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Reality TV Interview

Jaime & Cara ('The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business')

The Amazing Race 18 Unfinished Business: Jaime and Cara

© CBS / Monty Brinton

Jaime Edmondson and Cara Rosenthal definitely didn't have an easy final leg on The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business. The former NFL cheerleaders - who previously finished in second place on the 14th season - had to contend with a U-Turn (thanks to Kent & Vyxsin), a cab driver who needed to get gas in the middle of the race, and a physically challenging roadblock that involved assembling a huge dinosaur. So, what did they make of their second race experience? Do they agree with the Goths' reasons for U-Turning them? Here's what they told us after their exit...

How did you feel going into this extended leg?
Cara: "At that point we had pretty much been going for about four days. Jaime and I don't spend our money on anything really - which includes food - so that we never run out of it. We hadn't eaten in days, or slept really or showered or any of those things, although we weren't in a different position to most of the other teams. The only team we felt in a different position from was Kent & Vyxsin because at that point we didn't really know what was going on with them or what would be the final outcome for them. Certainly we didn't envisage it being as minuscule as a 30-minute penalty."

Was there any one moment when you realized that this could be the leg you went home?
Jaime: "I think we didn't really realize it until we were the last people at the dinosaur challenge. Cara and I have been fighters on every leg of the race we have run, and it's not until you really know that you are the last person left that you really start accepting it. We wouldn't give up until we knew that."

Did you accept Kent & Vyxsin's explanation of why they U-Turned you? The idea that you guys were the only team they knew for a fact were behind them…
Cara: "We honestly didn't put too much thought into it. Jaime and I have always said since the beginning that the race affords you particular tools that you can use to advance yourself, and with that said, we knew that there might come a point in time in our race history that we would use a U-Turn or that someone could use one on us. We didn't think too much about why they did it; we were good at focusing on, 'Alright, moving forward'. The Globetrotters were the only ones we knew were behind us so we had to then U-Turn them. If we had known there were other choices I'm pretty sure we wouldn't have done it to the Globetrotters, but we didn't at that time."

What was the Globetrotters' reaction? Was Flight Time joking when he suggested you were being mean at the roadblock?
Cara: "Oh, at that point he was joking! He wasn't joking with Kent & Vyxsin, I don't think. I think all the teams were pretty tense with them at that time, because no-one really knew what was going on. During that roadblock some people found out they had a 30-minute penalty and you could see by the reaction no-one really felt like that was appropriate. But with Flight Time, I ran up to him and gave him a hug and said, 'Please don't hate us! You have to understand you were the only ones we knew that were behind us!' He said, 'If it was us and Kent & Vysxin had U-Turned us, we would have had to do it to you if we knew you were behind us'. They totally got it and he was just joking around."
Jaime: "I think every team would agree that once it has been done to you, you have to do it to someone else. That's why it exists. We had no choice."

You were all at the roadblock at the same time so do you think the extra time from not having to do a second detour would have made a difference?
Jaime: "Obviously I'd like to think so but a lot of things go into it. My mindset when we arrived was already above and beyond frustrated and wanting to break down because we had the detour and our taxi driver stopping for gas. It added about an extra hour when he pulled off the highway and went in the town to get gas. Between those two things, you are already so mentally frustrated, it was like Hawaii all over again… Those things start weighing you down, so when I got there I was so frazzled and also hadn't eaten or slept."

How long were you at roadblock after the last team left?
Cara: "We left just about an hour after Zev & Justin left."
Jaime: "It would have been close if you factor in the time spent on the detour and stopping for gas. It could have been a different outcome."

Obviously anything can happen on the way to the pitstop, but how important was it for you guys to complete the roadblock even though you knew you were the bottom team at that point?
Cara: "It was really important. I know Jaime very well and I know if she hadn't completed it, it would have really plagued her and bothered her. We've always said that we can deal with going out if we can't do a task better than the other teams or complete it in a better fashion because it's in our control. It's a lot harder, like in our first race, to swallow the pill of a taxi driver controlling your fate for you. Even though we did encounter that this time, it was very important that Jaime decided on her own to keep going. She asked me at one point and I said, 'This is your task and you have to make that decision. I will support you in whatever you decide'. I'm very proud of her for completing it. It wasn't easy and like she said, she had pushed herself to the point of exhaustion and still prevailed."

What was the highlight of this race?
Jaime: "Australia was somewhere I always wanted to go on the first race. I ran the whole race the first time not once opening a clue that said, 'Go to Australia'. It was so fantastic to get the first clue of this race and be told to fly there. I would love to go back on my own and actually enjoy sitting on the beach instead of being the one running across the sand like a lunatic! The pitstop for the first leg was actually in the middle of a beach! People were sunbathing and thought we were crazy just running up with backpacks and running away again. I want to be the person laying on the beach next time!"
Cara: "We both really liked Japan, and I'll never forget something funny that happened there. We were trying to figure out how to get out of Tokyo to get to Narita Airport. We stopped and asked for directions without it occurring to us it was a Friday night, and there were all these businessmen around who had been enjoying Happy Hour for many hours! We had so much fun with a bunch of people trying to guide us on our way… It was really hilarious!"
Jaime: "Even the cameraman couldn't not laugh at us trying to ask a large group of drunk men how to get to the airport! That was probably one of the funniest days of my life."
Cara: "I think we laughed harder at that moment than I did on all my moments on the race put together. It was genuinely hilarious!"

Cara, did you really bring your law books on the race?
"Yes I did! I brought along outlines for my courses and actually two days after we got home from the race I sat my first final of three. I was that person in the airport sitting in a corner trying to study amid all this craziness. It was pretty wild!"

Which team do you think is emerging as a possible winner?
Jaime: "When we were eliminated, we said this was a different race than the first time. So other than Kent & Vysxin - who I think should have been out of it before it became a super leg and hadn't earned a spot at that point - pretty much anyone who could survive the leg without dying at this point in the race really earned it! It was so challenging mentally and physically that we can honestly say we were happy for whoever would win because they truly earned it."

The Amazing Race airs Sundays at 8/7c on CBS

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