Author Topic: TAR15: Gary & Matt Tomljenovich - Father and son  (Read 21970 times)

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Offline puddin

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TAR15: Gary & Matt Tomljenovich - Father and son
« on: September 09, 2009, 07:46:04 AM »
Gary and Matt
Biography
Gary Tomljenovich (47); Matt Tomljenovich (22)
Hometown: Laurel, Mont. / Bozeman, Mont.
Occupation: Construction Manager and Mortgage Broker/ Student
Relationship: Father/Son

Gary is a PC, Matt is a Mac. Gary enjoys hunting, Matt enjoys video games. Gary enjoys classic rock, Matt enjoys metal. This father and son duo do not have a lot in common and they never have … that is why they are running the Race. They are eager to share the experience of a lifetime with one another and establish a bond for the rest of their lives.  

Despite their many differences, these two share a bond in their common sense approach to problem solving, which at times, has been said to be uncanny.  

Gary is hoping Matt will open up to him during the Race, as they will be forced to spend all of their time together — a first for each of them. Matt is hoping that his dad will learn to listen to him and attempt to understand his point of view.  

Matt was almost killed when he was hit by a car and broke his leg so badly that he had to have a metal rod put in to hold it in place. It has since been removed and he is back in great shape and ready to race.  Matt describes himself as creative, trustworthy and a peacemaker, while Gary describes himself as decisive, direct and competitive.

They see this as a great opportunity for them to see the world and spend quality time together, while hopefully winning the Race and a million dollars along the way.

« Last Edit: September 09, 2009, 10:37:42 AM by puddin »

Offline puddin

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Re: TAR15: Gary & Matt Tomljenovich - Father and son
« Reply #1 on: September 09, 2009, 08:57:13 AM »
The Amazing Race 15 - Meet Gary and Matt


   
« Last Edit: September 09, 2009, 10:37:09 AM by puddin »


Offline Kiwi Jay

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Re: TAR15: Gary & Matt Tomljenovich - Father and son
« Reply #2 on: September 09, 2009, 02:11:18 PM »
Yet another like. I think this Father/Son dynamic will be fun to watch and a tad different too! Like them alot!
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Offline BamBam

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Re: TAR15: Gary & Matt Tomljenovich - Father and son
« Reply #3 on: September 09, 2009, 06:55:29 PM »
Going to have to root from the just because they are from Bozeman, MT, and we have lots of family up there.  That's as good of a reason as any, right?  ;D

Offline Hooky

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Re: TAR15: Gary & Matt Tomljenovich - Father and son
« Reply #4 on: September 09, 2009, 07:33:03 PM »
One of my many pre-race favorites! I think they will be fun to watch!
« Last Edit: September 09, 2009, 11:03:57 PM by Hooky »
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Offline puddin

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Re: TAR15: Gary & Matt Tomljenovich - Father and son
« Reply #5 on: September 09, 2009, 08:00:24 PM »
Mine too Hooky plus I think the  father is adorable, I love those gray haired men you know :D

Offline Jobby

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Re: TAR15: Gary & Matt Tomljenovich - Father and son
« Reply #6 on: September 10, 2009, 09:41:32 PM »
I hope they do as well as Nic and Don and surprise us! Even though they're not grandpa and grandchild.. but i think they will be good to watch!

Offline autowil

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Re: TAR15: Gary & Matt Tomljenovich - Father and son
« Reply #7 on: September 11, 2009, 01:21:08 PM »
LOL at the son look so old than his father..  :funny: :funny:

Yah They do resemble Nic and Don to me.. :) Hope they prove us right!!  :yess:
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Offline apskip

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Re: TAR15: Gary & Matt Tomljenovich - Father and son
« Reply #8 on: September 11, 2009, 03:06:46 PM »
puddin, can you tell us how you feel about white-haired men (other than G-Man)?

