"I still think I won"— The Challenge 40 star Horacio discusses elimination task against Derrick

The Challenge: Battle of the Eras or season 40 aired episode 4 on September 4, 2024. The segment saw Derrick and Aneesha compete against Horacio and Jenny from Era 4 in an individual elimination task.

Horacio and Aneesa were eliminated from the show after competing against the above-mentioned cast members in Pick it Up. As per the rules of the show, the contestants had to shoot a ball on a track, run and grab pegs, catch the ball, and insert the pegs into blocks. The first person (male and female) to do so, was safe.

While Aneesa's elimination from the show seemed routine, Horacio's caused chaos on social media. His girlfriend, Nurys Mateo, who also competed in The Challenge season 40, alleged foul play and claimed production helped Derrick win.

While in conversation with Entertainment Weekly, Horacio chimed in on his controversial elimination from the MTV show.

"Most of the time Kyland was telling me, "You're up by one! You're up by two!" I still think I won, but it is what it is," he said.

The cast member also said that everyone had their version of the story but he knew his "truth." He added that there were things that were not aired in the September 4 episode.

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"Nobody in came to help me": The Challenge star Horacio recalls production helping Derrick during season 40 elimination task

During the recent conversation, The Challenge: Battle of the Eras eliminated contestant, Horacio Gutierrez Jr. chimed in on the Pick It Up elimination arena task. He revealed that the pegs were "not stable" and the players had to pick them up if they fell. He said everyone saw production help Derrick.

"Nobody came in to help me when my pegs would fall," he said.

The Challenge season 40 star further said that his ball got stuck on the platform, and while he was picking the pegs, host TJ Lavin tried to blow the horn. He said it didn't work. He said that TJ and Kyland asked him to stop, and he did for about 10 seconds. However, Derrick's task was ongoing, but they didn't air that.

Horacio claimed that when he inserted his last peg, he saw that Derrick's "top right corner" peg was missing. He stated that he told his brother about the same when he returned home. Watching The Challenge season 40 episode 4 back, he realized he was not wrong. He recalled hearing TJ say that Horacio had won.

The Challenge star Horacio further revealed that after the task ended, he spoke to Derrick about wanting to throw a ball on his track to compare. Just as the two did that, production stepped in and asked them not to "touch anything." Horacio said they wanted to "check" something. The crew checked the film for 45 minutes to an hour while they waited.

"After they did whatever they did for an hour and they announced that Derrick won," he added.

The Challenge season 40 star said he asked TJ to explain how Derrick won and the host said he put the 40 pegs in before Horacio. The eliminated contestant said that TJ informed him that Derrick had to do "an extra run" since he didn't understand the rules.

The cast member revealed that Jenny West pointed it out after they announced Derrick as the winner. Horacio said she couldn't "keep quiet" as she felt it was unfair.

Chiming in on the support he received from several season 40 stars online, he said it meant a lot. He praised Jenny, Jordon, and Nurys but clarified that he held nothing against Derrick, TJ Lavin, or the MTV show.

The Challenge season 40 airs episodes weekly on Wednesdays at 8 pm ET on MTV.