Topic: Feisty Paolos Lost The 'Race'

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Feisty Paolos Lost The 'Race'



(CBS) On Tuesday night's two-hour edition of "The Amazing Race," the five remaining teams flew from Costa Rica back to the United States.

Unfortunately for the Paolo family, their race filled with bickering and constant fighting came to an abrupt end when they fell from first place to last.

"We love each other," Marion Paolo told The Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith, setting the record straight.

"When you're in a stressful situation like that it's really hard to not argue," explained older son D.J. "When you're competing for a million dollars you say and do a lot of things you don't normally do."

But Tony Paolo admitted life is not that different for them at home. "My son and wife are too much a like, and they fight a lot. Brian and I just stay out of it, and let them fight it out," he said.

"This is how we are," Marion added. "We fight, we make up, and we do it all over again. We love each other — that's the bottom line."

Marion's argument during the race is that her family did not follow her advice, and that got them in trouble. She asked them, for example, to turn the boat when they were on the lake. But did they listen?

D.J. was seen reacting in rage towards his mom. "She must have asked us to turn over the boat about 20 million times before that," he said.

Another bad decision, perhaps, was not taking the right way to get to the Grand Canyon. "We took the most direct way but got stuck in traffic at the main entrance," Brian said.

D.J. added: "Our whole strategy was in a foot race. I know Walter Bransen …"

"Who is kind of slow," Smith interjected.

"But I still thought he was faster than her (pointing at his mom)," D.J. said. "It was, do we stay with them and have a foot race or go for it?"

"I said we should have stopped and made a phone call and see the better way," Marion added. "They didn't want to do that. I said, 'Guys, make a phone call.' They said: 'Who are you going to call?' I felt like saying Ghost Busters or how about the national park.

"They never listen, no respect."

And when asked, she said with a smile that is true in every day of her life. "Every single minute of every day of every week of every year." So Smith gave her a hug.

"Thank you, Harry. Thank you. Pay attention, guys," she said to her family. "Listen to this very nice man."

There are two things the family is in agreement, however. One, the Weavers are not very likeable people.

"Last night we talked about what we wanted to say about the Weavers," D.J. said. "The bottom line is anyone who has a functioning brain, who watched the last two episodes, can see the reasons why people don't get along with them. They're very hypocritical. I mean, I could go on forever."

Marion added they actually looked good on camera.

And two, the race was an unbelievable experience that they will never forget.

"The friendships that we made and the experience of the race and all the people that we met, it's worth a lot more than a million bucks," Tony Paolo said. "It's unreal. It's an unbelievable experience what we went through. And I wish everybody could get a chance at doing that. It's unreal. It really is unbelievable. And the people that we met were all great people."

There is however lingering question about the Paolo's "Amazing Race." How is it that a man who works for the sanitation department of New York got lost at the beginning of the race?

Defending his father, Brian said it is not just Manhattan. It is "five separate cities: Staten Island, Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens."

"Never worked Lower Manhattan and to me it's a puzzle," Tony said. "I couldn't get out of that puzzle."

Still, he got a lot of grief from his co-workers for getting lost.

"Forget it," Tony said. "They made a map. At work they call me 'the zip,' so they made a map where the zip was in Manhattan, and we're 'clueless,' when my wife dropped the clue.

"It was fun. All in good fun."

And that is what the Paolos said the race was for — the fun.

If you can't get enough of "The Amazing Race," you can catch Harry Smith this afternoon at CBS.com, where he is co-hosting this week's edition of the "Finish Line," "The Amazing Race" online talk show. Click here to log on at 1 p.m./ET; 10 a.m./PT.


©MMV, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/11/09/earlyshow/series/amazingrace/main1027612.shtml

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“We are Fighting in a Nicer Way” - An Interview with The Amazing Race 8’s Paolo Family
by Jenn Brasler -- 11/10/2005

 
The Amazing Race’s most combustible family chats with us about the worst part of racing, connecting with other families, and their favorite moments on the race. Read on to find out why Brian thinks the banana task defined them - and it’s not because they’re bananas.
RealityNewsOnline: Hi, Marion, Tony, Brian, and D.J.! Congratulations on getting this far in the race. You did a terrific job! What did you see as your strengths in the race? What about your weaknesses?

