The Amazing Race: Post Interview with Joey and Danny!

The Yak had the chance to chat with Joey La Salla and Danny Horal after they were eliminated on the sixth leg of The Amazing Race.  I would like to apologize for the delay in posting that was the result of my computer crashing!

But I digress… Read on to see what they had to say!

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The Yak: Hello! Thank you for your time today! Would you like to do The Amazing Race again?

Joey: Right off the bat 100%. We would not have done the fast forward, if given the chance we would be sure to stay with the pack.

The Yak: I could understand taking the chance. If you succeeded you would have gone straight to the finish!

Joey: …and we would have gotten cars too and that would have been great! We had progressed from 10th place to 8th place etc. and we wanted that 1st place finish which is why we took the risk, but it didn’t work out in our favor.

The Yak: Maybe we will see you in an All-star version of TAR?

Joey: We are crossing our fingers for that one!

The Yak: What about other reality shows, would you do Survivor or Big Brother? I could see you both on Big Brother.

Danny: We didn’t do the show to be on TV. First off we did it for the experience; I have never been out of the United States before so this was a whole new experience to see other countries and how people live that I have never seen before. The other thing is we were stereotyped as Jersey Shore kids, so for a couple of jersey shore kids to get to do this and do other things besides drinking and partying, was cool to show the world as well. Me and Joey had a great idea for a show we would like to host if there is a production company out there that would love to have us open up kids eyes… to have an opportunity to show them that there is more then just partying in typical Miami, New York and Vegas… to branch out if they had the chance to go to Germany or Paraguay. So it would be cool to have a show like that.

Joey: I would definitely do a Big Brother or Survivor. Both of us played sports growing up and I like that competitive drive and the chance to win something, especially if it is money. We would do a traveling show around the world… definitely would do it! And if Rachel can win Big Brother I think I can pull it off!

[All laugh]

The Yak: I think both of you would be very competitive on Big Brother, not to mention good eye candy!

Joey: It can’t hurt to be eye candy for the ladies!

[All laugh]

The Yak: What was your favorite challenge?

Danny: I am sure Joey will say jumping out of the plane and that is actually what I wanted to do but I got stuck driving the manual stick shift which I didn’t know how to do. If I had the chance to jump out of a plane, if we read the clue right, that would have been my favorite!

Joey: For sure the skydiving, I always said for the last ten years that I wanted to skydive and I had just never taken the initiative to just do it; for the task I had to do it and it was one of the craziest things I have ever done.
(He also pointed out that completing some of the other tasks took a long time and that the viewers didn’t realize how long. He shared that getting to do those tasks with his best friend was a very fun experience!)

The Yak: Which city did you like best?

Danny: I liked Bavaria.

Joey: Italy, we are used to staying in the United States and it was great to get to go to the different countries [named TAR 20 countries visited]. I hope to get to go back to those and more!

The Yak: A Yak twitter follower wants to know what you thought of Miss Vanessa.
[Laughter]

Danny: Vanessa was good eye candy too but then we became good friends with Ralph, and he is a big guy, so I didn’t want to get beat up by him (laughs). I actually enjoyed Vanessa because she had a lot of fights with Rachel and that was good fun to watch while in the airport waiting for the plane!

Joey: Yeah even some of the other male teams thought Vanessa was good eye candy before we became pretty good friends with Ralph so we had to push that to the side. It was definitely fun to see how she and Rachel from Big Brother just constantly bickered and argued and it seemed like they had it out for each other. While we were racing it didn’t seem too much, but sitting at the viewing parties and actually watching it on TV it was real fun to just see them going for each others throat, especially Vanessa towards Rachel.

The Yak: Knowing that, post race, Ralph and Vanessa are no longer together does that change things?

Joey: I have a girlfriend.

Danny: I talk to Ralph as much as possible and he is still a big guy!

Joey: The rule is you don’t date your friends girl right Danny?

Danny: Yeah.

The Yak: Are you guys going to be able to attend Reality Rally?

Danny: We are debating it. We are trying to do the fundraising but we have just been really busy doing a couple of other things… but we may be going to that.

*Yakkity Yaks extends an invitation to Joey and Danny as well as other reality stars to join the forum to post information about their fundraisers and to blog about their experiences.

The Yak: Which teams are you staying in contact with most now, besides Ralph?

Danny: (laughs) Elliot was just calling me!

Joey: We talk to Elliot a lot, Andrew is playing soccer; Ralph of course and Bopper… so we stay in touch with all of them.

The Yak: (Susan) I am a born and raised New Yorker so I have to ask Yankees or Mets; Giants or Jets?

Both: Die-hard Yankee fans!

Joey: Like both (Giants and Jets) equally, will root for New York in play-offs.

The Yak: What is your biggest regret aside from the fast forward?

Danny: Only the fast forward. We ran a good race, we didn’t argue. If it hadn’t been for the fast forward we would have had a chance at the million dollars.

Joey: if you set aside the fast forward we really have none. We were lucky to get out of the first leg the way that we did [Misa and Maiya didn’t see Phil] it was a blessing we just had to work hard and stick together, teamwork, and like I said we were making our way up to first place and then that stupid fast forward. Like I said as well if we ever get to go back no fast forwards, If I see a fast forward I am just ripping it up.

The Yak: Did either one of you have doubts about the helicopter?

Joey: I did that. I grew up around the water and did life-guarding, used to surf, so I was pretty confident with anything in the water. I like swimming pools, anything around the beach I would do it. I could see how other teams could get nervous strapped in with the water rushing in. You have to stay calm… I honestly didn’t think about it. I was just mad we lost the fast forward and wanted to get it done with so we could try to catch the other teams. It’s not even a big deal to me. I felt the other teams made a big deal about it, it happened, you did it, and move onto the next thing.

The Yak: At the pit-stop were you really far behind the others, because it is hard to tell on TV. It looked like you guys had a decent chance of making it to the finish and not being eliminated?

Joey: We were not sure how close or far behind Ralph and Vanessa we were. We didn’t even know it was them we were behind, we didn’t see anybody at the roadblock or the detour. We were definitely behind teams and it looked close on TV but it could have been 20 minutes or an hour, we really don’t know.

The Yak: It looked like a footrace because of editing.

Joey: I was watching with my parents last night and they said you almost got it. I told them it definitely looked good on TV. It was exciting but I had no idea how far behind we were. It could have been 3 hours.

Danny: …or 20 minutes we really don’t know.

The Yak: Do you have any tips for future TAR applicants?

Joey: If you ever want any laughs you can look at pictures on my twitter @JOEYFITNESS or Danny’s @DannyHsolution. We are always cracking jokes and posting pictures. For those looking to go on The Amazing Race I would definitely recommend learning how to drive a stick and pick the right partner. Danny and I we were the perfect match for partners for the show, some of the other couples that went with a wife or girlfriend will have second thoughts. Maybe doing it with a best guy friend or girl best friends so you don’t have the dynamics of a relationship, since that can cause problems.

Danny: Any fans of us PLEASE write to CBS and tell them to bring us on an all-star TAR season because we definitely want to do it and we will win the million dollars!

The guys also ask me if I like their hats that they had worn in Bravia. They shared that many people have asked them about the monster and panda hats. I had to confess that I didn’t think they were strange or odd since I had bought my 20 year old son a monkey hat! [All laughed]

Thanks for chatting with The Yak!

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Were you fans of Joey and Danny? Will you miss them on The Race? Who are you rooting for now that they are gone? Leave us a comment below, then come join us in the FORUM and join in the conversation! We also all meet up during the East Coast Showing to discuss what’s going on! Come on in!

Survivor One World Chats with Cast-Off Jonas Otsuji

Jonas Otsuji, the 37-year-old Sushi chef from Lehi, Utah is voted off Survivor One World and becomes the first member of the jury. We spoke with Jonas yesterday and he explained how he enjoyed his Survivor experience but has some regrets about his passive strategy. His advice to future Survivor contestants; make bold moves, go for it or you may regret it.

The Yak:: After the merge what type of effort did you make to attempt to reform some of your alliances?