Offline puddin

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Re: TAR15: Gary & Matt Tomljenovich - Father and son
« Reply #9 on: September 11, 2009, 03:19:47 PM »
puddin, can you tell us how you feel about white-haired men (other than G-Man)?
Sure shoot me off your picture apskips and I'll tell you how I feel :D


Offline georgiapeach

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Re: TAR15: Gary & Matt Tomljenovich - Father and son
« Reply #10 on: September 11, 2009, 06:51:40 PM »
Oh I like this team!! I like watching families learning new things about each other and breaking their sameold/sameold molds. Hope Matt gets some travel "moments" along the way, and LOVE that Gary wants a tractor!! :funny:
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Offline TARAsia Fan

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Re: TAR15: Gary & Matt Tomljenovich - Father and son
« Reply #11 on: September 13, 2009, 08:12:57 PM »
puddin, can you tell us how you feel about white-haired men (other than G-Man)?
Sure shoot me off your picture apskips and I'll tell you how I feel :D
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Offline apskip

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Re: TAR15: Gary & Matt Tomljenovich - Father and son
« Reply #12 on: September 14, 2009, 08:04:15 AM »
puddin, can you tell us how you feel about white-haired men (other than G-Man)?
Sure shoot me off your picture apskips and I'll tell you how I feel :D

puddin, I won't because it does not apply to that question. I may be not young, but I am neither gray nor white just yet.  However, it is still a valid question, which you should answer.

Offline Ruth

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Re: TAR15: Gary & Matt Tomljenovich - Father and son
« Reply #13 on: September 15, 2009, 08:59:22 AM »
They do not appeal much to me at the moment, I sense some quarrels along the way. Of course, I may be wrong, since this is just a first impression thing.
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Offline Hooky

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Re: TAR15: Gary & Matt Tomljenovich - Father and son
« Reply #14 on: September 17, 2009, 12:54:31 PM »
puddin, can you tell us how you feel about white-haired men (other than G-Man)?
Sure shoot me off your picture apskips and I'll tell you how I feel :D

puddin, I won't because it does not apply to that question. I may be not young, but I am neither gray nor white just yet.  However, it is still a valid question, which you should answer.

:funny:
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Offline RealityFanWA

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Re: TAR15: Gary & Matt Tomljenovich - Father and son
« Reply #15 on: September 21, 2009, 01:12:35 AM »
I like the son Matt and he has a great personality. Has a team from Montana be on the show before??? I can't remember.

Offline apskip

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Re: TAR15: Gary & Matt Tomljenovich - Father and son
« Reply #16 on: September 21, 2009, 08:36:00 AM »
You are right. They are the only team from MT ever in an Amazing Race. Amanda and Chris from AR4 were from Rapid City SD, about 100 miles southeast of the southeast corner of Montana, but that doesn't count except in horseshoes.

Offline georgiapeach

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Re: TAR15: Gary & Matt Tomljenovich - Father and son
« Reply #17 on: November 15, 2009, 09:21:33 PM »
I loved this team from start to finish. They were a delightful surprise, and were strong and consistent racers.

Gary and Matt, you will be missed!! :waves:
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Offline puddin

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Re: TAR15: Gary & Matt Tomljenovich - Father and son
« Reply #18 on: November 15, 2009, 10:24:54 PM »
I'll miss Pinky and the Brains! I have nothing but respect for them, they ran a clean race. I bet they are hell of a guys in real life! Rock On Guys!  :jam:

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Re: TAR15: Gary & Matt Tomljenovich - Father and son
« Reply #19 on: November 16, 2009, 04:04:08 AM »
Yup. Officially one of the worst boot orders ever. :funny: I'll never gain hope again. :funny:
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Re: TAR15: Gary & Matt Tomljenovich - Father and son
« Reply #20 on: November 16, 2009, 04:55:21 AM »
Oh, they have Finnish background, that makes me like them even more (sad that they said it too late :( )!