The Paolos: We always picked the right challenge, so decision-making in the challenges were a big strength. Not listening to each other, talking over each other, not taking our time would be our weakness.

 RNO: What was each person’s favorite moment in the race?

D.J.: Making the friendships with the rest of the families. I loved every aspect of the race. The soldiers were also a highlight.

Brian: The bananas summarized the race for us because we were working hard as a team and as a family. Also, seeing Panama and Costa Rica.

Marion: Seeing New Orleans and making memories. And we were able to celebrate Tony’s birthday and our 32nd anniversary.

Tony: The first leg of the race, building the house. We realized that we could do the physical aspects from that point forward.

RNO: D.J. and Brian, when did you realize that your mom would be able to keep up with the rest of you?

Brian and D.J.: During the tasks, we realized that she could keep up with us doing tasks but not so much with all-out sprints.

RNO: Did you connect with any other team on the race?

The Paolos: We connected with everyone.

RNO: What was the most difficult thing about being in the race?

The Paolos: Dealing with the stress levels and staying in the race.

RNO: Everyone seemed to start getting along better at the beginning of the sixth leg. Did something specific cause this change?

The Paolos: Being out of the country brought us closer together because we needed to rely on each other to advance ourselves on the race.

RNO: Marion, we know that you wanted to go to New Zealand, but was there any other place you wanted to go? Where did everyone else want to travel?

Marion: Munich, Germany. Brian and I had just seen a story on TV a couple weeks before and it looked like a nice place to visit.

Tony: I wanted to go around the world, anyplace, maybe Europe. I would have communicated better in Italy and Spain.

D.J.: The Pyramids in Egypt, something I would have never done before.

Brian: Anyplace exotic that we wouldn’t normally think of going to on our own.

RNO: Other than taking the correct route during your last leg, what would you have done differently?

The Paolos: We should have stuck with the other family and gone together to the Grand Canyon.

RNO: What is your home life like now? Has it changed at all?

The Paolos: It actually has gotten a little bit better. We are fighting in a nicer way. We are listening to each other.

RNO: What do you most want people to know about you?

The Paolos: That we really love each other and we are just like every other family.

RNO: Thanks for doing this interview! I wish you all the best of luck in the future.

http://www.realitynewsonline.com/cgi-bin/ae.pl?mode=1&article=article9368.art&page=1

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Amazing Race's Paolo Clan Peters Out
by Rochell D. Thomas
 
The Paolo family
 
Oh, the Paolo family. They fight like enemies. But when the chips are down, Tony, Marion, D.J. and Brian always manage to pull it together like best friends. TVGuide.com talked to the family from Carmel, New York, the day after they were eliminated from The Amazing Race: Family Edition.

TVGuide.com: You got eliminated just when it was starting to look like you could win.
Brian Paolo: We thought the same thing. I mean, we were in the final five and we were doing so great and we thought we actually might have a shot at this.
D.J. Paolo: The one thing you have to realize, though, is that being in first place doesn't mean anything. [The difference] between first and last is only a matter of 40 minutes, tops.

TVGuide.com: When you applied to the show, you told CBS you didn't think your mom would last very long.
D.J.: I didn't think she would last long at all. I mean, she's not a physically fit person. She pulled through when she had to, but she wasn't a great runner. If it came down to a foot race, in the end, no, I don't think we would have had a chance.

TVGuide.com: In the banana challenge, your dad threw bunches over his head whereas you and your brother could barely lift them. Did that give you a newfound respect for your father?
D.J.: I've always known my father was stronger. First of all, he lifts, like, 10 tons of garbage a day. And he's a much bigger guy.
Tony Paolo: It was a team effort. The boys and I carried the bananas, my wife set up the loop to hook them and it worked out perfectly. We did that pretty quick.

TVGuide.com: So you got lost in Arizona. Was that karma coming back to get you for yielding to the Weavers?
D.J.: Everyone thinks we got lost. We didn't get lost. We knew where the Grand Canyon was; we didn't know if there was a different entrance.
Marion Paolo: One of us knew there was more than one entrance! Three of us didn't listen to that one!

