Topic: Lorena Segura and Jason Widener - TAR12

[Kogs]

Lorena & Jason
Dating
Lorena: Sherman Oaks, CA
27, Bartender

Jason: Sherman Oaks, CA
33, Wedding Videographer/Actor

This couple met at a bar over three years ago, quickly started dating and have been trying to figure out if they really belong together ever since. Although they live under one roof, they rarely see each other due to their opposite work schedules.

Lorena and Jason’s cultural differences has caused some issues in their relationship and they’re hoping the Race might help them figure out whether or not their relationship has what it takes to last.

Jason works as a wedding videographer/actor and teaches martial arts. His favorite hobbies are yoga, rock climbing and martial arts. He describes himself as courageous and volatile. Volatile could also be the best word to describe his and Lorena’s relationship. Lorena admits that she is a very jealous person, which has caused problems in the past.

Lorena also works as a waitress and is an actress. She admits that the biggest difference between the two is that she stresses out over everything while Jason is much more relaxed. Lorena is ready to get married and this topic in particular has caused some friction in their relationship in the past.

Both are well traveled and very physical. This couple plays together, travels together, exercises together and fights together.

[puddin]

Lorena is a star   
Us detectives found that she goes by the last name York

http://www.myspace.com/lorenayork 
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1577400/

[Slowhatch]

Jason has some credits as well.

[Kiwi Jay]

For some reason I like them too

[puddin]

   
Arkansas actor among competitors for ‘Amazing Race’

By RITA SHERROW World Television Editor
10/26/2007

An Arkansas native is among the newly announced teams who will compete on CBS’ “The Amazing Race 12” this season.
The reality-adventure series, which covers 30,000 miles in five countries in 30 days, premieres at 7 p.m. Nov. 4 on channel 6.
Actor Jason Widener, 33, who was featured in “The Comebacks,” the spoof of inspiration sports films that opened last week, will be one of the featured competitors.
Teaming with him is his girlfriend Lorena Segura, 27, a bartender born in Puerto Rico.
The couple make their home in Sherman Oaks, Calif., and will be among the 11 teams competing for the $1 million prize

source

[Texan]

There pic makes them look friendly and someone you want to cheer for

[Kiwi Jay]

Yeah I think I will like them

[RudyRules]

Nice looking couple.  Hope the race helps them decide what to do with their lives afterwards.

[TARAsia Fan]

Mactors! LOL

[georgiapeach]

I don't think their Buddy TV Interview did them any favors--I liked them better before I saw it...

[RudyRules]

We can tell a lot more about all of them after seeing how they act and interact with each other and the other teams under pressure!

[michael]

For some strange reason I have a strong dislike for this team.

[TARAsia Fan]

Her whining in the car probably didn't help.

[puddin]

OMG I love them!!  They wouldn't be real if they didn't bicker.

[michael]

so far this is the first team that my opinion has changed 100%
I LOVE THEM NOW
LOL I like how Lorena screams when she gets nervous

[TARAsia Fan]

Lorena's screaming reminds me of Kimberly's fit when she was hit by tomatoes in TAR10. To me, that was the best blowup ever. I'm hoping Lorena's screaming matches or even tops it.

[puddin]

“There was a Lot of Bad Luck About It” – An Interview with The Amazing Race's Lorena & Jason
by Teeuwynn Woodruff -- 11/27/2007

 
This week, a strong young team struggled to catch up from the time deficit their struggles with last week’s camel-milking Roadblock created. But what really happened with the camel? Did getting U-Turned by Shana & Jennifer really make any difference? And how did they feel about carrying a live chicken around all day? Look inside to find out!

RealityNewsOnline: Hi, Lorena & Jason! Thanks for talking to RealityNewsOnline!

Jason & Lorena: Hello!

RNO: Let’s start with the burning question, just what was it like toting a chicken in a bag around for a day?

Lorena: It was actually fun!

Jason: Well, I mean, I’m the one who held the chicken the whole time.

Lorena: Well, I held it while you did the bike.

Jason: But I’m really into animals. I love animals. I was trying not to hurt him and it was just cool that, at the end, Phil said that our chicken looked the best.

Lorena: Yeah, we won that!

RNO: Did you name your chicken?

Jason: We didn’t name it. You know, we had other things on our mind.

RNO: Were you crossing your fingers that another team had somehow lost their chicken on the leg?

Lorena: Oh, yeah.

Jason: That their car would break down or something.

Lorena: We were crossing our toe-fingers!

RNO: At the start of the leg, did you think you had much of a chance to catch up with the other teams?

Jason: Of course we did!

Lorena: Yeah, we did. We did. Because everybody else caught up every single time.

Jason: Every leg before this, people were behind – an hour, two hours behind – and everybody got equalized at the airport. So, we were thinking, “Hey! At least we’ll get equalized at the airport.”

RNO: But there was no airport.

Jason: There was no airport. And then we thought, okay, we’ll just play really well.

Lorena: And we did.

Jason: And then we got U-Turned.

RNO: Shana & Jennifer used the U-Turn on you. Did that make any actual difference or were you so far behind it just didn’t matter?

Jason: We weren’t that far behind. I think if they wouldn’t have U-Turned us, we would have definitely crossed paths with other teams. For sure. But, you know, you just never know what’s going to happen. I mean, that definitely put us back another 45 minutes.

RNO: Why do you think Shana & Jennifer were so worried about you guys?

Jason: Well… She thought that we were closer than we really were. She thought TK & Rachel were us. And, you know, we were a strong team. We ended up finishing the whole race [leg] – we were an hour behind TK & Rachel and Shana & Jen.

RNO: You were an hour behind them when you got to the Pit Stop?

Jason: Yes. We weren’t that far behind.

Lorena: And we had started an hour and a half behind them.

Jason: And we did both Detours.

RNO: With the extra Detour taking about 45 minutes?

Jason: Yeah, so we would have been like 15 minutes behind them. The thing is, you still never know.

RNO: But you had made up a fair amount of time?

Jason: Oh, we made up time.

Lorena: Yeah!

Jason: We still made up time even when we got U-Turned.

RNO: Communication seemed to be somewhat of an issue for you two on the race. Jason, why didn’t you listen to Lorena in Ireland when she told you that you were driving in the wrong direction?

Jason: Ummm… The biggest reason is because we’d already turned around once. We were going one direction and then we started going another direction. Lorena and I talked about it and she said that if I was feeling really positive we were going the right way, you know, she told me to make the final decision. I was just trying to, you know, uphold that. I was going to make the final decision. Just because… I knew we weren’t lost. And the thing was, we really weren’t lost. We ended up taking a wrong turn later and, the thing is, I didn’t want to get trapped into following people. I didn’t want to rely on people too much. You know, why don’t we just do it ourselves? We’re in first place already. If we get lost a little bit, we’re not going to lose. I knew we were okay.

RNO: Lorena, why do you think you stumbled at the camel-milking Roadblock in the previous leg?

Lorena: I… Well, the reality is that I filled up the bowl and it was all filled. I drank it with a guy who was right next to me, but he wasn’t the judge. So they decided that wasn’t acceptable. Later, we found out that it was acceptable for other teams, but it wasn’t accepted for me at that moment. And I wasn’t in the right state of mind to fight it or anything. I kept going and filling up my bowl… and then my camel had gone a little bit dry. So I was, like, “I cannot believe this just happened to me.” That’s why I freaked out.

RNO: How much time do you think that cost you?

Lorena: The entire time I was there.

Jason: I mean, she drank the first bowl after 10 or 15 minutes of milking and then she finds out that she drank it in front of the wrong guy. I mean, she asked “is this the right guy?” and he said, “yeah,” so she drank it. Then she had to go to another bowl, and she [the camel] was dry at that point.

RNO: Jason, while you were waiting, did you try to talk to someone about the situation? Or couldn’t you see what was happening?

Jason: Yeah, I couldn’t really see what was going on. That’s why, ‘cause Lorena was so far away, and she was looking at me. She knew I was wondering what was going on. Then I was a little upset that she drank it in front of the wrong person and then it just kept escalating. Finally, before you know it, everybody’s gone and she’s still trying. There was a lot of bad luck about it.

RNO: Did Julia shouting at you to try another camel – one with a baby – actually help you finish the task more quickly?

Lorena: Yeah, actually, I did go to that camel and it gave me milk. It actually helped me leave faster.

Jason: They were helping each other out that last 45 minutes.

Lorena: Yeah, we were both helping each other out. At that point, we were like, “Oh my gosh!”

Jason: Yeah, they were running around trying to find the right camel.

RNO: Do you think that help allowed you to finish close enough to Marianna & Julia to catch them at the end?

Jason: It gave us an advantage, but I tell you, they didn’t show a lot. We ran really hard to catch up to them and after we caught up to them I think we did really well to overtake them. We got lucky in that way, so…

RNO: Although having the first bowl of milk Lorena drank not counted by the judges actually ended up costing you this leg of the race.

Jason: Yeah, in the long run, that whole thing… we never caught up. We never caught a break after that. I think a lot of teams get a lot of breaks. We didn’t have an equalizer as far as an airport, we got U-Turned, nobody really made a mistake, Lorena drank two bowls of milk. It was just really bad luck for us. I think we were a pretty strong team.

