Nurys Mateo SaysThe Challenge 40'Changed Everything' for Her and Olivia: 'In a Great Place Now' (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Nothing repairs friendships like being forced to work together.

But on theBattle of the Eras, Mateo and Kaiser will compete on the same team as part of Era 4.

“I’m a very forgiving person,” Mateo tells PEOPLE. “So when I went in there, I told myself, I was like, ‘I most likely will forgive her, but we probably won’t be friends." Then you get there and TJ’s like, ‘You guys are in a team.’ ”

Mateo says that having to work together “changed everything” for her.

“I was like, ‘Well, now we actually have to ride together, because we’re in the same era and it’s us against them,” Mateo says of going up against the other three eras. “So in that moment, I think I was like, ‘All right, I have to be cool.’ But also, I will say I’m such a little softie, I saw her and I was like, ‘I want to hang out with them. I want to talk to them.’ So it was a lot easier to fall back into the friendship.”

TheAre You the One?alum can’t say exactly how things played out onBattle of the Erasbetween her and Kaiser, but “it ended up that we’re in a great place now,” she teases. “There’s no hate on my end at all, and I’m pretty sure there’s no hate on her end either. We’re slowly building on things.”

Mateo knows thatThe Challengetests friendships, however, she says, “I’m hoping if I have any other crazy rivalries in the future, I am glad that it’s not going to be me and her.”

As she repaired her relationship with Kaiser on season 40, Mateo had a solid supporter in boyfriend Horacio Gutiérrez Jr., who also competed in Era 4.

Phillip Faraone/Getty

Still, Mateo recognizes that couples often have targets on their back inThe Challenge.

“Regardless of if we weren’t together, I think we would’ve had some type of a target,” she says. “Obviously, he’s a great competitor, and then 39 went so well for me that I went in there already nervous. Us being together I definitely didn’t think helped.”

Despite having a successful season onBattle for a New Championship(Mateo came in second and won $60,000), theEx on the Beachvet worried about going up against some of the biggest winners inChallengehistory on season 40.

“Season 39, it was just a bunch of us that were newbies on there, and then you hear about 40, and you start hearing who’s going to be on the cast, and I’m just like, OK, so I just played with all the newbies, now I’m going to play with all the OGs that I’ve been growing up watching?” Mateo says. “I’m like, I have big shoes to fill. I have to not only prove it to them, I felt like prove it to myself too, that I deserve to be there alongside of the greats."

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source: people.com