Author Topic: ♥TAR13 Toni Imbimbo & Dallas Imbimbo *Mother and son*  (Read 65015 times)

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Offline puddin

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Re: ♥TAR13 Toni Imbimbo & Dallas Imbimbo *Mother and son*
« Reply #25 on: October 13, 2008, 01:24:58 AM »
Toni & Dallas work so well as a team, whats not to love?  :jumpy: Yeah baby!!

Offline puddin

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Re: ♥TAR13 Toni Imbimbo & Dallas Imbimbo *Mother and son*
« Reply #26 on: November 30, 2008, 11:03:44 PM »
I don't think Dallas and Toni can ever get enough l♥ve :luvya: :ghug:
 




Offline michael

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Re: ♥TAR13 Toni Imbimbo & Dallas Imbimbo *Mother and son*
« Reply #27 on: November 30, 2008, 11:05:39 PM »
 :hearts: :hearts: :hearts: :hearts: :hearts: :hearts: :hearts:

Offline Kiwi Jay

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Re: ♥TAR13 Toni Imbimbo & Dallas Imbimbo *Mother and son*
« Reply #28 on: December 01, 2008, 01:29:24 AM »
I just  watched the episode. I have :'(
'We are the makers of music, and the dreamers of dreams. To roam the roads of lands remote, to travel is to live'.

Offline DrRox

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Re: ♥TAR13 Toni Imbimbo & Dallas Imbimbo *Mother and son*
« Reply #29 on: December 01, 2008, 03:53:47 AM »
Really Classy Toni and Dallas,

Phil was sort of pressing them on losing their passports. He asked them what were they going to do. Toni just smiled and said it was just another roadblock and they would overcome it

Phil really seemed incredulous that they were so calm about it
Matthew 7:15


Offline jose

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Re: ♥TAR13 Toni Imbimbo & Dallas Imbimbo *Mother and son*
« Reply #30 on: December 01, 2008, 05:16:18 AM »
i already miss you guys  :hearts:

Offline pitt02

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Re: ♥TAR13 Toni Imbimbo & Dallas Imbimbo *Mother and son*
« Reply #31 on: December 01, 2008, 01:00:02 PM »
They knew there was nothing they could do more to get there passports back so why cry over spilled milk she knew as much as she would have fought with him nothing was brining there passports back; thats why they seemed so calm.

Offline marigold

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Re: ♥TAR13 Toni Imbimbo & Dallas Imbimbo *Mother and son*
« Reply #32 on: December 01, 2008, 04:51:22 PM »
An interview with Toni and Dallas:

How many things could go wrong in one day?

You started this leg in first place, what went wrong?
Dallas: We were in the lead but everyone caught up at the submarine where we had to get our first clue. And then what killed us was the Roadblock. It took me a long time to find the right statues. Then, of course, I lost our passports and wallet.
Toni: It was all down hill from there.
Dallas: How many things could go wrong in one day?

Was it hard to beg strangers for money in Moscow?
Dallas: The language barrier made it harder. If we'd been in the United States it would have been easier. It was also tough because the Russians looked at us like we were crazy for asking for money when we had a cameraman and sound guy with us. Like, how poor could we really be?
Toni: I would send Dallas out after all the cute, younger girls to ask for money. And they actually were very sweet and helpful. By and large the Russians were really trying to help.

Dallas, are you impressed with your mom's performance?
Dallas: My mom is a rock star.
Toni: And I just love you for saying that.
Dallas: She really did an unbelievable job. I was surprised.

Dallas you and fellow contestant Starr were very flirty. Have you kept in touch?
Dallas: We've been dating for about 6-months and getting into our fair share of adventures since the race. We gave gone skydiving and spelunking. The travel bug has bitten us both.

Would you do it all over again?
Toni: When we were on our way home we said it was the best adventure we'd never do again. But after we were home for 24 hours we started arguing over which one of us would do The Amazing Race: All Stars. We were fighting over if he'd run it with Starr or if he'd let me do it again. But I'd do it again in a heartbeat. It was fantastic.

Who did you choose?
Dallas: I'd have to get my mom in a little bit better shape for the next time around, so I don't have to carry her backpack the entire time. If she's willing to do that, I'll let her be on my team.

Link: http://www.intouchweekly.com/2008/12/the_amazing_racehow_many_thing.php

Offline Rob

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Re: ♥TAR13 Toni Imbimbo & Dallas Imbimbo *Mother and son*
« Reply #33 on: December 01, 2008, 05:06:53 PM »
Quote
Dallas you and fellow contestant Starr were very flirty. Have you kept in touch?
Dallas: We've been dating for about 6-months and getting into our fair share of adventures since the race. We gave gone skydiving and spelunking. The travel bug has bitten us both.

mmmmmmmm....wonder how they afford to travel so much????

Offline Coutzy

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Re: ♥TAR13 Toni Imbimbo & Dallas Imbimbo *Mother and son*
« Reply #34 on: December 01, 2008, 05:10:26 PM »
LEG PRIZES!


Offline Rob

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Re: ♥TAR13 Toni Imbimbo & Dallas Imbimbo *Mother and son*
« Reply #35 on: December 01, 2008, 05:11:03 PM »
True!! Star definitely has plenty of them!!

Offline puddin

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Re: ♥TAR13 Toni Imbimbo & Dallas Imbimbo *Mother and son*
« Reply #36 on: December 01, 2008, 05:15:52 PM »
Dallas and Starr for All Stars!!