Jonas: Right when we merged I went to my old alliance, which was Troy and Jay and I immediately sensed some awkwardness and I knew that something wasn’t right.

The Yak:: How did Colton’s leaving affect the impact and chemistry of the new tribe?

Jonas: I think we would have gone a lot further had Colton stayed in. Colton was such a feared player at that point because he had the idol and he had relationships on both sides. So the next to go would have been Alicia, which would have changed the whole game and I would have made it way further.

The Yak:: Why were you so loyal to Colton?

Jonas: The funny thing is that I never believed anything Colton said. If he had a plan I would say yeah, I’m with you on that but it wasn’t like I was willing to bet my life that he was telling me the truth. I just went along with what he said but was never really 100% with him I just said I was with him.

The Yak:: What was the beef with Tarzan?

Jonas: Tarzan had run-ins with everyone. The straw that broke the camels back is when he went to Mike and told Mike about this big plan about how the guys were going to vote when Mike was never with us. It was 20 days of frustration and that one last thing set me off and any plans we might have had were completely ruined because he just told the enemy our plan. That’s what set me off in my little turret’s rampage. (laughs)

The Yak:: What was the situation with you and Tarzan at Tribal council? What made you disclose the plan to vote out Kat?

Jonas: Because we didn’t have the numbers, so it didn’t matter and at that point I just wanted to show how clueless Tarzan really was. I knew I was going home. Tarzan and I had made up, that was sincere, but he’s just a very volatile guy I guess (laughs).

The Yak:: Why did you bring Mike up in Tribal council? Was that something you had talked about previously or did you just throw it out there?

Jonas: No, I had talked to everyone as a group. As soon as I knew I was going, when Troy confirmed that, I wanted to bring up the Mike issue. It was more calculated than it seemed. I knew I probably wasn’t going to change anyone’s mind; it was a Hail Mary pass.

The Yak:: Did it seem to you at all that there was a chance to get rid of Tarzan instead of you since he was getting on everyone’s nerves?

Jonas: No, because aside from Chelsea, the majority numbers wise agreed that Tarzan had become an asset because no one liked him so they wanted to take him to the end.

The Yak:: Prior to leaving tribal you went to Tarzan and said no hard feelings and he responded, “hard feelings.” Don’t you find this ironic from someone who later may be bucking for your vote?

Jonas: I had no ulterior motive at that point. I just wanted to show him that I was just playing a game and that none of this is real. He just took it all personally and wouldn’t forgive me. You’d think that Tarzan would have been logical but there’s no strategy at all and he played purely with emotion.

The Yak:: Since Troyzan was the one that clued you in about being voted off can you tell us a little about your relationship with him? Why do you think he didn’t vote alongside you?

Jonas: Well, first of all I love Troyzan to death; I think he’s an awesome guy. When Troy and Jay became down in numbers with the new Salani tribe that’s basically what screwed everything up. It made sense for him and I understood why he did what he did because he was outnumbered by the women. I think that part of the reason he clued me in was because I was going to be a member of the jury and a potential vote for him.

The Yak:: Did you have any knowledge that he found the idol out there?

Jonas: No he didn’t tell me about that?

The Yak:: Looking back at the game what was your real strategy to make it to the end?

Jonas: I was trying to play a similar game to Fabio. I was trying to fly under the radar a little bit until I felt I needed to show my cards. If I felt threatened in any way at that point I would start making bigger, bolder moves.

The Yak:: Whom did you want to sit next to if you made it to the end?

Jonas: I told Troy that I would be honored to lose to him. My final three would have been me, Bill and Troy.

The Yak:: Looking back was there anything major that you would have done differently?

Jonas: Yeah, I would have not been Colton’s bitch number one! (laughs). I would have made bolder, more strategic moves rather than play the fly under the radar game. Ultimately me trying to fly under the radar put me on the radar. It doesn’t really matter what game you play you’re going to be on someone’s radar, whether you’re too strategic or not strategic enough so for me if I could do it all over again I would want to play a more pro-active game rather than just do whatever Colton wanted me to do.

The Yak:: Was it poop or dirt?

Jonas: (Laughs) Yeah, I’m gonna say poop. It didn’t really matter, I wouldn’t even stick my finger in that pot! That was a dual-purpose pot; we cooked rice in that pot.

The Yak:: The last episode much was made about you feeding the tribe, can you tell us something you cooked for them?

Jonas: I made this Samoan seafood bisque. I made a fish sauce using needlefish. Then I grated a fresh coconut and made it into a coconut cream and added that to the stock. It was really delicious. When it was all over one of the producers came up to me and said I’ve been on this show for 10 seasons and this is the very first time I’ve every been jealous of what they’re eating.

The Yak:: Tell us a little about the immunity challenge: Who picked Leif to be the first one to dig the hole under the log that was supposed to fit everyone not just him?

Jonas: I definitely didn’t suggest that but I didn’t challenge it. Yeah, that’s one of those things I regret the most not speaking out and being more assertive. I was more like if that’s what you guys want yeah, yeah, ok, I’m good with that. Somehow I got pegged as the smart Asian guy who should be good at puzzles and I just went along with it.

The Yak:: Since Leif voted with you to vote off Mike he appears to be more out of the loop than anyone, would you say that’s correct?

Jonas: (laughs) Completely 100%. Leif as a person is a phenomenal guy but strategically as a player he was absolutely clueless.

The Yak:: Who has the best shot to win?

Jonas: I would like for Troy to win just because I think he deserves it the most.

The Yak:: Would you play this game again?

Jonas: I would jump on a plane right now and play the game if I could.

We want to thank Jonas for chatting with us and wish him the best in his future!

Survivor: One World ~ The Yak Chats with Polarizing Colton Cumbie

Yesterday, we spoke with Colton Cumbie the 21-year-old college student from Monroeville, Alabama. Colton exited Survivor One World this week with a medical issue. Although many viewers and readers may want this interview to be a Coltonoscopy, whether revered or reviled, we at the Yak appreciate all contestants who take the time to interview with us and answer even the toughest questions. We don’t spin it. We ask; they answer. It’s up to you to discern if these answers are candid and sincere, or calculated.

Colton told us some great behind the scenes information that you may not have seen in the edited show. His greatest alliance was with Jay. He was going to vote out Alicia next, not Christina. He confirmed that the altercation between Tarzan and Leif was staged for Bill’s benefit so that Bill would agree to go to tribal. Colton thought their acting deserved an Emmy.

Colton was removed from the game and flown to a nearby hospital. What they thought was appendicitis was not. Colton had a severe bacterial infection in his intestines. He was treated with strong antibiotics. When Colton returned to the States he still had the infection and had to again be treated. He’s well and says he’s “fat” again.
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The Yak:: How have you dealt with peoples’ reaction to you on the show?

Colton: Um…Obviously watching it, some of the certain parts, specifically episode 4, I was uncomfortable watching that. Obviously I don’t want to be seen as someone who treats people that way. As far as my personal life there haven’t been any people who have attacked me. People recognize me all the time, if they don’t recognize me by looking, as soon as I open my mouth people say “I know that voice.” (laughs) People that are admittedly not fans can tell me that they thought I was the most deplorable person on the planet earth but then we get to talking and I pose for pictures with their kids and they say “You’re not at all how you seemed on TV.” I say “Of course, because it’s just that, television.” I mean we’re totally different people in the real world than you see on television, in some cases.

The Yak:: Do you have any statements or actions that you specifically regret?

Colton: Yeah, I mean I regret the way I handled the Bill situation. The only issue I had was Bill was that he was a little obnoxious and loud and I didn’t think his jokes were funny, but I’m not here to belittle him anymore than I already have. I just had a problem with the fact that I felt he was going to get to the end and use his financial status as a means of saying “I deserve to win because I need this money.” If I was on the jury and you’ve got Tarzan who’s a plastic surgeon, you have Troy who’s a world-renowned photographer and then you’ve got Bill sitting there saying “I really need this money”, well obviously you’re going to give it to him because that’s just human nature. So that’s what I kind of had a problem with. I took it to a level it should never have gone to. I regret my remarks to him and Christina but at the end of the day I’m kind of glad I said it because I got to see myself through other peoples eyes and I get to grow as a person. Otherwise had it not been on Survivor I probably would have gone though life thinking oh all of this is okay.

