‘Big Brother’ Winner Taylor Hale Opens up About Debuting Kyland Young Relationship on ‘The Amazing Race’ (Exclusive)

For Taylor Hale and Chelsie Baham, going from the Big Brother house to The Amazing Race was personal.

The Big Brother winners opened up to PopCulture.com ahead of Thursday’s premiere of The Amazing Race Season 38 about taking on the international challenge alongside their loved ones — and shocking Big Brother fans with who one of those loved ones happened to be.

Hale, who took home the win on Season 24 of Big Brother, shocked fans when she revealed that not only was she competing on The Amazing Race alongside Big Brother Season 23 alum Kyland Young, but she was also dating him.

“This is the first time Kyland and I are being open about dating,” Hale said of the decision to join The Amazing Race. “We’ve had some issues in our relationship, like any couple, and so we wanted to take this opportunity to work on our communication. You know, he’s a little long-winded and a little hard-headed, and maybe I’m a little hard-headed too. So if you throw the two of us into this little blender, we’ll see if we work it out.”

When it came to revealing her relationship on The Amazing Race, Hale noted that she had learned her lesson about being in an “ultra-public relationship” when dating her Big Brother 24 co-star Joseph Abdin. (Joseph is also competing on The Amazing Race Season 38 alongside his brother, Adam Abdin).

“Something that I learned in my relationship with Joseph was that I don’t really want to be in an ultra-public relationship again,” Hale explained. “Some things are better kept private and sacred, and I really enjoyed that in my relationship with Kyland.”

Hale said she and Young had been “on and off” leading up to The Amazing Race, making their competition more than just a race for a million dollars, but also a “fish or cut bait version of figuring our stuff out.”

“So am I excited to open it up to the public? In some ways, yeah,” she explained. “I’m really excited for people to see just how gentle and loving that we are with each other. And I think you’re also going to see a really real couple, or just two people that love each other so much that really want to be together, traveling throughout Europe and figuring it out.”

For Baham, who won Big Brother 26, competing alongside her dad, Jack Baham, was also an exercise in figuring it out.

“We started to bicker before the race even started,” she joked. “He forgot to bring any ounce of red on the race — and we are team red. So the bickering started before the cameras went on.”

She went on, “So you will see a very loving, cute father-daughter duo, but you will see a very real father-daughter duo. So buckle up, baby, get ready.”

Packing issues aside, Baham said she was “so honored” to bring her dad, a Los Angeles firefighter, alongside her on the journey. “We’ve only traveled outside of the country together once,” she said, adding that in the event that she won the grand prize, she wanted to retire her dad early.

As to which CBS game show is harder — Big Brother or The Amazing Race — both Hale and Baham were torn.

“They’re hard for different reasons,” Baham explained. “Big Brother is hard because you’re stuck in the house and you don’t stop gaming — It’s 24/7, both of us [for] 90 days. So you’re mentally exhausted. Amazing Race is physically demanding, and it’s hard because you’re doing it with somebody else. So they’re both really, really hard shows, and you will see us struggle in some of these legs, but they’re hard for different reasons.”

Hale agreed, adding, “I would say I would do The Amazing Race over and over and over again. Every time they call, if they ever call again, I would say yes. Big Brother, I’m fine. … I’m good with [Big Brother: Unlocked].”

Other Big Brother alum competing on The Amazing Race Season 38 include Season 26’s Angela Murray, Season 23’s Hannah Chaddha, Season 25 winner Jag Bains, and Season 21’s Kat Dunn, among others.

The Amazing Race Season 38 premieres Thursday, Sept. 25 at 9:30 p.m. ET on CBS and Paramount+. The show then moves to its regular time slot of Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m. ET beginning on Oct. 1.