TVGuide.com: Marion, that seemed like that wasn't the only time your team didn't listen to you.
Marion: Gee, did you notice that?
D.J.: My mother did know there was another entrance. I didn't listen to my mother. But my reason for that was that the final run was between us and the Bransens. And it was either follow the Bransens and get the same directions or try to get ahead of them. It didn't work.
Brian: I was navigating and we took the most direct way to the Grand Canyon. We just didn't anticipate the half-hour wait in traffic. That's just how it played out.
Tony: That's what happened to us — little mistakes.
Brian: Even the second leg of the race, we ran great until we couldn't find a gas station and that almost got us eliminated.
Tony: I've got to say one thing: My wife said to get gas and we didn't listen to her. We thought we had enough gas.
Marion: [Had] enough gas? It was on E!

TVGuide.com: Marion, are they more considerate of you now that the race is over?
Marion: Well, at least they'll let me talk now. [More] than they did before.

TVGuide.com: D.J., you seem like the meanest son ever. Were there moments on the show where you saw yourself yelling at your mom and you regretted that?
D.J.: I don't know if I was saying mean things....
Marion: Yes, you were!
D.J.: The first two episodes were a little tough to watch. But let me explain: I'm very competitive. It was a high-stress situation, and I was trying to get things done quickly, and that's how I did it, by yelling. Also, they showed me yelling, "We can't flip the boat over!" but they didn't show my mom repeating that same question 20 times in a row. We argue, but we don't hate each other. To us, it's not a big deal, but to the rest of the country, I guess it is.

 
TVGuide.com: In his defense, Marion did say some mean things back.
Brian: How about when she punched me 20 times for no reason at all?
Marion: I was mad at D.J., but Brian was right next to me.

TVGuide.com: Tony, how is it that the cameras never caught you chastising D.J. for talking to his mother like that?
Tony: That's the way I am. My wife and D.J. get on each other's nerves. When they do that, I just stay out of it.

TVGuide.com: Marion, when the clue sent you back to the States, you said, "Why the hell are we going to Phoenix, Arizona? I want to go to New Zealand!" Why New Zealand?
Marion: Because when we filled out the application, and they ask you all these different questions, and one of them was, "Where's a place in the world you'd like to visit but would never go on your own?" I said New Zealand, and I kept saying that to see if they'd get the point. That didn't happen!

TVGuide.com: How much weight did you lose during the race?
Marion: When I started the race I was about 187; I went down to 183 and now I'm 178. I've got about 50 more to go. My husband lost a good 30 pounds since the beginning, though.
Tony: They tried to kill me on that race, you know!

TVGuide.com: The sugarcane, the drowning... I guess you could see it as an attack on your life! What happened when you were swimming?
Tony: I went out and tried to get to the buoy as fast as I could, but when I got halfway there, my body just shut down. I couldn't feel my arms, my legs. I stood afloat.
D.J.: Too much lactic acid!
Tony: You're not kidding. I'm not a good swimmer.

TVGuide.com: Brian, how nauseating was that loop-de-loop thing?
Brian: The pilot said I pulled 7.3 Gs and I was a little dazed. But it was worth it to fly an airplane over the Arizona desert. Reality hit me when the pilot said, "OK, you are now in control of the plane." I was like, "Son of a gun! I can't screw this up." I was really mad that I didn't get that first attempt down. I felt like I failed myself and my family.
Marion: I was just happy he came back alive.

TVGuide.com: You all put on extra clothes the first time because you thought you were going to be last at Fort McDonnell. Why didn't you do the same thing at Antelope Park?
Marion: We had a feeling that that was going to be a regular elimination round. When you think about it, we never really came in last place. We were close. The only time we actually came in last was when we got eliminated.
Tony: Yeah, the wrong time to come in last!
Brian: If it weren't for noneliminations, we'd be in the finals.


Tony: The Paolos in the final three — that would have been awesome
http://www.tvguide.com/News/Insider/?cmsGuid=%7BA9FD3578-DD20-42B1-8E13-BD85D48A7CCC%7D