RNO: What made you decide to go on The Amazing Race?

Lorena: Well, I just felt like… I guess I brought it up. I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to do it. I didn’t feel that I could leave for that long an amount of time. Then I told Jason and he was all for it. We made the tape and one thing led to another. We got called back and we just got really excited about it. In the beginning, I think that I was more tentative than anything. But it came out of wanting to get out of my comfort zone, to get out of Los Angeles, to actually explore and do something different that I hadn’t done before. We didn’t become fans of the show until after we decided we were going to do it. We never had time to even watch TV that much. We lived life really hectic. This was a great opportunity to be hectic somewhere else.

RNO: Did going on the race change your relationship in any way?

Lorena: Umm… well, Jason?

Jason: I’m here. I’m just listening right now.

Lorena: Oh, um…

(Jason laughs)

Lorena: I think, now that we’re watching it again, it has. Because we’re both dealing with everything that happened and, you know, forgiving ourselves if we hadn’t before. And then coming together and being fine with ourselves together. So, it’s like, we’re just feeling everything again. But I’m sure we’re fine. We’re together. We’re very lucky with a lot of things in our lives.

RNO: What was your favorite moment on the race?

Jason: I did like it when the storm blew in [at the camel-milking Roadblock]. It was such a cool moment to be there, hearing the camels groan and your girl’s out there yelling… It was one of those moments that was actually kind of cool. It would be pretty hard to replicate.

Lorena: I loved not being eliminated! That was good. Because it really did give me hope that we were still in it. We never thought for a million years that we were not going to be able to catch up the next day. We were really positive that everything was going to work out where we were going to be all equalized.

RNO: Is there anything you would do differently on the race?

Lorena: I would have stayed calm so that when something like the milk arose, my head would have been clear enough to be able to work out where I didn’t have to milk again.

RNO: What are your plans for the future?

Jason: For me, right now, as far as my personal life, I’m working on a documentary about the real Hollywood Entourage. There’s an acting strike [editor: writers strike] so we’re not really acting. We’re trying to have a good holiday season and start the new year off right. That’s it.

RNO: Is there anything else you'd like to tell us about the race?

Lorena: Keep watching!

Jason & Lorena: You’ll be surprised!

RNO: Thank you for talking to RealityNewsOnline.

Lorena: Happy Holidays!


RNO~
http://www.realitynewsonline.com/cgi-bin/ae.pl?mode=4&article=article7527.art&page=1

[TARAsia Fan]

Thanks for posting the interview, puddin! 

[georgiapeach]

Buddy TV exit Interview

So let's start at the beginning here. Were you two fans of The Amazing Race? Was one of you a bigger fan than the other? How did you all apply? How did it all work out?

Jason: We were fans, definitely fans. A lot of my family, they were fans. My aunt was a huge fan of the show and all her kids were always talking about doing it and things like that and we went through the whole process, applied and now we're here.


So you guys are in first place after the second leg, looking pretty good and then comes the camel. Obviously Lorena that was a really frustrating event. Was there any aspect to that that we didn't get to see? Or was it just as simple as the camel was dry?

Lorena: No, there was a lot of aspects to it. I mean I was out there like, three hours I think, trying to milk that camel. In the beginning, actually, you didn't get to see me drink the milk first with the ... there were just a lot of long technicalities that happened with me and the camel in the beginning that wasn't shown. And then that frustration built to what you saw. So my frustration that you saw on TV didn't come until way, way after.

Jason: In the beginning she actually milked it really fast, drank the milk in front of the wrong judge, and basically had to re-milk the cow. That's what really happened. So you know there was a build up to her actually losing. That was after an hour and a half, two hours of : ‘Okay, this is not working out. I let my boy down. We were in first place, now we're in last.' Sh*t happens quick.


How hard was that for both of you to watch on TV?

Jason: It was hard, I mean it was hard to watch ... we've already been through it so we've already been through the emotions. Watching it on TV is just kind of a weird kind of nightmare. Seeing it again you're like: ‘Oh, wow, this did happen.' It wasn't that bad though because we've already gotten over it. The hardest part was probably seeing all of our friends excited that we were in first place and going into the second leg going: ‘You guys are going to win this thing.' And then all of a sudden on the next race: ‘We didn't think you were going to make it. Wow.'


Onto last nights episode, do you guys have any lingering bitterness over the U-Turn used on you? And did you know before last night that it was meant for TK and Rachel and it was kind of a mistake?

Lorena: I actually didn't know that we weren't meant it for. We always thought it was meant for us. I never quite understood why they did it, but now watching it makes sense because they thought it was TK and Rachel behind. They thought that TK and Rachel ... that it was us, behind them, you know?

Jason: Yeah they thought that was TK and Rachel they thought was us. They thought we were on their tail but we were still an hour behind them and that obviously just really, kicked us in the balls when we were down there.


It's kind of hard to tell with the editing, but would guys have had any shot at passing any of the other teams had you not been U-Turned?

Jason: I think so. I think that, you know, the course of anything in life that if you change one little aspect, everything else changes. So basically if we wouldn't have been U-Turned, the way they were racing may have been a little different. You just never know, there are so many little factors involved. It's just pretty chaotic. Yeah basically when we got to the very end of the race, we were about an hour behind TK and Rachel and we did both take detours. We started an hour and half behind ... we saved about 30mintues. We caught up. Even though they were playing two detours. So we actually played a really great leg and that's why it was so upsetting because we blew past it.


Was there anything over the course of the season so far that was edited out of you guys that you wish CBS would have shown?

Jason: I do wish they would have shown, when we hitched the camels up and we ran to catch up to Julia and Marianna, we ran the opposite way for about two and half ... two miles. Some kids on bikes told us that they knew where the school was. So we went two miles, and they showed a little bit of it, but they didn't really show how hard we were all running racing through the mud. The cameraman fell in the mud ... it was chaos. It was a major footrace. I wish they had shown more because it was very exciting getting to the school.

Lorena: I wish they would have shown our alliances too. We were really close to Kynt and Vyxsin. It was really back and forth.

Jason: Kynt really helped us out. We were trying to help them out, and they were helping us out. I remember one time Kynt got a map for us when everybody was trying to not give us a map because we got stuck in customs. And that's something that they should show to, but they can't. So many custom problems. We liked everybody, you know? Nate and Jen, TK and Rachel, Kynt and Vyxsin, they were the ones we hung out with the most and I think it was sad for us to go but I think they were glad that we left to because they knew we were pretty strong.


Is there anything coming up in the future for you two outside of the game that you'd like to talk about?

Jason: Oh yea, oh yea. For me I'm really excited because I'm working on a documentary about the real Hollywood entourage. So that's going to be something that I think everybody is going to want to see. I'm just producing it and putting it together, but my friend is directing it. We've been gathering the footage for the last 12 years, so we're really excited about that. Yeah and then we're acting in it.

Lorena: Um, well, I just shot a spot on Moonlight that came out and it was pretty cool. And a lot of people are talking about that scene so I'm hoping that, and after the writers guild get's done, that that'll make for a little bit more opportunities for me getting some roles. Work on my craft and my passion number one.

       
-Interview Conducted by Oscar Dahl

[RudyRules]

Lorena's screaming reminds me of Kimberly's fit when she was hit by tomatoes in TAR10. To me, that was the best blowup ever. I'm hoping Lorena's screaming matches or even tops it.

You LIKE'd her screaming/crying??  Dang, it drives me up the wall when they act like that!!  I know she was extremely frustrated with the camel and was having such bad luck, but geeezo...  

[TARAsia Fan]

I laughed when Kimberly was screaming. Lorena's blowup was a bit pitiful, but also funny.

[puddin]

INTERVIEW: 'The Amazing Race's Lorena Segura and Jason Widener

 
By Christopher Rocchio, 11/27/2007

Lorena Segura and Jason Widener began the fourth leg in last place but assumed they'd at least be given the opportunity to catch-up.
Unfortunately for the dating couple from Sherman Oaks, CA, that never happened, and they instead became the fourth team eliminated from The Amazing Race's twelfth season during Sunday night's broadcast of the CBS reality series.

On Monday, Jason, a 33-year-old wedding videographer and actor, and Lorena, a 27-year-old bartender and actress, talked to Reality TV World about how a Roadblock technicality contributed to their elimination; why the lack of a bunching point on the fourth leg proved to be costly; how the use of a U-Turn on them was a case of mistaken identity; and how Jason thinks viewers will react when they see the season's eventual outcome.

Reality TV World:  How were you cast for The Amazing Race 12?  Was it your first time applying for the show?

Jason: It was the first time we applied.  The reason we got cast, my family is really into [The Amazing Race].  My aunt, she was into it.  Her kids were into it.  We always talked about how this would be a cool adventure and me and my girlfriend decided, "Let's go for it."  We went through the process and sent in tape -- where we were actually arguing (laughing).  I thought that was funny.  They brought us in and we got on the show.  We were lucky to get on the show.

