Amazing Race Contestant Jonathan Reacts to ‘Inexcusable and Awful’ Treatment of Wife Ana [Video]

The reality TV contestant came under fire following the May 7 episode of the CBS competition, in which he was seen calling Ana a “terrible partner,” following a season of questionable behavior and comments toward her. Now, in a new video shared to the couple’s YouTube channel, Jonathan is directly addressing the controversy, and offering his wife and viewers a heartfelt apology.

“I called you a terrible partner, which is inexcusable and awful,” Jonathan told Ana in the video. “In actuality, you were a great partner.”

He went on to praise Ana for pushing herself outside her comfort zone, sharing, “I wanna say that out of everybody in this race, nobody came further outside their comfort zone than my wife. 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 added that Ana not only kept up with their fellow competitors but also handled his emotional outbursts along the way.

“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, Anna Towns,” he said.

While Jonathan acknowledged that there may be contributing factors behind his actions, he made it clear that he takes full accountability.

“I mean, we could talk about generational trauma, we could talk about childhood programming and in your upbringing, we could talk about autism, but ultimately, none of that stuff matters, OK?,” he said. “I am, at the end of the day, 100 percent responsible for how I direct my anger and who I direct it on, and in this case, I directed that anger onto my wife, which should never, ever happen. That’s on me.”

In a previous YouTube video, Jonathan revealed that he was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) following the filming of the season. Reflecting on his experience, he opened up about the challenges he faced competing on the show.

“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,” he explained. “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.”

Ana also addressed her husband’s on-screen behavior, saying his “child-like tantrums” were “alarming” to her as well.

Attributing his actions to his recent autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis, Ana suggested that his reactions were influenced by the challenges of the race environment. “This was the first time I’ve seen you this unhinged, angry and that’s why I think context is so important,” she added, saying his behavior is “not something that happens all the time” at home.