The Challenge veterans Paulie Calafiore and Cara Maria Sorbello appear to be experiencing a relationship challenge of their own.
“Paulie and Cara are working through something privately, and Paulie plans to share more soon,” a rep for the couple exclusively shared with Us Weekly on Friday, June 21.
An insider also revealed to Us that the reality TV stars “are taking a little space from each other while working things out.”
Fans began to speculate about the pair’s relationship status earlier this month after Sorbello, 38, unfollowed Calafiore, 35, on Instagram. Eyebrows were also raised when she removed some couples shots from her page.
Most recently, Sorbello enjoyed a trip to Zach Bryan’s concert in Detroit with a group of friends including Mark Long, Brad Fiorenza and “Challenge Mania” podcast host Scott Yager.
In one of her Instagram Stories from Thursday, June 20, she played Nickelback’s “Never Gonna Be Alone” before writing, “Thank you for a beautiful night Scott. Much Needed.”
Calafiore and Sorbello first met in 2018 while filming The Challenge: Final Reckoning. Despite going through some ups and downs over the years, the couple has stayed committed to making their relationship work.
In October 2021, the duo revealed to fans that being in an open relationship was the best thing for them.
“We’re open and people are confused about that. They’re like, ‘Well, they’ve got to be f–king everybody and cheating,’” Sorbello previously told Us at the time. “We’ve come to such a good place. Me, mentally to where I am now and us together. We’ve been with each other through the worst of the worst. We still get excited to see each other. … The sex is good. The love is good. The friendship is good. This is my person.”
More recently, the couple suggested that they were ready for marriage after reflecting on their unconventional love story.
“We definitely want kids and we want marriage,” Calafiore — who came out as bisexual after his exit from The Challenge: USA in August 2023 — told Us just two months earlier. “I think everybody kind of looks at us, even in our families, where it’s like, ‘They’re kind of unconventional children.’ I think they expect us to randomly last minute be like, ‘Hey guys, we just got married.’”
Sorbello — who just wrapped season 4 of The Challenge: All Stars — added, “I absolutely would love to marry [Paulie]. I’ve never said that before, but he is the person that I see for the rest of my life.”
With reporting by Andrea Simpson