I love Gary's sauna song:
Kukas sitä saunaa lämmittää?
Kukas sinne löylyy heittää?  :lol:

Offline Max

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Re: TAR15: Gary & Matt Tomljenovich - Father and son
« Reply #21 on: November 16, 2009, 08:51:04 AM »
I'll miss Pinky and the Brains! I have nothing but respect for them, they ran a clean race. I bet they are hell of a guys in real life! Rock On Guys!  :jam:

I agree.  This was my favorite team.  I'm sorry to see them go.

Offline Elven6

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Re: TAR15: Gary & Matt Tomljenovich - Father and son
« Reply #22 on: November 16, 2009, 05:07:40 PM »
One of my favorite teams as well, sucks they were eliminated, the two had great chemistry together, had dedication, and ran a really clean race. Sucks to see them go, hopefully they can come back for the next All Stars and make it to the final 3! :)

Plus, I gotta show the team from the bordering nation/state some love!  :lol:

Offline puddin

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Re: TAR15: Gary & Matt Tomljenovich - Father and son
« Reply #23 on: November 16, 2009, 07:45:21 PM »
Welcome to the forum Elven6 :hithere:


Amazing Race's Gary and Matt: We Don't Feel Like We Lost

Father and son Gary and Matt Tomljenovich might have made the final four of The Amazing Race if not for a Speed Bump and getting tripped up by vocabulary. (Note to Matt: a "candelabra" is not an Estonian man downing beer). The partners, ages 47 and 22, say they were actually better than they looked on TV. "They made it seem like we took a while at the Roadblock, but we didn't," Gary tells TVGuide.com. "Once he figured out what a candelabra was, we got out of there pretty quick. We actually made up time when we got to the mat." By how much did they miss a semifinal spot? Find out below — and see what team they worked alongside.

TVGuide.com: The way the episode was edited, it seemed like you reached the Detour just as Brian and Ericka finished the slingshot. Did you see them?
Matt: We didn't see them. They had just [checked in] when we showed up. They said we were seven minutes behind the last team. ... We knew we were last going into the Roadblock. We weren't sure we were last [at the end], but we had a good feeling, like unless someone got really lost, we were out.
Gary: We did the slingshot pretty quickly. It wasn't hard at all. We probably would've beaten them if we made up the seven minutes somehow or if there had been a less athletic team playing volleyball.


TVGuide.com: How long did the Speed Bump take?
Matt: It was three or four blocks. Then you have to strip down, sit in there and they close the door and you had to sit there 10 minutes. Then you had to get dressed again and then you had to run back. All in all, it took us about 20 minutes or so to do.
Gary: It was difficult when we got to the Roadblock because without other teams to follow or to get a lead from or to see what they're doing, we were on our own for that one.
Matt: When you run in there, you see a line of whatever it is you're supposed to grab, but when I ran in there, there was only one candelabra sitting in the middle of the table, so I didn't really know what I was looking for.

TVGuide.com: You also didn't light the paper completely and missed the word "gardens." Did that slow you down when you went to the tower?
Gary: A little because we ran to the tower at first and ran by the clue box. We ran by it twice actually. We [tried to go up] the tower and they were like, "No, no entry." So we were like, "Oh, that's wrong." At the time, there were a bunch of Japanese tourists standing around it, taking pictures of [the clue box] because they had seen the other teams come through and then we finally noticed it. Actually, I think somebody pointed it out to us!

TVGuide.com: Did you think the previous leg as was a non-elimination leg? You were due one in the Race and it's kind of sadistic to eliminate someone after the haybale challenge.
Gary: [Laughs] But they did it before, so that's in the back of your mind. I remembered that, but you sit there and think, "We haven't had [a non-elimination leg] for a long period of time." When you get to the mat, you're just hoping you're not eliminated. Actually, at that point, elimination might've felt good! It was a tough challenge, very, very challenge. That's the hardest part, I think, to accept on the Race as you're racing — the chance, the luck portion of it. To roll bale after bale after bale after bale... [Laughs]


TVGuide.com: Sam and Dan have been targeting the Globetrotters because they're an all-male team, but what about you guys? Did you feel like other teams were underestimating you?
Matt: Yeah, the thing about the Globetrotters is that they had a bull's eye on their back from the beginning. They're professional athletes that travel worldly on a daily basis. Everyone was pretty much scared about that team.
Gary: I think they were underestimating us. We started off pretty well and won the second leg, so that kind of opened people's eyes a little bit that these guys are at least competitors. It's not all fitness and athleticism when it comes to this Race, which is the neat part about it. Anybody can win this thing and we truly believed that. Run it again, we could have different results. We don't feel like we lost.