Offline Coutzy

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Re: ♥TAR13 Toni Imbimbo & Dallas Imbimbo *Mother and son*
« Reply #37 on: December 01, 2008, 05:16:00 PM »
Yep, and I can't imagine that she'd travel to all those places with Nick.

Maybe take one or two trips together but divvy up the rest and take somebody else.

Offline Coutzy

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Re: ♥TAR13 Toni Imbimbo & Dallas Imbimbo *Mother and son*
« Reply #38 on: December 01, 2008, 05:16:19 PM »
Dallas and Starr for All Stars!!

I thought we'd all agreed: NO COMPOSITE TEAMS ON ALL STARS!

Offline puddin

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Re: ♥TAR13 Toni Imbimbo & Dallas Imbimbo *Mother and son*
« Reply #39 on: December 01, 2008, 05:17:04 PM »
Dallas and Starr for All Stars!!

I thought we'd all agreed: NO COMPOSITE TEAMS ON ALL STARS!

I never agreed to that? lol

Offline Coutzy

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Re: ♥TAR13 Toni Imbimbo & Dallas Imbimbo *Mother and son*
« Reply #40 on: December 01, 2008, 05:18:43 PM »
It just seems to be the general feeling.


Of course if that happened, my favorite from season 9 never would have got the mill he deserved.

Offline puddin

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Re: ♥TAR13 Toni Imbimbo & Dallas Imbimbo *Mother and son*
« Reply #41 on: December 01, 2008, 05:20:04 PM »
I'm an Eric fan as well!

Offline Coutzy

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Re: ♥TAR13 Toni Imbimbo & Dallas Imbimbo *Mother and son*
« Reply #42 on: December 01, 2008, 05:32:01 PM »
I didn't like Jeremy that much though.

And I thought Dave and Lori were fun, if a bit geeky in the process.

Offline marigold

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Re: ♥TAR13 Toni Imbimbo & Dallas Imbimbo *Mother and son*
« Reply #43 on: December 01, 2008, 09:35:40 PM »
An interview with Toni and Dallas:

Amazing Race: Dallas On Losing Passport, Romance with Starr

Dallas and Toni — the hunky college student and his doting mother — made a strong bid for The Amazing Race’s $1 million prize. Unfortunately, leaving their money and Dallas’s passport in a Russian taxi was a fatal misstep that cost them their chance at victory. But it wasn’t a total loss. Dallas got to know fellow racer Starr, leading to a romance that is going strong. Dallas and Toni spoke with PEOPLE after their elimination episode aired Sunday to discuss the money-and-passport gaffe, how the Race led to romance and what Toni discovered in Cambodia. – Nicholas White

How did you feel after the show?
Toni: It was pretty emotional because it had been such a wonderful run and such an incredible experience. The circumstances are what they are, and that’s just life. I don’t think that was something that weighed too heavily upon us.
Dallas: Since the show aired, I haven’t been back to my college town to the bars for everybody to call me an idiot yet. I should still feel alright for at least another week.

How did manage to lose your money and passport?
Dallas: I hopped out of the cab I was in to get into another cab. We were in that cab for about 20 or 30 minutes. After I went to pay that second cab, I finally realized that [the money and passport] were left in the first cab during the microphone exchange.

Did you think you could get it back?
Dallas: What I did was take that second cab back to a hotel that we stayed at on that last Pit Stop. I used the concierge service to get the taxi that I was going to then take later. I had got the money from some of the other Racers. [The plan was to] get a free taxi for a little bit, and then figure out the passport situation.
Toni: I was just praying on the fact that I hoped somebody in Russia would return that passport and that taxi driver would turn it in knowing that he’d be at that hotel would turn it in there or the embassy. I was kind of banking on that.

How hard was it to beg for rubles?
Dallas: A lot of the younger kids gave us money … It was the older people who were stingier.
Toni: One man was actually going to pawn his cell phone to give us money. He was begging taxi drivers to take us and they wouldn’t do it. That’s what I realized, here in America, who would pawn a cell phone to help somebody they didn’t know?

Dallas, what’s the connection with Starr?
Dallas: Starr is very adventurous and outgoing. She’s definitely got a strong personality like me. That’s kind of where we clash. We butt heads because we both want our way all of the time. As you can see on the show, she gets pretty upset when things don’t go her way. I get upset when things don’t go my way. We both like to go out and do adventurous things. We both fight for the same stuff. That’s the level we connect on. She has a real good heart. She works with kids with autism in New York. That’s another side of her that I really like.

Who was the pursuer?
Dallas: She was the pursuer, for sure. Finally I gave in. I was like, “I don’t want to see this girl work too hard.”

What’s the future look like?
Dallas: Only time will tell. She’s in New York and I’m in California. We’ll have to see where it goes. It’s positive right now. We’ll take it one day at a time. She came out after the show ended and we went skydiving. On her birthday, we went spelunking, an intense cave dive. We’ve done some amazing adventures. We’re going to do some bungee jumping as well. We’ll see how that goes.

What did you get her for her birthday?
Dallas: I got her a little mushy sweetheart [present], a picture frame with pictures and some music. We went out to dinner for the night, a fondue restaurant. Solid.

Toni, what was your favorite part of the Race?
Toni: Cambodia, without a doubt … The people of Cambodia were the most peaceful, gentle, loving people I’d seen in my life. It really showed me that we need to refocus our lives. It’s not about the stuff — it’s about the people.

