"This is my guy" - The Amazing Race season 38 first evictee Enzo talks about choosing to team up with his brother Jack

Enzo Palumbo appeared on The Amazing Race season 38 alongside his brother Jack Palumbo, forming a team built on years of personal connection.

When asked why he selected Jack as a partner during an exclusive interview with Parade on September 26, 2025, Enzo said:

"If I’m going to do something like this and travel the world and go leave myself vulnerable to something like this, I’m doing it with my brother. This is my best friend. This is who I talk to every day. This is my guy."

The brothers were eliminated in the first leg of the race, making them the first team to leave The Amazing Race season 38.

Enzo Palumbo explains why he chose his brother Jack as his partner on The Amazing Race season 38

Selecting a partner

Enzo explained his reasoning for choosing Jack as his partner in the race, emphasizing that he wanted to do it with his "brother" and share both the struggles and potential winnings together.

Jack also reflected on his decision to join Enzo, noting that he felt a mix of nervousness and excitement before competing.

"Like he touched on, I’m like, ‘You’re gonna go do this show, and you could win money. If you go do this with somebody else, how would that make me feel? You know what? Let’s go do this together,'" he stated.

Experiences during the race

The Palumbo brothers faced challenges from the beginning. A pre-starting line task determined advantages and disadvantages for all teams, and Jack and Enzo finished last, receiving a "Hazard."

Enzo described the initial task and its effect:

"The task in question involved eating a herring, which was easy enough. But the true crux of the handicap came in their mode of transportation for most of the leg. Riding around in a cumbersome clog bike clogged up their chances of catching up."

Jack detailed the unexpected challenges during the leg. He explained that being on "TV" made him feel nervous, and being in the middle of a country where he did not know his surroundings added to the difficulty.

He described feeling scared to drive and uncertain about being out in unfamiliar areas, emphasizing that he had to navigate the car in the middle of nowhere while managing the pressures of The Amazing Race season 38.

Lessons learned about each other

After a short time on the race, the brothers reflected on parts of their relationship.

Enzo said he and Jack are both "stubborn," often wanting to do things their way without compromising, and that their shared attributes came from the same cloth, pointing out that parts of their personalities mirrored each other.

Jack similarly noted challenges with communication, explaining that their "communication" skills weren’t as strong as he had anticipated.

He added that while they bonded well over familiar topics, the race required them to communicate more clearly and coordinate better to complete tasks efficiently. He added,

"Like he said, I was saying one thing, he was saying another, and we weren’t really conversating or discussing it and trying to come up with a solution. We were just saying, ‘I’ll do it this way.’ ‘No, do it this way.’ So we learned that both of us like to do our own ways for the most part."

Stay tuned for more updates.