“That Was a Million-Dollar Mistake” – Reality News Online’s Exclusive Interview with The Amazing Race 19's Runners-Up, Jeremy & Sandy by Teeuwynn Woodruff -- 12/13/2011 Jeremy & Sandy (right) probably knew each other the least of all the teams on The Amazing Race this season. They argued, but they also played strong and made it all the way to the end. How much time did they lose going to the wrong Dump? How has the race changed their relationship? Fan help kept one team in the race at the start, but how did fan help torpedo Jeremy & Sandy’s game? All this and more inside. Reality News Online: Hi, Jeremy & Sandy. Thanks for talking to Reality News Online and congratulations on finishing
The Amazing Race!
Sandy: Thank you so much.
RNO: What made you decide to apply for the race?
Sandy: I’ve been a huge fan of
The Amazing Race since Season 1 and I brought Jeremy on board. He started watching Season 17 with me and, after that, I got him hooked. It was my idea to apply.
RNO: Of all the teams this season, you probably knew each other as teammates the least. What’s the status of your relationship now?
Jeremy: We are happily living together.
RNO: Has the Race changed your relationship in any way?
Jeremy: Absolutely! It just really made our relationship stronger. I like to say it was like taking a rubber band to its limit and then it retracted and came back together.
RNO: Sandy, you’re scared of heights yet you rocked the Roadblock where you walked the tightrope between two buildings high in the air. How did you get through that?
Sandy: Before I left for the Race, my brother gave me a good piece of advice – if you’re ever scared or in pain or exhausted you just need to know that time never stops and something that’s very challenging or difficult for you will come to an end.
I think when I got up there I took that piece of advice and blocked everything else out. I knew there was going to be an end point. I didn’t look down one time. I just kept my eye right on my foot. I was very proud of myself for doing it. I think I checked my mind out, but I’m very proud of myself for doing it. Jeremy also got me through it as well.
RNO: Jeremy, you were the only person to correctly spot the Panama Viejo image and get the location to the Pit Stop last leg. How frustrating was it to have your driver tell Ernie & Cindy and Marcus & Amani’s drivers that information?
Jeremy: At the time we didn’t know our cab was communicating with the others in the taxi. Looking back, it’s a little frustrating seeing that happen – but to us it didn’t matter. We wanted to be in the top three and we made our goal – and we finished first that leg.
We just felt fortunate we had the right answer. At the time, we weren’t sure we did have the right answer.
RNO: In the end, your driver telling the other two couples’ cabbies the Pit Stop location probably was the factor that knocked Tommy & Andy out of the race. After the fact, were you happy that happened?
Jeremy: That really threw a wrench into everything, didn’t it? When we got to the mat and saw those final three – yeah, we were happy. We thought that Tommy & Andy were our biggest competition. We loved them, but we hated them – but we still love them! They were tough.
RNO: Getting to the finale, you did the best of all the teams on the flight simulator. How long did the instruction period last?
Jeremy: Instruction was about 15 minutes. You could continue taking instruction as long as you really wanted. The instructor would just keep going over it if you liked. I happened to take notes and I think I was the only one taking notes. Writing it down I knew would help me get the function down.
RNO: How long did the flight attempt itself last?
Sandy: Ten minutes?
Jeremy: Yeah, maybe a little less than 10 minutes. You were flying awhile at 2500 feet and the wind is blowing and they put all these different elements in – it certainly felt real.
Sandy: And you had to taxi and turn and go to the gate too.
RNO: Sandy, did you get sick at all?
Sandy: Yeah, I did. But I could deal with it, for sure. Anything with even the slightest bit of motion I get sick. I was feeling it. But Jeremy did so well – he nailed it.
RNO: You had a great deal of trouble after that finding the correct “Dump,” Margaret Mitchell’s house – although you found
a dump. Can you tell us what happened with that search?
Jeremy: We thought the quickest way to find out that clue was to ask somebody close by. We pulled in at a restaurant and asked this couple what they knew. They thought about it for a second and then they came back with their answer – very adamantly – that it was this place called The Dump. They thought the store wasn’t open anymore.
They said, “This is it! This is it! Go! Go! Go!” So you just jump in the cab and you think, just like in Panama, that this has got to be it.
Sandy: We trusted them. They were locals, lived there their whole lives, they are fans of
The Amazing Race. They knew exactly what we were doing. I don’t think they hesitated with their answer.
We were thinking we were going to this big warehouse. I’ve watched the show long enough to know on leg 12 you have to recreate your path along the race. So, it made sense that we were going to a warehouse and that we would do a map or something.
Once we got there – we knew. We knew right away. We were in traffic and it was 20 miles away from where [we really needed to go]. That was a million-dollar mistake.
RNO: How much time did that mistake cost you?
Sandy: We probably had a 20-minute lead on Cindy & Ernie after the flight simulator, then that cost us probably a good hour.
[Editor’s Note: For more info on how far ahead Ernie & Cindy ended up arriving at the Pit Stop, check out our interview with them.] RNO: What is the most memorable thing you take away from the race?
Sandy: For me, my best memory is Africa. We had a really long car ride in Africa. Driving across that country and seeing the people working and the children at play and how happy everybody is there with so little really, really put my life in perspective.
Jeremy: By far my most memorable part of the Race was on the train from Jakarta. When we were looking out the window and just looking at all the poverty for miles and miles and miles – as far as you could see. Looking at the people up close… That was the first time for me to see the extent of the poverty in that country. It changed my life. It blew me away.
RNO: Is there anything else you would like to tell our readers about yourselves or your experiences on
The Amazing Race?
Jeremy: We had the time of our lives. We’re just thankful to have been on it. When we saw all the other teams cast we were like, “Why in the world were we cast?”
Sandy: We were the average Joes! You know, we spent this last weekend with most of the teams and we have made some lifelong friendships. We have had an experience that very, very few people get to do. We’re so thankful for it.
We didn’t walk away with a million dollars, but we’re ecstatic. Yes, there are things we would have changed, but my prize is Jeremy too.
Jeremy: Yes, the relationship we have is our prize.
RNO: Thank you for talking to me today and congratulations on finishing
The Amazing Race.
Jeremy & Sandy: Thank you so much!
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