An Interview with Rob & Amber
“We Kicked Ass the First Three Legs” – An Interview with The Amazing Race: All-Stars’ Rob & Amber by Teeuwynn Woodruff -- 03/13/2007 In what will undoubtedly be the most shocking elimination of the season, Rob & Amber came in last on this week’s leg of The Amazing Race, despite dominating the first three legs of All-Stars. Does Rob feel players have more control of their fate in Survivor or The Amazing Race? And just what went on with the signpost Detour? Here’s a hint – it’s not what you think. And would Rob & Amber ever hold back on their comments? What do you think? RealityNewsOnline: Hi, Rob & Amber! Thanks for talking to RealityNewsOnline today. I have to say I’m a little shocked to be talking to you two right now! Amber: Yeah... Rob: I’m shocked to be doing my interviews right now, too. Usually I like to be doing them in May. Amber: We didn’t want to be talking to you right now. RNO: Was your strategy any different on All-Stars than it was on the first race? Rob: No. Amber: No, I don’t think so. Our strategy’s just to win. I think we played it the same way. Rob: We try to adapt to different situations we’re put in, you know? It’s frustrating for us because a lot of what happened the last episode was not in our control. You know, we couldn’t really... The first thing with the spelling... I had no idea that it had to be spelled properly. They never gave us instructions about that. They just conveniently put a voiceover with Phil saying that after the fact. But it’s not written in any of the clues that we had. RNO: It wasn’t written in the clue that you had to spell the words correctly? Rob: Absolutely not. direction didn’t matter, but it was actually written the opposite way in the clue – that the direction did matter. So there’s some confusion still as to what did happen there. If you look at Uchenna & Joyce’s clues, the way they wrote their words, they were illegible. How can you say it’s spelled properly? It was illegible on freeze frame. We just found out all of this last night! RNO: So you couldn’t ask about it at the time because you didn’t realize that was what was going on? Rob: Yeah. At the end of the race, with the letters, we couldn’t really do anything about that. It was just a needle in a haystack. RNO: So you did not realize until you watched the show that the spelling was the issue with the Detour? Rob: Last night was the first time we found out about that. RNO: Interesting. So, the other teams clearly saw you as the toughest competition, and rightfully so. Did that focus on you help you or hurt you on the race? Rob: It didn’t hurt us. If anything it – Rob & Amber: – helped us! Rob: The other teams are preoccupied with us. Amber: It almost becomes, for them – it doesn’t become beating the race – it becomes beating Rob & Amber. That’s a good distraction for them, because we’re concentrating on the race. So I think it actually helps. And actually, it’s respectful, too. I think it’s kind of cool that they . Rob: It’s actually a good goal to have, because if you beat us, that means you’re going to win! RNO: It worked for Uchenna & Joyce! Do you think your celebrity helped you on the race at all? Did you get more help from locals because of it? Rob: Not so much this time. Amber: The first time it did. But this time... Rob: I don’t even know that it helped us that much the first time. I mean, it definitely – it put us out there – and there were people who helped us because of it. But a lot of it was common sense. It was just asking for help. You know what I mean? Everything we learned, we learned from other racers. We were fans of the show before, and all we did was what they did. But because of the fact that we did it, they made a bigger deal about it. Amber: This time around, though, we didn’t really get into too many situations like that. Rob: We weren’t around long enough! Amber: The people who helped us buy the book were actually the third people we approached. They bought the book for us and they had no idea who we were. RNO: Something that’s changed for you between your two races is that you were engaged the first time out, and married this time. Did the change in your relationship affect your team dynamic? Rob: Yeah. Now she’s allowed to yell back at me. Amber: (laughs) I think our relationship has strengthened over time and I think we’ve gotten better at communicating. I think being married and being newly engaged is different. It definitely helped us, but unfortunately, not enough. RNO: One thing I always appreciated about you guys as a team is how well you used your time on the race. You seemed to do research when you could. You were always looking for opportunities to strengthen your position in the race. Do you think this is one of the keys as to why you’re such good racers? Rob: I think it’s just common sense and the people who don’t get that and are there to make friends and have a good time are missing the entire point of the race for a million dollars. I mean, you have to use every second that you have to your advantage. The teams that didn’t get that, obviously they’ve either already been eliminated or will be eliminated soon. RNO: You ran three of the best legs in Amazing Race history. And then we got to this last one. Did you think, at the time, that there was any critical error you made vs. just the luck of the draw in losing this leg? Rob: Yeah. We spelled Philippines wrong. RNO: Do you know how to spell Philippines now, Rob? Rob: No. (Amber laughs.) Rob: I was teasing! (laughs) RNO: You said that until last night, you didn’t realize that the spelling was the problem, since it wasn’t on the clue. So you didn’t know to