Reality TV World:  You just mentioned your family had watched the show. Had you watched The Amazing Race before?

Jason:  We're not fans, but we watched it.  We never really stuck through a whole season, but I was always like, "That's pretty cool."  Everybody's always telling me about it...
Lorena:  I think once we got on we became fans (laughing)!

Reality TV World:  How did you prepare yourselves both physically and mentally for the competition?

Lorena:  Actually we've always been pretty physical, so we kept doing what we were doing physically.  Preparation mentally... We just watched a lot of past races and looked for strategies, pointers from other people online.  Most of them said the same thing.  "You don't know what's going to happen and it's much more of an internal thing.  Much more of how you deal with each individual situation."

Reality TV World:  Had either of you previously done a lot of international traveling? Do you know any foreign languages?

Lorena:  I have.  I've traveled... Actually, I've been to Amsterdam not too long ago, so I knew my way around there when we went there.  I know a little French -- enough to get by -- not fluent.  I've been to France.  I've been to England.  I've been to Italy.  So I've been to a bunch of places, internationally and in South America.  I've been lucky with my family, that [travel] has been a priority.

Reality TV World:  Were there any teams you initially butted heads with?  Any teams that you got along with really well?

Lorena:  We didn't butt heads with anybody actually.  From the beginning ["Sisters" Julia and Marianna Ruiz] -- we weren't sure about them in the beginning -- but then we got along with them perfectly...
Jason:  I think even the producers, they were a little scared.  They were like, "Man!  You guys get along way too well!"
Lorena:  Yeah.  We got along really well.
Jason:  There were people that we were hoping were going to be out as far as competition.

Reality TV World:  You just mentioned the sisters, did you form any alliances with any of the other teams?

Lorena:  We actually did help... We helped ["Dating Goths" Kynt Cothron and Vyxsin Fiala].  We actually helped each other a lot in the first three legs of the race.  We worked together really well.
Jason:  They weren't really alliances as much as they were situational.  Like if you're sitting on the train, you're sitting by somebody -- I don't care who it is -- you have to put your heads together and try to stay towards the front of the pack.  I think everybody kind of had that strategy.  I think the people that alienated themselves at the beginning probably didn't have as much information.  You want to stay in the front of the pack, and if you're in the back of the pack, you'd like to be in the front of it.

Reality TV World:  During the first leg of the race, Jason you commented how communication wasn't your relationship's strong point.  Were you concerned that was going to be a hindrance in the competition and if so, do you think you guys were able to overcome it?

Jason:  I think we communicated well in the second leg... I think communication in life with everybody is an ongoing work in progress, so when you're under that kind of stress and sleep deprivation, it just heightens everything.  So I think everybody was challenged with communication... Lorena's a pretty emotional girl, so I think that made it a little more difficult.  But we did our best.  I think we communicated really good, we got U-Turned and we didn't have an equalizer.

Reality TV World:  During the second leg, Jason you showed some of your physical strength during the "Hoist It" Detour challenge and subsequent pole-vaulting Roadblock challenge, allowing your  team to be the first to reach the second Pit Stop.  How confident were you at that point of the race?

Jason:  I knew there was a possibility there as far as taking an advantage and being physical.  I think in a footrace or anything like that -- physically -- we were really in shape.  If it's a simple task, and you're doing something using muscle and physicality, I was like, "Man, it's going to be hard to beat us."  But when you're milking a camel or walking a donkey, you never know.  It's not as controlled.  It's not in your control as much...

Reality TV World:  That leads well into my next question.  Lorena what was the major problem you encountered during the third leg's Roadblock when you were milking your camel?

Lorena:  I think the kicking... The camel kicking and me losing milk a lot didn't help in me filling that bowl.  Also, you don't get to see everything, so you miss out on some technicalities in the beginning about rules and stuff.  I actually had a bowl and drank it in the beginning, and it wasn't acceptable after the fact that it was accepted.  So that was like a big deal there, and that contributed to my...

Reality TV World:  Interesting.  Was there a reason they said it wasn't acceptable after you drank it?

Lorena:  You know, I never really asked because you don't have time to talk to people about it.  I never really asked.  In that moment, I was so nervous thinking that I did something wrong, I didn't realize that I actually didn't do something wrong.  Something...
Jason:  She drank the bowl of milk in-front of the wrong person so... They don't show that, but it disqualified her from moving on [until she completed the challenge again].  She had to do it again, so the camel was already out of milk.

Reality TV World:  Jason how difficult was it for you to watch Lorena struggle with the camel, knowing there was nothing you could do?

Jason:  It was hard man.  I wanted to help her, but I knew she had to do it on her own and of course I saw the race slipping away.  I think when the [sandstorm] finally came, at this point I said, "You know what?  Enjoy the race, have fun, and stay positive because this could be our last leg."... I don't know.  There's worse things in life then being on a TV show in Africa.
Lorena:  Yeah....

Reality TV World:  Seeing as how it helped you complete the Roadblock, were you surprised when Julia gave you the hint to milk the nursing camel?

Lorena:  I think at that point, we became so close because we were there for like an hour after everybody had left.   We became so close, we actually helped each other back and forth even before that.  We were telling each other, "This one has milk!  That one has milk!"  We were helping each other out in that situation...

Reality TV World:  About how long did it take you to finish that Roadblock challenge?

Lorena:  About three hours...

Reality TV World:  What were you thinking when you were leading your camels and saw Julia and Marianna walking slowly down the path? 

Jason:  I knew we were going to lose the race unless we ran.  Even though they said we weren't supposed to run, our nomad was really cool, and I think he...
Lorena:  He started hitting our camel in the back...
Jason:  He wasn't hitting him he was making noises, which would kind of... I don't know if it spooked him, but it was trying to keep him going.... Camels can run!

Reality TV World:  How far ahead of Julia and Marianna were you in reaching the third leg's Pit Stop?

Lorena:  We were like 15 minutes before them... or 10.
Jason:  No we weren't.
Lorena:  They weren't RIGHT behind us Jason. 
Jason:  They were in the classroom [for the Detour challenge] with us. 
Lorena:  We got to the Pit Stop WAY before they did.
Jason:  I don't think it was WAY before. I think they were only like five minutes behind us...
Lorena:  Well, it felt longer.

Reality TV World:  You left the third Pit Stop about an hour and half behind the next closest team -- were you confident you'd be able to make-up your deficit heading into the fourth leg?

Jason:  Absolutely.  I mean considering we didn't know we were going to stay in Africa.  We thought we'd get clumped up at the airport again at least, or something...

Reality TV World:  Do you think that the leg's lack of a bunching point -- the leg didn't feature any airplane flights or clue locations that only seemed to be open during certain limited hours and allowed all the teams to get back together --  is what did you in?

Lorena:  Okay... So I'm going in.  I have to go.
Jason:  Okay.  You have to go?
Lorena:  I do.
Jason:  Okay.  Keep your phone on and then come back to the conversation.  Lorena has to go for a second...

Reality TV World:  Okay.

Jason:  Yeah, I mean at this point it was the only leg where there wasn't something that equalizes everybody.  If we had the airport involved, we're only an hour-and-a-half behind.  You know you're going to get to the airport with everybody else and you're going to be able to catch-up.  At least with two other teams, who then you can try to beat on the ground.  We didn't expect the U-Turn (laughing)!

Reality TV World:  I was just going to ask you about that.  What was your initial reaction when you saw "Friends" Shana Wall and Jennifer McCall decided to use the U-Turn on you?

Jason:  They thought that ["Newly Dating Couple" Rachel Rosales and TK Erwin] were Rachel and I.  So they thought they we were right on their tail when we're weren't.  So basically, we were still... That was an hour-and-a-half taxi ride from Bingo to that Detour. So that was just kicking us when we were down.   I wish they would have known who they were U-Turning!  I think that if they would have known that was TK and Rachel, they wouldn't have U-Turned us.  That's unfortunate.   But what's funny is, when we finished the whole leg, we were only an hour behind [Shana and Jennifer] and TK and Rachel.

Reality TV World:  In reaching the fourth leg's Pit Stop?

Jason:  Yeah... AND we did both Detours.  We blew through that leg, which sucks because we were just getting our rhythm and I think we would have been a force.  We just had a lot of things that stacked up on us and just really took us down.

Reality TV World:  About how long did it take you to complete both of the Detour challenges?

Jason:  You know, the hard part... It was all in one area, those Detours.  If you wanted to do the ["Shake Your Booty" challenge] or the ["Shake Your Pan" challenge], but it was a long like half-mile or mile in-between each one.  Plus the U-Turn was at another place, like a triangle.  So there's a big triangle.  So we had to go from [the "Shake Your Booty" challenge] to the U-Turn, from the U-Turn to [the "Shake Your Pan" challenge] and then back to the U-Turn to get our clue.  We did double or triple the amount of running than everybody else -- they didn't show that -- and we still did it faster than everybody.  I don't know how we did it so fast.  We did really good, and it just sucks.  Another contributing factor is nobody really made any really big mistakes.  Every other leg, there's at least a couple of people that something goes bad...

