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♥♥♥ TAR14: Jennifer Hopka & Preston McCamy - Dating

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puddin:
Amazing Race's Jennifer and Preston on "Embarrassing" Elimination

Jennifer Hopka and Preston McCamy became the first casualty of The Amazing Race 14 when they missed moving on to Leg 2 by mere seconds, getting edged by flight attendants Christie and Jodi. That wasn't the only thing that stung though — Preston also injured his hand during the hilarious (for viewers, at least) cheese-lugging task. Hopka and Preston chatted with TVGuide.com about poor choices, sound footwear and whether or not they're still a couple.

TVGuide.com: What happened at the end? They always try to make the last two teams look closer than they are, but you guys were in an actual footrace.
Preston: We weren't actually that close [at first]. When we came off the hill and got into our taxi to go to the Pit Stop, we were 30 minutes ahead of the blondes [Christie and Jodi]. But we just didn't have [enough] money to pay for the taxi. We were 75 francs short.

TVGuide.com: Where did you get the money then?
Preston: Uh, we didn't. [Laughs]
Jennifer: We started begging in the town, [but] nobody was giving us money. We decided the only thing to do was just run for the finish line. When you break the rules, you get a penalty. Right then and there, Preston and I were thinking we'll just take the penalty and risk it. We started running and went the same way Steve and Linda first ran — the wrong way to the river. The clue said "let it lure you," so we were thinking a fishing lure by the river.

TVGuide.com: So the clue didn't mention you have to listen for yodelers?
Jennifer: It said, "let the voice of the yodelers lure you," but there are speakers coming from the mountaintop, so we think that's where [the yodeling] was coming from. As soon as we turned around, the girls had gotten out of their taxi and started running toward us. They met up with us, and we said, "This is the wrong way!" Like idiots! We should've just kept it to ourselves, [but] we were tired. So they start running the opposite way. So from there it was a footrace because it was Preston, Jodi, and then Christie and I stepped on the mat at the same time pretty much.

TVGuide.com: Why did Preston carry you?
Jennifer: That was at the very end. There was a bridge right before you hit the mat. Over the bridge, Preston realized I was still behind, so he was like, "Well, I'm running the fastest out of everybody, so I'm gonna put her on my back." We had the lead, but when he stopped to throw me off, it didn't push me far enough to jump on the mat before Christie.

TVGuide.com: How heartbreaking was that to have it be so close?
Jennifer: It was really heartbreaking and frustrating, but it was more embarrassing to know that we were the first team eliminated from Amazing Race.

TVGuide.com: How hard was the cheese task? It was funny to watch, but I can't even imagine doing it.
Jennifer: It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. It wasn't a hill; it was a cliff. It was so steep. It rained all night and all day, so it was wet. It's a herding hill, so there were all kinds of animals, so every inch of that ground was covered with poop. That's why we kept falling. It was wet grass and poop everywhere. The only smart person who wore boots was Steve. All of us were in tennis shoes, and that and poop don't go well together.

TVGuide.com: What were the rules? Could you just have rolled the cheese to the bottom, or did you have to try to carry it?
Preston: You were supposed to use the carrier. You couldn't push it and you couldn't intentionally roll it down the hill. But if your [carrier] busted and your cheese rolled down the hill by accident, it was okay — but nobody knew that and nobody wanted to risk a penalty.
Jennifer: You also had to stay within 20 feet of your partner, so when his cheese accidentally rolled down the hill, I had to be right behind him.

TVGuide.com: What were those carriers made out of? They broke so easily.
Preston: Really cheap wood with the little nails that you get when you put in the back of an entertainment center and staples. It was horrible. The worst part was when it broke apart, all the staples and nails just ripped my hand to shreds. I was sitting there just bleeding all over the place.

TVGuide.com: So it was mud, poop, blood and cheese...
Jennifer: Some of the teams after us were like, "Oh my god! Somebody's dying." We were actually ahead [after the first trip down with the cheese], but it was the second trip that got us when his hand got cut. It was funny because there was blood everywhere and everyone was freaking out.

TVGuide.com: You said at the end that this will strengthen your relationship. Are you guys still together?
Jennifer: We are. We've been together for two years.


http://www.tvguide.com/News/Amazing-Race-Interview-1003002.aspx

Coutzy:

--- Quote from: Joab on February 17, 2009, 09:18:14 PM ---
--- Quote ---Preston: Better than ever. (Laughs)

Jennifer: We're taking donations [to be] on the next The Amazing Race. (Laughs)

--- End quote ---

What a sweet couple, at least they won't come somewhere near an atrocious bickering team.

