This past week sisters, Jennifer and LaKisha Hoffman, got eliminated from The Amazing Race. They ended up in fourth place, just missing the finale. Most would assume that they got eliminated because of Jen’s bathroom break. But they think otherwise. Unfortunately, Jen had a meeting to be at, but I did get a chance to talk to LaKisha about that and their Amazing Race experience nonetheless. Here is what she had to say…
Josh Clinton: Hey Lakisha, how are you doing?
LaKisha Hoffman: Hi Josh, I’m good. How are you?
JC: I’m good. So whose idea was it to go on the race in the first place?
LH: It was actually my sister Jen’s idea. It’s kind of funny, because before the idea of going on the race came, the only thing I watched was sports and Law & Order. So she was like “lets do this race” and I was like “what is the race?”. So I got some DVDs and I watched it and became a fan of it, and got more excited about the race as I learned more about it.
JC: That’s cool. So where do you think the bitterness that Luke and Margie had for you came from?
LH: I really am not sure. We were really surprised after watching the show. They had that altercation, but then after that we were over it. So we were surprised to watch the show and see that they still had some sort of ill will against us. We were fine. So I have no clue. I can’t speak for them. Maybe it’s because they are not used to someone confronted Luke about his behavior. We said before the race started that they were a great team. We said before that they even had an advantage, because they were so close and constantly communicating with each other. So they had an advantage in that. But regardless that sort of behavior is not acceptable. You know throwing elbow is not acceptable, and of course we are not going to not say anything about that because he has a disability. So maybe they are not used to people calling Luke out about his behavior. I’m not sure, but I have been surprised to watch it.
JC: Have you talked to Luke and Margie since the race?
LH: Not really. There has been group e-mails among all the racers, but not an individual conversation with them.
JC: Okay. Were you surprised that Tammy and Victor used the U-Turn on you?
LH: We weren’t surprised that they U-Turned us, but we were disappointed. There had been talk about “if it came down to a foot race, Jen and Kisha would win”. We know people were concerned about that, but we also knew that Tammy and Victor were the first team. If we were in that position as the first team, we wouldn’t have used the U-Turn. There is no point in U-Turning someone if you are the first team. If we were the third team, then we probably would have utilized the U-Turn. But we weren’t surprised, just disappointed.
JC: I understand. So how far behind Jaime and Cara were you in the end?
LH: A couple of minutes. We aren’t really sure. You have no concept of time when you are on the race. But the consensus is several minutes. It definitely was not seconds like Phil said. (laughs) It was a couple of minutes, though.
JC: Yeah. From the way the show was edited, we saw Jen in the bathroom and then Jaime and Cara landed on the mat first. So the assumption is that Jen’s bathroom break cost you the race. But do you think it cost you the race in the end?
LH: No. I think it contributed to it. There was also the fact that Cara completed that food roadblock in like 5 minutes. Also, they had a quick cab driver. He got them there so quickly. The distance that they got dropped off at compared to the distance we got dropped off..our cab driver dropped us off so much further than their cab driver. So there was several factors that put us in that unfortunate position of being in last place.
JC: Right. So you never saw Jaime and Cara around the Pitstop area?
LH: No. When we were leaving the roadblock they were about to start. Then, we they completed the task we got dropped off at opposite ends of Niao Chao to find Phil. If you saw on the show, we were like two or three blocks away from Phil and had to go all the way around it. And Jaime and Cara got dropped off right there near Phil. So it was a pretty nice distance. You can’t just sprint to the where the Pitstop is, because you don’t know exactly where it is. So you have to job around to find it, because you don’t want to run right past it. Which Jaime and Cara actually did at first.
JC: Yeah. So what was the hardest part of the race for you?
LH: Um, yeah I would say so. Just because I am used to seeing my sister in a certain light and to really see her break down. She was paralyzed with fear and crying, and as her big sister that is really hard. It was hard for me to watch. But the worst part became a good thing, because she overcame that fear and we ended up staying in the race.
JC: Right. Did you have a favorite part of the race?
LH: Probably the weather in Thailand. Even though I was running around Thailand without any shoes on. (laughs) And then also towards the end of the race, because in the beginning my sister and I were adjusting to each other. We had never been on a team together, and so from the beginning to the end I was really pleased with how we ended up working together.
JC: Cool. Was there anything that they didn’t show on TV that you wished they would have shown?
LH: No, not really. There was one part where I wished they would have shown. We were in Thailand and our cab driver was taking us everywhere. He took us to the Pink Palace, this other palace, everywhere we didn’t need to go. And that had been going on all day. From that point, all my sister and I did was laugh hysterically the whole time. He stopped about 15 times and kept asking all of these people where to go. We couldn’t stop laughing. At first, it was stressful because we knew it was a possibility that we could get eliminated. But once we realized that you can’t worry about something you can’t control, we were able to laugh about it.
JC: Yeah. Do you think you were portrayed accurately on the show as far as your real personality goes?
LH: I honestly do. We had our fights. We had our laughs. I forget where we were, but Jen’s favorite part is when CBS showed me sneezing for some reason. (laughs) I sneezed like three times in a row, and she was like “bless you, bless you”, but on the third time she was just like “shut up!” We couldn’t stop laughing after that, and that is so us. Then at other times, CBS showed our competitive side as well. They also showed how supportive we are of each other as sisters, so I definitely feel like they showed us how we are in real life.
JC: Right. Did you learn anything about yourself or your sister than you didn’t know before the race?
LH: No. I think I saw Jen in different light, though, because we went through the same things together. If anything, I just gained a better respect for her.
JC: Right. Well I will let you go, but thanks of your time and good luck with everything.
LH: Okay, thanks. You have a good day.
JC: Yeah, you too. Bye.
LH: Bye.
– 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.
