The 14th season of The Amazing Race began last Sunday. Eleven teams started this race around the world, but we are now down to nine. The first team eliminated from The Amazing Race were a dating couple, Preston McCamy and Jennifer Hopka. On paper, they appeared to be one of the most athletic teams in the race. So what happened? Well I asked them that and many other things in my interview with them the other day. Here is what they had to say…
Josh Clinton: Hey guys.
Preston McCamy: Hey Josh.
Jennifer Hopka: Hi Josh.
JC: How are you doing?
JH: Good.
PM: Doing well, how are you?
JC: I’m doing good. So I wanted to ask both of you first if you were fans of The Amazing Race before you got on the show?
JH: To be honest with you, I have just watched a few episodes. Not a huge fan at all.
PM: Yeah we had just seen a couple of seasons, and that is about it.
JC: Okay, why did you want to do the race then?
JH: I actually had tried out for Survivor through CBS. They really liked me, but thought I would be better on The Amazing Race. They do that a lot with contestants. They pull them from one show to another, if they think they would be better on that show. I was just one of those people. It’s funny, there are a lot of people who want to be on the show because they are hardcore fans or whatever. But yeah, there is actually a few of us…I know one of our fellow racers had never seen one episode of the show before. So it’s not unusual.
JC: I see, well that’s cool. Before the race started, was there a team that you were most worried about? Like who you thought would be your biggest competition?
PM: Yeah, I was sizing up Kris from the start as soon as I saw that guy.
JH: Preston, was sizing up Kris for his muscles, because Preston works out and he thought he had bigger muscles than Kris and what not. But I didn’t feel like anybody was a threat. The only person that I really thought they I might be scared of was Jen and Lakisha, because they are like 10 feet tall and their legs are long. If we were running, they could probably take one leap and out step me. They are freaks of nature.
PM: Yeah, we definitely thought they were going to be one of the tougher teams to beat.
JC: Yeah, I can understand that. On paper, it seemed like you were one of the most athletic teams in this race, so how surprised were you that you got eliminated first?
JH: I was very surprised and a little embarrassed. Obviously, we never thought, and probably America, and definitely our friend and families never would have guessed that.
PM: Much of this race doesn’t have much to do with athleticism. Most of the race comes down to luck and we just didn’t have any. We didn’t have any luck with taxis, we didn’t have any luck with money, we just didn’t have any luck.
JH: Also, what they didn’t show in that hour episode was how much luck played a factor. The race is 80% luck. It’s not how strong you are or how smart are you, it’s either you have the luck that day or you don’t.
JC: Yeah. So when got out of the car and started running towards Phil, and saw Christie and Jodi, did you have a feeling that you were racing for last place?
JH: Well they told us that on the next stop someone is getting eliminated. But you don’t know. We were actually 45 minutes ahead of Christie and Jodi. They didn’t show what all had happened, how we lost it. We actually lost the 45 minutes begging for money to pay for our taxi. But at this point, even though we know they were behind us, you don’t know what happened to the other teams. You don’t know if the other teams checked in or not. You don’t know if someone got a flat tire, someone got stalled, someone took a wrong turn, etc. The whole race you really don’t have any clue what place you are in until you step on that mat and Phil says you’re 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, etc. On the cheese challenge, obviously we know where everyone is at because we see each other. But other than that, when we are in the taxis and running through the cities, you don’t see each other so you never know what place you are in. So I definitely didn’t think we were in last place or that final run was for last place.
PM: I don’t know. I was pretty sure we were in last place and racing against Christie and Jodi for last place. I knew they were still on the hill when we left and I had seen all of the other teams pass, so.
JH: You didn’t see anybody pass us. How do you see someone pass us? There was no one on the roads to pass us.
PM: They was nobody else on the hill besides us and Christie and Jodi.
JH: Yeah, but I’m saying in the car you don’t know where everyone else is at, though. Their taxi could have taken a wrong turn on the highway. You don’t know that. Preston really didn’t watch the show that much, so he really didn’t know that all of that could have happened. You never know what place you are in until the end.
JC: Yeah, I understand. So how hard was the cheese challenge then?
JH: That is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. The hill that they showed, the cameras didn’t do it justice. It was straight up and down. Also, it had rained the day before and that morning, so it was very slippery. And plus it’s a herding hill for cattle, sheep, and goats, so every inch of that hill was covered in crap. Then, no matter how hard you tried, you kept falling because there was poop everywhere.
PM: It was super steep, it was super slick, and add 50 or 100 pounds to your back, you were already having a tough time getting up it. And with all of that on your back, it was just a trainwreck coming down it.