Reality TV World:  When you saw the U-Turn, did you think there was any chance you'd be able to catch-up with the other teams?

Jason:  It's never over until it's over.  I thought maybe -- even though they said there's no non-elimination rounds -- maybe there is a surprise.  Just keep doing well, you don't want to be too far behind the other teams. 

Reality TV World:  Do you think Shana and Jennifer's decision to use the U-Turn put a target on their backs?

Jason:  I think yeah, the other teams are definitely going to know that [Shana and Jennifer] are not scared to put a target on their backs and they made a bad decision because they didn't even know which team they were actually U-Turning... They were just playing the game though.  I understand.

Reality TV World:  The show hasn't made any mention of it, but TK, Rachel, Staella Gianakakos, and Nathan Hagstrom all went to high school together in Fountain Valley, CA.  How forthcoming were they with the information and what was your reaction when you found out about that?

Jason:  They even told me! So we did find out.  I was like, "Oh really?"  It really was a complete coincidence.  None of them knew each other really; they just knew of each other.  I believe that because everybody was straight, stand-up people.

Reality TV World:  Once you found out, weren't you worried that their three teams might be planning to ally against the rest of the teams?

Jason:  Yeah. I was worried.  I was hoping that I could develop a report with the people at the top of the pack and keep an open mind and keep the information going.  We did -- but after that third leg -- everybody looked at us a little weird in Africa... We were in last, and now we're in first... I think that's when the race really started to begin, that third leg.  They were like, "Uh-oh." 

Reality TV World:  What was the toughest part about competing on The Amazing Race?

Jason:  The hardest part for me was actually seeing Lorena after that Roadblock with the camel.  Standing there, and the only thing I could do was give her encouragement.  That's what I did.  It's hard when you really can't help somebody...

Reality TV World:  Which team would you like to see win the $1 million prize?  Anybody you don't want to see win?

Jason:  Since I know the outcome of the whole thing, it's too much information I know.  I think everybody's going to be surprised who wins... It's a long race... It's really a long race... I think it's going to be one of the best seasons.  It's really good.

Reality TV World:  If you had won, what were your plans for the $1 million prize?

Jason:  Well right now, I'm working on this documentary about the real Hollywood entourage.  So I'm going to need some money for that -- so I'm raising money right now for that, and that's what I would use it for.  But I'll find the money another way and everything's going to work out.  I know Lorena... You know we dream about a house.  Keep it simple.

Reality TV World:  During your post-elimination interview, you both talked about marriage.  What's the current status of your relationship and do you think participating in The Amazing Race strengthened it?

Jason:  We're both living in L.A., we work as actors... We really don't know what the hell we want, the both of us.  We're trying to figure out what we're doing and keep it artistic -- the spirit alive... Marriage for me, I'm like one of those guys that's against the institution so I'm trying to stay away from that and keep the free spirit about myself.  She really is too, but she does love the traditional aspect of getting married...

Reality TV World:  You already touched upon this, but what else is next for you two? 

Jason:  I mean we're really acting hard -- I mean there's the [Writers Guild of America] strike right now so we're waiting for that to be over.  I was just in a movie called The Comebacks, where I played the actor Mark Wahlberg in a spoof with David Koechner.  Lorena was just in a show called Moonlight about vampires.  So we've got things going for us as far as the acting and the documentary is going to be my life for the next six months.  We're just trying to keep moving.

http://www.realitytvworld.com/news/interview-the-amazing-race-lorena-segura-and-jason-widener-6168.php

[puddin]

Interview with Jason and Lorena of the Amazing Race 12
Posted on November 27th, 2007 by Mark
Author's web site: http://www.myspace.com/realitywanted


Q. Mark RealityWanted.com: What initially got you both interested in being on The Amazing Race, did you watch prior seasons?

A. Lorena, The Amazing Race 12: The opportunity presented itself when we found out CBS was casting season 12. I have always loved to travel but it’s hard to get the two of us together and go somewhere. We thought it would be great way to get out and experience something new. We did watch The Amazing Race season 7 and The Amazing Race All Stars.

A. Jason, The Amazing Race 12: I had not watched the show much but once we landed a spot on the show CBS had us watch each season so we had an idea on what we were getting into.

Q. Mark Realitywanted.com: Did you guys have a favorite past team or team you rooted on from a prior season?

A. Jason, The Amazing Race 12: We loved everyone that didn’t add too much drama but focused on playing the game.

A. Lorena, The Amazing Race 12: I really liked Uchenna and Joyce.

Q. Mark Realitywanted.com: What was your most favorite and least favorite challenge during the race?

A. Jason, The Amazing Race 12: I really liked the pole vaulting, but actually I liked them all since they were all new experiences. Of course, my least favorite was milking the camel. I also didn’t like tying up the goat on last nights show, I felt bad for the little goat.

A. Lorena, The Amazing Race 12: I really liked the hoisting challenge, I hated the camel one.

Q. Mark RealityWanted.com: I spoke with Marinna and Julia last week, they said you both watched last weeks show together. Did their hint on what camel would produce milk really help keep you both in the race?

A. Jason, The Amazing Race 12: It did help.

A. Lorena, The Amazing Race 12: 100% but we were helping one another for like 15 minutes prior to that since we were both having such issues with the camels.

Q. Mark RealityWanted.com: Let’s talk about the U Turn, do you guys have hard feelings towards Shana and Jen for using it on you?

A. Lorena, The Amazing Race 12: We’re not really mad at them for using the U Turn on us. At the point in which they used it on us none of us were thinking right, no one ate enough, slept enough, and so on. They were just playing the game so I can’t hold a grudge.

A. Jason, The Amazing Race 12: I’m not mad at them but I do wish they had the right information before they used it on us.

Q. Mark RealityWanted.com: What information were they missing?

A. Jason, The Amazing Race 12: When Shana and Jen used the U Turn on us TK and Rachel were running behind them but they thought it was Lorena and I. Had they had the right information they would have used the U Turn on Rachel and TK.

Q. Mark RealityWanted.com: Lets hope Karma doesn’t catch up to those two like it has on prior shows. Let’s talk about the camels from last week, how hard was that on you and did you get tired of them showing you scream about the lack of milk?

A. Jason, The Amazing Race 12: It was very hard for me since all I could do was watch Lorena, I could not help.

A. Lorena, The Amazing Race 12: Yes, it was very hard but most viewers don’t realize I freaked out after being there for three hours. It started to get even worse when the monsoon started to roll in.

Q. Mark RealityWanted.com: What about the other teams? This is the first time we have seen a Gothic team on TAR. Do their outside match their insides?

A. Jason, The Amazing Race 12: I think a lot of people judge them on their look which I think is a good thing since people are very pleasantly surprised once they get to know Kynt and Vxysin.

A. Lorena, The Amazing Race 12: Kynt and Vxysin are eclectic and different but some of the sweetest human beings I have met. They are both very warm, giving, and also great players on the show. You got to see Vxysin on last nights show and how empathetic and caring she was when in Africa.

Q. Mark: RealityWanted.com: What have you guys learned about yourself or other teams and were you surprised while watching the last 4 episodes?

A. Jason, The Amazing Race 12: I was surprised about Ron and Christina’s relationship. Jen and Nate are very cool and fun but I had no idea how much they yelled at one another. I also didn’t know just how competitive Azaria & Hendekea were until I watched the last few shows.

A. Lorena, The Amazing Race 12: I felt the same way Jason did. I was very shocked at the relationship between Ron and Christina.

Q. Mark: RealityWanted.com: After taking part in this show, has the experience changed your future plans in anyway?

A. Lorena, The Amazing Race 12: I used to travel for leisure but now I want to travel to make a difference. We were all very lucky to see Africa and I am very grateful. I now know there is so much work that needs to be done and I can make a difference. At one point in Africa while waiting for a train a father handed his baby girl to me. She wasn’t fazed by having a stranger hold her like she may have been in the US, seeing this made me think of things I have never thought of before such as adoption.

Mark RealityWanted.com: Well we want to thank you two for spending some time with us. I am sure we will see you at the finale. Do either of you have a Myspace or webpage you want to share with fans?

A. Jason, The Amazing Race 12: I don’t have a Myspace but you can find out more about me on IMBD http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0927078/

[RudyRules]

Thanks for the interviews puddin.  The interviews usually explain a lot that we the viewers don't see/hear on the show...so it makes me want to try harder to not draw conclusions too soon.  I had no idea the blonds thought they were U-turning Rachel Rosales and TK Erwin. 
Did they mention it during the show and I missed it?  Whatever, that sucked.  I hope the others pay more attention and UTurn the right team!!

Also, I thought the blonds were too hasty using the UTurn. However, if they hadnt used it they may've been eliminated.  Not that I wanted them gone at this point, but w/ only 7 teams left, it would be wise to use it...esp if you're midway or towards the end of the line! 

[TARAsia Fan]

When they were going to U-Turn, the blonds mentioned they thought Lorena & Jason were the ones directly behind them, not TK & Rachel. In fact, Shana said this in her confessional on the show.

