The Amazing Race season 37 runners-up Han Nguyen and Holden Nguyen have spoken out about their controversial castmates Jonathan Towns and Ana Towns.

“We love Jonathan and Ana, and we really do think they’re great people,” Han, 26, said in a post-race interview alongside her brother, 22, on “The Purple Pants Podcast with Brice Izyah,” which she shared via TikTok on Monday, May 19. “We think the world of them, and no one is perfect.”

Han continued, “I think life truly is about being better, like, a better version than your previous self, and I think that every human deserves grace, everyone is human.”

Holden added, “Something that I don’t think that we do well as a Race community or as a Survivor community [is] giving players the grace that they deserve. I think that the race is super hard, I think it’s super pressure-filled, I think it’s exhausting. Because of all of those things you might see the worst in people.”

The Stanford student concluded, “I think people grow not because they are criticized but because they are given grace and given time to grow.”

The siblings’ interview came after Jonathan, 42, received backlash from fans throughout season 37 for the way he treated Ana, 35. He often blamed his wife for navigation issues or struggling with challenges that caused them to lose their lead. Additionally, he told her to “stop whining” and called her a “terrible partner,” among other notable comments he made on the show.

Despite their dynamic being criticized by viewers throughout the race, Ana defended her husband after they crossed the finish line 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,” the stay-at-home mom told host Phil Keoghan on 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.”

Meanwhile, Jonathan said the race “definitely built up my tolerance level and my resilience, and my ability to adapt to difficult situations.”

“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,” he added.

Jonathan revealed in an April 8 YouTube video that he was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) after he and Ana returned home from the race. He explained in a post-race interview with Parade on May 17 that Ana had bought him the book Nonviolent Communication, which kickstarted his diagnosis process. He later had a wake-up call when he realized that the world would see his negative behavior on TV.

“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.”

“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,” Jonathan added. “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.”