The Amazing Race’s Bernie Gutierrez and Carrigain Scadden were not thrilled with the choice Jonathan and Ana Towns made during the Driver’s Seat twist.
“If you’re trying to kick us down because we’re already at the bottom and you don’t wanna make more enemies, that’s smart. I get it,” Gutierrez, 31, exclusively told Us Weekly on Thursday, March 27, following her and Scadden’s elimination. “If you’re gonna give it to us because you really do think we’re a threat, say that. I get it. But don’t say it was an accident because now you’re insulting.”
On the Wednesday, March 26, episode of the competition series, which took place in Bali, Jonathan, 42, and Ana, 35, were the first to arrive at the Driver’s Seat, which was a new twist introduced this season. The couple assigned weight values for teams for the Roadblock challenge. Jonathan and Ana were given the limited options of 15 pounds, 20 pounds and 25 pounds for the rice threshing challenge.
When they first arranged the values, Jonathan and Ana forgot to assign a measurement for themselves. Obviously, the duo wanted to give themselves a lower amount. Most of the remaining teams received 25 pounds including Gutierrez and Scadden, 33, who were in last place.
While Jonathan and Ana claimed it was ultimately a mix-up giving Gutierrez and Scadden the harder option, the friends were not buying the excuse.
“I feel like for Jonathan it really matters to him that he’s in first place [and] that he does his best. So it’s hard for me to think that these two people with so much on the line — they have the Driver’s Seat, they have the Express Pass,” Scadden exclusively told Us. “If they didn’t take the time to really think this through, it could have really worked out for them really well in their favor.”
Not only did Jonathan and Ana take a lower weight for themselves, but they bypassed the entire challenge by using the Express Pass they won in the previous leg. The move not only upset Gutierrez and Scadden but a majority of the remaining teams. Scadden added that with the threat of a U-Turn likely — which was teased for next week’s episode — the gameplay was “not a smart one.”
“It’s hard to think it’s an accident, but also it doesn’t look like it was very well thought through,” she said.
Gutierrez teased that if she and Scadden remained in the race, she was ready to “backstab” Jonathan and Ana at any given moment.
“If they asked me for help, I might have helped them and sent them in the wrong direction, kind of like what [brothers] Nick and Mike [Fiorito] did to everybody,” she quipped. “I would do something like that, I would’ve messed up their game in some way, shape or form. I would’ve got other people to hate them. I don’t know. But I would’ve found a way to get back at them.”
While Gutierrez and Scadden’s Amazing Race journey is done, the friends are grateful they got to spend time together — even though they did not see eye to eye all the time.
“It was a great experience. We’re friends, we’re like sisters, we’re gonna argue, we’re gonna bicker. Not everything is perfect, but we freaking love each other to death. And this just made us honestly stronger,” Gutierrez reflected. “Like, we’re just stronger together. We learn more about each other. We’re able to understand better how each needs to do what we need to do to each other and support each other more — especially during very stressful situations.”
The Amazing Race airs on CBS Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m. ET and is available to stream on Paramount+ the next day.
