The Challenge: Battle For a New Champion brought an uptick in the drama in the fifth episode, which saw tensions rising among various cast members.
Among them were Melissa Reeves and Nurys Mateo, who got a bit chippy during the daily challenge and had a heated argument later at the club.
Nurys walked away from what could have become a physical confrontation as she realized she wanted to keep her anger in check and not explode.
Following the aired episode, Nurys appeared on MTV’s Official Challenge Podcast and talked with hosts Devyn Simone and Da’Vonne Rogers.
During their conversation, Nurys was asked about her situation with another cast member, Olivia Kaiser, with whom she’d previously seemed to have a good friendship.
However, Nurys talked about why she unfollowed Olivia due to some things that may have happened while filming Season 39.
Nurys talks about why she unfollowed Olivia after Season 39 filmed
With Season 39 currently airing on MTV, cast members cannot speak about too much that will occur in the upcoming episodes. However, Nurys teased that something may have happened between her and Olivia to cause a falling out.
During the Official Challenge Podcast, Devyn brought up an Instagram Live video that Olivia did in which she mentioned the “Nurys situation.” That led Devyn to ask Nurys what that was all about.
Nurys said somehow, fans figured out that she’d unfollowed Olivia on social media and were being “nosy” about why they weren’t friends anymore.
That prompted the podcast hosts to ask Nurys to give a clue for the reason behind that. They wondered if maybe it related to Olivia’s friend, Horacio Gutierrez, whom Nurys started dating after Season 39 due to their featured showmance.
“No, not at all. Not at all,” Nurys said before speaking more about the situation.
“One of the few things you can be is a great friend to other people, and I think everybody that’s my actual close friend is someone that the moment they entered my life they haven’t left. I treat my friends the exact same way I want to be treated and the energy wasn’t reciprocated, and sometimes people aren’t meant to stay in your life forever,” she told the hosts.
Nurys explained that some people might only be in your life to “teach you some life lessons, and then you keep it pushing.” She said that’s where she’s “currently at” with Olivia but didn’t elaborate further on what happened.
Nurys isn’t the first to reveal she unfollowed a Season 39 castmate. Tula “Big T” Fazakerley appeared on a previous podcast episode and shared that she’d blocked and unfollowed Corey Lay after filming.
What could’ve caused Nurys and Olivia’s falling out?
As mentioned, Devyn speculated during the podcast chat that whatever happened between Nurys and Olivia involved Horacio, although Nurys said that wasn’t the case.
However, she continued with her speculation that it might be possible that deep down inside, Olivia had feelings toward her Ride or Dies friend, which prompted whatever happened.
Da’Vonne suggested that somewhere along the line during Season 39, Olivia “must’ve crossed Horacio” in terms of the game.
Interestingly, Olivia recently appeared on the Zach Nichols Podcast. She shared a clip from part of the podcast, where Zach’s co-host Pierre brought up Nurys getting a little cuddly and cozy with Horacio in a recent episode.
“A little?” Olivia asked, adding with a smile, “She was full-on straddling.”
When asked if she saw Nurys and Horacio’s showmance and relationship coming, Olivia emphatically told the host, “Hell no!”
During the podcast, Olivia also spoke about how some castmates felt she didn’t deserve to be on Season 39 and that Horacio carried her through their previous season.
Nurys, Olivia, and Horacio were all castmates as rookies on MTV’s The Challenge: Ride or Dies, but each had showmances with other castmates throughout the season.
Olivia and Horacio arrived at the show as friends, making them teammates, and they uiltimately reached the final in their first season. No sparks of interest were shown between Nurys and Horacio during the season.
Meanwhile, Olivia had a showmance with Nurys’ teammate in Ride or Dies, Nelson Thomas, but things ended after the show’s filming.
In her return for Season 39, Olivia seems more focused on winning than exploring showmances. That might lead to her making a big move in the game, which Nurys could view as doublecrossing Horacio.
The Challenge: Battle For a New Champion airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on MTV.