“The Challenge” alum Nia Moore is opening up about a severe health crisis that led her to leave the competition unexpectedly. The 38-year-old shared new insight during a recent appearance on “The Zach Nichols Podcast,” explaining the medical emergency that forced her to walk away from the season.
Why She Had to Leave ‘The Challenge: Ride or Dies’
Moore revealed that she was hospitalized with blood clots in her lungs just a few days before she was supposed to start filming MTV‘s “The Challenge: Ride or Dies.”
“Two days before we’re leaving, I was in a hospital in Italy for blood clots in my lungs from vaping,” she said. “And they told, ‘If you go do that show, it’s probably gonna be fatal.’”
The health crisis ultimately forced Moore to step away from the season just days before filming began.
For her, it came as a shock, and she said it felt like a loss she found difficult to process. “It just sucked because again, poor choice, self-sabotage, me poisoning myself cost me that beautiful opportunity,” she said.
A Stark Warning for Those Who Vape
After the episode aired, Moore used her platform to share a direct warning with fans, encouraging anyone who vapes to reconsider the habit.
“Btw, if you see this and you vape….STOP 🙏🏾 pleaseeee find a way to let that go,” she wrote in a comment on social media, as reported by People.
“There is only death at the end of those things. I know a lot more about em only because I talked to endless doctors and knowledgeable people on the matter — even they are scared about what they are seeing in their research.”
She ended the message by urging others to push through the difficulty of quitting.
“Be better than me ya’ll, leave that [expletive] in the rear view and fight like hell through the withdrawals because there is LIFE on the other side ❤️,” she added.
Living With the Aftermath
In earlier posts, Moore described the frightening speed at which her health took a turn, leaving little time to understand what was happening.
In August 2024, she shared on X that the danger was not immediately obvious.
“I only learned of the blood clots after I experienced a physical attack outta nowhere,” she wrote. “It felt like someone was sitting on my lungs, heart was beating thru my chest, my speech was delayed, had trouble walking etc.”
Doctors later told her the clots may have been present longer than she realized.
“But they were likely there for a while — possibly dormant but growing,” she continued. “I had small clots too, and apparently even those can kill you instantly, according to what my doctors said.”
Since she quit vaping, Moore says her condition has improved, though the recovery has taken longer than she had hoped for.
“Just want y’all to know that the consequences of vaping don’t just stop because you quit. That’s the scary part,” she explained.
“I was able to run five miles for breakfast before the vapes easily…I would have to walk a portion of that today. And def run at a slower pace. But I’m getting much better! It’s just something I have to commit to working on daily.”
By continuing to speak out, Moore hopes her experience serves as both a cautionary tale and a message of resilience.