And what a way to get eliminated! I don't think the producers had to cut down on cost so much this leg that they aren't even giving teams any money for this race? :groan:

--- End quote ---

Part of the race has always been getting extra money from people. As far as I know, the first few legs in every season are about getting as much money as possible and then spending a bit extra later once you have a stash up. (Rob and Brennan's commentary on Season 1 explains it pretty well.)

But yeah, teams are rarely given enough money to cover a leg on its own.

puddin:
The Amazing Race

Amazing Race Couple Call Elimination ‘Painful’
February 17, 2009
After some terrible luck with taxis, a missed train and one incredibly slick hill, Jennifer Hopka, 26, and Preston McCamy, 28, a feisty couple from Columbia, S.C., became the unfortunate first team eliminated from The Amazing Race 14. Despite bickering on the show, the nursing student and software engineer are happy to report their relationship survived reality TV and they are even discussing marriage. – Carrie Bell

What made you want to run the Race?
Preston: Who wouldn’t want to go across the world on someone else’s dime for a chance at $1 million dollars? It is a no brainer.

It must have hurt to become the last team to arrive by a handful of seconds.
Preston: I was really upset. I am super competitive and I hate to lose anything. And to watch the other team take our spot right in front of our face was painful.

Jennifer: We were surprised to be the first team eliminated. Our friends and family were so surprised. They expected us to last a lot longer.

You don’t really fit the typical profile of first team eliminated. What went wrong?
Jennifer: The Race is mostly based on luck and you don’t realize that until you are on it. You are not in control of every situation. The language barrier was our number one downfall. Most of us spoke Spanish, but that didn’t help in Switzerland. In three days of racing, we never had a taxi driver who spoke English. The only word we understood was no. You can’t tell them not to take this turn or you can’t say five miles down the road take a U-turn. There was a lot of taxi drama.

Preston: We also ran out of money. We didn’t have any to pay the taxi guy in the end. It was super frustrating. Everyone who took our flight didn’t have enough money at the end but the people who took the other flight had enough left to go in on a pizza. We were begging for 75 francs at the end just to stay in the race.

Jennifer: We were so hungry. Our plan going in was to try and not spend any extra money. I was going to flirt or beg for food. We got one piece of bread between the two of us for three days and then were expected to run and do challenges. Not sleeping or eating for days takes a toll on you.

It seemed that you were fighting from day one but Preston also said that’s your thing. Do you think that energy could have been sustained throughout the Race?
Jennifer: It looked worse than it was. We really only fought in the beginning on the train platform after we missed the train and we were tired and hungry. We would have fought occasionally if we had stayed because it puts stress on your relationship and you can’t say, “Leave me alone and let me cool off,” but we were a lot more positive than that most of the time.

Preston: The only times we bickered were when we would sit down and stop running. When it came to a challenge, we were on point and we were encouraging and doing what we needed to do.

As far as first legs go, this one was a doozey. What was the toughest part? The most fun?
Jennifer: The hardest thing was by far the cheese challenge. That hill was basically a cliff it was so steep. It had just rained so the grass was wet and it was a herding hill so there was poop everywhere. We were sliding in poop all the way down. And I only weigh 120 pounds so I was basically carrying my body weight in cheese and could barely stand up.

Preston: And the carriers were made terribly. They were as big as Mike and Mark. When we did the press pictures, I got down on my knees and realized they were about as tall as me on my knees.

To add insult to injury, the locals were laughing at you.
Preston: I wanted to take them out so bad.

Preston: It wasn’t all miserable. Getting to do stuff that I’d never done before was hands down the best part. We rode in a helicopter and I’d never done that before. I’d never flown international or ridden in a train through Switzerland.

Jennifer: Preston doesn’t get out much. You just made it sound like you don’t get to do anything at home. I can’t pick one best moment because it was all a priceless experience. I would never be able to afford to go to Europe. And we’ve got 20 new friends. We are an extended family now.

Who would win based on your first impressions?
Jennifer: Before even going on the Race, I know that couples bicker and siblings or parent/child teams usually do better and get along better. I pinpointed the sibling teams and Margie and Luke.