[puddin]

Amazing Race Castoffs Give Advice to Future Competitors
by Rochell D. Thomas


 In the fourth leg of The Amazing Race 12 (Sundays, 8 pm/ET, CBS), the powers-that-be replaced the dreaded Yield with a new surprise — the U-Turn, a tool that allows one team to send a trailing team back to do the other half of the detour they intentionally chose not to do. It's evil. And when the Blondes used it, actors Lorena Segura and Jason Widener became its first victims even though they technically did nothing wrong. Talk about bad luck.
TVGuide.com: What did you think when you saw last night's episode and realized that the Blondes had a case of mistaken identity when they activated your U-Turn?
Jason: It was just bad luck. [Laughs] They saw T.K. and Rachel but they thought it was Lorena and I. If they'd have known that was T.K. and Rachel…
Lorena: … they wouldn't have used it.

TVGuide.com: Still, you took it well. You even seemed hopeful for a while. At what point did you realize you wouldn't be able to make up the lost time?
Jason: When we were in that car ride back and we hadn't seen any other teams. We figured no one really made any mistakes on this leg.

TVGuide.com: How far behind first-place finishers Azaria and Hendekea were you?
Jason: Only an hour and a half. That means we did both detours [and the roadblock] and we still shaved off 30 minutes. We killed it! I mean, we had one of the best legs ever, and it was just sad to see us go like that.

TVGuide.com: At least you got to race for a week and a half. How long were you actually in Burkina Faso?
Lorena: Three days.
Jason: Yeah. We flew in, spent the night literally on concrete with the mosquito nets, slept maybe four hours, took the train ride, had the whole camel extravaganza, and then that night we slept out in these little cots.

TVGuide.com: What would be your advice for future racers?
Jason: Do some yoga. Be in top health. Just go in there healthy so you can retain information, because you know you'll lose the sleep.
Lorena: And figure out how you're going to run it without stressing out. Really practice getting yourself into situations that you haven't been in before and getting through it as calmly as possible.

TVGuide.com: Speaking of calm, some people — meaning, my boyfriend — nicknamed you Mrs. Meltdown because your camel incident got so much play. Do you think you deserved that nickname and that portrayal?
Lorena: No, I wasn't that outrageous all the time. I mean, obviously it is a show and they use the best moments. That was hard to watch and hard to deal with.
Jason: Let me give you a breakdown real quick. Lorena and I are both actors. Lorena did a guest star on Moonlight and on CSI: Miami, I played the young Jed Bartlet on The West Wing. So the thing is, we're emotional people. We live life and death when we're doing scenes. So I think when she was out there with those camels and it wasn't working out, something clicked in her brain and she was so pissed off that she let it out through that kind of emotion.

TVGuide.com: Last week one of the sisters, Julia, said that she'd also been freaking out during that challenge, but they didn't really show her as much as they did you.
Lorena: Yeah. We were both feeling that same pressure and really nervous about the monsoon that came through and there were a lot of elements around it.
Jason: Yeah, they didn't show it, but that monsoon was intense. They wouldn't let me give her a jacket.

TVGuide.com: How did you stay warm during the storm? Did you hunker down with your cameraman?
Lorena: No, I was just out there. [The camels] started running away and I was like, "Oh my gosh, what do I do now?"
Jason: They didn't show this in the race, but she actually killed three camels.

TVGuide.com: Speaking of animals, you had to carry that darn chicken around for the entire fourth leg of the race. Did you name it?
Jason: I didn't name the chicken but Phil said, "Your chicken looks the best."

TVGuide.com: And then there was the goat you had to cart, along with a bunch of other stuff during the roadblock.
Lorena: That broke my heart.
Jason: My goat… he was all tied up and when I dropped him off, I was like, "What are you guys gonna do with them?" They kind of smiled at me like, "What are you, an idiot? We're gonna eat them." Bye, goat.

TVGuide.com: Now, random question: What will people be surprised to know that you carried in your pack?
Lorena: Two [pairs of] underwear. They were a reversible, quick-dry, quick-cleaning underwear.

TVGuide.com: During your week and a half in the race, how many showers did you take?
Jason: A couple.
Lorena: No, three. Remember that one in Africa with all the bugs on the floor? We took a shower together.

TVGuide.com: Wait. Tell me more about that.
Lorena: That was the pit stop after the third leg in Bingo. And we stayed in these cots in a retreat.
Jason: Everything was kind of open. And some of the other racers had already taken a shower and there were bugs everywhere. It didn't bother me much; I'm from Arkansas. But then when we were walking out and we were getting bit and [eating] food that you know you're going to get sick from. Which I think everybody did.

TVGuide.com: Why together — so one could bathe while the other swatted?
Jason: Yeah, sure. [Laughs] Sometimes you need a good woman by your side.
Lorena: Umm, I think that was just more of a comfort shower. Not sexual.
Jason: It was actually funny. When we were No. 1, everybody looked at us and like, "Yeah, I want to be them." And then when we were in last place like we were when we took that shower, everybody was looking at us a little weird, like we just broke our leg or something. I think that was when the race really began

http://www.tvguide.com/News/amazing-race-12/071129-02

[georgiapeach]

Do we think they were really only an hour and a half behind A/H--or behind TK/Rachel?

[Pedaler]

really only an hour and a half behind A/H--or behind TK/Rachel?

I think Jason was understating the time differences but A/H did lose time throughout the leg.

A/H left the pitstop about 15 minutes before the next two teams but reached the 1st clue box in 3rd place.  That was probably due to a slower ride and H's "pit stop".  So there's 15 minutes that L&J could have picked up.

A/H had to wait to dance.  But they did finish before N/J who had a 10 minute penalty.  So there's another 5 to 15 minutes that L&J could have picked up.

Even though A/H got to the roadblock first, A had some difficulties.  So Jason could have picked up some unknown amount of time.

However, even though A/H had difficulties and lost time throughout the leg, since Lorena and Jason still left 2:09 behind and had to complete an additonal detour, I don't think they narrowed the gap to 1:30.  Maybe close but not quite.


P.S.  I thought I read somewhere where it took L&J 30 or 45 minutes to pan for gold.  If that's true, then there's no way they narrowed the gap to 1:30.

[georgiapeach]

Thanks Pedaler! I don't think he knows really...

RNO interview:

we were an hour behind TK & Rachel and Shana & Jen.

RNO: You were an hour behind them when you got to the Pit Stop?

Jason: Yes. We weren’t that far behind.

Lorena: And we had started an hour and a half behind them.

Jason: And we did both Detours.

RNO: With the extra Detour taking about 45 minutes?

Jason: Yeah, so we would have been like 15 minutes behind them. The thing is, you still never know

Reality TV:
 

But what's funny is, when we finished the whole leg, we were only an hour behind [Shana and Jennifer] and TK and Rachel.

Reality TV World:  In reaching the fourth leg's Pit Stop?

Jason:  Yeah... AND we did both Detours.  We blew through that leg, which sucks because we were just getting our rhythm and I think we would have been a force.  We just had a lot of things that stacked up on us and just really took us down.

Reality TV World:  About how long did it take you to complete both of the Detour challenges?

Jason:  You know, the hard part... It was all in one area, those Detours.  If you wanted to do the ["Shake Your Booty" challenge] or the ["Shake Your Pan" challenge], but it was a long like half-mile or mile in-between each one.  Plus the U-Turn was at another place, like a triangle.  So there's a big triangle.  So we had to go from [the "Shake Your Booty" challenge] to the U-Turn, from the U-Turn to [the "Shake Your Pan" challenge] and then back to the U-Turn to get our clue.  We did double or triple the amount of running than everybody else -- they didn't show that -- and we still did it faster than everybody.  I don't know how we did it so fast.  We did really good, and it just sucks.  Another contributing factor is nobody really made any really big mistakes.  Every other leg, there's at least a couple of people that something goes bad...

If all that is true it would mean only 30 minutes between A/H and TK/Rachel which seems awfully close to me...

[TARAsia Fan]

And they were in their taxi from the U-Turn to the Goat Market for a seemingly long time. I don't think they were that close to TK/Rachel at the end.

[puddin]

I cried for the goats 

[Pedaler]

Thanks Pedaler! I don't think he knows really...

I agree.  In the past, racers have been shown at times not to be good sources of information.  I just wanted to hypothesize some and it was fun, especially since I don't visit the detective threads any more.

I cried for the goats

Puddin, I won't hypothesize about what happened to the goats   

[puddin]

Lorena and Jason Take an 'Amazing Race' U-Turn
 
On Sunday's edition of "The Amazing Race," a bathroom break nearly cost the Ethopian siblings precious time. The teams had to for no apparent reason keep a chicken with them because "no chicken, no check-in." The Blondes named their chicken Phil, and in a move that will endear the editors to me forever, they showed a clip of Phil looking not unlike the chicken in question. The teams had to do a Detour where they did a native dance or panned for gold. The Blondes looked like they were using moves they'd picked up from "Showgirls," while Kynt actually seemed cool. The Race has apparently supplemented/replaced the Yields (where a team would have to sit around for 30 minutes and steam over the fact they'd been Yielded) with U-turns (where after performing one half of the Detour a team has to go back and perform the other half.) The Blondes use it on Lorena and Jason, who started off a million miles back of the pack anyhow. The Roadblock was about loading up a bike with a bunch of stuff, including a bound goat, and navigating a marketplace.  Vyxsyn was saddened by all the poverty she saw in Africa. The Ethopians just barely get to the mat first, and Jennifer (Nathan's partner, rather than one of the Blondes) is angry because the Ethopians have already been in first a bunch and they won't play nice. I'm not making that up. We get about a gajillion shots of Jason trying to sound optimistic that they can catch up to the rest of the pack. But it's pretty certain that the help they got from Julia to not come in last the previous week only delayed the inevitable.   

