The Challenge’s Paulie, Cara Maria Detail ‘Open,’ ‘Unconventional’ Romance

Whatever works! Reality stars Paulie Calafiore and Cara Maria Sorbello may have a different type of relationship but they’re in a better place than ever.

“We’re open and people are confused about that. They’re like, ‘Well, they’ve got to be f–king everybody and cheating,’” Sorbello, 35, said on the Thursday, October 7, episode of the “Watch With Us” podcast of her and Calafiore, 32. “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.”

The pair, who are currently hosting their first Ten Escape, a VIP all-inclusive experience, met in 2018 while filming The Challenge: Final Reckoning. Despite going through some ups and downs following the show’s end, they’ve been going strong ever since. The couple live in Montana together but both do a great deal of travel separately. Now, an open relationship is the best thing for them.

“It’s invite-only, but it’s also, like, trusting who you’re around,” the Big Brother alum told Us. “There’s open communication about it. You can’t get offended. … And, you have to be OK with yourself. If she’s talking about somebody, I can’t sit there and be like, ‘Oh, my God, this guy’s got a better six-pack than me. He’s got a prettier face. Is she gonna leave me for him?’ And vice versa.”

Sorbello went on to say that the base of the entire situation is trust. “I know without a fraction of a doubt in my mind that this man loves me,” the Challenge champ said. “We are honest with each other. We’re open about what our interests are. A lot of people will hide sexual fetishes or things they like to do because they’re afraid of scaring their partner off.”

They’re also “extremely careful” about any person they let into their relationship. Plus, they love spending time and working together — something they get to do with The Ten Escape. While they’re both open to coming back to the MTV show if asked, right now, this is their top priority.

“We’ve worked really hard to gain momentum to build this up,” the athlete told Us. “In a year and a half, turning this into, like, a six-figure business, it wasn’t easy, and we did it in a pandemic year. So, we’re at a point where we’re just ready . But we’re more than happy to come back and roll some heads.”

He added that over the past two years, he’s traveled to many venues around the world to scout locations.

“Realistically, what spawned this idea from the get-go was we wanted to create a safe place for people to just be themselves. We wanted a safe place for women to come be able to grab content and be able to enjoy themselves without having to worry about some of the usual things that happen in the industry,” Calafiore added. “We do it all. We do talent management, photo shoots, video shoots, these events and everything. And we just wanted to make sure we created a safe space and a fun place for people to be.”

For more from the couple on their relationship, their thoughts on the current season of The Challenge and so much more, listen to the “Watch With Us” podcast.