double-check your spelling? Rob: We didn’t know. I actually made a conscious statement at that time, “I hope it’s not something like spelling,” and it did turn out to be spelling. No, it was not written anywhere that it had to be spelled properly. And I understand it does, you know? But – Amber: We didn’t know that. Rob: And from what I saw last night on the TV, there were other boards, from Uchenna & Joyce, because they’re the only team that completed that . And you look at it, it’s – Amber: You couldn’t read it! Let alone know if it was spelled right. Rob: You know what? At the end of the day, whatever. What’s done is done. Amber and I were happy to have the experience. We’re humbled by it, the fact that we didn’t go as far as we did before. RNO: Since it wasn’t on the clue that spelling mattered, do you think it was fair to be... well, what set your elimination up was that clue! Rob: Like I said, there’s still a lot of questions about that and we’re trying to figure that out. We’re talking to different people. We’re trying to figure it out, but clearly if we had been on the first flight, I don’t think we would have been eliminated. I can make a strong case against that. We basically went from first place to last place because of a spelling error and because of, you know, basically that task. I don’t know. We’ll see what happens. RNO: So, Amber, were you frustrated that Rob wouldn’t change from the sign task to the navigational task in the Detour more quickly? Amber: Well, it’s kind of funny. They didn’t show it, but we switched on the first Detour on the very first leg and we actually switched on the second Detour, and we ended up switching on this one. They didn’t show it, but we did actually attempt the rock climbing. RNO: And that was too difficult? Amber: Yeah. So it’s kind of funny because on all of our Detours we chose one and ended up doing the other one! I mean, I was ready to quit on this one, but I could understand why he wanted to stick with it. It’s like one of those things where you spend so much time and invest so much time in it that you kind of lose track of what you’re doing. You just want to know what the answer is! You want to know. You know what I mean? Rob: In hindsight, if we didn’t switch, we would have never got it right. I would have never thought that was the issue. not the order, but the direction. There were arrows on each of the signs. And in the clue, the clue said they had to be placed in the order and direction that Columbus sailed. Phil actually said the opposite – that the direction didn’t matter, and only the order needed to be the same. There was a discrepancy on that as well. Amber: We would still be there! RNO: Amber, were Charla & Mirna really mad at you when you said, “Got it!” as you ran by them with your old clue? Amber: (laughs) Yeah, I think they really were. They spent a good half an hour to 45 minutes down there looking for the clue. When Mirna said she figured it out, that was after the fact in an interview afterwards. So she was just trying to make herself look a little bit better. I’m not surprised that they believed us because I think that they are just so crazy and frantic that they’ll believe anything when they think it’s going to help them. The other teams would have caught on and been, like, “Wait a minute, this is Rob & Amber! You can’t believe a word that comes out of their mouths.” You know what I mean? It was amusing to me that she bit it and it was kind of fun, actually. Rob: It was funny after she said she knew Amber was lying, yet if you look at that interview, it was clearly after the fact – after they finished. Amber: It was a little bit of fun and you can see how Rob is rubbing off on me. RNO: Yes, I can. It’s good game play, though. One more question about Charla & Mirna. Why did they think the taxi you flagged down at the airport was theirs? Rob: She’s delusional! She’s a pain in the ass. Amber: She is. I don’t know. I give credit to Charla for dealing with throughout this because... Rob: Every single episode it’s drama about how like, whatever! Everything is, “Poor her! Poor Mirna!” She wants to be the martyr. It’s sad. It’s almost like the opposite coming across. Amber: Like in last night’s episode she was taking credit for... you know, her partnership in the race is more than anyone who’s ever been in the race. You know, that’s very supportive to your teammate. I don’t know. RNO: At the post office, Rob, did you find the letter on the first pass, or did you have to go back through them? There were a lot of letters! Rob: I never found the letter. After it was all said and done, and Charla & Mirna were gone and crossed the finish line, I got the letter off of somebody else’s table. I never found the letter in my bag. RNO: Did you guys think about having Amber do the task since it was such a detail-oriented task and Amber has proven to do so well at those in the past? Rob: Yes, she has. You know what, I think it was a case of Amber had done the first two Roadblocks and I think I was itching to do one a little bit. And my competitive nature just wanted to... Amber: Rob kind of enjoys being under pressure, and we were really under pressure at that moment. So he took it on. RNO: Did reading the snarky little letter from Susan & Patrick piss you off? Rob: You know what, it was funny because Amber and I, we didn’t even know who it was from. We had to come home from the race, after being in sequester, where they told us were on our race. We didn’t even remember them! We looked them up on the Internet. Amber: Ooooohhhhh! Rob: Then I did remember. He was like this bitter little kid. I think he was out first or... I don’t