The Amazing Race: The Yak Chats with Joey and Meghan

Joey Graceffa & Meghan Camarena
Joey Graceffa & Meghan Camarena

Airport mishaps and Double U-Turns faced the teams in the latest leg of The Amazing Race this week, as they continued their trek around the globe with a stop in Scotland. When the first 3 teams, consisting of Max & Katie, Bates & Anthony, and Caroline & Jennifer, grabbed an earlier flight to Scotland, it left Mona & Beth and Joey Graceffa (@JoeyGraceffa) & Meghan Camarena (@Strawburry17) to battle it out at the back of the pack. The Double U-Turn, which had the teams make (and then eat) haggis and roll barrels of Whiskey up-hill to a party, slowed down the YouTube hosts and ultimately led to their elimination this week. The Yak sat down with the peppy dynamic duo to discuss their race around the world.

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The Yak: It was a great leg of the race, but it was tough to see you battle it out with Mona and Beth for last place.
Meghan: Right? That was sad.
Joey: Yeah.

The Yak: So, I have to know, which was tougher: the barrels of Whiskey or the haggis?
Joey: The barrels.
Meghan: Barrels.
Joey: They were like 10 times harder.
Meghan: That haggis was delicious! Haggis has a bad rap! We hadn’t eaten all day, so maybe it did taste just like chocolate cake for some reason, but that thing was amazing. The barrels were a complete hell.

The Yak: Obviously, both you and the Moms had to do both Detours thanks to the Double U-Turn. How far behind were you once you made it to the Pit Stop?
Joey: We don’t really know, but we want to say it was maybe a half-hour or so.
Meghan: We really had no clue. As we were racing to the mat, we were thinking, “Maybe… Maybe!”, but we had no idea.

The Yak: If you had made it onto the earlier flight with the other 3 teams, who would you have U-Turned or would you have used it at all?
Meghan: It would have been the hockey players.
The Yak: Did you perceive them as the biggest threats?
Meghan: They’re professional athletes. They’re everyone’s biggest threats.
Joey: Yeah, people are stupid for not seeing that.

The Yak: Joey, before you left for the race, you mentioned you had a fear of flying. Were you able to overcome that fear and were there any flights in particular that were terrifying for you?
Joey: I got over that fear real quick! Also, being with all the teams helped. It wasn’t a problem.

Joey and Meghan find their next clue
Joey and Meghan find their next clue

The Yak: What was your favorite location along the race?
Joey: Berlin, Germany, for sure. Well, I guess that was the most fun.
Meghan: I liked Bora Bora.
Joey: Yeah, Bora Bora. New Zealand.
Meghan: New Zealand.
Joey: Those were both great!

The Yak: What was your favorite challenge?
Meghan: It wasn’t a challenge, but when we got to jump off the building [The Park Inn in Berlin, Germany], that was sick.
Joey: Yeah, that was fun. My favorite Road Block was the labyrinth one inside the Salon.

The Yak: Even after being prepared for the race, did anything surprise you during your journey?
Meghan: This sounds foolish, but I really wasn’t expecting the amount of hate that we got from all the other teams. I felt like I was back in high school and being picked on. It felt like we were being picked on, and it was the worst.
Joey: Also, I thought we’d have a lot more money for food and stuff. I was hungry the entire race! I should have packed some Clif bars! The way they give us the money, they don’t tell us what’s ahead. We could have used the money for a cab or for a cheeseburger. It was our choice.
The Yak: That’s good advice for anyone that’s planning on applying for future seasons of the race. Make sure you come prepared!
Joey: Definitely bring Clif bars!

The Yak: Speaking of being prepared, did you do anything special to prepare yourself for the race once you found out you had been selected as one of the teams?
Joey: I was working with a personal trainer five days a week. So, I was prepared that way. We also watched a ton of previous seasons.
The Yak: Did you find that it helped you out on the race by studying the previous seasons?
Joey: Yeah, it gave us an idea of what to expect for our season.
Meghan: For sure!
Joey: There’s no way to know what we’re going to encounter, but it’s good to know what people do in different situations.

The Yak: Were you able to get close with any of the other teams beyond Mona & Beth, and have you kept in touch since the race ended?
Meghan: John and Jessica. We’re really close with them, and they actually live pretty close to us, so we still talk with them.
Joey: Yeah, we’ve hung out with them a few times.

Joey and Meghan race ATVs
Joey and Meghan race ATVs

The Yak: Was there ever a time when you weren’t entirely sure of yourselves or you second-guessed what you were doing on the race?
Joey: We were second-guessing ourselves all the time, and I think that’s what really screwed us up.
Meghan: At the beginning of the race, we did that a lot! Then we realized that we needed to make a decision and commit to it. In New Zealand, we did that the whole time, and we could have finished way sooner then we had, so after that, we stopped second-guessing ourselves.
Joey: Also, for a lot of the race we were busy worrying about what the other teams were up to, so in Berlin when we didn’t see any of the other teams, we focused on what we had to do and we came in second place. I think that was the key to it.
The Yak: Is that good advice for future teams: Make a gut decision and stick with it?
Joey: Yeah.
Meghan: Definitely.

The Yak: What’s next for the two of you?
Meghan: Geez, who knows what’s next? We’re definitely pursuing more acting and continuing our YouTube channel. Also, seeing what opportunities open up after this. We’re really creative people, so anything that has to do with that, I’m sure you’ll see us being a part of that.

The Yak: We appreciate you sitting down with us, and we wish you the best of luck to you in the future!
Joey and Meghan: Thank you!

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