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puddin:
 
 

“When We Found Out It Was Luke & Margie, We Were Just Blown Away” – RealityNewsOnline’s Exclusive Interview with The Amazing Race 14's Amanda & Kris
by Teeuwynn Woodruff -- 03/11/2009

 
Amanda & Kris (right) looked to be one of the strongest couples in the race this season – and a solid bet for the final three. But a well-timed U-Turn shattered their hopes for glory and a million dollars in the icy cold of Siberia. What do Amanda & Kris have to say about Luke & Margie using the U-Turn on them? Are they mad at the mother and son duo? How close did they come to overcoming the U-Turn and staying in the race? All this and more, inside!

RealityNewsOnline: Hello, Amanda & Kris. Thanks for talking to RealityNewsOnline today!

Amanda & Kris: No problem!

RNO: What made you two decide to try out for the race?

Amanda: Actually, we were the only team this season that was recruited. We were actually downtown at a club, and we were recruited by a casting director. We took her up on it, and we made it!

RNO: Now, I have to say I wasn’t expecting to talk to you two anytime soon.

Kris: Nor were we.

Amanda: That makes us feel good. Thanks!

RNO: How shocked were you when you saw that you had been U-Turned?

Kris: We kind of had it in the back of our heads… “Gosh, after doing all that stuff, it would really suck to get U-Turned.” So, we were kind of thinking for some reason that we would. But we were definitely shocked that it was Margie & Luke.

RNO: When did you find out that it was Margie & Luke that U-Turned you?

Amanda: We actually found out probably over a week later in sequester when we finally found out from another team. But the reason why we were so shocked, and the reason why we accused Jen & Kisha was – they didn’t show this – but the day before we were all eating lunch at a restaurant in Romania, and we were sitting at two tables.

On our walk back from our hotel, Luke & Margie came to us and said, “We just want to let you guys know that, at our table, everyone was talking about the U-Turn. Every single team at the table, including us, said we would never use it. Jen & Kisha were the only team that said, ‘You’d be stupid not to use it, and you should definitely use it if you get the opportunity.’”

So, when we were U-Turned the next day, I mean naturally we assumed, “It’s got to be Jen & Kisha.” They were on the first flight, so it made sense. When we found out it was Luke & Margie, we were just blown away.

Especially because, at the end of the race, we told Jen & Kisha that we accused them. They asked why we thought it was them. We told them what Margie said. They were pissed. They were like, “I don’t know why Margie said that. That was never said.” So, for Margie to just completely make that up and go out of her way to come up to us and tell us that was just cruel!

Kris: It felt like a low blow, for sure.

Amanda: Definitely!

RNO: Now that you see why they U-Turned you, does it make you feel any better?

Amanda: In my opinion, I would have never done anything like that because I would only use the U-Turn if you need it. First of all, it’s not going to give you that good of a reputation. More importantly, you can get turned around and somebody could U-Turn you back – and you can’t use it in the future.

They didn’t need it!

Kris: They were saying that we were strong, and also that they wanted to make sure that the Redheads were going to still be in it. Which I don’t get whatsoever. That was their reasoning behind it which, to us, was like, “Gee! Thanks a lot!”

RNO: Are you at least proud that they thought you were a big enough threat to want to take you out?

Kris: Yes, it’s definitely nice to know that, but… We were just so into the race, and we really thought we were going to do well. I mean, to be honest with you, I thought that we were going to win the thing. We were really working well together, blowing through all the tasks. You get a couple bad breaks and it’s gone.

RNO: How much time did the U-Turn cost you?

Kris: Well, we were only about ten minutes behind the short guys [Mark & Michael]. We went back to the wood pile and did that pretty quick. When we went to the bobsled, we got through that really quickly too. It didn’t take me a long time to figure out the Chekhov thing.

Amanda: What they don’t show too is that what took up most of the time was going in between tasks. The woodpile and the shutters were on opposite sides of the village. It took us more than 10 minutes to jog from the woodpile to the workshop to build the shutters, then another 10 minutes to find the place, then another 10 minutes back to where we found out we were U-Turned. Then we had to walk another 10 minutes back to the woodpile, then back. That’s what cost us so much time.

If we weren’t U-Turned, then we wouldn’t have spent 20 minutes walking there and back, and the time to build it. So, it’s clear that we definitely would have beaten Mark & Michael to the Pit Stop if we weren’t U-Turned.

RNO: Going back to the shutters Detour, how is it that everyone missed the house that needed repairs for so long?

Kris: The map that they gave us for it was really crappy. It was pretty much a little grid with a red dot on it that said, “go here.” The lines on the map didn’t match up to how the actual town was. You were just picking and choosing which street you wanted to run up to try to look for the place. So, that was really hard to find.

