The Amazing Race > The Racers

Lake & Michelle ~ Married parents /Philiminated

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puddin:
It's all in editing, rueful Garners say
By Steven Godfrey


He cursed, he complained and he argued with his wife - all on national television - but "The Amazing Race" contestant Lake Garner promises he's no villain.

"Looking back, I see that I was too naive to realize I got cast in that part," the Hattiesburg dentist said Thursday morning, just hours after appearing on a nationally televised morning talk show with his wife and teammate Michelle.

 
The couple were eliminated Wednesday night as contestants on the ninth season of the CBS reality adventure series. Just hours after their elimination episode aired, the pair started a press junket in New York City to talk about their experience as the "Bad Guy" couple.

"I think they [the press] were surprised," Lake said after "The Early Show" taping. "We kind of played it low key. They were probably expecting us to be more excitable."

That "excitable" nature has garnered the Garners more attention for their marriage than for their chance to compete for $1 million in "a race around the world" on national television.

"We thought we were getting along good during the show. I think in retrospect that after the second or third episode (Michelle) was wanting me to take the lead. After the first two or three legs I like to think I was listening to her sometimes," Lake said.

Michelle said the couple tried out because they wanted to play the game, not deal with the subsequent attention from the media and viewers. But a week before the season premiere on Feb. 28, Michelle read an article in Entertainment Weekly labeling Lake a "villain" character for the season. Before the show debuted, Lake was described as "highly competitive" on the "Amazing Race" Web site at www.cbs.com.

"I didn't expect (the attention) at all. I did the 'Race' because I wanted to; there was no other motive. I wasn't prepared for as many people to talk about it and know about us," Michelle said.

Once the show debuted, the Garners got a chance to see what footage "Race" producers had decided to air. In the seven episodes the pair appeared in, each installment had at least one scene where the couple had heated arguments. A constant point of contention was navigation, as teams are responsible for finding their way though various foreign countries to complete different tasks.

During Wednesday night's episode, the Garners were shown having a fight over directions while driving through rural Greece. Lake cursed at his wife, but Michelle then was seen calming down an "overstressed" Lake on the side of the road.

"They could have tried to show a softer side a little bit because it was there. But you get in the heat of the 'Race' and that competitive spirit can take over, and Lake is very competitive," Michelle said.

That spirit drew the attention of fans and Hattiesburg residents alike. Lake was a constant subject of scrutiny in online forums on "Amazing Race" fan forums, and the Garners' behavior became the subject of several letters to the editor at the Hattiesburg American. Lake said that the response he's received from friends and family has been overwhelmingly positive.

The Garners' immediate family have remained supportive of the pair throughout the experience. Michelle's mother, Pam Poston, and Lake's mother, Diane Garner, helped look after the couple's three children while the Garners were on the five-week shoot.

After their elimination, the couple was sequestered at an undisclosed resort for nine days. On the final episode, the pair will appear with all 11 teams at the finish line.

"My reaction (last night) was that it's over. The suspense was killing me," Poston said.

Poston said she thought the show's producers created stock characters with their portrayal of the couple,

"I think that they did something typical of a TV show. They had to give personalities to different couples. Unfortunately (Lake and Michelle) got the 'Bickering Couple,'" Poston said.

"Even though I knew it was a show I didn't like seeing anything that hurt my daughter and her family. It hurt me when they did (argue) because I knew there'd be a backlash on that."

Still, Poston stands by her son-in-law and daughter, who have been married for 15 years.

"Lake is very energetic, he tends to leap before he thinks, but in real life they are a close couple with their ups and downs and they always seem to get over them. Michelle is very sure of herself, too," Poston said.

"We enjoyed doing this," Michelle said. "(People) would be surprised that we have a great relationship, that we get along in everyday life as much as we do."

And Poston backs up her daughter's quiet reaction to her husband's on-air arguing.

"Michelle was always aware there was a camera on, so she was very gracious," Poston said.

"Trust me, at home she would've put a stop to all that pretty quickly."

http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060414/NEWS01/604140302/1002

puddin:
Reality hits Garners in Greece
By Steven Godfrey


The "Race" is over, dagnabit.

Hattiesburg couple Lake and Michelle Garner were eliminated from the CBS reality adventure show "The Amazing Race" on Wednesday's episode.