The Yak:: How did your housekeeper react to the comments you made at tribal council?

Colton: OMG (laughs). She is absolutely fine. This is a woman who literally changed my diapers since birth. She’s like a second grandmother to me, she’s like a member of our family, you know. She knows me and my personality. She’s used to my snarky comments and she thinks I’m funny. She actually stood up in her church and told everyone at her church that I was a nice person (laughs).

The Yak:: We saw a lot of hateful controversial things directed at Christina. In a social game where those types of things determine who wins, how can you win a million bucks.

Colton: Well first of all the Christina thing; I had already apologized. When I got sick that night and you saw me laying my head in her lap I had apologized to her,. I said I’m really sorry that I was mean to you and she was like “you’re fine, sweetheart.” I was genuinely sorry for the way I treated her. Then when I got sicker I really did consider giving her the idol and I thought, this poor child she won’t know what to do with this, she’ll think it’s a necklace so I refrained from giving it to her.

The Yak:: How has this experience changed you?

Colton: I’m from a town of 3000 people. I’ve had the same friends since I was 4 years old. You know, I’ve grown up in this bubble. I think it’s hard for people who haven’t been in my shoes to envision how that’s possible like how do you not interact with people that are not like you? It’s not been by choice but I haven’t, that’s just the cards I’ve been dealt. I’ve realized that it’s okay if people are different from people. Survivor opened my eyes to people that have lived different lives than I’ve led. You know that’s okay, it takes all kinds to make the world go round and that’s what I’ve learned from the experience.

The Yak:: Do you consider yourself the season’s villain and do you like being cast as the season’s villain?

Colton: I don’t know who else could be considered the season’s villain. (ed note: Alicia). You might as well embrace it, it is what it is. I’ll own my title, I’ll wear my crown with pride.

The Yak:: Did you plan on being the villain or did you want to have a persona to be remembered in the game or did you really want to win the million dollars?

Colton: I wanted to win. I’m not the type of person who’s going to sign up for something. It’s actually funny because right before we went into the game Jeff Probst asked me if I thought I could win. I said Jeff if I didn’t think I could win, I wouldn’t be here. I don’t sign up for anything I don’t think I can win whether it be a board game or a potato sack race, I hate to lose and so honestly, I went in thinking I probably would be a villain because I kind of knew how I wanted to play but I didn’t care about being THE villain. The things I said to the camera really had underlying humor. There were some cruel things that I wish I could take back or change or whatever but for the most part the Republican comment, the Helen Keller comment, the knock him back to OZ comment, that was all supposed to be funny.

The Yak:: Alicia is coming off as mean and cruel. Did you see her that way?

Colton: I saw a different side to Alicia than most people did. You say things you don’t necessarily mean when you’re in the confessionals, we throw the word hate around when I can count on one hand the amount of people I strongly dislike. I didn’t mean half of the crap I said on television. I’m sure Alicia did the same thing. I think she’s going through a hard time right now, even harder than I am. The backlash from being on the show is hurtful to her. I can handle people saying things about me but it hurts Alicia when people call her a bitch.

The Yak:: As a viewer from episode 1 until this weeks episode, I really saw a huge change. It appeared to many that you were actually having a mental breakdown at one point, before you got the idol. What really happened?

Colton: First, I never, ever would have quit the game. Secondly, in the beginning it was more so shock. Really, it’s men vs. women? During the casting process they ask you what is your biggest fear coming in? What would be the worst possible scenario, etc. I told everyone, my family, casting, if it was men vs. women, I’d have a heart attack. It was my worst fear come true. I immediately knew that I had to change my game plan. I thought I was going to have an immediate target but I did not just lie down and die like they portrayed me. I did go over to the women, but the men were totally fine with that because I was telling the guys that these women would trust me, I can play them. So the men said, ok, go do your thing. I was telling the girls, the boys are being really mean to me, so I was playing both sides very early on. Actually what you don’t know is that when I went over kind of crying and begging to live with the girls I didn’t have the idol at that point and I was trying to manipulate Sabrina into giving me that idol. I had an alliance with Jay from day one. He came up to me immediately and said “I’ll take care of you” and then Matt came up to me and said “I’ll take care of you.” Troy came up and said “I’ve got you” and then Tarzan said “I think you’re really smart”, so I was thinking well, this is not terrible but I’m not going to let the girls know that.

The Yak:: You’ve been criticized for things you’ve said and one is that you said you were Republican and didn’t believe in any handouts yet you accepted the immunity idol from Sabrina.

Colton: Yes, I’m glad you asked about that. First of all I can totally see where people can make the connection between that comment and me receiving the immunity idol from Sabrina. Here’s the thing, I really had to work for that idol in a roundabout way. I had to put on an Emmy worthy performance at the first immunity challenge. What you don’t see is I’m supposed to throw the first immunity challenge. The girls agreed that if I threw it, they would give me the idol. Well Kourtney broke her arm and if you notice, when the guys are discussing whether or not they’re going to keep immunity I didn’t go anywhere near that huddle and then they told me, you tell Jeff, so I told Jeff. I started boohooing “we didn’t earn this”, and the girls started saying well bless his heart he really did try, so Sabrina gave me the idol. I think the difference was I tried to do something to benefit them and they came in our camp and said we want fire and they didn’t want to give us anything in return. They had to give that idol to someone, why not make that person me?

The Yak:: It appears that everyone had resigned themselves to the fact that you were running the game. How did you get away with that?

Colton: This is going to sound very pompous and arrogant but I don’t know how else to put it. I can honestly tell you that I can be a very charming person. You might see me on television and want to stab me in the face but I really can charm people. I know how to get people on my side. You saw me do it with these people and I just know how to do it. I don’t know. It’s a gift. God did not bless me with a high IQ, he blessed me with charisma.

The Yak:: What was your plan if you made it to the merge?

Colton: Oh I had it all planned out. I had a producer tell me on day 3 that I was the first player in the history of the show that when everyone was on day 3 I was on day 33. I had a plan. I knew who I had to get rid of and I knew when I had to get rid of them. I was actually getting rid of Alicia next, I was about to send her home. I knew about her relationship with the women she just didn’t think I did. I wanted to get rid of Monica because I thought Monica was a threat and I honestly thought that Monica and Michael were close. That’s why I got rid of Monica. The reason I was going to get rid of Alicia next is because Christina didn’t have that relationship with the girls and I figured Christina would have no choice but to go with the guys. I think she honestly would have.

Going into the merge I was planning on getting rid of Chelsea immediately. I knew about her and Kim’s relationship. I knew they were close and I wanted to cutoff Kim’s right arm. I wanted Kim to come with me and kind of go along with what I wanted. My ideal final 4 was going to be Jay, Troy, Kim and me. I knew there was no way in hell I was going to win the final immunity challenge. If Kim won it I was going to get rid of Troy. If Jay or Troy won it I was going to get rid of Kim. Sitting in the final 3 I was going to make the argument, “Look I was the most underestimated player in this entire game. I literally had to claw, scratch and bite my way to the end. None of you thought I would get here.” So I thought I had a valid case but (laughs) we’ll never know.

The Yak:: Would you have preferred to be blindsided then going out the way you did?

Colton: OMG YES! Had I been blindsided, that’s the thing, I feel like I don’t have closure. Had they all grown brains and said “Let’s get rid of Colton and the idol, let’s blindside him” I would say props to them, but they didn’t get me. I got taken out by something that was out of my control, their control and everyone’s control. That’s what was disheartening about the way I went out. I didn’t get blindsided. I kind of feel like I was in the middle of writing my Survivor story and I ran out of ink and kind of left there to dangle in the wind.

The Yak:: Can you explain your decision to keep the immunity idol as a souvenir?

Colton: Yes, I was actually going to give it away had I been able to give it to who I wanted to. Jay was my closest ally in the game. We were super close, yet it was edited so that you saw no conversations between us. I wanted to give it to him but was told I had to give it to someone on Manono. Also, due to Jay and my relationship I didn’t want to do anything to potentially screw up his game. Although I appreciated what all the people on Manono had done for me as far as following me around, I didn’t want it to come back and hurt Jay’s game in the end. That’s why I opted to keep it, plus I’m a villain I have to do something selfish and be true to my nature (laughs).

