Instagram/CT Tamburello CT Tamburello's son, CJ
Chris “CT” Tamburello of MTV’s The Challenge has long been a fan favorite, and his popularity has only increased since returning to the reality TV series as a father.
Tamburello and his now-wife, Lilianet Solares, welcomed their first child together in 2016. They named him Christopher Tamburello Jr., or CJ for short.
Here’s what you need to know.
MTV Aired Home Videos of Baby CJ After CT Tamburello Returned to the Show in 2017
Fans were first introduced to CJ in early 2017 on The Challenge: Invasion. The news that CT Tamburello had become a father came as a surprise to viewers. Tamburello had kept details of his private life under wraps for more than two years before returning to reality television.
Tamburello took a break from the show after the death of his former girlfriend and MTV castmate, Diem Brown, in late 2014. She passed away following a lengthy battle with cancer. Brown and Tamburello’s romantic relationship was off-and-on for several years, but he was at her side in her final days. It was also reported that Tamburello proposed to Brown days before she died, but he has never officially confirmed it.
Tamburello’s next move was to leave his home state of Massachusetts and move to Florida in 2015. He pursued a career in real estate and has since founded an investment business in Miami.
It was during this time that Tamburello met Lilianet Solares, a Cuban native who had been raised in southern Florida. About one year after they started dating, Solares gave birth to their son. The couple has not shared his exact birthdate. But when Tamburello and Solares got married in 2018, CJ was described as being 2 years old.
In Tamburello’s first season back on the Challenge, MTV aired clips of him at home with his baby son. Tamburello joked that he never called CJ by his actual name, instead referring to him (lovingly) as “fat-face” and “buddha.” Tamburello talked about how much he missed his son while filming the show and that his priorities had changed since CJ was born. “Life’s funny like that. Just when you think you got everything figured out, life will just go and change all the questions on you.”
CT Tamburello Said He Was Inspired to Return to MTV In Order to Set a Good Example For CJ
Longtime fans of the Challenge remember CT Tamburello from earlier seasons as a fierce competitor who could be very aggressive toward his fellow competitors. Tamburello was removed from the Inferno III for drunkenly punching a castmate before the competition had even begun. He was also disqualified from Duel II after a fight with Adam King escalated into violence.
Tamburello has said he decided to return to MTV in 2017 in order to set a better example for his son. He explained to People magazine, “The time’s going to come when he realizes I was on TV. It’s going to be hard enough to get this kid to listen to me if he’s anything like me growing up. ‘Do as I say, not as I do’ doesn’t work as well when you’re acting like an animal.”
Tamburello also talked to Hollywood Life that how having CJ had changed his life for the better. “I felt like he helped me get my life back. Coming on this show, I like to think that I did it for him and for the right reasons.” Tamburello added that he did feel some unease about putting his son on television. “One of my main concerns is that I don’t want him to go under the microscope of the media and how nasty they can be.”
In a 2018 interview with Rolling Stone, Tamburello also hinted that his experience as a father will heavily impact how long he chooses to continue competing on The Challenge. Each season takes several weeks to film, and participants are not allowed to bring cellphones. “They’re popping these shows out at a much faster rate now. Back in the day, they’d make one or maybe two a year. Now we’re pumping out four or five. It’s a lot different. My son is going to school soon. I want him to come home and have me there. I don’t want to be a dad that’s never around.”
CT Tamburello Says He Wants to Give CJ a Baby Brother Or Sister
CT Tamburello and Lilianet Solares may be ready to add another child to the family. In December 2018, Tamburello joked that he was struggling to keep up with CJ and first planned on getting him a dog. He told Page Six, “[CJ] needs somebody to play with. So I’m trying to think of a faster solution and right now having another baby, that’s going to take too much time. We’ll get a puppy first. Then a second baby.”
But around the time of the wedding, Tamburello expressed in having baby #2 sooner rather than later. He shared a video of his friend Justin Wesson in October 2018, dancing with his baby girl. Tamburello tagged his wife in the caption and wrote, “If this doesn’t convince wifey we need a daughter, I don’t know what will…”
Tamburello also explained to US Weekly that he wants to make sure his kids are not too far apart in age. “I heard that if children are five years apart or more, they’re basically an only child. I don’t want that… [CJ] has so much energy, I think he needs someone else to play with.”