“Also playing for him”: The Challenge 40 star Nurys Mateo chimes in on competing alongside boyfriend Horacio 

Nurys Mateo and Horacio Gutierrez Jr returned with The Challenge 40, making it their third run in the series. In Battle of the Eras season, they are a part of Era IV and were seen in episode 1 competing in the Lights Out challenge. While Horacio emerged victorious, Mateo finished last in her era and was sent to the elimination round.

Mateo and Horacio have been on the show since 2021, first appearing in season 38. They started to form chemistry during their season 39 appearance and have been together since.

Before The Challenge 40 premiered on MTV on August 14, 2024, Nurys Mateo spoke about competing alongside boyfriend Horacio in an interview with The Post on August 13, 2024.

“I will say I really didn’t enjoy it too much, because now I’m not only playing for myself, I’m also playing for him,” she said.

---

The Challenge 40 star Nurys Mateo talks about being in the show with Horacio

In the interview with The Post, Nurys Mateo discussed her boyfriend's participation in The Challenge 40 with her. She said that she is very protective of Horacio, and his presence on the show "hindered" her performance.

According to Mateo, she is a very social person, but since Horacio was there with her, she could not socialize with others and ended up spending her time with her boyfriend.

“But normally if he wasn’t there, or if I was single, I definitely would have been more outgoing, talking to everybody more and maybe more present than I actually was. But, regardless, I’m not too upset about it," Mateo said.

She added that the pair was a key part of the last two seasons, and Mateo even was the runner-up for season 39. Because of this, she felt that their fellow season 40 contestants had their eyes on them, and the pair were on target. But even through all that, she is grateful for sharing this experience with Horacio.

“Horacio is the competitor that he is. So regardless he was always going to have a big target on his back. He always has. And then I had a good run on 39. And now we’re together,” she said.

Mateo concluded the conversation by explaining why she spent most of her time on the show with her boyfriend. She mentioned that they had both been busy with work and had been apart for a long time.

“‘Well, we’ve spent the last four and a half months apart.’ So we were spending a lot of time together there trying to play catch up” said the 28-year-old.

---

Nurys Mateo and Horacio Gutierrez Jr relationship timeline

Nurys Mateo and Horacio Gutierrez first met each other on season 38 in 2021. They returned for season 39, titled Battle for a New Champion, and displayed great chemistry throughout their second run on the MTV show.

On The Official Challenge Podcast, Nurys talked about how things started between the two. She said they were flirty on Instagram, and Hotacio used to reply to her stories. They had a song that they used to dance to and it became "their song". She added that it was the little things that made them fall for each other.

During a 2023 Q&A session, Nurys Mateo revealed that they started dating during the filming of season 39. They continued their romance after the Battle for a New Champion season, and while they had hurdles dealing with the long-distance relationship, they pushed through and have been strong ever since.

The fans were rooting for the pair throughout the show, so much so that after season 39, they bombarded Mateo with DMs asking if the couple was still dating. Mateo answered everyone's concerns and posted on Instagram on November 22, 2023, explaining that they were still together.

---

The Challenge 40 premiered on MTV on August 14, at 8 p.m. ET/PT.