What happened between The Challenge stars Laurel Stucky and Nicole Zanatta? Breakup explored

Laurel Stucky from The Challenge: All Stars (Image via Instagram/@thechallenge)
Laurel Stucky from The Challenge: All Stars (Image via Instagram/@thechallenge)

The Challenge MTV reality TV series, tests the contestants on a physical and mental level to complete various tasks in order to win the final grand prize. During the reality TV show, cast members build strong connections and also get romantically involved at times. Two contestants, Laurel Stucky and Nicole Zanatta, started dating after they met in 2017.

However, the contestants reunited on the sets of The Challenge: All-Stars in 2023, after their breakup. Distance was a major factor in their split, as Nicole's cheating rumours led to them parting ways.


The Challenge stars Laurel Stucky and Nicole Zanatta broke up in 2017

Laurel Stucky and Nicole Zanatta were introduced to one another as fellow cast members on The Challenge: Invasion of the Champions. Despite Laurel initially being interested in Cara Maria Sorbello, she ended up expressing her feelings for Nicole after Cara didn't reciprocate.

The Challenge stars were officially together by 2016; however, soon, things took a different turn as the relationship rumours surfaced. According to The Challenge fans, Laurel's August 2017 post hinted towards her split with Nicole. The post mentioned:

"Some things aren’t meant to last forever, they’re just there for that time. So let it be and move on, learn and grow from it. Every new relationship teaches you something take the positives with the negatives and use it as you please.”

Additionally, the reason behind their breakup wasn't discussed or revealed until Nicole and Lauren appeared on Ex on the Peak in December 2019. Previously, Laurel did imply that Nicole wasn't fully loyal to her as the fans thought Nicole had cheated on her.

The couple also revealed that due to the distance, their relationship problems became more evident as they repeatedly kept on getting into arguments. However, according to Laurel, Nicole had allegedly been talking to other people during their relationship and allegedly had cheated on her.

Things got heated between the two as they avoided contact, and it wasn't confirmed whether both The Challenge stars were on good terms or not. Laurel and Nicole reunited on The Challenge: All Stars in 2023, as fans wanted to know if the two got back together or not.

There was no confirmation about them rekindling their relationship or potentially being romantically involved as well. Then, in 2024, Nicole went official with her new girlfriend, after which an online feud between her and Laurel began. Allegedly, Nicole threw shade on Laurel with her captions comparing her new relationship with the previous one.

Laurel ended up accusing Nicole of cheating once again as she responded back to the increasing tensions between them. In this back-and-forth online comment, it was disclosed by Laurel that Nicole had allegedly cheated on her with Jakk Maddox’s sister. Nicole replied to these accusations and called Laurel a liar. She said:

"You need to get a life, grow up, and live the rest of your days without trying to ruin mine. Now please, leave me be, and move on & stop harassing me & stop trying to call me this is the reason I have you blocked.”

All previous episodes of the series are available to stream on MTV and Paramount Plus.

Edited by Tanisha Aggarwal