The fourth team to get eliminated from The Amazing Race 12 this week was Jason Widener and Lorena Segura. They are currently dating in Los Angeles, CA. I had the chance to talk to them both about many things including their thoughts on being given a “U-Turn” by the two blondes, Shana and Jennifer. Would they have done the same thing? Also, what did they learn about each other on the race and what does their future hold? Here is what they had to say…
Josh Clinton: Hey guys.
Jason Widener: Hello.
Lorena Segura: Hi Josh.
JC: What’s going on?
JW: Just chillin’.
LS: Not much.
JC: Alright. I wanted to ask you first about how you met? Jason mentioned something like he saw Lorena on the dance floor and wanted to be with her. Can you explain more about how you two met?
JW: Basically, we first met at a bar. Then, we didn’t see each other until a few months later in an acting class that we had together. Then, from there…
LS: We became really good friends.
JW: …We became friends, and I knew I wanted to date her when I saw her dancing with one my friends actually. I was like “wow, she seems really cool”.
JC: Yeah, that’s cool. Were you both fans of The Amazing Race before you got on the show?
LS: We became fans of it when we actually decided to apply to be on the race. We were watching The Amazing Race: All-Stars and that got us pumped up. Then we went back and watched the first season and the seventh season. We loved the show because it was so real. What you see, is what it is. Well except for the editing, of course, but it’s basically what it is. It just seemed so adventurous. Who wouldn’t want to do this?
JC: Right, exactly. I read somewhere where you said you wanted to do this race to see if you were supposed to last as a couple. Can you explain more about that?
LS: Yeah. Jason and I have been together for a long time and we have lived hectic lives here in Los Angeles. We don’t see each other a lot because of our work schedules. So we thought that being together confined, since we could only be like 20 feet apart from each other the entire time, knowing that we have to go through that, do challenges, and see the world. I knew that would make us have to relate more, and see if we could do that. I thought it was a great opportunity for us as a couple to experience something like that, since it was outside of our comfort zone.
JC: Right. Did either of you worry that fighting between you might cost you the race?
LS: Yeah, after the first leg we both decided that we should start communicating better. We did better as a couple afterwards. We didn’t fight as much after that.
JW: Yeah.
LS: We definitely realized that after the first leg it wasn’t going to help us to be against each other. So we really should come together and work as a team.
JC: Right. You were a strong team and on this show it seems like the strong teams are targeted earlier. Do you think it’s more of an advantage or a disadvantage to be a strong team?
LS: Well the thing is you never know what’s going to happen, so even if you are a strong team anything can go wrong. There are little things all over the race that are meant for anybody to win. Everybody has there own strengths, and all the challenges are made for everyone to be able to do them. Whether you are physically strong or mentally strong, you never know. I think a lot of people knew that. A lot people knew when we got eliminated at least, it was anybody’s game.
JW: Yeah, I agree.
JC: Okay, cool. So after watching the episode that aired this week, what did you think of the way Shana and Jennifer were dancing?
JW: (Laughs). That was funny.
LS: (Laughs). That was hilarious. It was so them too. I thought that they were very true to themselves. That’s how they would have done it in real life.
JW: It was very entertaining.
LS: Very entertaining. They are two sexy women.
JC: Yeah, they are. What were you thinking when you saw that they had given you the U-Turn, though?
JW: I mean obviously we didn’t want to do another detour. But they thought we were TK and Rachel. They definitely kicked us while we were really down, but why not? They were playing a game. Of course, in the moment we were mad but we got over it.
JC: Yeah, they didn’t give you the U-Turn intentionally since they thought you were TK and Rachel.
LS: Yeah. If I would have thought that was us, I would have done it too. Maybe if it was going to be down to a strong team and two girls, I would that thought we had to do it as well.
JC: So you would have done the same thing then?
LS: Well if we knew that it was Shana and Jennifer behind us, then probably not since we thought we could have outrun them. But being in their position, I would have done it if they thought it was us.
JW: Yeah.
JC: I understand. What did you think of the U-Turn twist in general? Did you think it was fair? Did you think it was too early in the game to have a twist like that?
JW: I thought it was a little early. I definitely thought it was bad placement, because there was nothing there to equalize everybody. It would have been better…
LS: If we were all together.
JW: It was a definite deal breaker for us. It would have made more sense if it would have been a non-elimination leg.
LS: Yeah, if we then had to face them later it would have been more dramatic.
JW: That would have been much better, but they just didn’t decide to do that. It just didn’t make as much sense that way.
JC: Yeah, it almost seemed that this was going to be a non-elimination leg based on how positive Jason was. Did either of you think it was going to be a non-elimination leg?
LS: Yeah, we both thought that.
JW: I was just saying that it wasn’t the fault of either of us, so you might as well not be negative about it because that wouldn’t have worked. I was starting to enjoy myself and we had already put that much into it. But that’s the race. You win some, and you lose some.
JC: Exactly. What played a bigger factor in you finishing last in this leg? Was it the U-Turn or was it Lorena not being able to milk the camel as quickly in the last leg?
JW: I think you can put it all together. The camel, the U-Turn, there was no equalizer there, and no other team made any real big mistakes. We never had a chance.
JC: Yeah, out of everything, what would you say was the biggest mistake you made on the race?
LS: I think it was me not being able to get milk from my camel.
JW: Yeah, the camel.
LS: Definitely the camel.
JC: Alright, fair enough. Was there a favorite moment that you had while running the race that didn’t air on TV?
JW: Probably when we were running through Africa. We actually landed in the wrong plane with Julia and Marianna. You could see security following us, because it probably wasn’t the safest places we were going. So after we figured out we landed in the wrong place, we started running back and we knew that we were going to be ahead of them. That was a moment that they didn’t show really.
JC: That’s cool. Did either of you learn something about your partner on the race that you didn’t know before the race?
LS: Yeah, I learned that Jason is very focusily competitive. And I mean it that in a good way. He knows how to concentrate on the task at hand and get it done with a clear head. So it was pretty amazing to see that, because we never had really played a real game together. It just made me trust him so much. I knew that if Jason was going to do the task, it was going to get done right.
JW: Thank you honey.
LS: You’re welcome.
JC: And Jason, did you learn anything about Lorena on the race that you didn’t know before?
JW: I definitely knew that she was emotional, but I was a little more surprised that she lost it the way she did. But really I understood the whole thing. She really just wanted to do good for me. But in a way, she needed to figure out that she needed to do good for herself instead of worrying about me. Even though we are a team, she was just really hard on herself. But I also learned that she lets go of things easily and there are times where she does think positive. I wished they would have shown more of that, because she was positive most of the time. There were just a couple of times where she let things get to her.
JC: Yeah. So what are you plans now? Is marriage in the far, far away future for you two?
JW: Man, I don’t know where I will be tomorrow.
LS: (Laughs).
JW: But I’m working on a documentary right now. Lorena is working on her acting. We’re both working on our acting, so we’re just taking it day-by-day. We want to live life on the edge and not think about it too much.
LS: Yeah.
JC: Yeah, I understand. Very cool. Well that’s all I have for you. Thanks for your time and good luck with everything.
JW: Thank you.
LS: Thanks very much.
– The Amazing Race airs on CBS in the U.S. on Sunday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
– The Amazing Race airs on the CTV network in Canada on Sunday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