know. Amber: It’s kind of sad that he hasn’t moved on. Rob: But it was a mean letter, but for us we were laughing about it, because we thought this was probably from another team on The Amazing Race that doesn’t like us that we don’t even know. But they were on our season! RNO: Since you didn’t find the letter until after Charla & Mirna got to the Pit Stop, you were fairly far behind them? Amber: They made it look like a footrace, but we weren’t even done reading our letter when they got to the Pit Stop. RNO: Who did you see as your biggest competition on All-Stars? Rob: In all due respect, we kicked ass the first three legs. We didn’t have any competition. We pretty much screwed ourselves in the last leg. So we weren’t really concerned with the other teams. Amber: I think it’s the race you have to be concerned about. It’s the course they have set up for you. If you think your competition is really the other teams, then I think that’s just a distraction. You need to change your focus. RNO: Did you have a favorite moment on All-Stars? Rob: Yeah, the one where we came in first the first three legs. Amber: Yeah, I loved being genuinely surprised that we were in first. It was a very good feeling. RNO: Of all the places you’ve been to, on various reality shows, do you have a favorite? Rob: Hmmm.... I really liked going to New Zealand. I went to New Zealand after my first Survivor. Amber: Yeah, he talks about it all of the time. Rob: It’s just so far away. Amber: I haven’t been there, but I definitely want to go. But like Rob just said, it’s quite a ways away. And it’s a long flight! RNO: Do you stay in contact with any of the teams, either from the first race or All-Stars? Rob: Actually, from All-Stars, I think Kevin & Drew, David & Mary once in a while, and Jon Vito. We watched the show with Jon Vito last night at his place in New York. Amber: This group was a little different from the last group of racers. Rob: They’re friendly! This group is a lot friendlier than the first group. The first group, the seventh race, I think everybody was too high and mighty on themselves. Amber: Taking it too personally. RNO: You’ve both done Survivor and The Amazing Race. How would you compare those two games? Rob: It’s almost like the opposite of what you might think. You’d think that you have less control on Survivor and more control in The Amazing Race... to control your own destiny. In fact, this is what I thought the first time we went in to do the race. And after doing All-Stars, I can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt, it’s the complete opposite. With Survivor, despite the fact that other people have to vote for you at the end, you do actually have more control over your own fate in that game than you do on the race. Amber: Yeah. Rob: There’s just too many variables in the race, too many things that... Amber: Well, the race is set up so that any team can win. No team has an advantage. Rob: By doing that, the playing field is constantly leveled. By including challenges like “pick a letter out of a bag.” It’s total crap. It doesn’t reward good play or bad play or getting there first. For me, that is beyond frustration. It’s why I would never, ever do The Amazing Race again. If it was Survivor, I’d be on the first plane. RNO: Do you feel the same way, Amber? Amber: Um... to tell you the truth, I think I’m pretty much set with both of them. I can’t really top my experience on Survivor: All-Stars. Not only did I win, but fell in love, got engaged, got married, met my husband. It would pretty much be downhill from there. I think I’m set. RNO: So Rob, how’s the poker coming for you? Rob: It’s going excellent. I actually won my very first tournament in December, the day after Christmas, down in Foxwoods. It was a big tournament, the day after Christmas, about 140 people, and I came in first and I won a lot of money. It was great. RNO: What’s next for you guys? Are you going to do Big Brother? Amber: Oh... no! Rob: We’re not going to do Big Brother. But we do have a project coming up that will be the biggest project you’ve ever heard of. Bigger than Survivor, bigger than The Amazing Race. It’s going to be huge! Unfortunately, I can’t talk a lot about it. Amber: Can’t tell you much. Rob: But when you hear about it, you will know. You will be blown away. RNO: Do you have any idea about how soon we might hear about this project? Rob: Uh... fairly soon. In good time. It’s not that Amber’s pregnant! She’s not pregnant. It’s not that. RNO: So that’s not the next big project. Rob & Amber: No! RNO: Anything else you’d like to tell us about what you’re doing next, or your experiences on the race? Rob: No, we’re just grateful for having the chance to have the experience. We want to thank Elise and Bertram and the fans. We understand a lot of the fans, they love us, and a lot of the fans hate us, can’t stand us, and want us to get off their TV screens, but at the end of the day it’s both sides that really drive the viewers. We appreciate that. As long as they keep watching, we’ll continue to hopefully entertain them. Amber: It’s true. We really do appreciate it. We say every day how lucky we are. We’re living a dream and we’re definitely enjoying every minute of it. RNO: I’m a game designer, and I completely appreciate your guys’ game play. I like seeing people who know what they’re doing on shows like Survivor and The Amazing Race. So I’m always rooting for you. Rob & Amber: Thank you! Rob: You guys should hire me, because I guarantee you and game out there, I’ll find you a loophole! RNO: I’m sure you’d be very good at that. Thank you very much for talking to RealityNewsOnline! Rob & Amber: Thank you!