Link: http://tvwatch.people.com/2008/12/01/amazing-race-dallas-on-losing-passport-romance-with-starr/

Offline pitt02

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Re: ♥TAR13 Toni Imbimbo & Dallas Imbimbo *Mother and son*
« Reply #44 on: December 01, 2008, 10:48:30 PM »
In my opinion Dallas and Starr would be a dissapointing team; both their partners keep them in line so they dont get so emotional and make irrational decisions.  I think they should keep the same team for the all-stars and bring home the victory.


Offline Rob

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Re: ♥TAR13 Toni Imbimbo & Dallas Imbimbo *Mother and son*
« Reply #45 on: December 02, 2008, 08:26:06 AM »

Offline marigold

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Re: ♥TAR13 Toni Imbimbo & Dallas Imbimbo *Mother and son*
« Reply #46 on: December 02, 2008, 12:51:17 PM »
An interview with Toni and Dallas:

The Amazing Race’s Toni & Dallas: Passport To Misadventure

Toni and Dallas won the hearts of The Amazing Race fans with their sweet, supportive relationship and their superior racing skills. Everyone through they were a lock to make the final three. Alas, when Dallas accidentally left his money and passport in the cab the team was doomed. The two of them spoke with fancast about what really happened in that ill-fated cab, Dallas’s flirtation with Starr and how they managed to work so effectively together during the race.

Toni, why did you ask Dallas to take the statues roadblock?
Toni: I mentally felt like I wasn’t at the top of my game that day. That’s why I asked Dallas to take it. We had been running for taxis for like an hour in the morning. We couldn’t find a taxi to get us to the place where the monuments were. Nobody knew where it was. We were sure that we were way at the back of the pack by the time we got there. I just felt like my mind wasn’t going to be totally set on this to be able to do it. We started reading the clue. You only have one line that tells you what to do. When Dallas started reading what it was we had to do I started thinking, “Oh my gosh. I don’t know what’s going to happen here.”

Dallas, how, exactly, did you end up leaving your money and passports in the cab?
Dallas: What happened was I had to do a microphone battery change. I was in the cab for about an hour. The driver didn’t know where he was going. I said, “I need a new taxi.” So, as I was getting out to do the microphone change [the Amazing Race staff] undid my fanny pack with all my stuff in it because they had to get to the microphone. When I got out of the first taxi, it wasn’t attached to me anymore. I hopped into a new taxi, took that to where I needed to be and then went to pay. I didn’t have any money. That’s when I realized I’d left it in the previous taxi.

What did you do, since you had no money to pay the second taxi?
Dallas: I tried to tell him I had nothing. What really happened was I took that second taxi back to a hotel. I then used a concierge service to take a third taxi to get there. When I realized I didn’t have any money I was shocked. The second driver was trying to get his fare. I think he could see from the expression on my face that I had lost so much stuff. He finally just let me go, didn’t care really. Then I took a third taxi, and I had the concierge service at the hotel tell them that I’d come back and pay later. I was planning on getting money from other racers to be able to pay. They made it look like the taxi with my pack drove away and I just watched it and waved goodbye. That was far from the case.

Did you ultimately pay the third taxi?
Dallas: He got paid back by production. By that point the race had ended for us. We couldn’t do anything about it.
How far behind everyone were you?
Dallas: They said we were about thirty minutes behind Kenny and Tina.
Toni: Maybe an hour. But we hadn’t even finished the rest of the leg. I’m sure we would have been hours behind.

Was the decision to take the metro instead of a taxi to the woman with the Shetland pony a misreading of the clue or a strategic decision to save money and take a time penalty?
Toni: It was a strategic move. I said, “Dallas, this is what we need to do.” To be fair to the race, we were running rogue. We said we don’t care about the rules anymore, let them penalize us. I’ve got a kid without a passport here. Let’s just do what we can do and take whatever penalties they throw at us. That’s really the wrong attitude to have out there. They did then tell us we had to take a taxi. Unfortunately we couldn’t take the metro back because we weren’t allowed to be on the metro after three o’clock and it was three fifteen. We ended up having to walk for about two hours to get all the way back to where we had started. We were trying to beg for money all the way there so we could have enough money to take the taxi back. We lost a couple hours by making that decision.

What was your reaction when Phil popped up to eliminate you in the middle of your leg?
Dallas: It was bittersweet. It was great that our misery had finally ended. It was so cold, it was so long. But we had the mindset that we wanted to finish the thing. Phil realized we had been going so long with no food and no water.
Toni: And we were begging. They probably had to get the beggars off the street.

Phil seemed sad that he had to let you go. You were consistently one of the top three teams. How do you feel about Dan and Andrew, who were always at the back of the pack, making it to the finals instead of you?
Toni: That’s the beauty of the race. Anything can happen. In Bolivia we were last and a wonderful taxi driver is what made the difference for us and got us into second place. We don’t begrudge them being out there. All of them deserve to be there.

Now that you’ve had time to get some perspective, how do you feel about the way things ended?
Toni: Things happened the way they happened for a reason. We spent a lot of time on the street begging for money. We didn’t feel real enamored of the Russian people on our first leg. So at first it was a little tough. We thought, “These people don’t even like us.” We really had to work it. We found there were as many people who were helpful to us on the streets as there were who weren’t. It gave us the opportunity to see a whole different side of these people of Russia that we would not have had if the experience hadn’t been what it was. I’m grateful for the way things turned out because we got to see things that we wouldn’t have seen otherwise.

