The Amazing Race couple Matt and Michelle Patterson have no regrets about their gameplay strategy, despite many fans labeling them the “villains” of season 39.
“I went into it cutthroat, and I said it from the beginning,” Michelle, 31, exclusively told Us on Thursday, November 12, after her and Matt’s elimination during the previous night’s episode. “I was not leaving [our kids] to go make fake alliances like everybody else. … I was just so head in the game, like, we are going to do whatever we can to win.”
Many viewers have criticized Michelle and Matt, 36, for their decision to play their own game rather than creating alliances with other teams and for their attitude throughout the race.
“Matt and Michelle are downright nasty and arrogant. Giving the race a bad name,” one X user wrote.
“Matt & Michelle are one of the most insufferable couples I’ve seen on the race, it’s one thing being confident, but being overly cocky and nasty isn’t a good look,” another fan griped.
On the other hand, many viewers have also defended the couple for playing the game strategically.
“People are whining about Matt and Michelle ‘playing dirty’ lmfaooo,” one person wrote via X. “The Amazing Race has been so neutered over the years with dumb alliances, asking people for GPS directions, and soft tactics, making it BORING TO WATCH.”
Another fan added, “Matt and Michelle were a beast on The Amazing Race. They are truly winners, man.”
The married parents of two were frontrunners throughout the season, winning three legs in a row and even placing in third after other teams voted for them to receive a U-turn disadvantage. The couple made strategic decisions throughout the game to ensure they stayed ahead, including lying to their competitors about using their express pass when they didn’t.
Matt and Michelle’s strength and gameplay made them targets for other teams, who ultimately banned together during Leg 8 to ensure that the pair would come in last place.
“I think that people who say, like, we’re so manipulative … I just don’t know, like, which lens they’re looking at from because we never ever did something that was going to hurt someone else’s game,” Michelle argued to Us. “Like, yes, we lied about saying we used our express pass. Like, who does that hurt? Nobody.”
Matt chimed in, “Tell me what these internet people would do for $1 million, and then we could talk about what’s cutthroat.”
“I honestly think we were the least manipulative people there,” Michelle continued, pointing out that it was better to play the game without help than to potentially form a fake alliance with another team and purposely misdirect them or get themselves misdirected.
Reflecting on how some of the other alliances formed between teams this season, Matt concluded, “Look how fake those alliances were between all these people of virtue, all these nice people. Fake. Their alliances didn’t hold a drop of water when it counted.”
The Amazing Race airs Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m. ET on CBS.