Here's what they had to say for themselves:

R: Guys, how are you doing?

L: Good. How are you?

R: Good. Sorry you guys got eliminated last night, but it seemed like it was pretty much inevitable from the start. How did you feel about that?

L: Yeah, we felt the same way.

J: Yeah, we were pretty bummed that we weren’t moving on to another country because we would have been at the airport and we would have equalized this. And of course the U-turn didn’t help. And it didn’t help that nobody really messed up anything. So it just didn't fall right for us.

R: So how far back did you guys start?

L: About an hour and a half behind the last team, which were the Blondes.

R: So do you think if you hadn’t been U-turned you possibly could have caught up to them?

J: I think we would have been close.

L: No, I don’t think we would have. We would have still been about a half an hour behind.

J: But the thing is, you just never know, like the course of action that takes place. Since they did U-turn us, they may probably felt a little better about it and so they were more relaxed in getting to the events. If they didn’t U-turn us, if they would have seen us, it puts more pressure on them. You just never know what’s going to happen. I think we could have—it definitely would have been close.

L: Yeah.

R: So it seems to me that they U-turned you thinking they were u turning the other team that was right behind them. Is that what your impression was, or did they mean to U-turn you?

J: They meant to U-turn us…..

L: They meant to U-turn us, not TK and Rachel. I don't think they would have U-turned TK and Rachel had they known they were the ones coming up behind them.

J: They must have just thought that was us. They were scared that we were catching up with them. 

R: So how did you feel about being U-turned? I mean, you seemed to take it pretty much in stride once you got there.

J: (laughs) There’s nothing else we could do. We were just like, "Alright, here we go."

L: Yeah, it was more like we’re behind, we don’t know if we can catch up. We can only be positive, so.

J: We saw it as, we were the first team ever on "The Amazing Race" to be U-turned, so we will go down in the history books.

R: Why did you guys try out for "The Amazing Race" in the first place?

J: I guess adventure, man. Adventure, maybe some money, and fun. That was it.

R: So how did it compare with your expectations of what would happen?

L: I didn’t know you’re constantly racing. I thought that when you rest, you got a rest, you rested. But it just so happens that you’re racing the whole entire time. So I didn’t know—the adrenaline rush I’d never felt before, just a lot of emotions I’d never felt before. It was completely different than what I’d thought. I thought it wouldn’t be THAT intense.

J: I agree.

R: So Lorena, obviously you have had your moment that was really challenging from last week when you were trying to milk the camel. How do you feel in retrospect, that sort of being out there where you had that sort of breakdown. What was it like to go through it?

L: To be honest with you, I don’t remember going through it. I was so in another space. I was so scared and nervous to let Jason down, to lose this leg. I just put so much pressure on myself that I don’t remember going through it. But watching back, I can see—I don’t know, it’s just hard. It's hard to talk about it. I don’t know if I can ever feel like this again unless I was put in that same situation. And I’ve never acted like that before either—I don’t know how to explain it. I feel bad that I’m being judged for it—not judged, that people are talking about it in a negative way and stuff like that and putting it down when really I see it like it a human being. Because I wasn’t overreacting at all. A human being that’s going through something really hard. And that’s it.

R: How have people you’ve known reacted to that moment specifically and your being on the race in general? ...

L: Well, the people I know—they love me, and they actually felt bad for me for what had happened, very supportive and a lot of love from the people that matter. They’re really, really proud that we went through it and that we’re still together. And they know that it’s hard. And it was fun for them to not know what was going to happen. And it was sad for them—they went through all the emotions that we went through. That’s pretty cool. 

R: It seemed like Marianna and Julia let you in on a secret that allowed you to pass them. Did that make you feel guilty doing that, and did it make you feel lucky that she gave you that hint?

J: At that point we were so far behind, both of us, that I think we would have done the same thing, ‘cause it was definitely a "Let’s just get the hell out of here and get to the next spot." I don’t think they were really thinking that we would catch up. But we did, and that’s the race.

L: It's also we were very far away with our camels. And we were helping each other back and forth. I helped her, and she helped me. And at that moment, we became like teammates. We were so desperate. And even Julia was having a hard time, and she was freaking out. Not to my extent, but she was freaking out too at that point. That we became just like a team and helped us cope with how we were feeling. That last hint came with a bunch of other hints that we both gave each other. So I don’t think they felt bad for doing it, and we felt guilty for doing that. I just felt glad to be out of that situation. I didn’t have room for any other feelings.

R: How does camel milk taste anyway?

L: I could say it was good because in my mind it was great. It tasted sweet, and it wasn’t as thick as cow milk. Thinner. Actually, not bad. I didn’t think it was bad, and I don’t like cow milk.

R: What was your favorite part of being on the Race?

L: There are so many. For me, it was my birthday, the first pit stop of the race. And we got to sleep in tents on this beautiful island of Inishmore in Ireland. I got to celebrate it with Jason and with a beautiful view  and with our first meal in a long time. It was great. That was my best moment.

R: Which, if any, of the teams are you rooting for to win the Race?

L: All of them.

J: We know the outcome, so it's so biased. I just feel that everybody's strong and everybody's going to be surprised as to what happens because we were all surprised when we found out as each person was eliminated. It's going to be fun. It's going to be a fun Race.

R: So what would you advise people who want to try out for the Race to do as preparation?

L: Practice. It's not so much physical as your mental state. Put yourself in situations where you haven't been before and try to tackle them as calmly as possible. Situations that you don't know what's going to to happen. Like go bungee jumping. Go outside of yourself. I think that's the best preparation because then you know you can do anything.

J: It's about keeping your head while other people around you are losing theirs. I think in life, whatever you've got to do to keep your head is definitely a strategy. 

R: Remind me how you guys met and then tell me about how being on the Race has affected your relationship, if it has.

L: I first saw him at a bar that I was working at. I guess that's the first time we met met. But we really got to know each other in an acting class. We became really, really, really good friends and I think the friendship really took us to the next level. We got along really well. It was three months into our friendship that we started dating, and we've been together three and a half years now. We go through our ups and downs and we're just trying to figure out ourselves individually and together. We love each other and we really want to make it work. It's like any other relationship. I think the Race forced us to feel things that we hadn't felt before.

R: Like what?

L: Like the elimination, being a team, working together, me going through my own personal emotional roller coaster and him seeing that and dealing with it and then dealing with the fact of why we got eliminated.

R: Does it bother you or affect you that Jason basically said marriage isn't for him on national TV?

L: No, because we talked about it and I know what he meant by it. When you don't know someone and hear that, it sounds worse than it is. I know what he was trying to say. We live together and we have a very good relationship. ... And he feels that marriage would just be a sealing point that he doesn't need for us to be good together.

J: We live life differently anyway. We don't have normal 9-5 jobs. We're both actors. I'm working on a documentary right now. I'm not a sheep. I'm different. I have an edge to myself that things aren't so secure all the time, and I like that edge. I want to keep it, I think. I think marriage as an institution on the whole, it is what it is. If you want a big ol' family and you want to do it that way, marriage is probably a good thing. But as of right now, I don't want a family right now. I think that's the main reason to get married.

R: OK, anything else you want to add about your time on "The Amazing Race"?

J: I had diarrhea ... after the fourth leg. So thank God we were eliminated. (laughs).

L: Yeah, I don't.

J: You did, too.

L: I did.

R: Well, thanks for sharing and best of luck.

- posted by Raoul


http://tvfilter.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!DB9D137CC0F754C9!23353.entry

[georgiapeach]

AP Interview

Bickering Couple Eliminated on `Race'
By DERRIK J. LANG – 3 days ago

NEW YORK (AP) — Blame the first-ever "U-Turn." Bickering couple Lorena Segura and Jason Widener were eliminated from CBS' "The Amazing Race" after a new twist imposed by another team forced the contestants to backtrack during a West African leg of the competitive reality series.

"We were already an hour and a half behind," Widener told The Associated Press in a phone interview Monday. "It was definitely kicking us while we were down."

Similar to the "Yield" introduced in the fifth season, the "U-Turn" obstacle allows racers to choose a trailing team to go back and finish a previously uncompleted "Detour" challenge. In Segura and Widener's case, that meant they had to search for gold after already learning an African dance routine while racing through Burkina Faso.

"All the producers said we did that leg faster than anybody," says Widener.

The "dating couple" team doesn't hold any animosity against "friends" team Jennifer McCall and Shana Wall, the blondes from Los Angeles who targeted them with the "U-Turn."