The Yak:: If you were asked to go back I am assuming you would so you could finish your story?

Colton: Yes, Yes. I feel like Natasha Bedingfield “The rest is still unwritten” and I want to go write it.

The Yak:: Who do you see taking it all the way?

Colton: As much as it pains me to say this I think the boys are going to fall apart without me. You see Kim, you see Chelsea and they really seem to know what’s going on. They seem to have it all together. I’m rooting for Jay but I’m also rooting for Kim just on principle alone cuz I feel that in that game there are only 4 people who knew how to play this game. I feel like I knew how to play, Kim knew how to play, Troy was playing a pretty good game and I think Matt knew how to play and that’s why he went home first. Right now I would say that Kim probably has the best chance of bringing it home.

Reality Rally Blog: The Yak Joins Forces with the Rally

Can’t attend the large gathering of reality stars and fans this April? Want to be a part of the Reality Rally and aren’t sure how? Why are participants from Big Brother, Survivor, The Amazing Race, Hell’s Kitchen, The X Factor, The Biggest Loser and more attending the Reality Rally and what does it mean to them? What can I do to help further breast cancer research and support my favorite reality stars? If you’ve asked yourselves these questions and more, we’re happy to announce that YakkityYaks is partnering with Reality Rally to provide you even more exclusive content and unparalleled access to the events of the jam-packed weekend! The Yak is launching a Yak Blog that will give you an even greater look at the inner workings of Reality Rally from the point of view of the awesome organizing team to the participants to the reality fans themselves!

Stay tuned for more details on how you can access this blog to receive content from the reality stars and fan participants at the Rally. We’ll have exclusive personal stories, video content and inside info, while you can also keep track and follow Reality Rally’s official tweets, Facebook posts and exclusive video. We’re working with the dedicated folks at Reality Rally to make this an encompassing fan experience, as we work together for a greater cause – donating and supporting the great work the people at Michelle’s Place do for Breast Cancer research. Read on below for more info on the Rally & Michelle’s place. We also encourage any and all Yakksters who are moved by this initiative to visit the Reality Rally page and donate to support a reality star and their team for their efforts. It’s never too late to make a change!

Be sure to follow the Yak on Twitter and Facebook, and keep checking our site for updates! Also, keep tabs with Reality Rally on Twitter & Facebook for all of their official updates!
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Reality Rally is a four hour “Amazing Race” kind of game, where participants will be walking (or running) throughout Temecula’s Old Town in a competition involving crazy activities and fun challenges for all ability levels, all for the coveted prize (trophy) and bragging rights but most importantly raising funds for Michelle’s Place Breast Cancer Resource Center.

”I thought my excitement could never be matched when I made it on Survivor after eight years of trying. I am equally, if not more, excited to bring back the second year of Reality Rally which after last year’s success is being touted as the Premier Reality Fundraising event in the nation,” says event founder Gillian Larson who was a contestant on Survivor:
Gabon.

Over 80 reality stars have already committed to participate in this year’s Reality Rally Temecula Valley including: Richard Hatch (Winner of the first Survivor and participant in Survivor: All-Stars), Dawn Meehan (Survivor: South Pacific), Papa Bear Caruso (Survivor: South Pacific), Adam Poch (Big Brother), Elise Wims (Hell’s Kitchen) and many others.

Teams consist of three members of the general public and a Reality Star added to make a team of four. Registration is $90.00 PER racer until April 8th or when all teams are filled whichever comes first. Only eighty teams will play and spots are filling up quickly.

Not only are all of the Reality Stars in attendance donating their time, this year they are required to raise $400 (the cost of a mammogram) minimum to be part of the event. The Reality Stars are raising “Money For Mammograms” and all the other services that Michelle’s Place offers to women suffering from breast cancer.

The three day Fun for Funds event will take place from April 13th – 15th. The Reality Rally competition is on April 14th, 2012 and the public will be able to not only watch the competitors as they complete the over 12 challenges but also have the opportunity to participate in many of the activities surrounding the event such as the Reality-Am Golf Tournament the Celebrity Reception with the Stars at Wilson Creek Winery, the Red Carpet Extravaganza and Rally Pit Party at Monte De Oro Winery, and the family Breakfast with the Stars at The Legends Golf Club at Temeku Hills.

There will also be autograph signings, “pawtograph” signings (from celebrity dog stars) and much more to enjoy. Event times, tickets and information can all be found at www.realityrally.com where updates will be posted regularly.

All proceeds of Reality Rally will go to benefit Michelle’s Place which was founded in 2001 by Marilyn and Bill Watson, parents of Michelle Watson. Michelle was diagnosed with breast cancer at the tender age of 23 after years of misdiagnosis. It was her dying wish to start a breast cancer resource center where women could go for support and information in Riverside County. For more information regarding Michelle’s Place please visit www.michellesplace.org.

The Yak Chats with The Amazing Race ‘Team Pink’ (Kerri and Stacy)

Yesterday, The Yak had the chance to sit down with the latest eliminated team from The Amazing Race, Kerri Paul and Stacy Bowers! Read below to see what they had to say!

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The Yak: Hello Kerri and Stacy. Thank you for sharing time with me today! First questions, would you do TAR again?

Kerri: Hell yeah!
Stacy: Yes, I hope there is an all-stars 2 so we can be on it!

The Yak: What was your favorite challenge?

Stacy: Our favorite one had to be the empañadas…
Kerri: We went there after everyone else and dominated it so that was part of it.
Stacy: Duh cooking! We’re both girls, we’re fly! It taught me how to make something so when I came home I could make for my husband!

The Yak: Stacy you had said in your bio that you wanted to taste real Spanish food so was that enough of a taste of it for you?

Stacy: [laughs] I’m not sure. I would’ve tasted one of those that I made and I definitely would have enjoyed it… but I did get to try one and I know it is not Spanish. I got the opportunity to try the Argentine steak so I at least I have that one under my belt. I am like a food connoisseur with the exception of… what you didn’t see was me barfing, totally losing it during the salami challenge.

The Yak: that was a lot of salami.

Stacy: After eating a bit and running back and forth I completely lost my stomach… on the sidewalk… in front of about a million people.

The Yak: Well hopefully they will forget that!

Kerri and Stacy: [laugh]

The Yak: Which was your favorite city to visit?

Stacy: Even though we lost there my favorite city was in Germany where we did get to see the castles. How many times in your life do you get to go to a real fairy tale castle, a real live one! I really enjoyed it and wish we had the opportunity to look around.
Kerri: I agree. I wish we had the opportunity to look around more.
Stacy: In the heat of the moment looking back at the show, OMG that was so beautiful and amazing, but in the heat of the moment I don’t think I noticed what the outside even looked like… now it is like yeah that’s the one I went to!
Kerri: You are just focusing on traffic and getting through the race okay. [Shares her favorite] I think Paraguay was mine. I feel that whenever we were done and could actually take in the city, in the square where we were and the weather was really nice, it was cool but wasn’t freezing. I just thought it was beautiful and was a nice place.

The Yak: Stacy how excited were your children to see you overcome the challenges on the race?

Stacy: My children are like the greatest ever; they were so excited leg after leg. They look at my husband like he is this awesome superhero because he is a professional basketball player and sometimes we are watching his games and he does something spectacular and we are like how did he do that? It was so fulfilling to have them look at me in that respect! They saw me not just as their mommy but as one of their heroes! I am really honored that I got this experience but that my children had the opportunity to watch me overcome so many obstacles and persevere.

The Yak: What did they think of the skydiving challenge?

Stacy: They were watching and freaking out! They were like mommy your not going to do it, then like OMG and you said my name on TV! [laughing] My son was heartbroken last night. He was crying and crying [when we were eliminated] I told Kerri last night that the only way I got him to stop was like Cam, but now you are famous! Everyone has seen you on TV and know you, so he was like “Oh but you still were last! Waaahh!”

The Yak: For the basketball camp you and your husband are planning, is there a website people can go to?

