Garrett and Jessica, the on-and-off couple, were one of my initial bets to make it far on this season of The Amazing Race. Never mind their potential to become a bickering couple–they were strong physically and had the smarts to boot. Their stay in the race, however, was pretty short: after doing well in the Japan leg, and being ahead of most teams in the Vietnam leg, they found themselves stuck in a ducky Roadblock, and went from second place to last pretty quickly. They were last on the mat and second eliminated.
In my interview with Garrett and Jessica, we talked about their experiences on the race, the reasons why they took so long doing the Roadblock, and the happy ending that we didn’t see on last night’s season premiere.
What made you decide to join the race?
We both love to travel and we’re very competitive.
How did it feel to do the challenge at the television studios in Tokyo? How did eating the “wasabi bomb” feel?
It was surreal to be on a Japanese game show and the host was absolutely hilarious. Eating the “wasabi bomb” was like putting your nose in horseradish.
How frustrating was it to enter the Roadblock in second place, and stay there so long until you ended up in last place?
It was terribly frustrating, especially considering with no animal herding skills and other contributing factors, like a broken flag and a broken-footed duck!
Garrett, you said that both of you are much stronger than your ranking suggests. What do you mean by that?
We felt between our combined skills–physical ability, travel experience, problem solving–that we were a very strong team and stronger than most other teams. Definitely thought we would get very far into the race.
In your two legs in the race, what was your favorite experience/challenge?
Meeting all the other racers who come from all over the country, and all have their individual, interesting stories.
Were there any teams that you liked or didn’t like early on?
Early on, we had a connection with Brian and Ericka, Zev and Justin, and Ron and Marcy. All solid people and teams!
You said that the race is a chance to see whether you two could stay together long-term. Did you get an answer to that in the race?
Not only did I get an answer, but I got a proposal. Garrett had planned in advance and hid the engagement ring in the fanny pack, proposing after we were eliminated on the Vietnamese island of Phu Quoc. Best ending ever!
– Henrik Batallones, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
(Image courtesy of CBS)
Staff Writer, BuddyTV
