Amazing Race 2015: Behind-the-scenes TMZ trash talk stuns Cheerleaders By Kathryn Carse |
on September 30, 2015 at 7:52 AM
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Tension, tears, lots of tears. #TheCheerleaders made the cut, but they kept us wondering — right up to the end of "The Amazing Race" premiere — if the first leg of the round-the-world race would be their last.
Former NFL cheerleaders and best friends Krista DeBono, a Richmond resident, and Tiffany Chantell Torres knew how it was going to end, of course (taping was in July and August), but what they didn't know until the premier was all the trash talking Team TMZ was doing.
"I have a lot of questions about her primping," sniped Kelly Berning, one of the "smack talkin'" members of Team TMZ, from the celebrity gossip blog and TV show. It was one of a few unfiltered assessments they gave of the opposition. "Some people are here to look good versus do good in the competition."
In the end, it made their victory all the sweeter — because #TheCheerleaders escaped landing in last place by beating Team TMZ.
Watching the first episode was an eye-opener.
DeBono was outraged, she said in a phone conversation this week, by the judgmental twosome who considered themselves "truth-tellers." She was not alone.
The Staten Island native watched the premiere at a party hosted at TL Social in Torres' hometown, Hoboken, N.J., along with about 30 members of her "large Italian family."
DeBono was surrounded by a whole network of girlfriends from Star Struck Dance School in Richmond Valley, Phi Sigma Sigma Sorority of Long Island University and the NY Jets Flight Crew Cheerleading Squad
"I grew up in this environment where I was brought up not to bring each other down — their [TMZ] job is the complete opposite," said the 29-year-old speech pathologist. "They were literally judging us just by looking at us. We didn't even get a chance to say a word to them."
To add to the irony, as part of #TheCheerleaders, DeBono knows people judge "just because you look a certain way." And you know what? It was fine with her, as she says in her introductory video, if the other teams underestimated them by thinking, "they're too busy doing their lipstick."
Still, hearing the vicious comments from two other women really hit home— even if it is what they do for a living.
"Among my girlfriends, women are taught we should empower one another, to stick together — because we are often underestimated by men," said DeBono.
When it came down to the wire, Team TMZ took an unbelievable nearly four hours to solve a final puzzle challenge.
It took The Cheerleaders less than an hour.
"You know what's so sad? I really thought we were smarter than the cheerleaders, and you know what, we're not" said Shevonne Sullivan, of Team TMZ, which got sent packing to a newsroom where they "will be annihilated," because, admits Berning, that is what they would do to them.
You could not have scripted the karma-laden drama.
EPISODE 1 RECAP: ABOUT ALL THOSE TEARS
When the race begins, the teams compete in a water-bike race in Venice Beach, to get to the next destination — Rio de Janeiro. The Cheerleaders have to wait till last to take the helicopter ride past the iconic Christ the Redeemer statue. For the next challenge, they have to get to Copacabana Beach. But the taxi won't take them all the way. He kicks them out of the cab, but the reason why is not clear.
"He got spooked by the cameras and didn't want to be on TV," explains DeBono. What you also don't realize is they run about two miles with their heavy packs to get to the set.
They arrive hot and exhausted to try the foot volleyball match. The waterworks start when Tiffany realizes they have no chance.
"Tiffany is very emotional. There was so much more crying that they didn't show," laughs DeBono.
"The only point we got was one when the ball accidentally bounced off of Tiffany's head," she adds, enjoying it in retrospect.
They flee to do the aforementioned puzzle where DeBono, a puzzle fanatic, figures they have an advantage. But doing them with another person is a whole different ballgame. More tears and bickering, until they step back, agree on what to do, and voila! It all falls in place.
"I haven't done a puzzle since. It completely ruined my hobby," says DeBono.
She also admits learning her own lesson about appearances. When she and Torres are tanking the foot volleyball game, she figures they have a handicap: "We're five-foot nothing."
But during the premier, she sees team The Cousins win their match. The two guys, a jock and a theater nerd, have a form of dwarfism.
"When I saw The Cousins pull it off, I knew I can't even blame it on being short. It was 100 percent my lack of volleyball skills," she says. "It was a good moment to watch."
So it is on to the next leg in Buenos Aires, Argentina – to visit the birthplace of Pope Francis and do the tango.
Dancing? Yes! That is something she and Torres excel in. And so do The Dancers, homeless brothers from Boston have made a name for themselves as street dancers.
Game on — Friday night at 8 p.m. on CBS.
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