How long did it take you to get new passports? Did you make the finish line?
Dallas: We weren’t able to make the finish line. We did get my passport back the next morning. Someone turned it into the embassy. We ended up meeting with the cast at a party they throw for everybody at the end.
Dallas, you and Starr seemed flirtatious on the race. What’s going on with the two of you?
Dallas: We’ve been dating for a while now, about six months. We’re taking it one day at a time.

The two of you had such a supportive, positive relationship. How did you stay on an even keel throughout the stresses of the race?
Toni: When it was time to go and run the race, we ran the race. We were focused. We knew there was a goal. We just did it. Once we got to the pit stop and we had some time to relax, we were joking. We were fighting. We were arguing. Dallas would beg me for food. We had that time. We were ourselves. It wasn’t that hard to be focused during the race at the race times. That’s what worked for us.

What inspired the two of you to try out for the race?
Dallas: My Mom was like, “You’re coming down this weekend and we’re going to do it.” It was my birthday last year, December eighth. That’s when the open casting call was. It was in San Jose. I was at school at UC David about two hours away. I was out with my friends on Friday night until about four in the morning. I work up at five, drove down pretty much still drunk.
Toni: Not that I approved of that.
Dallas: We were in line with all these people and we just winged it.

How has going on the race changed your lives?
Toni: From a daily perspective, the race has made me look at my life and how I treat others in my life differently. I don’t ever want to lose the beauty of what we saw in Cambodia and India, the warm hearts and the gentleness of the people and the peace that they have within themselves. As far as my relationship with my child goes, I think it’s obvious. I love him to death. He’s stuck with me now forever.
Dallas: It was a real eye opening experience going to places like Cambodia where people have no money and yet they’re still so happy. It makes you really want to see the world and get outside of your comfort zone. I can’t wait to be able to travel to so many other places.

What advice would you give to future competitors?
Dallas: Put your passport and all your money in a very secure place. Put it in your underwear, wherever you need to.
Toni: It’s all about the taxis.
Dallas: The taxis are what make it or break it.

Link: http://thebiz.fancast.com/2008/12/the_amazing_races_toni_dallas.html

Offline marigold

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Re: ♥TAR13 Toni Imbimbo & Dallas Imbimbo *Mother and son*
« Reply #47 on: December 02, 2008, 12:59:27 PM »
RFF Radio Interview with Toni & Dallas

http://www.rffradio.com/podpress_trac/web/300/0/rffradio_ep180.mp3

 :hearts: A great interview thanks for sharing it with us

Offline marigold

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Re: ♥TAR13 Toni Imbimbo & Dallas Imbimbo *Mother and son*
« Reply #48 on: December 02, 2008, 01:30:47 PM »
An interview with Toni and Dallas:

Toni and Dallas Imbimbo dish about their time on 'The Amazing Race'

While other teams around them made costly mistakes as the weeks progressed, the "Mother and Son" team of Toni and Dallas Imbimbo proved to be the model of consistency as they continually placed solidly in each leg of The Amazing Race 13 without garnering much attention.

However, one week after winning their first leg of competition, Toni and Dallas suffered their first significant misstep in the race and lost their money and one of their passports in a taxi, resulting in the team becoming the eighth team to be eliminated from the competition during Sunday night's broadcast on CBS.

On Monday, Toni and Dallas spoke to Reality TV World about what events led up to Dallas losing his bag, why they decided to ignore the rules and take a subway despite knowing they would be penalized for it, and how Dallas' relationship status has changed since appearing on the show.

Reality TV World: So Dallas, just to clarify to start, were you carrying just your own passport or also you mom's also?

Dallas: I was carrying just mine and then the money.

Reality TV World: Last night’s broadcast didn't show much of the lead-up to when you forgot the bag [with all of the money and passport] in the cab. What happened for that to happen, were you just rushed?

Dallas: No, what actually happened was when I got in the cab we actually had to do a microphone change, and the microphone is actually around your waist. So they had to undo the fanny pack that was around my waist to change that microphone out.

So they did that, and the cab driver in the cab I was in at the time I [had been] driving with for about an hour in circles, he didn't know where he was going. So I was like 'Hey, pull me over, I'm gonna take a new cab.' He pulled me over and they did the microphone change and unstrapped that pack and I got out. The [cab driver] did not make me pay because he didn't know where he was going.

So I got out and flagged down a new taxi, got a new taxi and went in there for about 20-30 minutes and finally had them take me to somewhere I knew. When I got there that's when I realized I didn't have the bag with me and my passport and my money was long gone.

They made it look like [the cab] was right there and I could run after it but that's not true. If it was anywhere near there I would've caught up to it, I don't care if it was three miles down the road I woulda ran after it. But I had no chance of finding it.

Reality TV World: You said you didn't [notice the missing bag] for about half an hour?

Dallas: I didn't know until I had hopped in a new cab [and gone] a way further distance than I had even started. And in Moscow cabs can be anything, it's not like an official cab in the United States where it's yellow and it's a cab company. Any random car is a cab so I couldn't even say "Oh well it's this cab company" and try to hunt it down that way.

Reality TV World: So, [even though] you didn't have your passport. you guys decided to continue the leg and [try and] not get eliminated. If you hadn't been eliminated, how [were you planning to] have gotten out of Russia for the next leg of the race?