"Lorena's obviously an emotional person, but we're not super drama queens," says Widener. "We forgive them."

"We know it's a game," adds Segura. "We would've done the same thing if we were in their situation."

Segura and Widener say teams were told about the new "U-Turn" twist before the race began but weren't told when or where it would appear along the race.

During the previous leg of "The Amazing Race," Segura broke down and began crying while attempting to milk a camel during for a "Roadblock" challenge. Widener says he was surprised at how emotional Segura became during the fiasco.

"It's really affected me," says Segura. "It's been really hard to hear people call me psychotic, emotional and whiny."

The couple, both actors from Sherman Oaks, Calif., are still dating but not engaged

[georgiapeach]

IGN Interview

Amazing Race Interview: Lorena & Jason
We talk camel milking, U-Turns and more with the couple.
by Eric Goldman
November 29, 2007 - While Lorena & Jason were out of The Amazing Race at the end of the fourth leg, it was not before making sure they will be remembered on the race for a long time to come. Unfortunately for them, this was because of a roadblock during the third leg involving milking a camel that Lorena had some major problems at, leading to a very emotional and notable reaction.

On the fourth leg, the couple from Sherman Oaks, CA tried to make up the time they'd lost in leg 3, but it was not to be, as Shana & Jennifer used the new "U-Turn" on them, forcing them to go back and complete the second detour option they'd skipped. I spoke to Lorena & Jason to find out what they thought about milking camels, being U-Turned, and other experiences on The Amazing Race.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


IGN TV: How did you come to be on the show?

Lorena: Well Jason's family have always been fans. We never really watched it as an ongoing thing but when the opportunity presented itself to be able to apply for it I think we were at that point in our lives where we were like "We need to do something different. We want to travel. This would be the best way to travel and see a lot of places!" Then we sent in the tape and the tape was horrible in the beginning. It was hard to make. We were fighting the whole time to figure out how to make the tape. And then here we are! It was all really quick, too.

IGN TV: Were you familiar enough to have a pretty good idea of what was in store for you or was it a shock to your system?

Lorena: Well when we applied we immediately started watching the All-Stars and immediately bought Season 7 and the first one and started watching. By the time we got on the show we felt like we were already fans. It wasn't that much of a shock, no. It is a shock, because it's nothing like what you see on TV. It's 100 times harder.

- CBSLorena & JasonIGN TV: Did you try to plan beforehand about how you'd deal with stressful situations and hopefully not fight too much?

Lorena: We had a motto that I didn't follow too well. [Laughs] It was "Stay calm. Don't be last. And have fun."

IGN TV: Really, it was only on the first leg that we saw you guys have any notable argument. Did you talk about that afterwards at the pit stop?

Lorena: Oh yeah. We immediately talked about it, actually. We talked about it even before we hit the mat in the car. We were like "If we're gonna get through this, we really have to communicate better. We have to let our past go and start really becoming a team." I think after that it really helped us, because on the second leg we did wonderfully.

IGN TV: What was it that caused the fighting on the first leg?

Lorena: I think we didn't communicate at all about directions. Jason was 100% sure of one thing and I was 100% sure of another and in that situation, we had decided that we would go with what Jason had decided, so we wouldn't have to fight over who's right or who's wrong.

Jason: Because I'm the man! [Laughs]

Lorena: Yeah, because he was the man. [Laughs] But [in that situation] I couldn't let it go. I just felt really 100% sure that we were going the wrong way.

Jason: But we really weren't.
Lorena: But we really weren't. It was just a situation that we had talked about before and how we would act in it, but it just rose up way too quickly and I just didn't know how to handle it.

Jason: Lorena's emotions spin out of control pretty easily.

IGN TV: Marianna & Julia told me they felt close with your team. What teams did you feel you connected with?

Jason: Them [Marianna & Julia], Nate & Jen…Lorena: We connected with [Marianna & Julia] in the third leg the most. That was when we danced, when we did the camel things… At least I became really close to them because they're also Cuban and I'm Puerto Rican, so we had that connection.

Jason: I also definitely connected with Nate and T.K., because we were all athletes. Nate's a volleyball player, T.K.'s a swimmer and I'm a rock climber, so we all connected because we liked sports.

Lorena: We also connected with Kynt & Vyxsin really well. We worked well together.

IGN TV: When you first saw Kynt & Vyxsin, what was your reaction?

Jason: "How are they gonna put on all their makeup all the time?"

Lorena: You can't stop looking at them. It was that sort of thing. But once you meet them, they are the most wholesome, great, honest people.

Jason: Yeah, they're a lot of fun.

Lorena: I really like them.

IGN TV: What did you think of Ron and Christina?

Jason: I definitely don't like how Ron tries to micromanage his daughter. Trying to tell her what to do, instead of let her try to figure things out, you know what I mean? That's probably one of their major issues in life is him trying to control the situation when it's out of control. It's like me with the camels - it was out of my control. What am I gonna do, you know? I think she handled it completely well and it's not that I don't like Ron, it's just that I think he needs to open his mind us a little more and listen to his daughter more, you know? It's hard to watch in a way, but it's good TV.



- CBSIGN TV: You mentioned the infamous camel, so I'm gonna continue on that path. Marianna & Julia told me you all were there about four hours?

Jason: Yeah. Maybe three.
Lorena: Yeah, yeah. We were there for a very long time. What you see on TV unfortunately is the last part of my breakdown. I wasn't like that at all at the beginning. At the beginning I was pretty calm and confident. And then something you didn't see is I drank the milk with somebody who I thought was a judge and who wasn't the judge. They told me I had to fill up another bowl.

IGN TV: Wow, so you'd already filled it up?

Lorena: Yeah, I'd already filled up the bowl and drank one bowl with the wrong judge. But the thing is, there's a lot of issues in that… That's why I don't bring it up. The thing is, I had to fill up another bowl, so that's why I was acting the way I was acting. Because I felt like I messed up, I was letting Jason down, "I can't believe this happened", "We would have been done already!", blah, blah, blah and all this guilt.

IGN TV: What was going through your head during all this Jason?

Jason: Oh man. I was just trying to let it all go, man. I was like "Alright, this is not what I was envisioning as far as staying up in the pack." But you know, it was definitely a good experience, because I went into this weird place of just letting it all go and just not thinking about the million dollars anymore. Just thinking about the experience and just having fun. Just "let her figure it out and we'll move on. Let's just get this thing milked. Once it's milked, we'll see how we can make up time on the next event." It was tough. It was tough watching her, because I couldn't help her.

IGN TV: The preview for that episode gave a pretty good indication of what would be shown. Where you getting ready for or dreading them showing that sequence?

Lorena: Oh, I was dreading it. Because I watched myself as an outsider too at that moment, because I don't remember feeling that way. I was feeling so out of myself, that I don't remember feeling that way. So now watching back, watching myself go through it, was just really hard. Because I watched it the same as you watched it, you know? I don't know… It's been hard to deal with the comments and everything, and the aftermath of what people think and say… But nobody really knows me and nobody knows that's just another side of me, a minimal side of me that I've never seen. I've had to let it go. It's so hard to talk about it! It is…

IGN TV: A stark contrast to seeing your reaction with the camels was after the U-Turn was used on you and you both seemed to deal very calmly with it. Do you think that was partially because of what happened in the leg before?

Jason: Yeah, I think so.

Lorena: Yeah.

Jason: I think we realized that when you're in Africa and you're running through and you're seeing how happy these people are, and they have nothing… And we're riding on a free trip around the world, and we're worried about a million dollars, when really in life, I mean… I think everybody knows and has heard a million times that really money isn't everything. It's about how you handle life and it's about your outlook on life. Because when you die, you're not going to take anything with you. I think you really have that feeling there, because they know, the Africans, that they're never really going to be rich. All they have is each other.

Lorena: They don't even contemplate it. It's not an issue for them. They are happy because they are happy. And seeing that they are happy because they are happy made me realize how unhappy we are because we think we don't have all that we need.

Jason: And we realized we had everything we needed in the race, so it was actually the perfect place to be eliminated.

Lorena: Oh yeah. It was.

Jason: It was the perfect place.

Lorena: It was. We were very grateful.



- CBSIGN TV: Were you surprised to have the U-Turn used on you?

Jason: Well, we didn't know there was gonna be a U-Turn, so when we got there we were just kind of like… Our reaction was "Wow… can anything else go wrong?"

Lorena: We didn't even understand. We were like "Why? We're so far behind!"

Jason: First of all, there was no airport, no equalizer on this leg in that way. Usually everyone always catches up. So we didn't have that. And then we got U-Turned! We were just like "Wow…"

Lorena: "This is just bad luck."

Jason: "This is just… We've just got to stay positive now. This is crazy."

IGN TV: Looking back, what do you think of Shana & Jennifer using it? Do you think "okay, it's part of the game" or that it just wasn't necessary at that time?

Lorena: Well, I still think it wasn't necessary, but I also think that it is a game and people play games in whatever way they play games. We can't hold that against them at all, because they also wanted to win. They were both torn. Jen didn't want to do it, and Shana wanted to do it… They were both torn about it as well, and they made a decision and that was it. You can't hold anything against anybody in life, let alone in a game.

