching the final and what happened with Olivia’s injury, indicating he felt it made them bond even more.
“That really made our relationship grow so much, and I thought it was stronger than ever,” he said, adding, “And then come to realize, I guess it doesn’t really matter, right?”
“Going back to your question, ‘Should you be doing alliances ahead of the show?’ Your alliance can come back to hurt you, and if you don’t have one, it doesn’t hurt,” he said.
“Why go in there with people if they’re gonna turn their back on you?” Horacio asked.
Horacio said Olivia convinced him to do Season 39
During his time on the podcast, Horacio revealed that he doesn’t do all the pregaming like other castmates to prepare for a season. He also admitted he initially hadn’t planned to return for Season 39.
“I don’t care to make alliances. I don’t care to cut deals or anything like that. Obviously, if my closest people are gonna go, then I would love to know that,” he said, adding they usually tell him beforehand.
“For example, this Season 39, I wasn’t gonna go. I was gonna do something else, and so when Olivia reached out, I was like, ‘No, I’m not going,’ and then I finally made the decision probably a week prior to departure.”
He mentioned that once he got to 39 for filming, there were many castmates from his Ride or Dies. However, he didn’t like feeling like everyone thinks you “owe them something” in the game due to their connection with the previous season.
Horacio said it’s “going to be even harder” for him in future seasons as he formed more relationships with new castmates on Season 39.
He reiterated that he doesn’t care about the pregame aspect before The Challenge, as it “just makes the game more difficult.”
The Ride or Dies finalist also spoke about not playing a “scared game,” saying that he only wants to compete against the best of the best in a final, whether it’s Ed Eason, Kyland, CT Tamburello, Jordan Wiseley, Johnny Bananas, or whoever.
“That’s the only way I get better,” Horacio said.
The Challenge: Battle For a New Champion airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on MTV.