Sometimes, two isn’t better than one.
Nuris Mateo and Horacio Gutierrez Jr. The Challenge Season 40But in an exclusive interview with The Washington Post, Mateo admitted that competing with her boyfriend was tough.
“I have to say I didn’t enjoy it that much, because now I’m not only playing for myself but also for him,” the 29-year-old said.
“I’m very protective of him,” she added.
Mateo explained that Gutierrez Jr.’s appearance on “Battle of the Eras,” which premiered Wednesday, “prevented” him from playing the game with the other 40 cast members.
“I felt like I didn’t really want to socialize with other people,” she says, “I just wanted to be with him. I’m a very social person, so maybe that got in the way a little bit with the game, because I’d rather be in a relationship than be in a bunch of other people.”
“But normally, if he wasn’t around or if I was single, I would definitely be more outgoing and talk to everyone more than I actually am and be more present,” Mateo added. “But either way, I’m not too upset about it.”
Both Mateo and Gutierrez Jr., 28, were new to “The Challenge.” Season 38: “Ride or Dice” They then started dating Season 39: Battle for a New Champion Mateo finished as runner-up.
The “Are You the One?” alum noted that she and Gutierrez Jr. are sure targets for “Battle of the Eras” based on their performances on the last two “Challenge” seasons.
“Horacio is a very competitive player, so he always has a big target on his back no matter what the situation is. He always has,” Mateo explained. “And I was doing well at No. 39, and now we’re together.”
“There’s a lot of eyes on us. A lot of people wanting to get rid of us. We’re a lot of targets right now. But I’m also really grateful to have experienced it on a different level with him.”
As for the upcoming season of the legendary MTV show, Mateo admitted that she would rather compete alone than alongside her boyfriend.
“I think it’s easier to just play your own game,” she said. “I think there’s a social aspect to it, too, because I don’t want to just be with one person.”
“But I think this time has been a little bit harder because he’s been doing other shows and he’s been gone for a long time and then as soon as he turned 40 I was like, ‘I’ve been gone for the last four and a half months’ so we’ve spent a lot of time together just catching up.”
Mateo also shared positive news about his relationship with Gutierrez Jr.
“Our relationship is going great. It’s been going great and it’s almost officially been a year. We filmed ’39’ over a year ago so it’s been unofficially a year, but everything is going really, really well,” she said.
“The Challenge: Battle of the Ages” premieres Wednesday at 8pm ET on MTV.