Preston: Since we couldn’t talk to anybody at first, I went by who looked the most intelligent and the most athletic. I thought Victor and Tammy looked like a good team. I thought Chris was my main physical competition. Mike and Mark might do decent and Kiesha and Jen. Those were my top four.

You said that the race would either make or break you as a couple. It has now been several months. What’s the verdict?
Jennifer: When we left, we got three weeks in Thailand and we had never been together twentyfour-seven for that long before. We don’t live together. We didn’t have to fight for a million dollars. The stress of the Race was gone so we could communicate and talk. We learned a lot about each other and will continue to learn what to say and what buttons not to push. That three weeks made us grow stronger and put our relationship in perspective so our relationship is stronger now than it has ever been.

Preston: Absolutely. Thailand started off rocky. We were both disappointed about losing and it took me a minute to get over it, but after the first day that time was very good for us.

Any marriage plans?
Jennifer: We’ve been talking about it, but we have time. There’s a lot I want to do like move back to L.A. before we settle down and talk about kids.


http://tvwatch.people.com/2009/02/17/amazing-race-couple-call-elimination-painful/

puddin:
February 18
A Cheesy End for One 'Amazing Race' Team
 
It's once again "Amazing Race" time, and on Sunday's episode, 11 teams kicked off their competition around the world. They flew from SoCal to Switzerland, where they had a Roadblock that involved completing the second-highest bungee jump in the world (why are you cheating us of THE highest jump, show?) and moving 200 pounds of cheese wheels down a wet, steep, crap-covered mountain.

First among the teams to arrive was Luke, the show's first deaf contestant, and his mom Margie. Forgive me for saying so, but while I'm excited for them, I fear that I'm going to get really tired of the notion that "This shows that a deaf person can do anything a hearing person can do." Yeah, yeah. Now move on. I was, though, still touched by Phil learning enough sign language to say that they were team number one.

Other teams that might bear watching: gay father and son writers Mel and Mike, Harvard Law grad brother and sister Victor and Tammy, stuntman brothers Mark and Michael. I figure the rural couple Steven and Linda are not very long for this world, since Linda seems unable to run very fast, but hey, the race is not always to the swift. Steven endeared himself to me by coming up with a speedy way to take 150 pounds of cheese down at a time -- by using the flimsy device they'd been given as a sled rather than as a backpack.

In the end, of course, one team has to come up short. It was a footrace to the mat, and Preston and Jennifer came up a little behind Christie and Jodi.

Here's what Preston and Jennifer had to say about their Race experience:

MSN: Guys, sorry you were booted off the first leg of "The Amazing Race" this time around.

Preston: It was very frustrating, very frustrating.

Jennifer: We did it on purpose. We were tired and hungry and freezing our butts off in Switzerland in the snow. So we did it on purpose because we knew that we were going to be sequestered on vacation for three weeks somewhere tropic.

MSN: How was the sequestering?

Jennifer: Absolutely amazing.

Preston: It was awesome. We wouldn't have been able to afford it on our own, so it was ridiculous. Three weeks of free vacation in Thailand. You can't really go wrong.

Jennifer: We stayed at an exotic island ... and we were there for approximately only three weeks. So not only was it a free vacation, but we got to do things we'd never get to do on our own. On the Race, you're tired, you're hungry. In our case, we were fighting with each other. It was just stressful. And then you get to go to this exotic, the most beautiful place I know I've ever been. And you get fed and you don't have to fight for your food. I love to go shopping and I got to go shopping. We got massages.

MSN: We didn't get to see that much of you guys. How much fighting did you guys do?

Preston: (Laughs) We just bickered about different things.

Jennifer: We didn't really fight a whole lot. They showed us fighting, but obviously clipping and editing are going to put that on there. We do fight a lot in real life. We fought the first day because Preston was really enthralled with the Mercedes we were driving and he wanted to go faster and faster. When I looked at the speedometer and saw that it was going 100, I was yelling at him from the back seat.

Preston: The thing about it was, it wasn't so much that I was enthralled with the Mercedes. I'm 6'4" and the seat was pushed up and I couldn't find the buttons to get the seat to move back. I didn't want to find it because Mike was the only person we knew knew where LAX was.