Dallas: (Jokingly) What I would've done is put all my mom's clothes in my backpack and I woulda hopped in her backpack.

Toni: Actually part of what we were doing as we were running around begging on the street, I was sitting there thinking to myself, Dallas had gone back to a hotel with the second cab driver, and maybe they'll turn his passport in there or something, or maybe they'll turn it in to the embassy.

And along this route I'm just gonna keep begging and doing what we can and I'm gonna see if I can find a way to make a phone call to see if his passport got turned in and see if we can possibly get that passport and still keep going and have it to go with.

So part of our strategy in running the rest of the race was "Can we get the passport back as well?"

Reality TV World: And because you didn't have your passport, did you guys end up getting stuck in Russia after you were eliminated? How long did it take to get your passport back?

Dallas: Well, luckily the next day my bag was... well not my bag, my passport was turned in to the U.S. Embassy, so I was actually [able to] get home. I wasn't able to make it for the finale, but we finally got back later, luckily not too much later than everybody else.

Toni: We knew on my visa that I had a little more time than the production crew had in Russia, so we just stayed back and said we're gonna do what we can. Then the next morning when the embassy finally opened and we called them they told us that somebody had turned in the passport late the night before after the embassy had closed and they had it there.

Reality TV World: When you both decided to go out on the street and search for money to try and continue [in the race], it seemed like you didn't have a lot of trouble getting money from people on the street. Were people really that generous, or did the episode just show the people who were willing to give up money and cut out a whole bunch of people who didn't?

Toni: I think that you saw some of the people who were willing to help. There were probably as many that weren't willing to help us as that were. But, we were pleasantly surprised by the number of people that helped because people had not been that friendly to us and there had been a couple men in one of the squares who had worked their butts off to try to get money for us and they were asking and begging all their friends for money. And their friends were saying things to them like "Why are you helping them? They're American," so we were a little bit discouraged, but they kept pushing on and so we thought "Okay, we're gonna keep going."

At one point the man actually tried to pawn his cell phone to get us enough money for the taxi because they couldn't afford the taxi's themselves out there. That was the point where I said to Dallas "No, we're not gonna take this man's money, we're not gonna let him pawn his cell phone."

Dallas: And the other thing is, it does look like we got a lot of money but Russia's a very, very, very expensive city. So though we may have gotten a lot of money, it cost so much money to get anywhere.

Reality TV World: Did you pursue any other possible courses of action as opposed to just going around and looking for money? Had you thought about waiting for [Andrew Lappitt] to come back to try and get some money from [he and teammate Dan Honig]?

Toni: Well at first we went to Dan and thought we'd get some money from him, but he didn't have the money, we knew Andrew did. And, to be honest, knowing how long it would take Dan and Andrew to complete a task was not something we should sit around and wait for because that could take forever.

So I kinda went rogue and said "Dallas, we just need to try to honor the race as best we can, get what money we can and get this leg done. If it means we don't follow the letter of the rules [than] let's just take the penalties as they come and lets just try to salvage what we can out of it and try to get the passport along the way." Waiting for Dan and Andrew wasn't something that we thought was gonna make sense.

Dallas: (Jokingly) I was thinking of taking nude pictures on the corner and selling them to make money.

Reality TV World: Kind of going off of what you just said about not specifically following the rules to get where you want to get to, when you got on the subway [to get the Detour challenge] that led to a whole thing where you had to go back and take a taxi. Were you thinking -- or hoping I guess -- that you would just be assessed some penalty for doing that?

Toni: Exactly. We'd asked a couple of taxis how much it was gonna cost and it was such a large amount of money that we didn't think there was any way we could get that kind of money. So I said "Let's just take the Metro," everybody on the streets said we were crazy to take a taxi [and to] just take the Metro.

So I said "Let's just take the penalty we're gonna get assessed, at least we'll finish this out, and if we get our passport along the way and get assessed a penalty, Dan and Andrew will probably screw up enough that we'll find a way to make it. So it was interesting for us to watch last night to see that it was [Ken and Tina Greene] who had the biggest mistakes.

Dallas: Yeah, and the way we looked at it was that [Mark Yturralde] and [Bill Hahler] in Bolivia had taken a taxi when they were supposed to walk, [and they got] a 30 minute penalty. So that's what we were banking on.

Then we took the subway, we got to that park, and they said no you have to go back. Now we couldn't take the subway back because the rules for the city of Moscow are that you cannot take those video cameras that they're recording everything on [into] the subway after 3PM and it was about 3:15PM at that time. So now instead of taking the subway back to where we had started we had to walk all the way back, which took us about two hours, and that's what killed us.
 
Reality TV World: On last night's episode, and unlike [the rest of the season], they didn't show the departure times of each team leaving [the Pit Stop]. Do you have any idea how much of a lead you had at the beginning of the leg and how far apart the teams left from each other throughout the race?

Toni: Well, at the beginning of that leg when we got to the submarine there were probably a number of hours [lead] that we had over [Nick and Starr Spangler]. But what you didn't see last night was when we got there it was one of those [locations] where we had to wait until it opened. So we had to wait outside that submarine for three or four hours in the morning waiting until it opened. It equalized out again because we all had to sit and wait.

The only team that hadn't met up with us yet at that point in time when the place opened was Dan and Andrew. We were all just sitting outside waiting for it to open.
 
Reality TV World: Were you surprised when [The Amazing Race host] Phil Keoghan met with you guys to tell you that you had been eliminated [before you had completed the leg]?