[Stacy shared that the website is still under construction but the camp will be locally in Gulfport, Mississippi in July as a day camp]

The Yak: Kerri, how has being on the race helped in your work, you do some exciting things in Gulfport?

Kerri: Well now it is hard because everywhere I go people see and recognize me and they say you are on The Amazing Race! My coworkers come to me every Monday and stand in my doorway with their arms folded and they are like “tell me about this or that.” I mean it has really affected me in a positive way, Sometimes people see me in one light and it is good to have them see another side of you. I think it was a really good experience for me and for my coworkers because they get to laugh. It is kind of a stress reliever. They are really proud of me since I helped put our city on the map, since I work for the city, so it has been a really positive experience.

The Yak: Did the two of you achieve your goal of reconnecting over The Race?

Kerri: We did and we are still connecting, we still party and get together to watch The Race. We are real family people and Stacy decided to stay home this basketball season so she is still here.
Stacy: The kids and I are still here and our family is really enjoying it. This is the first time my kids really got to experience Mardi Gras, my daughter is getting real comfortable. I am like oh my gosh how are we ever going to leave again because now they just want to stay here! I am planning to go visit my husband (soon) to make sure he is still alive. [laughs]

The Yak: Are there any other reality shows in the works for you two?

Kerri: We would love to do the race again. If anyone is interested just give us a call because we are always up for more challenges!
Stacy: Everybody is asking me “are you going to bring Kerri and stop in on the Basketball Wives?” I am like I don’t know if Kerri and I can go bring some southern flare to those ladies.
Kerri: Yeah because we are both athletes’ wives, my husband played minor league baseball for a while. He is a scout from Italy baseball so we know that life. We definitely have the athletes wives thing down.
Stacy: In The Race people got the opportunity to see us for who we really are and we are really sincere gals. We’re fun and very approachable. We are looking forward to whatever the future holds for us. We are very easy going people and I hope you can see us in the future. Bring Team Pink to a whole other level!
[Kerri and Stacy shared that both husbands are waiting to see what vacation plans the ladies will spring on them! Stacy shared that her children are always ready for a traveling adventure!
They also shared a touch of irony… both of their husbands were in Venice, Italy while the ladies were tasting salami in Turin, Italy. The time distance was only about 1.5 hours away…..so close yet so far!]

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Thanks to Kerri and Stacy for chatting with us! What do you think? Will you miss them on The Race? Who are you rooting for to win? Leave us a comment below!

‘American Idol’ Contestant Conceals Crimes, Eliminated Wednesday

UPDATE #3: Producers apparently began to look into Jermaine’s past after rumors swirled that his dad hadn’t really abandoned him at all. Jermaine’s dad confessed that the two actually see each other regularly and that he did not abandon his son 10 years ago, as previously claimed. After Jermaine began tweeting that he never told producers anything about his dad abandoning him, they began to dig deeper to uncover his spool of lies…and the rest is now history.

UPDATE #2: Jermaine Jones has since deleted his tweet. Hmmm… Idol blog, Mjsbigblog, has a pic of the deleted tweet.

UPDATE: Jermaine Jones just tweeted, “Awww I will no longer b on the show”

Internet reports are swirling that American Idol will be kicking off a season 11 hopeful Wednesday night – during the Performance show. The unnamed contestant allegedly concealed a history of crimes in 2011, one involving violence. Claims are surfacing that the unnamed contestant used an alias with the authorities. According to the show source who leaked the information, the contestant has outstanding warrants for his/her arrest, which the singer concealed from production. Per reports, the contestant was confronted on camera and will be ousted during Wednesday’s live performance show.

It’s no question that this might have been leaked “on purpose,” if you will to drum up hype and attention for tomorrow’s telecast. American Idol has been declining in the ratings, in hot competition with NBC’s The Voice. Is this contrived or is this really a MAJOR oversight from producers who have ousted the sordid past of so many hopeful in the show’s 11 season history.

If anymore details surface, we’ll be sure to post them here. Stay tuned with the Yak for more developments.

‘Survivor One World:’ The Yak’s Chat With Castoff Bill Posley

This past week, we spoke with Bill Posley, the most recent castoff of Survivor One World. Bill is a 28 year old stand-up comic from Venice, Ca. He’s an Iraq war veteran, a college graduate and enjoys pushing his limits. Bill had quite a bit to say after the events that unfolded leading up to his fire being snuffed after his tribe actually won immuity. Read on below and see what Bill had to say regarding Colton, Tribal Council and more!
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The Yak: Bill were you a fan of Survivor prior to being cast?

Bill: Season 20 Heroes vs. Villains is the season that made me fall in love with the show. I mean Black Hawk helicopters? The first episode Sugar gets her top ripped off during the challenge and continues. It was amazing. Everyone was a character. It was the most fun I’ve had watching television. I applied after that season and luckily i got on and it was worth every minute.

The Yak: Jumping right in… our readers want to know did you agree to go to tribal council instead of the women because you believed Leif would be going home instead of you? Why were you willing to take that risk?

Bill: No, I was working to gain alliances and friends as well and I thought by being there I could convince my people to blindside Colton and get him sent home with the idol, but it just didn’t pan out. I thought I had guys like Jonas, Troy, Jay and Big Mike in my corner on this and they would back me when the chips were down and they didn’t. I was already on the chopping block. I was already in their sights. I thought it was a risk worth taking. Why not take a chance and try to blindside Colton? Had my plan worked to show them that Colton was bad for our tribe and needed to go, what turned out to be the dumbest move in Survivor history would have been the best move ever made. There’s a fine line between stupidity and genius and I just fell on the wrong side of that.

The Yak: What could you have done to get the other guys to flush out Colton’s idol and get him out of the game?

Bill: I don’t know what I could have done. I mean I exposed him as a very selfish, self-centered, self-seeking person who has no integrity and no loyalty and doesn’t care about anyone but himself and I thought by doing that when it came time for my alliance to back me at tribal council, they would and they didn’t.

The Yak: Considering everything that happened how did you keep your composure in the midst of Colton going off left and right about you?

Bill: (laughs) If Colton’s perception of a ghetto black person is me, then he’s in for a rude awakening when he ventures out into the real world. I actually was very grateful that he said it because him calling me ghetto trash or ghetto at all, gave me a lot of street cred in the black community! (laughs)
It wasn’t too hard and the reason it wasn’t too hard is, my whole life .. I was the fat kid in class. I was 250 pounds until I was 17 years old. I went into the army and lost all the weight so I’ve been picked on my whole life. I’ve dealt with racism before as an African American person and with my mom being half white and my dad being half black and me being in the military you get picked on by drill sargents all the time. Ya know I’ve been picked on my whole life so to sit in the face of that and keep my cool wasn’t that hard for me and I know that Colton comes from a place of ignorance and from a place of being spoiled and sheltered not from a place of hatred and racism, I don’t think.

The Yak: How did Colton go from begging to be over with the women to being in this position of power?

Bill: The one thing that you know I want to make clear is that because I wasn’t in that alliance and was on the outskirts, I didn’t know the amount of power he had. When Leif sits down and tells me that morning that Colton had the idol, that’s the first I hear of it. So I didn’t know and when I went to tribal council I thought I had friends. I didn’t know all this, I just got blindsided but I didn’t know the power he had and then I’m sitting here watching it and he’s commanding Mike to pull Leif over and I’m like what? That’s why I felt like I was the only person who’d say anything and stand up to him. When we were under that tent I said you just can’t talk to people like that or treat them like that you spoiled brat you know, am I the only one that feels these things need to be said?? I wasn’t aware of the idol and I wasn’t aware of the alliance that he had made so it was as shocking to you as it was to me, this arc that had happened.
They need to stop following orders and flush the idol. I don’t get it. I thought that, here we are in season 24, not letting history repeat itself. If anything, I would assume about an immunity idol is this; it cannot be used as a thing of power but would paint a target on someones back. It has to be flushed out. You always have to be playing with a level playing field, no loose ends. If they want to be successful, they need to get rid of that idol.

The Yak: Tell us a little more about Jeff’s reaction at tribal council.

