"I was a little hesitant" — The Amazing Race star Ana shares her honest take on helping Josiah and Alyssa in Bulgaria

The Amazing Race season 37 stars Jonathan and Ana posted a video on their YouTube channel called The Road Less Traveled on May 1, 2025. They discussed everything that happened during the Bulgaria leg, which aired on April 23. In one segment of the video, the couple shared their thoughts on assisting Alyssa and Josiah with the cipher challenge. While Jonathan wanted to help, Ana said:

"I gotta say I was a little hesitant, and I felt bad afterwards."

In one of the challenges of the leg, the teams had to go to St. Kliment Chridski Central Library and use a Cyrillic cipher to decode the text of an ancient book. They could proceed to the next phase of the competition only after completing the task. While most struggled to decipher the unfamiliar language or understand how to use the cipher, Jonathan and Ana realized the trick sooner than others.

The Amazing Race couple saw that the English translation was written on the back of the cipher. Only after finishing the task did they help Alyssa and Josiah to ensure they maintained their lead over them. While recalling the incident, Jonathan and Ana admitted they did the right thing by helping their co-stars, despite their initial reluctance.

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"One of the top teams in the competition" — The Amazing Race star Jonathan explains why they hesitated to help Alyssa and Josiah

Before speaking about their hesitation to help Alyssa and Josiah, Jonathan expressed that they were at such a stage in the show where things were "getting tighter" and "getting to the nitty-gritty." Although they had a "good relationship" with Alyssa and Josiah, it was important for them to keep the competitive nature of the race in mind.

Therefore, Ana added that when she saw Alyssa and Josiah in the library, she got "excited" because she realized she and Jonathan were not so far behind.

However, despite the competition, Jonathan, after completing the task, told Ana they must help Alyssa and Josiah.

"I mean, how wrong would it have been in retrospect to have just decoded this Bible verse, right, from the Christian religion, and then just hightail it out of there without helping this team that's struggling, so of course," Jonathan explained.

Jonathan then called Ana the "cutthroat one," recalling how hesitant she was to help the struggling pair. However, he believed her reluctance was justified because, according to them, Alyssa and Josiah were among the strongest contenders.

"So you're more reluctant to help them because Josiah and Alyssa, they are one of the top teams in the competition and one of the fastest," Jonathan added.

The Amazing Race alum called Alyssa a "beast," revealing she and Josiah ran ultra-marathons "for fun." He further complimented her, saying she was a "finely-tuned machine." Ana also commended Alyssa's strength and said her "body's absolutely incredible."

Jonathan feared he would jeopardize his team's chances by helping a pair known for their speed and athleticism, especially in a competition that was a race. Hearing that, Ana mentioned that Alyssa and Josiah were soccer players, which explained why they were faster than most.

However, despite their fears, they helped them, saying it was the "right thing to do." Ana said she would have done it again if put in the same situation and believed Alyssa and Josiah would have done the same for them.

Alyssa and Josiah eventually got ahead of Jonathan and Ana while the latter struggled to figure out what "M4" meant, unaware that the locals used it to refer to the metro. Consequently, they finished in third place, while Alyssa and Josiah finished in second.

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The Amazing Race season 37 airs new episodes exclusively on CBS.