The Amazing Race season 37 star Ana Rivera Towns is defending her controversial dynamic with husband Jonathan Towns amid backlash from fans.
"You're gonna see us fight, and that's just normal. We love each other. He's my person, I'm his person,” the stay-at-home mom, 35, told host Phil Keoghan after she and the software developer, 42, crossed the finish line in third place during The Amazing Race 37 finale on Thursday, May 15.
Ana also noted that she and Jonathan did "so well at working together” throughout the race.
“Even through our struggles, through our fights, through our ups and downs, we were able to still make it to the top three. That just speaks of how well we work together, and how much we love each other and support each other,” she said.
Jonathan was hit with criticism from viewers over the course of the season, which premiered in March, due to the way he treated Ana and his overall attitude toward the race. He often blamed his wife when they lost their lead or struggled with navigation. Additionally, he received backlash for calling his wife a “terrible partner” and telling her to “stop whining.”
The California native said in his post-race interview that the show “definitely built up my tolerance level and my resilience, and my ability to adapt to difficult situations.”
“I'm one of those people that believes things happen for a reason. And so, it's OK. It wasn't meant to be,” he added.
Jonathan also told the camera, "I've come to learn that you have to accept disappointment with grace, and sometimes things don't always work out the way you expect them to. So, you have to take it in stride."
After seeing countless comments from viewers on social media about Jonathan’s behavior, he and Ana finally addressed the backlash in a video on their YouTube channel, “The Road Less Traveled,” on April 8. The couple shared that Jonathan had sought help after filming the show and was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
“Looking back at what I was seeing, and knowing what I know about myself now, it’s so hard for me to be supportive and helpful to somebody when my brain is in this overheated state,” Jonathan explained, adding that his “hyperactive brain” was triggered on the show.
He continued, “When I’m on The Race, unlike when I’m at home, I cannot control the external factors. I have no control – my routines are completely non-existent. And we rely on – people like me rely on routines in order to help us regulate our emotions and to control the amount of stimulus that we can get at any given time.”
Later, in a comment on their May 8 video, Jonathan admitted, “I treated Ana very poorly while we were on the show and I understand how that can trigger a lot of strong emotions in people, but yes, we have come a long way since then. Thank you for your support.”
The reality star also addressed calling her a “terrible partner” in their Wednesday, May 14, video, saying that the comment was “inexcusable and awful.”
“In actuality, you were a great partner,” he told Ana.
“I wanna say that out of everybody in this race, nobody came further outside their comfort zone than my wife,” he added. “She comes from nothing, essentially. She has not been exposed to any of this stuff. And she has never been placed in a competitive environment.”
Jonathan continued, “And here we are on the Amazing Race, a hyper-competitive environment full of a lot of impressive people, and she’s keeping up with them, and not only that, she has to deal with this. She has to deal with my unpredictability and my anger and all those things, and she is just taking it all in stride, so shout out to the MVP of Team Fast and Furious, Ana Towns.”
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