Andrea & Malaina

Andrea Simpson and Malaina Hatcher are a team of College Friends on The Amazing Race 35.

Known for their upbeat and bubbly personality throughout the race, Andrea & Malaina initially struggled at the back of the pack for the first few legs. Things soon began to change for the better around the fifth leg after placing in the top 4. Despite their improvements, they had a disastrous showing on Leg 7 where they got hopelessly lost and misunderstood the task to make change, causing them to fall hours behind the other teams. By the time they finally arrived in Cologne for the carnival task, Phil was waiting to inform them of their elimination in 8th place.

Profile[]

Retrieved from Parade.com^[1]

Relationship: Best friends
Age: 45 & 44
Occupation: Tax examiner technician & Director of credit management
Current Town: Philadelphia, PA

What do you think is the most important skill required to win The Amazing Race?
Malaina Hatcher: Details. Paying attention to details.
Andrea Simpson: You can be fast all you want to. Because if you're not paying attention, you can be right at the back of the leg of the race. I've seen it too many times where they forgot something, or they didn't read something right, and it cost them the race. Slow and steady wins the race.

What previous Amazing Race team does your dynamic remind you of the most?
Malaina: I…don't know. [Laughs.] I like season seven. And I always modeled off of Uchenna and Joyce, because they persevered through a lot of challenges. I like how they push through. And so I said if we ever were faced with that, we'd keep leaning on how they got through it. Especially when she had to shave her head. That was a tough decision.
Andrea: Yeah, that was a tough decision.
Malaina: For a female to have to go through, and for her to do that, that was strength and perseverance.
Andrea: I don't think I would be able to do that, even today. [Laughs.] For females, their hair is like their crown.
Malaina: But in terms of learning how they ran the race, the Afghanimals, they like…She loves the Afghanimals.
Andrea: I do.
Malaina: But I think they're kind of conniving!
Andrea: Yeah, they were a little tricky.
Malaina: They don't race fair!
Andrea: Some parts of it.

What is one trait your partner possesses that you don't?
Andrea: She's very creative and resourceful. As far as work with your hands, creativity always comes out. I am like, as she said, the "square" one. So my creative juices…mmm mmm. I have a twin, so my twin took my creative juices. [Laughs.]
Malaina: Andrea's very smart. She's very smart and intelligent. And that's where the details come in. That I don't have, and we know that hands down. [Laughs.] We balance each other. I bring that extra "get outside the box."
Andrea: She's like, "Let your hair down." That's what she brings.

The Amazing Race 35[]

Race History[]

Andrea & Malaina's Race History
Episode	Leg	Destination(s)	Detour Choice (underlined)	Roadblock Performer	Placement	Notes
1	1	United States → Thailand	Sword Play / Spa Day	Andrea	10 of 13
2	2	Thailand	Stock Up / Scoop Up	Malaina	10 of 12
3	3	Thailand → Vietnam	Paper / Plastic	No Roadblock	9 of 11
4	4	Vietnam	Stand / Deliver	Andrea	7 of 11
5	5	Vietnam → India	All Dolled Up / The Big Picture	Andrea	4 of 10
6	6	India	Bundles / Bricks	Malaina	6 of 9
7	7	India → Germany	Did not perform	Andrea	8 of 8	^[1]
7	7	India → Germany	Did not perform	Did not perform	8 of 8	^[1]
				Average	7.71
Legend: The team finished in first place The team finished in last place and was eliminated from the race The team finished in last place in a non-elimination leg The team that won The Amazing Race The team that crossed the Finish Line second The team that crossed the Finish Line third ϵ The team used the Express Pass somewhere during the leg ⊂ The team used the U-Turn ⊃ Recipient of the U-Turn ⋐ The team that used the second slot of the "Double U-Turn" ⋑ Recipient of a second U-Turn due to the "Double U-Turn" twist
Notes: 1: Andrea & Malaina fell too far behind the rest of the cast and arrived at Gürzenich Köln after it was already closed. Host Phil Keoghan greeted them at the location to inform them of their elimination.

Post-Race[]

Trivia[]

Andrea & Malaina are the first team to be eliminated in 8th place beyond Leg 6 in the US version.

External links[]

Interviews[]

Mike Bloom at Parade (11/09/2023): "'The Amazing Race 35's Andrea Simpson and Malaina Hatcher Break Down Their Ferry Breakdown"
Rob Cesternino and Jessica Liese at Rob has a Website (11/09/2023): "Amazing Race 35 | Episode 7 Exit Interview"