Toni: Well we were a little surprised because we really didn't think it was a Pit Stop and we didn't really know. At the same token, we had been out there for so many hours and it was getting dark and it was getting cold and we were begging everyone who was around, so they probably didn't want people begging on the streets to the level that we were begging so it sorta made sense.

It didn't surprise me that that's what they did because it made sense in the long run, but it was disheartening not to have finished the leg.

Reality TV World: Do you have any idea how far behind Andrew and Dan you were?

Dallas: Well it was actually Ken and Tina who came in last.

Reality TV World: Oh yeah, sorry...

Dallas: But they said we were only a half-hour behind them, which, that's what kinda ticked us off a little bit is that if it wasn't for that rule of not being able to take the subway back to where we started because of the cameras.... if we took the subway there and screwed up because of that, then we should at least be allowed to take the subway back. We got double penalized, and it was only a half-hour back but that thing took us two hours. We would've easily still came in third without a problem because even Ken and Tina were behind Andrew and Dan, we probably would've finished ahead of them as well.

Toni: But we wouldn't have had a passport and we wouldn't have continued, and we wouldn't have met the people that we met begging on the street, and we probably would have thought that Russian people were horrible and we found out that they weren't. There was a lot of things that we learned by that process so I'm not pissed off by anything. I think everything happened the way it needed to happen and we learned a lot from it.

Reality TV World: Toni, During the Roadblock challenge in the park with the Soviet statues, at different point both of you both seemed to express some doubt in the choice of Dallas to perform the challenge. Is that accurate, and would you have chosen to switch places if you could go back and do it again?

Toni: Well you don't always know what the Roadblock is, you just get this one-liner-zinger that says "to solve a mystery literally" and that's all we knew. Part of me sort of said that "Oh, literally? Is this gonna involve reading? Maybe I should do this one" but it had been such a long morning and we had been driving for hours and I was like "I don't think I'm as sharp today as I should be and so Dallas needs to do it."

Then when Dallas opened it up and started reading all this stuff about Lenin and Stalin I was like "Oh no, this could be a problem."

But I think it's really a toss-up because I might have been a little more diligent about the statues, but then leaving there and having to get around Moscow and figuring out the taxis was really difficult, and Dallas has a great ability to manipulate and work situations. I don't know that I would've been as strong at getting that taxi and ever finding that apartment. I had to get there and I thought I would never find my way there, so it's a toss up.

Reality TV World: Ok, and on to the other big topic -- Dallas, there were clearly sparks between you and Starr. Did you two ever begin dating after the show?

Dallas: (sarcastically) Oh, well I've only heard [this] 800 times.

Reality TV World: I'm sure.

Dallas: Yeah, we've been dating pretty much since the show ended for about six months now.

Reality TV World: Ok, so it's going well?

Dallas: Well, she lives in New York, I live in California, so it's going well. We're just taking it how it is and one day at a time, but it's going well.
           
Reality TV World: The show didn't really begin hinting at a possible relationship until the show was about halfway over.  Had you two been getting to know each other during the entire duration of the show or did it not develop until midway through?

Dallas: We fell in love on the flight to Kazakhstan. (Toni Laughs) We got a chance to sit next to each other on the flight to Kazakhstan and that's where we really -- I don't know how long that flight was, it was a long, long flight -- but that's where we got to know each other and talk to each other. There had been some playful flirting all the way from the first episode and it wasn't really until being on that plane and sitting next to each other and getting to know each other until we started beginning to like each other.

Reality TV World: We've talked to some former contestants of the show who didn't think too highly of Nick and Starr. Were either of you concerned about being linked with them at all?

Toni: No we actually enjoyed being with them. We found them to be honest people. We were all playing a game, I mean we knew it was a game, and when it was time to go we would go. We didn't have any doubts in our mind that they would do whatever they had to do to win that race, but we felt the same way. We found them to be genuine and very big-hearted throughout the entire race and I was happy to run with them. I'd run with them any day.

Reality TV World: So, they were definitely more aggressive than many of the other teams. You didn't find that to be an issue?

Toni: No, because I think when we were with them we were equally as aggressive and they knew it. I mean, we would've knocked them down running too.
 
Reality TV World: It seemed like for much of the race, at least the first half, you both were able to fly under the radar and perform consistently without getting too much attention on yourselves. Or at least that's the way the show ended up showing it. Would you agree with that?

Dallas: Well I think that was our goal. I mean obviously I am loud, crazy, have out-of-control hair, and people usually look at that and they have their first opinions. But our main goal was just "Let's fly under the radar," we don't want anyone to really think we're a threat, and no one really did think we were a threat, nobody thought we were anybody until we just consistently performed and that was our goal.

We were going to keep our mouths shut and play our game, we're never gonna get caught up in the drama, we're not gonna be the people who call people names. We're just gonna play our game, we're gonna be ourselves, we're not gonna put our character at risk and whatever is meant to happen will happen.

Toni: And I do think, for us, the benefit was I do think that most teams, in general, liked us. So if they didn't like Nick and Starr it didn't matter, they didn't hold it against us. We didn't feel any animosity towards us at all.

So people kinda looked at me and thought "Oh, well that's mom," and I really don't think that they thought we were any kind of threat to them at all. And I think that even when we would consistently be up in the Top 2 or 3 all the time, it probably wasn't until four or five in [that] they finally kept going "Shoot, they keep coming in up there, what's going on?" They just didn't notice.

