Controversial Amazing Race season 37 star Jonathan Towns revealed that wife Ana Rivera Towns bought him a book on improving communication after he mistreated her while filming the show.

“So we got back. She bought me Nonviolent Communication and said, ‘Here, you need to read this.’ And that’s how it started,” the software developer, 42, told Parade in an interview published on May 17 while discussing what led to his autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis.

Jonathan and Ana, 35, received backlash throughout season 37, which aired on CBS from March 5 to May 15, due to Jonathan’s general negative attitude whenever the team fell behind in the race, much of which he directed toward his wife. The California native was criticized by viewers for calling the stay-at-home mom a “terrible partner,” telling her to “stop whining” and blaming her for navigation issues or other problems during the race.

Despite their setbacks and communication issues, Jonathan and Ana finished in third place in Miami during the finale on May 15.

“You’re gonna see us fight, and that’s just normal. We love each other. He’s my person, I’m his person,” Ana told host Phil Keoghan after she and Jonathan made it to the mat. “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.”

Though Ana defended her dynamic with Jonathan at the finish line, she said in their interview with Parade that she addressed his behavior as soon as they returned home.

“I told him, ‘You need to do something about this!’” she said with a laugh.

Jonathan said that they got home from filming the show in June 2024, and several months went by before they received word on when the season would air on CBS. That was a wake-up call for Jonathan.

“In October, I believe it was, an email gives us the air date for the show. And, suddenly, it just becomes very real in that moment. ‘Oh my god, all of my worst moments are about to be broadcast for millions to see.’ And so I panic,” he said, adding that he “realized [he] had a lot of bad moments.”

Jonathan said he went back to past seasons and observed other controversial cast members to “find commonalities between these people and me” and understand his behavior. He wasn’t finding anything, which ultimately led him to get tested for autism.

“It’s so difficult because, when you’re a late-diagnosed autistic person, you have developed by this time in your life a number of adaptations and masking strategies that you’re not even aware of,” he continued. “So it took my doctor some time to kind of go through my history and go through some of my characteristics and really understand, ‘Are you actually autistic?’ Because I disguise it so well, and I’ve learned to adapt to the neurotypical world around me. And so, eventually we got there, but it was a journey. It was not straightforward at all.”

He later added, “There are always signs. But we never knew how to make sense of them. And then it all made sense.”

Jonathan, who first announced his diagnosis in a YouTube video in April, also emphasized that he wasn’t “making excuses” for the way he treated Ana on the show.

“I know it’s very hard, because it seems like I’m trying to ‘hide behind autism.’ I’m reading comments online, and I don’t want people to feel that way. I really do, especially now, understand that I can control where I direct that anger once it gets to the surface,” he said.