TVGuide.com: The brothers also had an alliance or worked with another team for practically every leg. You guys were always very efficient on your own and finished the tasks. Did you have any alliances that we didn't see?
Matt: We worked with Brian and Ericka. They didn't show it, but in Cambodia, our tuk-tuks rode alongside [each other] to many of the places. When it comes down to it, we all got along pretty well, but when we're racing, we all pretty much just raced. We did our own thing and it worked so far. ... Also, when you're racing, you really don't see the other people working together, especially when you're not doing the same tasks as them. It's tough to really judge the Race that way when you're in it.


TVGuide.com: It was cool during the bell task when Sam and Meghan worked together and you passed them.
Matt: [Laughs] Well, I read the additional information [sheet] pretty fast because I knew I had to make up some time and I thought it said, "You cannot work with other teams." But it said "You can..." and I just read it wrong in my hurry. At that point, I wasn't talking to anyone and just ran up there and ran down. And it worked!


http://www.tvguide.com/News/Amazing-Races-Gary-1012146.aspx?rss=news&partnerid=spi&profileid=05

Offline puddin

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Re: TAR15: Gary & Matt Tomljenovich - Father and son
« Reply #24 on: November 17, 2009, 07:49:56 PM »
Exclusive: Gary and Matt Tomljenovich discuss 'The Amazing Race'

   
By Christopher Rocchio, 11/16/2009

Gary and Matt Tomljenovich felt they needed to run a flawless leg or have one of the other remaining teams falter to overcome their Speed Bump penalty.


They got neither and instead Gary, a 47-year-old construction manager and mortgage banker from Laurel, MT, and his son Matt, a 22-year-old student from Bozeman, MT, became the eighth team eliminated from The Amazing Race's fifteenth season during last night's broadcast of the CBS reality series.

On Monday, Gary and Matt talked to Reality TV World about what they think ultimately led to their ouster; how they felt an opportunity to help them overcome the Speed Bump penalty presented itself to them; why they were surprised at one aspect of the race they couldn't account for; and how The Amazing Race was a victory for them despite finishing fifth.


Reality TV World: You guys made several smaller mistakes in the leg during last night's episode -- including Matt's candelabra confusion, coloring on the scroll, and an inability to find the clue box at the tower. Which one do you think lost you the most time and was most costly?

Matt: In honesty, it was the Speed Bump that did it for us. The Speed Bump took us roughly 20 minutes. At the end, they said we were seven minutes [behind "Married Couple" Ericka Dunlap and Brian Kleinschmidt in reaching the Pit Stop]. So we made up some time, we just couldn't make up enough time.

Gary: Maybe between the candelabra and the clue box, maybe there was seven minutes in there. But when you get to the point in the race where there's four teams in a short leg, someone's got to mess up for you guys to overcome that. It's really difficult at that point, and you have four tough teams that you're up against.

Reality TV World: Just to go back to the Speed Bump, as a viewer it seemed like a pretty simple task -- sitting in a sauna for five minutes. But you're saying it was finding the sauna bus, getting in and getting out that really hurt you?

Matt: Yeah.

Gary: Yeah, it wasn't a difficult task at all. To be honest with you, I grew up around saunas. Sitting in the heat wasn't a big deal. But running and finding the bus, we had to get help to where it was, run to it two blocks away, get in it. We had to strip down (laughing), spend however many minutes inside of it, get back, get dressed, grab your pack. So it was probably a 20-minute turnaround.

