In the ultimate shock of the season, Olivia prioritized her safety and betrayed her alliance. She made a deal to get picked early in the voting process, and she had the opportunity to keep her BFF Nurys and her Ride or Die Horacio safe. Instead, she stuck to her deal and saved Moriah.
It feels like The Challenge has been building up to this moment for weeks. At one point, Nurys’ brother called and warned his sister that Olivia was a fake friend. Nurys ignored the morning, but it seems like she got burned in the end. We also saw Olivia question Horacio’s loyalty, but she never had anything to worry about. Last week, Horacio insisted that Nurys save Olivia over him.
It seems these two have been really loyal — so why would Olivia ever compromise this?
We know that Jay’s primary targets were Horacio and Kyland, and given the fact that he was in power, he was going to get what he wants. This meant the third person in the conquest elimination was bound to be Olivia, Nurys, or maybe Colleen. Regardless of the third nominee, Nurys felt it was wrong for Horacio, who’s a loyal player, to have to continuously go in — to the point that she was ready to quit.
When she was talking with Michele, Olivia referenced the fact that she could be going into elimination when Nurys was ready to give up, and it seems this pulled it Michele’s heartstrings. And in all honesty, it would really suck to go into elimination when a competitor who didn’t want to play got to stay in the game.
Clearly, Nurys’ heart was in the game. She won the elimination, but Kyland and Horacio went home. Perhaps Olivia saw the writing on the wall: She was going to lose an ally (she didn’t know two people would leave) and Jay’s alliance was going to grow proportionally larger.
From a selfish standpoint, there is some logic. Not only will this allow Olivia to stick around longer, but she was the third pick during this vote. So, it’s not like she’d be trading sides just to be first on the chopping block in Jay’s alliance. Likely, people like Berna, Colleen, and James would get cut sooner.
Regardless of any logic, this is a move that cut really deep. While there is sincerity in Michele’s friendship, she hasn’t made compromises to maintain that relationship like Nurys and Horacio have. Horacio put himself into elimination for Olivia, but she ignored that and saved Moriah, and in turn James.
It’s one thing to switch alliances: Olivia has previously worked with Jay’s group but she jumped to Horacio’s side. But when you flip-flop like this, you’ll build a reputation, and this move is likely to haunt Olivia on future seasons.
Stop Being Polite 