"Youth works against you": The Amazing Race's Holden explains how being the youngest team impacted gameplay

The Amazing Race concluded its "season of twists," season 37, on May 15, 2025, crowning Carson and Jack as its winners. Han and Holden, the siblings from Los Gatos, California, who finished in second place, recently opened up about being the youngest team of the season and how it impacted their gameplay. In an interview with Parade, published on May 16, 2025, Holden said:

"Oh, youth works against you. It's a thought experiment. You don't really see young teams. Well, I feel like they don't really articulate who's young. It's kind of something you find out after."

The Amazing Race season 37 finalist confirmed that being the youngest team did not play in their favor, contrary to their expectations. Unlike the older teams that had life experience handling intense real-life situations, they lacked "that high-pressure experience."

According to Holden, the other teams' first-hand experience of real-life struggles helped them to accommodate themselves better to the pressure of the race. It was why, despite being older, they could advance in the race, while Han and Holden barely managed to reach the Top 3, without winning a single leg throughout the season.

---

The Amazing Race's Han claims she and Holden could have "slayed' if they had five more years of experience

While discussing the advantages that came with age and life experience, Holden confessed that it was not surprising to see older teams perform better in The Amazing Race. He then stated examples of Bill and Cathi, as well as Meredith and Gretchen, who, according to him, exceeded "all expectation," despite being older.

Holden explained that such teams were able to "hang in there because they have so much life experience." He added that in the competition, it did not matter if a team had "hoverboarded" or "made mozzarella" before. What mattered and impacted gameplay was the "simple fact" that they had navigated "how hard life is."

He then compared his life struggles with those of his co-participants, showing how they were better equipped to tackle the pressure and intensity of The Amazing Race.

"During COVID, I was a junior in high school. During COVID Mark and Brett were working together to make sure that their careers were still on track because of the global pandemic. Alyssa and Josiah were frontline workers for the pandemic. I'm just like, 'Man, I hope my AP Chemistry test goes well online.' It wasn't real," he said.

Consequently, he believed it was their lack of "high-pressure experience that life naturally gives you" that prevented them from outperforming their competitors despite being younger.

However, Han did not want to discount their wisdom or life experience. She noted their success did not "count to a lot of perseverance" they had experienced as children of first-generation immigrants. Although their life struggles were incomparable to those of their parents, who "literally fled war," Han claimed there was still "a lot" they had to navigate.

"And I think we could have really, really, really slayed if we had five more years under our belt," she added.

Holden then recalled Mark's surprise when he discovered his age, saying it was his "real win." The Amazing Race contestant remembered Mark confessing he would have been "a mess" had he competed at 21. He was pleased that the other teams respected them irrespective of their age.

Han and Holden then shared their strategy to keep up their spirits despite falling behind the other teams and scraping through each leg.

"After the second leg, Holden and I just really trusted in our ability to tortoise our way to the final. That was our strategy. We're not going to take huge risks. Slow and steady truly wins the race," Han explained.

Despite not having the age advantage, they strategized to remain level-headed and use "grit and the stamina" to outlast their competitors. The Amazing Race team confessed they were playing Survivor on the race.

---

Stream The Amazing Race episodes on CBS.