Reality TV World: When you received the Speed Bump penalty at the end of the previous leg, did you anticipate it would be more challenging?

Gary: No. In years past when you see Speed Bumps, most of the time the task itself isn't that difficult. It's more of a time issue to set the team back, and they've got to run ultra-smooth at that point to overcome it.

Matt: Throughout the race you get in the mind set where you don't try to think of what's coming next because if you try to plan and you try to figure it out, it's never right.

Reality TV World: Despite the missteps, you guys seemed to have ample opportunity to overcome your last-place finish in the previous leg -- especially with all the teams being forced to take the same ferry to Estonia. What kind of mind set did that put you in? Did you think it was a good chance to catch up?

Gary: No doubt. If you look at the times, not only did we have the Speed Bump but at that point we were four-and-a-half hours behind ["Teammates" Herbert "Flight Time" Lang and Nathaniel "The Big Easy" Lofton]. So when we pulled up, at that point we knew we had the entire day before we left. It gives you a lot of hope. At that point you know you have the Speed Bump and you think if you can overcome it and run a perfect race and have just one other team get lost, miss something, fumble somewhere -- you know you're going to be in it.

Reality TV World: During the search for clue box at the Tower, Gary, you noted that you two were "getting way behind." Was that when you guys first realized things weren't looking too good or did you still think you had a good shot to not finish last at that point?

Gary: Well you always think you have a chance -- even in the cab ride going out [to the Detour], I said, "We can't give up hope." And I guess when you're running like that and that stress level, it's hard to stay positive at every point. It's like, "Oh my god we're getting behind." So if you miss something or you can't find something, you're sitting there saying, "I hope the other teams did this too."

Unfortunately when you're running behind... It's just like Matt going in and having to do the Roadblock when all the other candelabras were gone, so he wasn't able to see anybody else pick one up or carry one around.

When we got to the garden up there, we didn't see the clue box. At one point there were a bunch of Japanese tourists standing around it taking pictures of it. (laughing) So when you're running behind, that's also sometimes a disadvantage because you don't get the benefit of other teams -- maybe seeing them do something or find something.

Matt: I talked to Brian, and they were running in last in the Netherlands. He said that's the reason they didn't see the bikes is because there were just two bikes sitting there tucked in the corner. When we got there, there was a whole line of bikes so it was obvious we were taking bikes.

Reality TV World: What happened during that phone conversation between your taxi driver and the one that was driving "Dating Couple" Meghan Rickey and Cheyne Whitney?  The way it was edited made initially look like your driver was trying to convince the other driver to go slow, but after the call ended, Meghan and Cheyne's driver seemed to suggest that your driver had actually called because was looking for directions.

Gary: Our driver did call looking for directions, and then he told us they had another team -- his friend had another team with him -- and that's when we said, "Hey, drive slow." Obviously he didn't. (laughing) It would have been nice if he slowed down and got lost. But neither one actually slowed down or did anything to actually hurt the other team.

Reality TV World: Gary, how many hay bales did you have to unroll before you finally found the clue during that Roadblock task?

Gary: I asked production and they didn't do a count. But I was out there for about four-and-a-half hours. Because Flight Time and Big Easy were actually leaving the field when we got there -- they were running down the road to the mat. But the field had about 186 hay bales in it. When I left the field, there were 19 left standing. [Samuel McMillen] probably unrolled as many as I did. He was there before I got there, but I was there after him -- so we both had our fair share of hay bales. (laughing)

Reality TV World: A lot of viewers expected that Matt would be the one to do the bale task given he's the younger one -- how did you guys decide who would do it?

Matt: In the heat of the moment, my dad just said he'd do it. We had been taking turns on Roadblocks, back and forth. I have pretty bad hay fever. So it would have been pretty difficult for me to do it and he just said, "I got this." I was like, "Okay."

Reality TV World: Did you anticipate that it would be a non-elimination leg and you'd be able to continue?

