Credit: onne Roriz/Paramount+

Three competitors have been removed from The Challenge: Cutthroat, with the announcement coming in the new episode of The Challenge season 42.

On the Wednesday (September 16) episode titled “Is This Safe?” Host TJ Lavin showed up to say, “Leo, Nelson, and Josh all broke the code of conduct here on The Challenge, so they’re all gone.” He didn’t go into detail about the incident.

Leo Dionicio, Nelson Thomas, and Josh Goldstein are the three contestants who were promptly eliminated from the show, which premiered this past August. All three contestants have also since broken their silence on their departures.

What happened?

According to TV Insider, there was an incident between the three men where Josh reportedly said a racial slur during a game with Nelson, leading Nelson to damage the kitchen in anger. Leo also reportedly repeated the word.

Production allegedly took Nelson to a hotel and later disqualified him for property damage, while Josh and Leo were disqualified for the language. The Challenge has not publicly confirmed these claims yet, however, and they seem to have come from a longtime spoiler account called GamerVev, per Parade.

Nelson Thomas speaks out on what happened

Nelson spoke out on X, late last night, writing, “I let my emotions take over, broke dishes, destroyed kitchen and violated the code of conduct. That’s on me. I’m learning and growing, and I’m grateful my @TheChallenge family sees the good and the bad. #reality TV.”

He shared a follow-up post later to say that he received a DM apology from Josh and is “giving him space to take ownership publicly.”

“Saying you have Black friends doesn’t give you a pass to use the N-word. This goes beyond TV. We need accountability, understanding, and growth,” he said.

I let my emotions take over, broke dishes, destroyed kitchen and violated the code of conduct. That’s on me. I’m learning and growing, and I’m grateful my @TheChallenge family sees the good and the bad. #reality TV.

— Nelson Thomas (@_nelsonthomas) September 17, 2026

Josh has not yet spoken publicly.

How did Leo respond?

Leo took to his Instagram Stories and wrote, “Getting DQ’d was not the way I wanted to go out but a time was had!”

He further opened up on Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio’s Death, Taxes, and Bananas podcast.

“What I said was super ignorant,” Leo admitted on the episode, but added that he thought the hand he was dealt “was pretty messed up considering I didn’t really do s*** wrong.”

He also shared that he started crying after he found out he had been disqualified and a big reason why is because he felt the season had been going so well.

Posted To:Josh Goldstein Leo Dionicio Nelson Thomas The Challenge The Challenge Season 42