Who are Nelson Thomas and Nurys Mateo from The Challenge? Reality TV stars praise each other in show’s introductory clip

The Challenge:Ride or Dies is set to feature close-knitted relationships and bring people closer together, even exes. One of the teams set to compete in the intense competition is a pair of ex-lovers joining hands to win themselves $1 million. The pair is all-star Nelson Thomas, who is set to compete with his ex-girlfriend Nurys Mateo, who is a social media influencer.

MTV’s press release for the show reads:

"For the first time ever, the critically-acclaimed competition franchise will pair cast members with their "Ride or Die," featuring a cast of best friends, exes, and couples as they navigate the weekly mental and physical warfare together for their share of one million dollars. "

The Challenge is set to premiere on Wednesday, October 12, at 8 pm ET.

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The Challenge – Can exes be friends? Meet Nelson and Nurys as they prepare to prove to the world that they can

The age-old question about ex-partners being friendly is about to be answered on the upcoming season of The Challenge. Reality TV stars Nelson and Nurys are set to prove to the world that you can still be friends after breaking up by competing together for a chance at winning $1 million.

Nurys is one of the rookie contestants who has never appeared on the show, along with other reality TV stars such as Tommy Bracco and Analyse Talavera, who previously appeared on Big Brother.

While Nurys doesn’t have prior experience being on The Challenge, she has appeared on enough shows to know how to make her way to the top. The 27-year-old model and athlete has appeared on multiple MTV shows including Are You The One and Ex on the Beach, where she appeared with Nelson himself.

Her MTV bio reads:

"Nurys and her Ride or Die Nelson dated briefly in the past, but their relationship as friends has only strengthened, and Nurys is up to the task of breaking Nelson's daily Challenge curse, as well as riding with him to his first final win, and of course, hers too."

Balancing off the lack of experience on the show is her ex-boyfriend and teammate Nelson Thomas. While Nelson is yet to win a season, he’s come close multiple times. Nelson has full faith in his partner and in their introductory video said that nobody should be fooled by her face because she is “fiesty.”

The two share a good relationship and had nothing but good things to say about each other. Nurys said that if she had to describe Nelson in one way, she’d say that he is “a big ball of energy.”

Nelson further stated that she was "undeniable" and isn’t afraid of speaking her mind. The two believe that they’re each other’s ride-or-die because they’ve gone through so much together.

Nurys further said:

"We’ve gone from dating or whatever to not talking to being friends to trying to figure out if we could ever be a thing again — to now being great friends, great partners in this game."

They spoke about each other’s strengths and weaknesses and she said that Nelson’s biggest strength is his social game and that everyone loves him. She further stated that his biggest weakness would be swimming.

Speaking about Nurys, Nelson said that her biggest strength is being in control of her emotions and her biggest weakness is her inability to commit. He praised her for her calmness and then joked about getting married to her.

Watch the two in action on MTV as The Challenge airs on October 12 at 8 pm ET.