Bill: I think Jeffs job is to be as neutral as possible and be the audiences’ orator. He has to remain objective and make sure that everyone is being heard and fairly treated and has an opportunity to speak their mind. I think Jeff did a great job of allowing us to speak our minds and be heard out there. I’m sure it was hard for Jeff to sit there and not try to jump on everything everyone was saying. I think he just has to be the audiences’ voice in that moment and help drive the conversation to a place where everyone gets their opinion out.

The Yak: Are you worried that in 24 seasons this is the first time a tribe has chosen to go to tribal? Is it bothersome that this is going to stick with you?

Bill: No, no. I know this sounds weird but I would rather make history and try and risk making a big move than have just have gone off quietly and have no effect on this game. I want a stamp on this game. There’s only been 400 people or so that have played it. I want to be one of the memorable ones and going to tribal council, here’s the truth. If they were willing to give up immunity to get rid of me than they would have been willing to throw the next challenge too. The way I felt was, trying to line up people, I felt like I had a strong alliance and could get my team mates to blindside Colton. Now had I waited and Colton and I don’t go to tribal council, I don’t get to speak my mind and the things that I say don’t get heard. I would have rather had what happened at tribal happen and me being seen with the eyes of integrity and class, be shown and maybe have Colton learn that what he says affects people.

The Yak: Tarzan comes off as loud and all over the place, is that what he was really like?

Bill: Tarzan is what you call a smart dumb person. (laughs) He’s literally like one of the most intelligent people you will ever meet. We all know that if you’re a plastic surgeon your probably really intelligent, you have to be however, I don’t think the guy could find his way out of a paper bag if he had to, just the street smarts aren’t there! Whenever he said something it comes from a place…. like last night at tribal council he starts going on about this post racist America and I don’t even think that the conversation was even going near either one of those two things which is why I didn’t respond cuz I don’t know where that came from; it came out of left field and he’s kind of aloof, doesn’t really know what’s going on and is maybe too smart for I think….himself. (laughs)

The Yak: Is there anyone that you want to stay in contact with?

Bill: Of course, we shared a special bond. This is something we will always take with us. I keep friendships and bonds close to my chest in fact some of my army buddies called me last night to tell me they were proud of me.

The Yak: Do you have any regrets?

Bill: I don’t have regrets. Me exiting the way I exited makes me proud of the way I played the game. If I had gone quietly I would have been upset. I’m happy that I went being true to myself and for standing up for myself and doing something no one else would do which was stand up to Colton.
I’ve had so many touching things written to me. It has been so positive. People have thanked me for reminding them why they follow their dreams and for having integrity. Being a good guy you may not win survivor but you have a better life.

The Yak: What was difficult about being on Survivor?

Bill: None of it, it was incredible! There wasn’t one thing. I had so much fun that I can’t even say that one thing was hard. Being on a remote island, no car payments, phones, or responsibilities, that’s incredible! To get to play the most amazing game in the world and be a part of that history is phenomenal.

The Yak: So you’re saying you would do it again?

Bill: (laughing) Of course! 100 percent I would, every year, I think you should do it every year!

The Yak: There has been some hate comments regarding Colton on the internet and social networking sites. What is your reaction to that?

Bill: I would say that if I was capable of keeping my cool and I was the subject of Colton’s malicious intent then I ask everyone to do the same. Know that this is a part of him learning and a part of him growing and this lesson is something that a guy like him needs in order for him to really change.

Thanks for talking to us here at the Yak Bill. You are a class act!

Reality Casting Tips From Big Brother Champ, Dan Gheesling

With the launch of his new e-book keeping him busy, Big Brother 10 champ, Dan Gheesling, was willing to take some time of his busy schedule and answer a few questions for the Yak and our readers who would some day like end to end up on their favorite reality show. As but a supplement to his Step-By-Step Guide, How A Normal Guy Got Cast on Reality TV, is a great way for hopefuls to brush up on the characteristics those involved with casting reality TV shows are looking for. You can access your free e-copy, by clicking right here! In addition to the e-book, check out the extra bit of insight Dan provided below. The Yak thanks Dan for his time and wishes him great success with his future endeavors!

If you’re applying to an upcoming season of a reality show, be sure and let us know! We always love to know what our Yakksters are up to!
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The Yak: How does a real fan show they would be more valuable to the show more than a Jersey Shore mactor wannabe?
Dan Gheesling: Passion is something that will help you connect with a lot of people, including the Casting Producers. If you are really passionate about getting on Reality TV they will be able to see it. If you want to get on Reality TV just to be “famous” they will also see that (not a great idea). For someone trying to get on Reality TV, they have to define what is driving them to apply – this is what I call the “why-factor.”

The Yak: Any tips on how to draw the line between defining what your “why-factor” is without going overboard and over-saturating casting with that factor?

Dan Gheesling: Your why factor is defined by your passions in life. The problem with that is people have a difficult time even defining their passions let alone their why-factors (I know this first hand!). When you boil it all down there are only a handful of why-factors. In the Guide I go through in depth specifically how to determine your own personal why-factor using a set of individual Guide-sheets that are included with the guide.

The Yak: What compelled you to write this e-book?
Dan Gheesling: About a year ago I started my personal blog – www.IWouldCoach.com – and on the blog I have a form where people can contact me directly. The most asked question I got, was asking me how to get on Reality TV. After I responded to a ton of e-mails answering that question – I figured out I could help a LOT more people by writing a book about it. Back in the day I searched every corner of the Internet for information on how to improve my audition video and casting interview skills, and I couldn’t find anything. The goal of HowToGetOnRealityTV.net and both books I have written are to help someone looking for that exact information.

The Yak: Let’s be honest, you have your critics out there who think this is all a ploy to suck more money from your fans. While I don’t believe this at all, I have seen it on the internet already. I’m sure you have too. What do you have to say to the skeptics?
Dan Gheesling: Anyone who knows me knows that I truly appreciate all the support people have given me since I have been off the show. As a small way of thanking them for the support, I put a ton of time and effort into writing my story, How A Normal Guy Got Cast On Reality TV. This book is available for them for FREE. This was written specifically for my supporters but can also provide some insight for an individual interested in getting cast on Reality TV.

For people who are really serious about improving their casting game, I wrote How To Get On Reality TV: The Complete Step by Step Guide. It is a 75 page Guide that is a resource and tool to hone your casting skills. The Guide teaches readers the following: how to create a compelling casting story, the best way to develop your audition video, critical interview tips, includes a set of Guide-sheets, and much much more. My goal is to genuinely help others improve their casting process skills by using this Guide. Bottom line, I’ve put a lot of time and energy into producing this valuable tool which includes information that cannot be found anywhere else.

The Yak: So, you’ve made it known that you initially applied for Season 9 but ended up getting cast for season 10 – likely due to the twist. For hopefuls out there who have already applied and maybe been told by casting that they are wanted back next season, what advice do you have for them? Do they need to reapply or does someone in the casting department get a hold of them based on some special list they’ve been penned on?
Dan Gheesling: In How A Normal Guy Got Cast On Reality TV, you will find out I first applied for Season 6, and was rejected many times after. My advice to someone who has had some success in the casting process is to keep applying. Each audition there after you have to step it up or change something about your approach. If you continue to do the same thing time in and time out, you can’t really expect different results.

The Yak: And if you’ve made it farther than you ever imagined and casting has specifically told you that they want you back next season, does one still have to apply or can one expect a call back from casting automatically for the semi-finals rounds?
Dan Gheesling: In my story How A Normal Guy Got Cast on Reality TV, that exact same thing happened to me. I always erred on the side of caution and applied regardless of what I was told.

The Yak: Alright, so we’ve been called back. Now what? How do we keep ourselves relevant and appealing to the casting team?
Dan Gheesling: Have a story to tell. Reality TV is just an outlet to tell stories. You have to be comfortable talking about yourself and really selling your story. A lot of people walk into a casting interview winging it without any stories to tell. Some people can pull that off – I could never do that. Dynamic story telling was never my strong suit, but I found a way to make it happen. So if a normal guy like me can get on Reality TV, so can other people, if they know what to do.