Jason: Yeah, they were playing the game. I just wish they had known… They thought T.K. & Rachel was us, so they thought we were closer to them than we really were.

IGN TV: I was going to ask about that. That's what it seemed was happening.

Jason: Yeah, that was true. They thought they saw us. That's why they U-Turned us. They thought we were just getting out of the bus and it was actually T.K. & Rachel, running from the mine. And they were running to the U-Turn and they thought that was just us trying to figure out where to go, because I think T.K. & Rachel were running around crazy. So I just wish that they had known. That would have given us a chance. But instead, it just kicked us when we were down.

Lorena: It helped them, because we were out.

IGN TV: Did you talk to them later and find out for sure they thought T.K. & Rachel were you?

Jason: Yeah, we talked to them.

IGN TV: How much time did it take to have to go back and do the other task?

Lorena: We were super quick.

Jason: To tell you the truth, when that leg began we were an hour and a half behind the blondes. When the whole leg was over, we were an hour behind the blonds and T. K. & Rachel. So we did both things in the time most people did one [task]. We actually flew. That's what sucks. We were so strong and fast. Just… bad luck.

IGN TV: Overall, how was the whole experience doing the race?

Jason: Great. I'm glad we got as far as we did.

Lorena: Yeah, it was really good. And now, being able to talk about it, it's actually helping me. Like…

Jason: …Therapy!

Lorena: It's like it's free therapy too, included in the combo. That's great!

[puddin]

Random Reality: Josh Clinton Interviews The Amazing Race 12's Jason Widener and Lorena Segura
Posted By Josh Clinton on 12.01.2007

The fourth team to get eliminated from The Amazing Race 12 this week was Jason Widener and Lorena Segura. They are currently dating in Los Angeles, CA. I had the chance to talk to them both about many things including their thoughts on being given a "U-Turn" by the two blondes, Shana and Jennifer. Would they have done the same thing? Also, what did they learn about each other on the race and what does their future hold? Here is what they had to say...


Josh Clinton: Hey guys.

Jason Widener: Hello.

Lorena Segura: Hi Josh.

JC: What's going on?

JW: Just chillin'.

LS: Not much.

JC: Alright. I wanted to ask you first about how you met? Jason mentioned something like he saw Lorena on the dance floor and wanted to be with her. Can you explain more about how you two met?

JW: Basically, we first met at a bar. Then, we didn't see each other until a few months later in an acting class that we had together. Then, from there...

LS: We became really good friends.

JW: ...We became friends, and I knew I wanted to date her when I saw her dancing with one my friends actually. I was like "wow, she seems really cool".

JC: Yeah, that's cool. Were you both fans of The Amazing Race before you got on the show?

LS: We became fans of it when we actually decided to apply to be on the race. We were watching The Amazing Race: All-Stars and that got us pumped up. Then we went back and watched the first season and the seventh season. We loved the show because it was so real. What you see, is what it is. Well except for the editing, of course, but it's basically what it is. It just seemed so adventurous. Who wouldn't want to do this?

JC: Right, exactly. I read somewhere where you said you wanted to do this race to see if you were supposed to last as a couple. Can you explain more about that?

LS: Yeah. Jason and I have been together for a long time and we have lived hectic lives here in Los Angeles. We don't see each other a lot because of our work schedules. So we thought that being together confined, since we could only be like 20 feet apart from each other the entire time, knowing that we have to go through that, do challenges, and see the world. I knew that would make us have to relate more, and see if we could do that. I thought it was a great opportunity for us as a couple to experience something like that, since it was outside of our comfort zone.

JC: Right. Did either of you worry that fighting between you might cost you the race?

LS: Yeah, after the first leg we both decided that we should start communicating better. We did better as a couple afterwards. We didn't fight as much after that.

JW: Yeah.

LS: We definitely realized that after the first leg it wasn't going to help us to be against each other. So we really should come together and work as a team.

JC: Right. You were a strong team and on this show it seems like the strong teams are targeted earlier. Do you think it's more of an advantage or a disadvantage to be a strong team?

LS: Well the thing is you never know what's going to happen, so even if you are a strong team anything can go wrong. There are little things all over the race that are meant for anybody to win. Everybody has there own strengths, and all the challenges are made for everyone to be able to do them. Whether you are physically strong or mentally strong, you never know. I think a lot of people knew that. A lot people knew when we got eliminated at least, it was anybody's game.

JW: Yeah, I agree.

JC: Okay, cool. So after watching the episode that aired this week, what did you think of the way Shana and Jennifer were dancing?

JW: (Laughs). That was funny.

LS: (Laughs). That was hilarious. It was so them too. I thought that they were very true to themselves. That's how they would have done it in real life.

JW: It was very entertaining.

LS: Very entertaining. They are two sexy women.

JC: Yeah, they are. What were you thinking when you saw that they had given you the U-Turn, though?

JW: I mean obviously we didn't want to do another detour. But they thought we were TK and Rachel. They definitely kicked us while we were really down, but why not? They were playing a game. Of course, in the moment we were mad but we got over it.

JC: Yeah, they didn't give you the U-Turn intentionally since they thought you were TK and Rachel.

LS: Yeah. If I would have thought that was us, I would have done it too. Maybe if it was going to be down to a strong team and two girls, I would that thought we had to do it as well.

JC: So you would have done the same thing then?

LS: Well if we knew that it was Shana and Jennifer behind us, then probably not since we thought we could have outrun them. But being in their position, I would have done it if they thought it was us.

JW: Yeah.

JC: I understand. What did you think of the U-Turn twist in general? Did you think it was fair? Did you think it was too early in the game to have a twist like that?

JW: I thought it was a little early. I definitely thought it was bad placement, because there was nothing there to equalize everybody. It would have been better...

LS: If we were all together.

JW: It was a definite deal breaker for us. It would have made more sense if it would have been a non-elimination leg.

LS: Yeah, if we then had to face them later it would have been more dramatic.

JW: That would have been much better, but they just didn't decide to do that. It just didn't make as much sense that way.

JC: Yeah, it almost seemed that this was going to be a non-elimination leg based on how positive Jason was. Did either of you think it was going to be a non-elimination leg?

LS: Yeah, we both thought that.

JW: I was just saying that it wasn't the fault of either of us, so you might as well not be negative about it because that wouldn't have worked. I was starting to enjoy myself and we had already put that much into it. But that's the race. You win some, and you lose some.

JC: Exactly. What played a bigger factor in you finishing last in this leg? Was it the U-Turn or was it Lorena not being able to milk the camel as quickly in the last leg?

JW: I think you can put it all together. The camel, the U-Turn, there was no equalizer there, and no other team made any real big mistakes. We never had a chance.

JC: Yeah, out of everything, what would you say was the biggest mistake you made on the race?

LS: I think it was me not being able to get milk from my camel.

JW: Yeah, the camel.

LS: Definitely the camel.

JC: Alright, fair enough. Was there a favorite moment that you had while running the race that didn't air on TV?

JW: Probably when we were running through Africa. We actually landed in the wrong plane with Julia and Marianna. You could see security following us, because it probably wasn't the safest places we were going. So after we figured out we landed in the wrong place, we started running back and we knew that we were going to be ahead of them. That was a moment that they didn't show really.

JC: That's cool. Did either of you learn something about your partner on the race that you didn't know before the race?

LS: Yeah, I learned that Jason is very focusily competitive. And I mean it that in a good way. He knows how to concentrate on the task at hand and get it done with a clear head. So it was pretty amazing to see that, because we never had really played a real game together. It just made me trust him so much. I knew that if Jason was going to do the task, it was going to get done right.

JW: Thank you honey.

LS: You're welcome.

JC: And Jason, did you learn anything about Lorena on the race that you didn't know before?

JW: I definitely knew that she was emotional, but I was a little more surprised that she lost it the way she did. But really I understood the whole thing. She really just wanted to do good for me. But in a way, she needed to figure out that she needed to do good for herself instead of worrying about me. Even though we are a team, she was just really hard on herself. But I also learned that she lets go of things easily and there are times where she does think positive. I wished they would have shown more of that, because she was positive most of the time. There were just a couple of times where she let things get to her.

JC: Yeah. So what are you plans now? Is marriage in the far, far away future for you two?

JW: Man, I don't know where I will be tomorrow.

LS: (Laughs).

JW: But I'm working on a documentary right now. Lorena is working on her acting. We're both working on our acting, so we're just taking it day-by-day. We want to live life on the edge and not think about it too much.

LS: Yeah.

JC: Yeah, I understand. Very cool. Well that's all I have for you. Thanks for your time and good luck with everything.

JW: Thank you.

LS: Thanks very much.

link

[georgiapeach]

Y'all stay tuned to COLD CASE after TAR this week!!

Lorena has a role!!

Cold Case" Two Weddings

 Sunday, February 28, 2010
 9:00pm - 10:00pm
 CBS - Sunday 10/9c

[Hooky]

Love Lorena & Jason! Glad to hear some news on them!