We walked around aimlessly for I don’t even know how much time, but forever holding this big ladder and shutters and stuff. I was proud of Amanda. Amanda rocked that and carried all the stuff like it was nothing.

RNO: Speaking of getting lost, Kris, I heard you got lost for quite awhile on the mountain down from the hang gliding spot in Austria.

Kris: Yeah! I was running down the side of the mountain and I missed one of the markers. I think it was at a point where you can go left or right and I didn’t see it. I ended up down at the highway, and I ended up running down the highway, thinking I might see another sign. I started seeing signs for another town.

I ended up flagging a car down and [they told me the town was] four kilometers back the other direction. I was like, “Are you kidding me?” I just stepped into high gear and ended up sprinting. I passed three teams down the mountain, and ended up beating them all the way back to the bottom – and they went the right way!

RNO: You must have been beat after that!

Kris: Oh my gosh!

Amanda: I actually think that he missed the same marker that Linda did. Because that same road that Linda ended up on was kind of what happened to Kris. I think they both took the same wrong turn, but Kris is in such good shape that I think he was literally the only one on the entire race that could have gotten that lost and still been the second person down the hill.

Kris did amazing! No one else would have been able to recover from that but him.

Kris: You didn’t have any water or food. Talk about dehydration to the max!

RNO: Kris, what did you learn about Amanda on the race?

Kris: Going into it, there weren’t any skeletons in the closet or too many things that I didn’t know about her. I think the only thing I learned from her was that working through stressful situations means that we learned that we’re both leaders. We both like to control what’s going on. That was one thing that we had to work through with our relationship – letting one person take over at some times, and vice versa. Knowing each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

RNO: Amanda, did you learn anything about Kris on the race?

Amanda: Like he said, it’s not like we were expecting to learn anything new. But one thing we hadn’t done before was work together as a team. I mean, he’s competitive, I’m competitive. We both did competitive sports, but nothing together. So, it was the first time we were a team working together.

It was like a big test for our relationship, and I think we passed it with flying colors. Now we’re confident that we can get through things together. Now, there’s no question.

Kris: Even my older, married brothers were like, “Gosh! I would never do that with my wife. We’d be at each other’s throats!” We actually worked really well together. We looked at going on the race as a really awesome experience. We never in a million years thought we’d have the opportunity to do it. We wanted to enjoy the moment, and really have fun with it.

RNO: Do you have a favorite moment on the race.

Amanda: It’s hard to put your finger on one thing because it’s all so spectacular. Just the fact that we have that shared experience now. Like I was saying, it reconfirmed everything we thought about our relationship. We thought we were strong, but we went through the ultimate relationship test. Knowing that we passed it is really satisfying.

Kris: Definitely.

RNO: Is there anything you would do differently on the race?

Amanda: Yes. Definitely I wouldn’t believe everything I hear. Like the whole thing with Margie and what she said. I shouldn’t have believed that. This is a competition for a million dollars. I don’t know why I was thinking I could trust anyone.

It just goes to show that even the people who come across as the most genuine, sincere [folks] can be deceitful as well. I think that’s why I was so quick to believe her. I thought, “She’s so nice! Her and her deaf son!” You want to believe them. The last thing I would have thought was that she completely made it up. I would never have expected that.

Also, with the blondes [Christie & Jodi], we never had even really met them. The first leg – I don’t want to say who, because I don’t quite remember. But someone told us that the blondes were in it only to work with themselves. “Be careful of them! They don’t want to help anyone. They may lead you in the wrong direction.” So, when I made the comment about them being untrustworthy, it was based off what we had heard.

Kris: I wouldn’t have taken off that damn fanny pack in Romania, because we lost a trip to Costa Rica because of it! That was a bummer. We were so far ahead. Just that one stupid mistake put us in second place.

Amanda: They said we were only three minutes behind them.

RNO: Is there anything else you’d like to tell our readers about your experiences on the race?

Kris: We’d definitely do it again in a heartbeat!

Amanda: If there’s an All-Stars season, we would be there. We didn’t make it that far, but I think we definitely proved ourselves as a strong team.

RNO: Thank you very much for talking to RealityNewsOnline today!

Kris & Amanda: Thank you!

source RNO






 

TARAsia Fan:
They rock so much. I can't remember a season in which I was so sad to see each passing team go!  :'( :'(

Jobby:
Yea, they seriously rock too much to go so early.  :'(

puddin:
I have Amanda & Kris on Bonnie Hunt  uploading now! Amanda is gorgeous and Kris is a living doll!
The video is a big file though.. its taking its good ole time so will put it up asap.

TARAsia Fan:
Thanks, puddin.  :jumpy: :jumpy: :hearts: :hearts: :hearts:

Looking forward to it. Anything non-basketball related at this time of year gets lost in the shuffle for me.

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