The Yak: I take it your guide summarized how you found a way to make that happen. Can you briefly summarize for Yaks everywhere?
Dan Gheesling: You’re right, Building Your Story is detailed very clearly in How To Get On Reality TV: The Complete Step by Step Guide. It’s actually quite an in depth process that takes time, effort, and most importantly dedication to getting cast. Building your story is like building a house, it starts with your why factor, is stacked with your life experiences, and finished off with your compelling details. The best advice I can give to someone who hadn’t read the Guide yet is to deliberately take time before you audition to define your story. It’s the most important part of your presentation, yet a lot of people never take the time to build their own story.

The Yak: Let’s take it one step further. You’ve not only made it on the show, but you made it to the winner’s circle. Any insider advice for someone who heeded your advice to not only get on the show but home $500,000 richer?
Dan Gheesling: That’s a tough question to answer in a few short sentences. In the end its about focus and desire. How bad do you want to win? What are you willing to do to win? And most importantly, in an environment built to distract and get a rise out of you, can you stay focused long enough to make the right decisions?

The Yak: I know this is aside from the casting talk, but this past season of Big Brother has brought the fangs out of fans more than before. With the advent of social media, contestants are more easily targeted for hate related to game play or decisions. Do you have anything to say on that and how we can help combat that for incoming contestants?
Dan Gheesling: There is really not a whole lot you can do to combat it. It is sad to see when people’s real lives are influenced by negative messages via social media. That’s when it goes too far. At the same time, when you put yourself on a platform like Reality TV you need to be prepared to handle it. Incoming contestants just need to know that IF they choose to read blogs, forums, etc it is not always going to be positive and just take everything you read with a grain of salt. I would encourage them to interact with the people that connect with them but ignore the people who have negative words for them.

The Yak Chats with ‘Race’ Twins Andrew & Elliot Weber

This past week, twins Elliot and Andrew Weber were eliminated on the third leg of The Amazing Race. A team that many might have thought would make it further, Andrew and Elliot might have fallen victim to harp strings. On Monday, the Yak was fortunate to be able to chat with Elliot and Andrew regarding their experiences on the Amazing Race, disappointment in being eliminated early on and just what both of these brothers are up to these days. Read on and find out!

The Yak: Thank you for taking the time to speak with Yakkity Yaks. I know that a lot of people were sorry to see you leave the race.

Elliot: You have no idea just knowing you were eliminated that early, knowing what you are capable of ….it was just our fate and it is hard to accept that but well it is what it is and life goes on.

The Yak: Would you do another Amazing Race if invited back?

Elliot: Oh yeah, oh yeah I would. Now that you understand the many factors of the race and how it is played out I think we would do a lot better at strategies and would now know what to expect and to plan for that.

The Yak: (Elliot and Andrew live in different states; we had a connection glitch so I was afforded the opportunity to obtain the information from Elliot about his band (ENOVA) and soon to be released record.)

Elliot: My project ENOVA will be having an album coming out very soon here in the spring. We are going over some of the fine details with our producer on the tracks we have but I can see it being out in the next month or so. We will have our new album out and will be touring on it as well. Right now you can go the Facebook and get all our updates now. Our site is being built and in about a month we will have an enova.com. You can also purchase all our songs on iTunes and one of our songs, “Counterpart,” was actually on the premiere episode of The Amazing Race.

The Yak: One of our site members wanted to know how was it for you to lose out on the harp challenge?

Elliot: Doing guitar pulling it thru the hole and wrapping it around the head of the guitar it is similar but at the same time the harp is so much more oriented and our fingers like we have pretty big hands and you really can’t get in there it is frustrating. It was harder then I thought it would be.

(Andrew was now reconnected to speak with Elliot and I)

The Yak: I have asked your brother but would you do another Amazing Race if invited back?

Andrew: Yes, I would in a heartbeat. I enjoyed the experience. I think now knowing what we know and sort of getting a taste of the game I think it would be awesome to go back and actually do better because I know we could do better and get a chance to prove to ourselves that we could do better.

The Yak: Andrew who do you play soccer for and is there a website fans can go to for information?

Andrew: I (now) play for the Seattle Sounders in Major League Soccer. You can go to www.seattlesounders.com or www.mlssoccer.net and click on the Sounders website.

The Yak: Which was your favorite challenge to do?

Elliot: Skydiving!! I feel bad that my brother Andrew didn’t get to skydive (laughs) but that was by far the most amazing experience I ever got to see – seeing the countryside and how beautiful it was. I am sure my brother might have a different opinion on that, but it was just real cool to do the skydive.

Andrew: Yeah, I was a little jealous that Elliot got to do it and I couldn’t. We didn’t really get to do too many tasks since we didn’t really make it that far, but out of making the empanadas and counting the cows (Elliot laughing). I thought the cows was a cool experience. Everyone was yelling at Dave but making the empanadas was cool. Those two were my favorites since they were the two I got to do.

Elliot: You didn’t like doing the harp man…laughing

Andrew: (laughs)

[They agree they hate the harp now!]

The Yak: How was it to get to watch the other complete tasks when separated? Andrew, how was it to see Elliot do the skydiving?

Andrew: To watch Elliot do it was amazing. If you haven’t seen the bonus footage yet I parked in the wrong spot so I was looking up looking at him and I guessed I had to go find him. I ended up going thru the trees and all that. You could probably flip the roles and ask Elliot how he felt standing there in the middle of the desert waiting for his lost brother to yell at him and find him. (Elliot laughing) To watch me at the end watching Elliot do the bottle thing, I felt for him, because I knew he was trying. So sometimes it is hard watching because you are excited, but at the same time you are thinking to yourself “I am sure this is so easy,” like “come on this is so easy,” but it probably is not. You’re not the one there doing it.

Elliot: It was hard to see when I was standing there from skydiving. It was frustrating to know my brother might be lost. I don’t know where he is and I can’t go out to find him. The footage is actually funny. I can’t believe that he ran thru this 10 foot bushes of thorns to find me – which is awesome. Watching him do the cows, I have a feeling that if our bus had never broke down on the way to go do that challenge that we may have ended up on that first flight to Paraguay. My brother did really well at getting the cows done. It took 4-3 tries, and I could see how frustrating it was to be a number off and that would affect whether you got the clue or not. In the long run, my brother finished and he even helped out and partnered up with Joey & Danny. They did the math and it was cool to see him finally get it done. It was frustrating, though, at the same time because you want to see your partner doing well.

The Yak: Any chance we will get to see either one of you doing big Brother or Survivor, throwing your hats into those rings? (chuckling by brothers and CBS rep!)

Andrew: I guess that is a question you have to ask casting. If Elliot and I can beef up on Survivor, me against him, that be cool. It would be cool to be on something else. Hopefully they like our personalities and I would like to go back and try it again, give it another whirl or even maybe do “Elliot and Andrew’s World” you know something cool!

Elliot: I agree. Survivor or even coming back and doing the Race again all over would allow people see us a little longer and interact at a completely different time in our lives. I think it would be cool too, back to what my brother said, back to our lives and show people what they are like and do our own kind of thing.

Andrew: I think people don’t realize it takes a lot to be on the show. It takes a lot of sacrifice not only from the staff and what they are doing, but stuff you have to do and give up to be part of it is a big piece of it. You give up quite a bit to compete for this so it makes it worth it.

The Yak: Do either of you want to keep in touch with other race teams?

[Andrew and Elliot report that they do keep in touch with several other contestants of TAR 20.]

Elliot: Yes, I definitely made some friendships. You bond with people while you are out there running [the race]. You get to know people and understand their personalities, and the people you stay in touch with are lifetime friends.

The Yak: Anything more you want to share with our readers?

Andrew: Elliot’s band ENOVA. (Check out the info above!)

We’d like to thank Elliot and Andrew for chatting with us and wish them luck with all they do in this life!

The Amazing Race Ambassadors of Laughter: David and Cherie Gregg

Yakkity Yaks had the opportunity to spend sometime yesterday with David and Cherie Gregg, the second team eliminated from The Amazing Race 20. The interview started out with a HONK HONK as a welcome from the Ambassadors of Laughter. I would like to let you all know that they are just as exuberant and full of joy in person as they appeared on TAR!