Reality TV World: Yeah, I was gonna ask, When did you think that you might have finally started to catch some other [teams'] attention?

Dallas: Well, I don't know if we even ever really caught anyone's attention because even when we got first [in the ninth leg]... I mean I think people always knew that we were really strong but I don't think people ever thought that we were going to be as strong as we were.

They thought that we would've got eliminated much earlier than we did, and I think even until the end people just didn't expect us to do as well as we did, and that's okay with us. We didn't do this for anybody else, we didn't do this to prove anything to anybody. We did it to have fun. That's what we kept in mind the entire time, this is a once in a lifetime experience and we weren't gonna be cutthroat, we were just gonna have fun and go with it.

People that wanted us to have [a different] mentality... I'm guilty, as many other people are, of looking at some of these blogs [that say] "Dallas and Toni, they don't even really try. They don't even put that much effort into it." For us we had fun with it. I'm sorry that I'm not gonna stab somebody in the back or call people names, and if that's what you have to do to win, well then that's not gonna be us and we're never gonna be those people.

Toni: And I do think that we didn't look like we were that much of a threat for... probably the reason is I'm a mom, I'm older. I looked, in the race... most people thought "Oh she's not gonna be able t keep up," and it's because the comparison was I was running with a 22-year-old. It wasn't like Ken and Tina who were both the same age running together and looking like they're keeping up with each other. I was running and keeping up with a 22-year-old, very fit kid. So the fact that I was a little bit winded every once in a while... well, yeah!

Dallas: And that's because -- quote this -- my mom is the ****! (Toni Laughs)

Reality TV World: What was the hardest thing that either of you did while on the race?

Toni: Physically for me, the hardest thing was moving the boats on the beach in Fortaleza, Brazil.

Dallas: Oh yeah! That was so hard.

Toni: That was the most physically challenging I think for us because we had to rely so much on Dallas' strength and as much as I could move what I could move it was still really hard.

Reality TV World: What teams did you get along with the best and worst with? I'm sure Nick and Starr probably rank up there...

Dallas: (sarcastically) [Kelly Crabb] and [Christy Cook] were our favorites! (Toni laughs)

Toni: I actually think we got along with everyone. We really loved being with everyone and we were sorry every time a team got eliminated, with the exception of one. We really did love every one of them. I think it was a heartbreaker for us [because] we knew [Anita and Arthur Jones] would go quickly. We of course didn't want to go before them...

Dallas: (interrupting) Anita and Arthur were the best! They did group hugs and the hokey-pokey!

Toni: We were just loving being with people, [Anthony Marotta] and [Stephanie Kacandes]... they were all just great, great, people to be with. So it was sad to see them go and not being able to spend time with them, and I only hope that we get to continue to spend time with these people because they're all great.

Dallas: Yeah, I would have to say it's a tie on everybody except for one team. There was only one team we didn't like...

Toni: But we learned to like them!

Reality TV World: Can you [say which team]?

Dallas: Well, let's put it this way... We don't like people that are only out for themselves and that talk trash about everybody else, and we don't like people that are ignorant and dumb.

Toni: No, stop.

Dallas: (Laughs) I didn't say any names! I didn't say any names! Leave it up to the masses.

Reality TV World: Okay, I'll let them decide. And, overall what was your favorite experience on The Amazing Race?

Toni: For me, my favorite was Cambodia because it really embodied everything we thought about the race. We were in a place we never would have gone to, we saw things we never would have imagined seeing. The people were phenomenal and incredible. We ran a race very tightly together, and there was great fun in the racing. Every one of the teams were laughing as they were trying to get past each other and just loving the race itself. And then to be ins such an awe-inspiring environment, it was a very emotional leg for me.

Dallas: Yeah, Cambodia was The Amazing Race. That's were you can truly see what The Amazing Race is about, where you see that competition and so many teams so close to each other, as well as a beautiful place where the human spirit really shines through and a culture that was just untouched almost by the outside world.

Reality TV World: What was your least favorite experience?

Toni and Dallas: Russia!!!
 
Reality TV World: Is there anything that you wanted to make it onto the show that was edited out?
 
Toni: The first leg of the race Dallas and I were pretty much our normal selves and we were bickering and fighting, and it would've probably been nice to see a little bit of that so most of our family would've believed that the same people they know were on the show

(Dallas laughs)

Because they know we do fight and bicker a lot, and most of our family couldn't believe that we were so well behaved.

Dallas: And I wish they would've put in any time we ran into Anita and Arthur in the first leg we had group hug time, whether it was at the Brazil camp or in the airport. They didn't show any of the group hugs, it was like ten of us all in a hug together. It was awesome.

Reality TV World: Whose idea was it to get on the show, and had you guys applied before?

Toni: We had never applied before. I always thought it would be a fun thing to do, so it was Dallas' birthday, I'd seen an ad on TV saying that there was an open casting call, and I said "You're coming home for your birthday. I want you to come home early, we're gonna go to this."

And he was kind of like "Okay?" and I said "No, no, no, we're really gonna do this." To his credit he didn't argue with me and he just showed up and we went down and did this open casting call and had a great, great time just doing that piece of it.

So it was my idea, and I'm so thankful we did it.

Dallas: I'm glad that she made me come down.