Matt: I was praying it was. (laughing)

Gary: At that point we hadn't had one since the first episode -- the first leg of the race -- and all indications were that it was one. The last time [when " Sisters" Lena and Kristy Jensen took nearly 10 hours to complete the same task during The Amazing Race's sixth season] the girls got eliminated out there and we were just hoping. I said once when I was out there by myself unrolling them, "God, I hope [host Phil Keoghan] doesn't walk out here to eliminate me. I hope this is a non-elimination." That's all you can hope for at that point.

That to me was the hardest part to accept on the race -- was the shear luck of things. We were digging through the snow in Dubai for half an hour before anybody else showed up trying to look for a snowman, and Brian and Ericka well in and two minutes later they're running down the hill screaming that they found one.

The same thing with the hay bales. We started rolling at the same time [as Brian and Ericka], and it could have took seconds. But Brian and Ericka roll up and boom they found one and off they went. That was the hardest part to accept in the race for me was just the shear luck portion of it.

Reality TV World: Gary, you were one of the older participants this season. Did you guys think that was something you'd have to worry about before the race began?  Do you think it had any impact and if so, how did you overcome it?

Gary: I don't think my age impacted anything to the negative really. Physically, I do a lot of hard work. I'm pretty physically fit for my age. Some of the guys might be a little faster, a little quicker and stuff. But with age comes experience and the ability to sit back and maybe analyze things a little bit better or not get excited or emotional about things. That really wasn't that intimidating to me and I don't think it really was a huge factor.

Matt: I think maybe the other teams -- they called him "Dad" and "Pops" on the race -- I think they didn't see us as much as a threat, and I think that helped us a lot in the beginning.

Reality TV World: After you were eliminated, was there anybody you really began rooting to win the $1 million?  Was there anybody you didn't want to see win?

Matt: The rest of the teams on the race we got along with really well. It was a toss-up who we thought would win just because they're all so competitive and they're all great people.

Reality TV World: Gary, you got really emotional after the elimination. Did you ever think that your experience on The Amazing Race could bring you so close to your son?

Gary: I'm not an emotional person normally. (laughing) Did I think it would? No. But I was hoping it would. That was kind of our goal and what brought us to the race -- to be able to do something together, to have a bond, to grow closer. It really accomplished that.

If you could say we lost the race, yeah we did. But we gained -- I know it sounds kind of cliche -- but we gained so much more from it and really came out with such an experience that we really can't put in words.  You put a lot of effort, you lay it all out on the line. Did I expect to? No I didn't expect to get that emotional because I usually don't get that emotional about anything.

Matt: No, he doesn't.

Reality TV World: Besides growing closer, what was your favorite overall experience on the show?

Gary: Specific experience?

Reality TV World: Yeah, something that was really memorable.

Matt: I loved every new country we went to. I had never done any international travel and seriously, to be able to see all of the countries I did, it was just phenomenal. It really opened my eyes to what the world is. I'm not intimidated by going overseas anymore. It's pretty neat.

Gary: The other thing too was so many people have walked up to me afterwards -- friends, family, people we don't know -- and they say, "Oh, I'd love to do the race." And I've asked everybody who said that to me, "Well have you applied?" Not a single person has said yes.

To have a dream of doing this -- because we've been fans for years -- and to send in an application and to get chosen and to go through that, it just shows you that you have to participate in life. You can't just let it happen.

Reality TV World: Was there anything that you wanted to make it onto the show that was edited out?

Gary: (laughing)

Matt: Not really. I think they showed us in a pretty good light. They showed who we are and how we're like. I think they did a pretty good job.

Reality TV World: You just touched upon this a bit, but how were you cast for The Amazing Race?  Was it your first time applying for the show?

Gary: It was our first time applying and we went through normal channels -- whatever normal is. We went online, downloaded an application, threw a video together and sent it in. We were picked. We went through the process of casting and everything -- which was actually, by the time you get to the race, the experience of going through [casting] was crazy enough as it is. It's like, "Well what's the race going to be like?"

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