Where are they now
Where Are Josh Goldstein, Nelson Thomas and Leo Dionicio Now After The Challenge 42?
Josh Goldstein, Nelson Thomas and Leo Dionicio did not leave The Challenge: Cutthroat through an elimination, an injury or a normal voluntary exit. Episode 8 opens with TJ Lavin arriving at the house and telling the remaining competitors that all three men broke The Challenge’s code of conduct and were gone from the game. The…
Josh Goldstein, Nelson Thomas and Leo Dionicio did not leave The Challenge: Cutthroat through an elimination, an injury or a normal voluntary exit. Episode 8 opens with TJ Lavin arriving at the house and telling the remaining competitors that all three men broke The Challenge’s code of conduct and were gone from the game. The show does not show the incident or give the contestants an opportunity to explain what happened before the competition moves forward without them.
Filming ended long before those scenes reached Paramount+, however, and all three have since returned to their lives outside the Challenge house. Josh is concentrating heavily on his fitness business, Nelson remains connected to the franchise following his remarkable return with a prosthetic leg, and Leo has stayed particularly visible within the Challenge community while also attracting attention for his friendship with Izzy Fairthorne.
Related: The Challenge 42 Episode 8 Recap: Why Josh, Nelson and Leo Left
Where Is Josh Goldstein Now?
Josh Goldstein has gone back to the fitness career he had already established before joining The Challenge. His social media currently identifies him as a women’s fitness coach, and he continues posting training, nutrition and lifestyle advice aimed largely at women trying to improve their fitness without relying on extreme diets.
That work has become much more than occasional influencer content. Josh has built an online coaching business around his name and previously launched his own fitness program, while also becoming involved in entrepreneurship outside traditional personal training. One of those ventures is Reevyv, a company connected to oral fitness strips.
His fitness business was already central to his life after Love Island USA. Josh originally came from an athletic background, playing college baseball at Southern New Hampshire University before becoming known to reality-TV viewers. Love Island opened another career path, but fitness remained a consistent part of what he did when cameras were gone.
That appears to still be the case after The Challenge 42. His recent social activity has largely continued the fitness-coaching work rather than suggesting he has stepped away from public life following his abrupt exit from the season.
Where Is Nelson Thomas Now?
Nelson’s life after filming carries considerably more weight because simply appearing on Season 42 represented an achievement that once seemed unlikely. A serious 2023 car crash eventually resulted in a below-the-knee amputation of his right leg, forcing Nelson through a lengthy physical and emotional recovery before he could seriously consider competing again.
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He eventually learned to train and compete using prosthetics designed for different activities. When Nelson returned for Cutthroat, he spoke openly about wanting his comeback to represent more than another attempt at winning The Challenge. He said he wanted amputees and members of the wider limb-loss community to see that losing a limb did not have to mean giving up an athletic life.
Season 42 gave him one of the biggest moments of that comeback when he defeated Keanu Soto in elimination. Nelson’s prosthetic created additional difficulty during the competition, but he ultimately earned an emotional victory and remained in the game until the Episode 8 removal.
Since filming, Nelson has remained publicly engaged with The Challenge rather than distancing himself from the franchise. As recently as September 9, he was posting about Season 42 and his fight to stay in the game, while fans continued celebrating his return.
For Nelson, the post-show story therefore remains closely connected to his recovery. He continues training, adapting to life with a prosthetic and presenting his return to high-level competition as part of a larger message about resilience after limb loss.
Where Is Leo Dionicio Now?
Leo Dionicio has probably remained the most visibly connected to the social side of The Challenge since filming ended. He appeared on Challenge Mania in August to discuss his reality-TV career, his athletic background and his return after first joining the franchise on Vets & New Threats.
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He is also scheduled to appear at Challenge Mania Live in Philadelphia on September 26, suggesting that his Episode 8 exit has not completely separated him from the wider Challenge fan community. The live-event circuit has long been a place where current and former competitors remain connected to viewers between seasons.
Away from the game itself, much of the recent curiosity surrounding Leo involves Izzy Fairthorne. Their friendship became noticeable during Season 42, and the pair reportedly spent additional time together in Thailand after filming wrapped.
They have also continued spending time together publicly. Despite fans repeatedly suggesting that they should date, the two have most recently presented themselves as friends. Leo has indicated that he would be interested in exploring something more without damaging their friendship, but there is no confirmed relationship between them as of now.
That makes Izzy a very different post-show connection from Leo’s storyline with Anna Leigh Wilson. Anna Leigh apologized publicly for the flirtatious conversations viewers saw between her and Leo during Season 42, while both later maintained that the interaction did not become physical.
Have Josh, Nelson or Leo Explained Their Challenge 42 Exit?
As of Episode 8’s September 16 release, there does not appear to be a detailed on-record explanation from Josh, Nelson or Leo that independently lays out exactly what happened before production removed them. That leaves viewers largely dependent on TJ’s very limited explanation in the episode and outside reports about the incident.
TJ only says that the three men violated The Challenge’s code of conduct. He does not say they were removed for the same action, explain what rule each man violated or show footage of the situation that led to production’s decision.
Outside reporting has offered a more detailed alleged account, but Paramount+ has not publicly confirmed those specifics. Until one of the contestants or production gives a fuller first-hand explanation, those reports should not be treated as equivalent to what viewers actually see confirmed in Episode 8.
What is already clear is that none of the three disappeared from public life after filming. Josh has continued building his fitness work, Nelson remains active around both The Challenge and his recovery journey, and Leo continues appearing within the Challenge community while sharing parts of his post-show life with viewers.
Their Season 42 runs may have ended together, but their lives after Cutthroat have gone in three noticeably different directions.