The couple, who began the episode in fifth place, were the last team to arrive at the "Pit Stop" after the sixth leg in Greece.

When reached by phone Wednesday night, Lake Garner declined an interview until later today. The producers of "The Amazing Race" designate each eliminated team to speak publicly the day following their last episode.

Throughout the couple's run of seven episodes, the Garners became notorious for their onscreen arguing with one another. Lake, a local dentist and real estate developer, and Michelle, a stay-at-home mother of two, were shown having verbal confrontations every week.

"It may be hard for you guys to believe, but our relationship actually grew throughout the race," Lake said Wednesday night.

"The Amazing Race" pits 11 teams of two in "a race around the world," as pairs compete with each other in different countries every week. This season started in Denver, Colo., and moved through Brazil, Russia, Italy and Greece. Teams must complete missions involving both mental and physical challenges, such as piecing together puzzles and bungee jumping. Lake Garner, 37, became a favorite topic among "Race" fans for his ultra-competitive nature and his creative cursing ("Dagnabit" quickly became his catch phrase).

"I really thought they were going to be edited to look like a villain team, at least that's what the press ahead of the show had led us to believe. Personally, they didn't annoy me as much as I thought they would initially. They weren't a clear-cut 'hate-them' team. Some people found them rather amusing," TARflies.com site manager Beth Wilson said.

Wilson is an online editor at TARflies.com, a Web site created by "Race" fans that allows for online forums and discussions on "Amazing Race" topics.

From a performance standpoint, the Garners will fall in the middle of the pack. The "Race" began with 11 teams of two, with one team eliminated at the end each pit stop. Lake and Michelle outlasted five teams before falling in Wednesday's sixth leg.

"They weren't thought as a favorite to win, but people weren't discounting them to win either. That's what makes the show great is that it is so unpredictable," Wilson said.

The Garners never won an individual leg, which awards the first place team with a separate prize, such as a vacation or merchandise. Through six legs of the "Race," the Garners finished as high as third place and as low as seventh.

 http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060413/NEWS01/604130303/1002

Bathfizzy:
Poor Lake and Michelle were portrayed incorrectly?? hah, I don't think so.  Even if the other couples had arguments--I don't think it was a rude as telling Michelle to shutup.  (:;) (:;) And he never wanted to follow Michelle's directions and went where he thought was right.  I can't remember if it was the second episode where all the teams were leaving the pit stop and Michelle had told him to turn and he went the opposite way and got stuck in the middle of a field.  He was rude from the get go and the stress level is always lower at the beginning of the race. :knuckles: :knuckles: :knuckles: :knuckles: :knuckles: :knuckles:  I finally see the answer to a question I have had for a long time.


--- Quote ---After their elimination, the couple was sequestered at an undisclosed resort for nine days. On the final episode, the pair will appear with all 11 teams at the finish line.


--- End quote ---
.  I always wanted to know if they go somewhere until the race is over.  This makes sense as it seems alot of the racers all develop nice relationships with each other.

puddin:
^^  :lol3:

Are Race's Castoffs Fighting Mad?
by Rochell D. Thomas
 
Lake and Michelle, The Amazing Race
 
Lake and Michelle of CBS' The Amazing Race (Wednesdays at 8 pm/ET) have been called this season's Jonathan and Victoria. Argumentative. Snappy. They pecked at each other almost right up to the moment they were eliminated in Greece. Married for almost 15 years, the Mississippi dental team — he's a dentist, she's his office assistant — swear they're a lot nicer to each other in real life. No, really.
TVGuide.com: Your accents are so charming — except for when you're mad!
Lake: Well...
Michelle: When else do you get to hear us talking? [Laughs]

TVGuide.com: Speaking of that, Lake, you were really mean to Michelle. At one point in Greece you even said something like, "Bitch, just shut up!" How did you explain that to your children — Gage, 12; Landon, 10; and Cannon, almost 4?
Michelle: I talked to my son last night. He didn't like to see us argue like that. But we've explained to them the amount of stress that you're under, the lack of sleep, the lack of food, and that the situation is just different. They're with us every day, so they know how Lake treats me and how our relationship is. They know we're very much in love and we're committed to them and to our family.
Lake: People might be surprised, but I give Michelle flowers every month, just out of the blue. I got her a new ring last year and a new car for Christmas, just for her to use for herself. I try to do things like that for her. I also try to spend time with her and I make a lot of effort to push her a little harder and try to compensate by doing things that most guys wouldn't do. If you saw The Early Show, that's more along the lines of what we're really like — more calm and loving toward each other. I was hyped up during that first episode.