Jennifer: We kept up with them because they knew where LAX was. But we were still going 100 mph, which was completely illegal. We didn't want to be breaking any rules, especially the speed limit. And that was pretty much it. ... That was about three days of racing they showed on Sunday night. We were fine. We didn't fight at all in Switzerland. We didn't fight on the cheese hill. He was very supportive, pushing me to my limits. We didn't fight again until we were sequestered, because the stress of us losing and everything else kind of came out.

MSN: You guys got to do some cool stuff. The bungee jump must have been pretty intense.

Preston: The bungee jump was ridiculous. It was crazy. And I'll tell you the thing about it, and I'm kind of disappointed that they didn't show my bungee jump because it made Lakisha laugh like crazy. I was the heaviest one to jump. Everyone's jumping off and having a good time. They know that bungee cord's going to catch them. I get up there and they take that bungee cord and toss it to the side and they bring out this other one. I'm like, "Dude, I know that this one's been tested. I know everyone's jumped on it. I know I'm a little heavier than everyone else."

Jennifer: I don't know if you were nervous or not paying attention, but the one everyone else was jumping on was a thinner bungee. They weigh you before you do it, and of course Preston is this big, heavier guy than everybody. So they brought out this double bungee that was twice the size of everyone else's rope.

Preston: I was like look, I know the other one's tested. ... But it was ridiculous. There was nothing but rocks down at the bottom, so it was nerve-wracking. I've skydived before and I've bungee-jumped before but it was just ridiculous crazy.

Jennifer: I was kind of upset at first. We always said from the very beginning that if it was heights, Preston would do it because I'm so scared of heights. I can't even get up a little bit off the ground. I won't get on roller coasters, I won't do any of that. At times like that, you only have a certain amount of time to complete the task, and I knew I would probably get up there and freak out. It wasn't going to be good for penalty purposes. So he did it and after he did it, everyone said it was such a rush and when you do it, your stomach doesn't drop. I'm never going to have the chance again. I wish I would have done it. But it was so funny to see all those big macho guys up there because Chris and Brad and everybody when they jumped, ... as soon as they got on the ledge to do it, they were like, "Oh, s---," pretty much. I think it was pretty funny to watch everybody's reaction.

MSN: So what about the cheese hill?

Jennifer: Everybody was talking about how Preston said when he was on the hill, "In fact, I don't think I'm ever going to eat cheese again." It was slippery. On TV, it looked like a hill. It wasn't. It was the steepest cliff. When we're all on our hands and knees climbing up, it's because you couldn't step up it hardly.

Preston: It was super-steep, and wet and muddy and muggy. There was goat crap and sheep crap all over the place.

Jennifer: It had rained the day before. And it's this herding area where they have cows, sheep and goats. So what you don't see is not only is the ground soaking wet and steep, they'd just removed the animals. We kept sliding and we fell in poop everywhere. No matter where you stepped, you stepped in a pile of poopy. Which is fine, but you can't stand up straight in it. That's when we got the idea...we got on our butts and we slid with the cheese.

Preston: It was so slick, man, and when you added the extra 50 to 100 pounds to your back... I had on New Balances, so they weren't any kind of hiking shoes.

MSN: When it came down to it, what lost the Race for you?

Jennifer: We ran the wrong way at the end. It shows that Linda and Steve ran the wrong way.

Preston: It sounded like the yodelers were coming from the mountain. But the thing about it was that we didn't have enough money to pay our taxi at the end of the leg. Nobody who took that second flight had enough money to pay transportation. So we begged.

Jennifer: What happened was we ran the wrong way. You could either go right or left before the Pit Stop. It was on this fork. It sounded like the yodelers were coming from the mountaintop, and it said, find the yodelers. Let the yodelers bait you. When we saw bait, we were thinking river. There was this huge river. But what happened was there were speakers on the mountainside. So we ran the wrong way because we thought we were going to have to go up this mountain. But before we went the wrong way, for 45 minutes, we didn't have enough money to pay our taxi cab. We were begging on our hands and knees. He didn't speak any English whatsoever. The only word he understood was "No." He kept telling me, "No, no, no." He was yelling at me in the language he was speaking, which sounded French or German. I'm not really sure. But he was screaming at the top of his lungs. I'm pretty sure he was saying, "Pay me now." So we spent 45 minutes begging for money.

