IGN InterviewAmazing 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.
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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!