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The Yak: Did you get to celebrate your 20th Wedding Anniversary while racing or was it afterward?

Both: It was afterwards.
David: it was actually February 16th.

The Yak: Wonderful 20 years congratulations, what a milestone.

Cherie: Thank you and we survived the race still married!

The Yak: I never had any doubts about that! You were one of the teams that got along better under stress then any others this season and previous years also.

Both: Thank you!

The Yak: Would you do it again if TAR invited back?

Both: Oh Yes!
David: 110% yes, definitely!
Cherie: Call anyone you know that you think could get us back on, definitely. It was too short for us.

The Yak: What was your favorite task to complete?

David: I would say of the entire thing was building the solar kitchen; it was such a joy to get to work with Cherie on a task together.
Cherie: We do well together we are just not good separated.
David: Divided.
Cherie: Divided… laughs… no pun intended with the division! But we enjoyed working the solar kitchen together. I thought you (David) were going to say skydiving for yourself.
David: Oh no, no, no I liked working with you.
Cherie: I wanted to skydive.

The Yak: What was it like to watch the other on the roadblocks where you were doing things separately?

Both: It was hard.
David: When I was getting ready to skydive going up in the plane my thoughts were on Cherie and how she was going to get to the drop site and find me…
Both: …and drive the stick shift
David: Luckily she did it flawlessly and we were able to pass up 3 other teams at that time. All I had to do was use gravity as my source (laughs).
Cherie: Watching Dave struggle at the cattle was so hard! I was so glad he didn’t get upset and could fall back on his humor to keep going. If he had gotten really upset it would have upset me even more because I felt helpless not being able to help him. We work really well together because we are two halves of one person; we don’t function well divided. Dave does everything… he cooks, cleans, does dishes, grocery shops, driving….
David: Cherie does all the math.
Cherie: The clue was “where’s the beef?”
David: I thought I was going to eat a cow!
Cherie: so who had any idea it was going to have to do with math; if we had thought it would have to do with math I would have taken it. Roadblocks were a twist because if it was like who was better with directions, Dave would have been and I would have gotten to skydive. Most people were tricked and the person that would rather not skydive ended up skydiving. Roadblocks had twists and it was crazy watching people try to deal with them!
David: It was AMAZING!

The Yak: How did it make you feel to see the other on the show completing their task?

Cherie: It was really cool. I was jealous watching him diving and he looked great doing it. I did get to see him come down because I found him really quick, so I got to see the end of it, but seeing him go out the plane was really cool and that will be a great memory.
David: It was very exciting to get to be able to watch each other do the individual parts that we weren’t part of.
Cherie: Watching him struggle with the math again on tv was not fun.

The Yak: What city did you like best?

David: Buenos Aries was absolutely beautiful.
(The Greggs enjoyed the drives thru the countryside as they traveled between locations and expressed it as some of the most beautiful views.)

The Yak: You were on the bus that broke, how did the window break?

David: We’re not sure and would love to know the official answer. I think it had to do with stress; it was a double-decker bus and in the afternoon what happened was the lower section of the window where we were was getting very hot. The attendant came down and noticed it was getting hot and it sounded like they turned off the whole AC system and put it back on and it cooled down relatively quickly for about an hour and a half… but then the window just exploded….with a bang sound. I think it was stress of the temperature change it couldn’t take, luckily it was safety glass.
Cherie: It didn’t blow in right away so the people sitting back there were able to get up and then it blew in. I thought something hit it, I don’t think the science way Dave does.
David: We were driving 60-65 mph down the highway so I don’t think anything could have hit it that hard. We really don’t know.
Cherie: It was right behind our heads and so we didn’t get very much sleep. Then Dave trying to do math on very little sleep did not help… on the highway the wind would catch the tape and rip the plastic open. Then we would stop again and you would hear (insert tape ripping noises) of duct tape all night long of them re-taping it up. Then we would go again, then stop again, so it made a really long bus ride that started out as 18 hours. It ended up more than 20 hours and we weren’t able to sleep very well. It was a nightmare.

The Yak: Was production able to help occupy your time or do something for you to make use of it?

David: Not really, we sat there and waited for repairs to be made and pretty much everyone was anxious for them to get it done as quickly as possible so we could get on the road to continue on the way.
Cherie: We were speculating about the other teams that could be on the third bus… about how much time we were losing
David: But we had no idea quite frankly.

The Yak: Was there any one team you felt a sense of camaraderie with more than the others?

Cherie: In the very beginning, in the first leg, Art and JJ came up to us. They were a little annoyed because they were being called middle aged and they were like us old folk got to stick together but then they were so far ahead of us all the time we never really had any long periods of time with them. Then we were shouting with the twins and the NY boys because we were all on the lower level of the bus. We got along with everybody. We didn’t really have any issues with any teams; again the clown in us is to see everybody for who they are and we only judge people by what they show to us… if they are nice to us we are nice back. We had no problems with anyone.

The Yak: Would you want to keep in touch with the other teams?

Cherie: Yes, it is something that when you go through an experience like this it is a bonding experience.
David: It is a bonding experience!
Cherie: It is like working in the circus with people from all over the world, you now have a rare shared experience.

The Yak: Are you back on the road with the circus?

David: We are back as the Ambassadors of Laughter for Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus.
Cherie: We are traveling about a month ahead of the circus and going to schools, libraries and hospitals bringing free educational programs to the community; to kids that might not get to go to the circus; to hospitals where kids might not be having the best day and letting them forget reality for a while. We are going to be heading up to Kentucky… Pikeville… next we will be leaving Mobile Alabama. We are touring all over, we keep saying we are so lucky to have each other and lucky to have a great job entertaining people and bringing free community programs and lucky to have the opportunity to be on The Amazing Race. We do wish it could have been longer, we wish we could go back again, but we have been very lucky (David was agreeing as Cherie spoke), lucky that Dave survived cancer twice… just lucky people… We know how lucky and valuable life is.

The Yak: Any future plans to do any other reality shows?

Cherie: The dream was always The Amazing Race. Something we could do together and have the adventure of a lifetime and see the world. We have been traveling the country with Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus for 12 years now and wanted to get out to see the world. TAR is the best reality show to us! It is not about fighting and politics, it is about yourself and how you are going to handle your challenges.
David: Yeah, overcoming obstacles.
Cherie: How you are going to handle the challenges and other people, foreign countries and things like that… so it was more about working as a team.

The Yak: Dave expressed interest in going to Japan and Cherie to Australia, any plans for either of those trips?

Both: Hopefully!
Cherie: One of the next dreams is to go to all the Disney Parks around the world.
David: …and do a little sightseeing in between.
Cherie: …and sightseeing the countries as well. There is no Disney in Australia but I still want to see it, it is suppose to be really beautiful. We slowly do our dreams in 10 year spurts; it took us 10 years to get into Ringling Brothers Circus.
David: Hopefully we will do the traveling a little sooner this time.
Cherie: Especially with the TAR dream coming true 10 years later, we always tell people don’t give up on your dreams, you need to make them happen; we will get to travel more. Hopefully we will be able to do another Amazing Race!

The Yak: Do you have children?

Cherie: We love children… everybody else’s.
David: Sugar them up and send them home!
Cherie: Entertain, make them happy then send them home. I would worry too much if I had my own children.

The Yak: I am sure that everyone else appreciates all the love you share with their children. whether they are your family or not.

Cherie: It is our honor and privilege to be able to do that. We feel so lucky to be able to make people laugh and forget reality for a while and have fun and do this for a living. We are just very lucky.
David: Very fortunate.

The Yak did ask if David and Cherie had any information on how to locate the programs or how to contact for possible visits from them. Information is available at http://www.ringling.com/ and Ringling also has a facebook page. David and Cherie report that they are generally in a town about 1 month before the circus arrives.

David and Cherie, thank you for sharing time with Yakkity Yaks; best of luck on all your future endeavors and a very Happy Anniversary!
David and Cherie signed off with a thank you and HONK HONK!!

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So what do you think? Disappointed to see the clowns have an early exit from The Race? Let us know below!