Sisters Hannah and Simone Chaddha were eliminated in fifth place on The Amazing Race 38 after a grueling leg through Dubrovnik, Croatia. Despite the heartbreak, they say they left the show proud — and kept another reality TV legend’s words close to heart.
“Yes, this is a competition and a race for a million dollars,” Hannah tells Gold Derby, “but at the same time, Simone and I didn’t come into this race with a million dollars, so it’s not like we’re losing anything. We came on because we wanted to compete, we wanted to spend time together, and we got that. At its core, The Amazing Race is supposed to be fun.”
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Simone laughs that she tried to keep that spirit even in defeat. “As in the wise words of Rachel Reilly, ‘The Amazing Race is supposed to be fun and good!’ We were there for about what felt like an hour and a half to two hours just constantly sliding down the hill, walking back up. If I had to guess, maybe 20 times.”
Hannah adds, “I remember counting 26 times.”
A challenging leg in Croatia
The sisters struggled early at the “Skin ’Em All” Detour. “You really have to be precise,” Hannah says. “It’s not just about you getting it — it’s about your partner getting it as well. We wasted time trying to switch Detours when no one had service to give us directions, and that really set us back.”
By the time they reached the Double U-Turn at Buža Bar, they were bracing for the worst. “We were fully expecting to see our faces on that board,” Hannah admits. “When we didn’t, we were like, ‘Wait, we still have life in this leg!’ But then the kart challenge came, and it was just brutal.”
Simone recalls, “At first I felt like it was an even playing field. Then as teams started to leave and not come back up the hill, that’s when it hit me — the pressure’s on. Kristine [Bernabe] and Paige [Seber] still helped me even though they were stressed themselves. If they hadn’t been there, I would’ve been stuck at least 30 more minutes. Things just weren’t clicking.”
She laughs, “Although I was changing my strategies, I still wasn’t making it to that 36-second mark. I don’t think I’m destined to be a go-kart racer. I hit the wall a few times — it turned into a little bumper car situation for sure.”
Simone and Hannah Chaddha on ‘The Amazing Race’CBS
Big Brother energy
This season’s cast included several Big Brother alums, which changed the dynamic. “You can just tell it’s different,” Hannah says. “In most seasons, everyone’s a stranger. This one leaned more on social games and alliances, and Simone and I were honestly thankful for that because we were the second smallest team, the youngest team, and an all-female team. Our social game was one of our strongest characteristics.”
She adds, “We got along great with Joseph and Adam [Abdin], Taylor [Hale] and Kyland [Young], Jag and Jas Bains. Our relationships really served us. That’s part of the reason Joseph and Adam said they U-Turned Rubina and Kristine — to protect us. Unfortunately, because of the Roadblock, it ended up being us.”
What viewers didn’t see
Hannah wishes the edit had included more of their humor. “It didn’t really show any of the moments where we were smiling and laughing,” she says. “We were holding stretch classes and jazzercise classes, cheer classes, aerobics — always singing and dancing. Simone and I tried not to take ourselves too seriously despite the competition.”
Simone says she loved watching the show back. “We had no idea how long some teams were stuck in challenges like the flowers in the first leg,” she says. “It was so cool to see everybody’s individual journey.”
Favorite memories
“The best part was spending uninterrupted time with Hannah,” Simone reflects. “We live on opposite coasts, and growing up we didn’t always live together. My favorite memories are travel days — sleeping outside on benches or on train station floors. That’s what The Amazing Race is all about.”
Hannah agrees. “The dance challenge in Hungary was my favorite,” she says. “We were in our element, wearing traditional clothing, and we killed it. We also loved learning phrases in each country’s language. This whole experience was nothing but bucket-list items, and I couldn’t have asked for a better person to experience it with.”
The Amazing Race airs every Wednesday on CBS and streams the next day Paramount+.
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