JH: One other thing, the carriers that were supposed to hold the cheese were made like crap. They weren’t even sturdy enough to carry one cheese down. All of ours broke. As soon as we put the cheese on it, it broke.
JC: Yeah, it looked rather difficult. So much of the first episode was all about Luke. He seemed to be the main focus of the show. Do you think this season will turn into “The Luke Show”?
PM: (Laughs).
JH: Luke is a die-hard. He has to be the #1 die-hard fan of The Amazing Race. He lives and breathes The Amazing Race. He loves it. Not only is he die-hard and the #1 fan, he is very smart and quick little booger.
PM: He is smart and he has a good story. America loves heart-warming stories, so there is a good chance that it could become “The Luke Show”.
JH: We actually weren’t able to talk to each other until we got to the airport. We couldn’t say a word to each other until we met in LA, and we only met the people who were on our flight. So we didn’t get to meet Luke, so we had no idea he was deaf in the beginning. When we first met him at the first pit stop, we saw his mom signing to him, so that was the first time we actually found that out. But you would never have guessed that.
JC: Right. So I know you were only on the race for a short time, but did you have a favorite part of the race?
JH: My favorite part of the whole experience is just to be able to say that I was on The Amazing Race. The opportunity to even do that. I know the prize is 1 million dollars, but the price of having gone on the race is priceless. We got to experience something that neither of us could afford. We got to travel around the world with someone that you care about and love. We met 20 new friends for life. That is an experience itself, so I can’t say one thing was my favorite, because it was all so amazing.
PM: Yeah, we got to do a lot of thing we wouldn’t be able to do otherwise. We did a lot of firsts, I know a lot of firsts for me. And I liked the bungee jump. There were a lot of things that culmulated into making this an awesome experience.
JC: Yeah, I bet. Do you have favorite to win in the end?
PM: Anybody…
JH: Yeah, it’s anybody’s game. We obviously think the race is a lot of luck and we didn’t have that luck. I think it’s anybody’s game. I think a lot of America thought that Steve and Linda would be the first out, and now here we are. It’s anybody’s game right now. Whoever has got the luck and can hold out to the end. You might have the strength and brains, but do you have the luck that day? I have seen people in previous seasons who have had the worst luck, and they have been in the top three or went on to win the season.
JC: True. Did either of you learn something about yourself or the other person that you didn’t know before you went on the race?
PM: Yeah, we both learned what button not to push to aggrevate the other. We learned how far we can push ourselves and each other. When it came to the challenges, we were super supportive and had each other’s back, and rooting each other on. So we know when it comes to challenges, we have each other’s back. I learned when to say some stuff and when not to say some stuff. I can probably say the same about her. We had never been together 24/7 or for even an extended amount of time. So we learned about each other. It was a good growing experience for our relationship.
JH: I learned more when we weren’t in the race and had time to think about things. But on the race, the most important thing I learned was how far I could myself past anything that I have ever imagined. The hour they showed was actually 3 days of racing. We didn’t eat, we didn’t sleep, we hadn’t taken a bath, or anything. So in a million years I would have never thought I would be in that situation. Being tired, and hungry, and dirty, and all of that, and then pushing myself to the limit. In real life, it’s so easy to quit and give up when things don’t go right. Say “I can’t do this” and quit your job. But I never once said “I can’t do this” and I never once gave up or stopped. I pushed myself beyond anything I could imagine, and I was really proud of myself for that. I learned that I can do anything if I put my mind to it.
JC: Very cool. So what is next for the both of you then?
JH: We hope that they are going to do another Amazing Race: All-Stars, and we can get them to do Amazing Race: First Outed All-Sars. Get together all of the teams that were eliminated first, so we could all get a second chance. Other than that, I hope to take some time off and travel. I know it won’t be anything like The Amazing Race, though, because that gets kind of expensive. Then, maybe move to a new city. I know that Preston moved from Alabama to here to be with me, so my next step is to move back to Los Angeles.
PM: Right now, it’s just back to work. Like, Jen said we would like to do a “First Eliminated” All-Stars. We would love to try it again if we get the opportunity, because we are both super competitive and it sticks in your crawl that you didn’t make it past the first leg. Then, at least come in 10th! (Laughs). But we will see what happens next. We are talking about a lot of things, we aren’t really sure. But right now back to work for me behind the computer, toting software, and trying to become a millionaire.
JC: Alright, very cool. Well that’s all I have for. Thanks for your time and good luck with everything.
JH: Thank you.
PM: Thank you. We appreciate you!
– 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.