Preston: When we got to the pit stop, we were 75 francs short. The thing of it was, we didn't spend any money the entire Race except on transportation. We didn't spend any on food. We didn't spend any on anything at all. We didn't buy any maps. We just didn't have any money. When we got to the Pit Stop, we were about 30 minutes ahead of the blondes. We had to beg everybody we could find around there just for 75 francs.

Jennifer: Everybody else had used them up, because everyone on our flight didn't have enough money. When we were begging people for money, they were like, "Get out of here. We've already been asked." ... As soon as we turned around, we saw the Blondes. They saw we were going the wrong way, and it was a foot race to the end.

MSN: It seemed like you guys kind of gave up at the footrace, though. Is that fair?

Jennifer: No. We ran our butts off. Preston was in front of Jodi. It was Preston, Jodi, me, and then Christie was behind me. I was running as fast as I could. Preston and I didn't eat or sleep for, it was almost two days. We didn't sleep on any flights because we didn't want to miss getting off. We wanted to scheme and to try to get up front. We didn't sleep on the train rides because we didn't want to miss our stop. It was in foreign languages. We're in a different place. He's never traveled like that. So we're just trying to make sure we're on time and at our stop like we're supposed to be. It was freezing cold outside and we had to sleep by the little bit of a campfire, but we had to sleep on hay, and it was freezing cold and we had one blanket. So we didn't sleep that whole entire time. ... Preston put me on his back like you saw on TV. He threw me off his back right before the Pit Stop to give me a push. And me and Christi, she stepped on the mat first. Unfortunately, your teammate has to be on the mat at the same time. I just happened to get on it last. ...I never quit. I never said I can't do this. I just ran. It might have been really slow like a turtle, but I ran my butt off.

MSN: What would you say was the high point and what would you say was the low point, other than obviously being eliminated?

Jennifer: The high point for me was having the experience with Preston, knowing that I was chosen out of 20,000 or 200,000 people. ... Just to have an opportunity to be on "The Amazing Race," because so many people try out for that chance. And also, the enduring family that we have, because all of us, all the Racers, are so close. We say bad things about each other during the Race because it is a competition, but after the race we all have family for life now. It's a big "TAR" extended family. That was a high point. Obviously, the low point was losing. But we got a three-week vacation in Thailand. It was nothing but high points. It took our relationship in the end and made it better. So it was what we wanted. It was nothing but positive.

Preston: For me, everyone would think the high point was the bungee jump because it was cool. But it was a few of the little things. I'd never been on a helicopter before. We got to do that coming on to the starting line. I'd never flown international before. I got to do that for the first time. I'd never been to Europe at all. I got to do that for the first time. We got to ride a train around Switzerland. I'd never got to do that before. Going out, I can't really be that upset that I'd never been able to do and would never have been able to do without the Race. The low point, definitely losing. It took me a while to get over that. I'm super-competitive. It hurt my heart, especially going out first.

MSN: What's next for you guys?

Preston: Right now, I'm back to work. I'm working from the house, doing my software engineering gig.

Jennifer: I lived in L.A. two years ago, and I'm thinking as soon as school's done, of packing my stuff and moving back to L.A. ... Hopefully there will be more in store for me. I'm young. I love to travel. I love doing things like this.

Preston: When it comes to me and Jennifer, we're having a pretty good run right now. Everybody will have to stay tuned for that.

- posted by Raoul
http://tvfilter.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!DB9D137CC0F754C9!39073.entry

puddin:
EXCLUSIVE: Bungee Talking with Amazing Race 14 Eliminees Jennifer and Preston
by Reg Seeton
The Amazing Race returned for its 14th season, sending a new group of teams around the world in a high adrenaline international footrace for a million dollars. When the first episode The Amazing Race was over, fans got to see a number of format tweaks that included a slightly remixed theme, split-screen action between challenges and the race, and various time stamps.

The first leg of Season 14 saw the new round of teams head to Switzerland and find their way by train for a quick sleep-over in the town of Interlaken before racing away to one of the most "amazing" road-blocks in Amazing Race history, the 2nd highest bungee jump in the world. In fact, it was the same dam that James Bond bungee'd from in the movie Goldeneye. From there the teams raced into an uphill battle that pitted each duo against one another while attempting to carry 50 pound blocks of Swiss cheese on their backs to stack into 200 pound towers to get their final clue.

more here ...
http://www.thedeadbolt.com/news/105493/ar14jenniferpreston_interview.php

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