Link: http://www.realitytvworld.com/news/toni-and-dallas-imbimbo-dish-about-their-time-on-the-amazing-race-8088.php

Offline marigold

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Re: ♥TAR13 Toni Imbimbo & Dallas Imbimbo *Mother and son*
« Reply #49 on: December 02, 2008, 01:55:05 PM »
An interview with Toni and Dallas:

Exclusive Interview: Toni and Dallas, from 'The Amazing Race 13'

Toni and Dallas came into The Amazing Race as decisive underdogs.  Multi-generational teams rarely perform well on The Amazing Race, and when there came early discussions of the favorites, Toni and Dallas's names rarely came up.  But, they're steady racing became more and more noticeable as the season progressed, until we all realized that the mother/son duo were legitimate contenders for the million dollars.  Unfortunately, their race came to an end on the penultimate leg, mostly thanks to Dallas's unfortunate loss of the bag containing his passport and all of their team's money.  Earlier this morning, we talked to Toni and Dallas about their time on the race, what really happened with the money and passport, and whether Dallas has kept in touch with his possible showmance, Starr. 

Hi, this is John from BuddyTV and I'm talking to Toni and Dallas from The Amazing Race.  How are you guys?

Toni:  We're doing great.

Dallas: Doing amazing.

I take it you're back in the states, so you must have found your passports.  Did the producers track down the cab?

Toni: In Russia, you can't actually track down cabs. They're not regulated by the government, so anyone who owns a car can be a cab driver, which is what made it incredibly difficult.  We couldn't track the cab driver down, but we actually got very, very lucky in that late that evening, after the embassy had closed, somebody did return his passport to the consulate's office.  We weren't able to get to it or find that out until the next day because the office was closed, but it was there, so we just did our own little road block the next morning, getting ourselves over there and finding that out and we did think we were going to have to get a new passport, and in Russia you have to have visas.  You have entry visas and exit visas.  So, it would have been an incredibly lengthy process had it not been turned in.

What was that like, watching it and having to relive the show?

Dallas: Well, a lot of the episodes were great, especially ones like in Bolivia when I was a Lucidore fighter and when we were in Kazakhstan, but the one in Russia, that was just painful to watch.  They cut it and made it look like I kind of just lost this cab, which was not the case, I took three cabs before I even got to where my mom was there at the end of that road block.  It wasn't until I got out of the second cab that I realized that it had got left in the first cab, due to when they were changing my battery on my microphone, which is underneath my t-shirt, strapped around my chest, so they had to undo the fanny pack that was carrying everything.  They made it look like it was cut real quick, in this one cab and that's that, but it was almost two hours before I even got to my mom at that Road Block.  So, two hours, three cabs later, no passport and money and the day that had looked like another stroll in the park became, "Hey, take my passport.  Thanks, thumbs up, see you later, peace." But, that's not how it went down. 

Before you two were eliminated, you did come in first place in the previous leg -

Toni: That was great.  It was really important.  We had run through the legs and we were hot on people's tails all the time and so when, especially in India, when we knew that the leg was really ours and it had been so close and we were stuck in this crazy traffic jam and knew that things outside of our control were the reasons we were falling into second place, it was really wonderful to actually get that first place.  Dallas wasn't going to let anything get in our way that day.

Dallas:  I was so sick of coming in second so many times.  I think we had to set the record for most second places without getting a first, so we got it and it was just so relieving to come across that mat.  We had worked so hard and it was finally just the biggest relief to hear Phil say you're number one. 

There's always a prize for coming in first, and it's usually some getaway, and it always seems a little romantic, so it's always weird when family members or a mother or son win it.

Dallas: I know where you're going with this, and I'm going to give you an answer. (Toni starts to object) Mom, shh.  We went on The Bonnie Hunt Show yesterday and it airs today.  On the Bonnie Hunt Show, I told Bonnie, "Hey, Bonnie, I need a favor from you.  My mom's a single woman.  Beautiful, intelligent and smart.  I need you to help me find her a guy."  And Bonnie said she was going to do what she can.  She's going to put it up on her website and allow viewers to nominate people and we're going to go back to the show in a few weeks and, you know, find somebody.  Hopefully we get some sparks to happen and we get my mom to go on this romantic getaway with her new spark.

Are you on board with that, Toni? 

Toni:  Well. OK.  In case you haven't noticed, I don't really have a lot of say or control over my child, but that was not my original plan.  I personally was thinking that we would trade one trip for another with Nick and Starr.  They could each take a romantic trip, each one of them and they could trade me one of their unromantic trips and we could work that out, but I don't know (laughs).  Dallas comes up with all kinds of plans.

Have you stayed in contact with a lot of the other teams?

Toni:  Yeah, we're in pretty close contact with all the other teams.  We all really do enjoy each other and we had a great time on the race and there are people we didn't get nearly enough time with.  Anita and Arthur.  Stephanie, Anthony.  They were really great people for the time that we were with them.  It's given us an opportunity to kind of grow in those relationships with those teams we didn't have time with.  We're in email contact with everybody.  We got homemade jam from Anita and Arthur, and it's just wonderful.

And Dallas, have you talked to Starr, how is that going? 

Dallas: That's the million dollar question right there.

Yeah, well, you're the one who's trying to get your mom a date on national television and so it's only fair.

Dallas:  Me and Starr have been dating since the show ended in about May.  So, we've been together - she lives in New York and I'm in California.  Long distance, but we're just taking it one day at a time.

Link: http://www.buddytv.com/articles/the-amazing-race/exclusive-interview-toni-and-d-24966.aspx