The Challenge: Ride or Dies season has included a cast of seasoned veterans and talented newcomers, including rookies Horacio Gutierrez and Olivia Gutierrez.
Olivia and Horacio not only found themselves with early targets on their backs as potential elimination teams but also found castmates showing their interest in them.
For Horacio, that was vet Laurel Stucky, who had a brief showmance with him until she learned he was interested in someone back home.
Meanwhile, Olivia caught the attention of her castmate, Nelson Thomas, a vet known for several other showmances over his years on reality TV.
During a recent podcast, Olivia shared an update about her situation with Nelson, explaining that they weren’t on the same page after filming.
This report may contain light spoilers from MTV’s The Challenge: Ride or Dies season.
Olivia gave update on her situation after The Challenge 38
Based on comments she gave during an appearance on the Challenge Mania Podcast, Olivia said she and Nelson discontinued their relationship after filming Ride or Dies.
“I’m sure we’ll talk about this at the reunion,” she said during the podcast episode. “I’m not sure what he’s comfortable talking about, but I’ll just leave it at I just didn’t want a relationship or anything, and he had real feelings for me and– not that mine weren’t real– I was just honestly having fun.”
Olivia also told the podcast hosts, Scott Yager and Challenge star Derrick Kosinski, that she and Nelson were on “two different pages,” and he had much deeper feelings than she did.
“Basically, I wanted to friend-zone it, and he did not,” she revealed during her time on Challenge Mania.
Olivia, 30, previously appeared on CBS’ Love Island Season 3, where she and Korey Gandy were the winners. However, the couple split after the season ended.
She arrived at The Challenge with Horacio in the season’s premiere episode, as host TJ Lavin brought in two new teams to the game after revealing Kaycee Clark and her brother Kenny had to leave. Soon after, Nelson showed interest in his new castmate, and things went from there.
Nelson also commented about Olivia on podcast
Just two weeks before Olivia appeared on Challenge Mania, Nelson was their guest on the show. When asked about his relationship with Olivia, he said, “No comment.”
However, he added a bit more, saying, “Right now, my head’s not in the right place to speak on that.”
While he may have been hurt by their relationship not continuing, he still offered words of praise about his castmate and former showmance. During the podcast, Nelson called her “one hell of an athlete” and said she has a “great heart.”
Viewers saw the two getting to know one another through the first seven episodes of Ride or Dies. In Ride or Dies Episode 8, Nelson had to make a tough decision at The Draw after he pulled the “Safe” dagger in The Zone.
That meant he and his teammate Nurys Mateo were safe, but Nelson also had to save one of the other two teams standing there. He opted to save his friend Faysal “Fessy” Shafaat with teammate Moriah Jadea rather than Olivia and her partner Horacio.
That sent Olivia and Horacio into the elimination, where they defeated the team of Jay Starrett and Michele Fitzgerald. Upon arriving back at the house, Olivia seemed fine with Nelson’s game decision as the two embraced.
While they seemed into each other, something clearly didn’t work between Olivia and Nelson as she decided she didn’t want to pursue anything further with him after the show was filmed.
Nelson has previously had showmances or interest in other Challenge castmates, including Ashley “Millionaire” Mitchell and another castmate last season, rookie Berna Canbeldek.
Fans may learn more about Nelson and Olivia’s situation once the Ride or Dies season has concluded and the reunion special arrives on MTV.
The Challenge: Ride or Dies airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on MTV.