Who Do Amazing Race's Matt and Ashley Blame for Their Elimination?
For the third time this season on The Amazing Race, the team saved on a non-elimination leg was ousted the following leg. But unlike Jonathan and Harley, and Aly and Steve, things could've turned out a bit differently for Matt and Ashley. Twice in the Peruvian leg they were in the right spot, but were led astray by Laura and Tyler. So, do they blame them for their elimination? See what the couple, who got engaged on the third leg, say below. Plus: Who are they inviting to their wedding?
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How far behind were you?
Matt: When we got to our Speed Bump, we did not think we were that far behind. We thought we were ahead of some teams. After we got through the Speed Bump and got to the Roadblock, we saw Laura and Tyler, and Mike and Rochelle leaving. We figured we weren't that far behind. I did the Roadblock in 15 minutes, so that made us believe we were only 15 minutes behind.
Ashley: We knew that we could've caught up, except the cab driver we had was so bad. It was out of our control and out of our hands. It was bad. We fell so far behind. At that point, we thought we were hours behind.
Did you try changing cabs?
Matt: We weren't allowed to. We had specific cab drivers and we just had a really bad driver.
You did have a chance to catch up. You got to the Mamas Detour, but you didn't know it was there, while Laura and Tyler were doing the potatoes.
Matt: Right. We had no idea we were in the right place. And then Tyler and Laura said, "I think they brought you to Papas," which was the wrong place. But we were actually in the right place and we didn't see it.
Ashley: But well played, Laura and Tyler, well played!
It wasn't that clear. Do you think they did it on purpose or do you think they really didn't know Mamas was there? Technically that was the Papas location, just the second part of it.
Matt: To be honest, right now, I'm still not sure. All I know is they wanted to go to Mamas. And when they got to that field, they realized they were at Papas. So when they saw us and said, "You guys are at Papas," I would have to say that they did know because they went to the opposite Detour and realized they were at Papas. I'm gonna say they did know and when Tyler saw us -- the look on his face --
Ashley: He couldn't believe we caught up.
Matt: Right. On the way there, Tyler said [on the show], "Matt and Ashley are toast." When the lady dropped their potatoes and saw us, he probably panicked.
Ashley: Which, of course, gave us hope. We were like, "Oh, my God! We have a chance!"
And you ran right past the Mamas shop.
Matt: Yeah, we didn't even see it. We were running on adrenaline and all that stuff and kinda overlooked it.
How did you end up at Papas? Did the cabbie just bring you there because it was the other address on the sheet?
Ashley: I think we ended up there because I was literally screaming at the guy, "Take us somewhere!" And he brought us there, so we decided we'd do that one. "OK, let's not waste any more time driving back and forth. Let's just do what we're closest to."
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At the beginning of the leg, you guys followed Laura and Tyler when they missed the clue at the shoe-shining place. How much of this do you blame on them, or do you just blame yourselves for following and listening to them?
Matt: We blame ourselves because we listened to them. It's not their fault. We didn't have to listen. The first time, we didn't have to get in a cab, but I think we were just going with the flow. You have to make split-second decisions.
Ashley: We also saw Mike and Rochelle there trying to get a cab. Everybody was trying to jump into a cab and that was a mistake. That's not their fault. And the first time, [Laura and Tyler] didn't even know they were at the right place until Laura mentioned the Speed Bump [marker]. Maybe if she hadn't mentioned it and he never realized, we'd still be there.
Did you see Laura and Tyler get out of their cab and walk back?
Ashley: No, but we realized once they took us back to the other entrance of where we were supposed to be, that's when it clicked in our heads that it's gotta be in here somewhere. There were llamas and things there that was like, "OK, this doesn't look like it belongs here." And then Matt was like, "Oh, shoe-shine! Look!" So I was like, "Oh, great." Because we were already here before and we passed it. We probably could've picked up extra minutes and gotten ahead.
All three teams who were spared on non-elimination legs this season were eliminated the following leg. Do you think that's just a coincidence or something with the leg designs?
Matt: I think we made mistakes, but the other teams were just too far behind to catch up when they had their Speed Bumps. We could've easily come in third, but we made too many mistakes. But, you know, we own up to them.
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How's the wedding planning going?
Matt: We have the date and the photographer and DJ and all that stuff.
Are you gonna invite racers?
Matt: We are definitely gonna invite racers!
As a pre-existing couple who got engaged during the race, what did you think of the blind date twist?
Matt: As far as the blind daters go, I think they made some lifelong friends, and as far as finding love, it's damn near impossible. Well, I think Blair and Hayley are thinking about getting married. I'm not sure. [Laughs] The Bickersons! I'm pretty sure he was gonna propose on the race too.
But you stole their thunder on the third leg.
Matt: Right, right, so he couldn't do it. You can see the how bummed he was. [Laughs] I think that finding love on The Amazing Race on a blind date is, like I said, damn near impossible. Anything can happen, but the odds of that happening are slim to none.
Ashley: You can look at it in a positive way or a negative way. They have disadvantages and advantages racing.
Matt: Yeah, but just the love aspect is impossible. But it was definitely an experiment.
The Amazing Race airs Fridays at 8/7c on CBS.
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