TVGuide.com: Did the patches you wore on your necks have anything to do with it?
Lake: The patches actually have a side effect of dry mouth. I get dizzy really easily and we didn't know if we'd be upside down on something, so we put those patches on so we wouldn't go out on the first few legs. They last about 24 hours.

TVGuide.com: What has been your weekly Amazing Race viewing ritual?
Lake: We had pretty big parties the first few weeks of the show, then it got to where we couldn't watch the show because we were talking and carrying on throughout the whole thing. Last night we only had 20 or 30 people over.

TVGuide.com: Only 20 or 30?! How many did you have the weeks before?
Lake: We had about 150 the first week, because we really didn't say no to anybody. We told people that if they wanted to come to our house, the doors were open. We only invited 30 to 40, but they brought friends, their friends brought friends... and some people we didn't even know! It was a pretty big shindig.

TVGuide.com: Has the show helped your dental practice?
Lake: Not a huge amount. Everybody talks about it, and some people said they came in because they heard about it and saw us on the Race. It hasn't been hundreds. Probably more like 10 to 20.

 
TVGuide.com: Michelle, was it your idea to do Amazing Race?
Michelle: Yeah.
Lake: It was completely her idea. I had seen it a few times, and watched Rob and Amber. I didn't like the Family Edition. If it weren't for her, we wouldn't have been on it, for sure.

TVGuide.com: How did you convince Lake to do it?
Michelle: I just said, "I'm applying for Amazing Race and you're my partner." It looked like I could maybe do some of the things those other people were doing and things you don't get to do every day, especially [when I'm] running errands every day and taking the kids to gymnastics or soccer.

TVGuide.com: Hello, like bungee jumping! I was surprised, Michelle, that you didn't freak out and that you had perfect form. Was that how it really was, or did they edit it that way?
Michelle: I didn't freak out and I had perfect form. I'll be honest, I told myself I had to do it, walked out to the platform and jumped, and that was it. I did not do any of that babylike "I don't want to do it" stuff. This is a race, so I sucked it up.

TVGuide.com: You seem surprised that Barry and Fran outlasted you.
Lake: They shouldn't have. They got lucky, I guess. We felt like we were one of the better teams. When you see someone finishing first or second all the time, you may think, "We're better than them, but we're really not." Between us and MoJo, we thought we were one of the three best teams. If we could beat out MoJo in the final three, we'd be happy. Then if we got lucky, like the Frat Boys did every other leg, maybe we could win.

TVGuide.com: You picked out a hierarchy right away?
Michelle: Yep, after the first two or three legs.
Lake: We felt like the Frat Boys and B.J. and Tyler were two of the stronger teams. Sometimes on the Race, teams get lucky. I didn't think Chip and Kim were that good of a team, and they ended up winning [Amazing Race 5]. MoJo came in there and started tightening up. When it got down to six, we felt we really should beat Fran and Barry. We beat Ray and Yolanda every single time, except once in Brazil. We really liked our chances for getting into the third spot.
Michelle: It didn't work out that way. Us going out was a huge surprise.

TVGuide.com: Whom do you put as the winner of the remaining teams?
Michelle: We don't care. Good luck to everybody.

link

RudyRules:
Article
--- Quote --- Michelle: I talked to my son last night. He didn't like to see us argue like that. But we've explained to them the amount of stress that you're under, the lack of sleep, the lack of food, and that the situation is just different. They're with us every day, so they know how Lake treats me and how our relationship is. They know we're very much in love and we're committed to them and to our family.
--- End quote ---
Sure, there's a lot of stress in TAR, but all the racers are under tremendous stress.   That's no excuse for the anyone to act the way Lake did towards his wife  :nono: ...badmouthing her constantly and just basically being a jerk.  I can't believe :shake: he doesn't do the same at home in front of their kids.  :'( 

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