But then,the Season of Surprises got them.
And got them good.
JoiningJonathan and Ana Townsasthe recipients of the Double U-Turn Vote, it was an all-out race to the mat.
Image by Zanda Rice, CBS
“I totally stopped even looking at him.
It’s Scott and Lori!
How are you doing?
Image via CBS
LORI THOMPSON: We’re doing great.
COLLIDER: Listen, that’s the game.
It’s really a Season of Surprises.
Let’s talk about the general experience.
If you could describe your time onThe Amazing Racein a single word, what would it be?
SCOTT: I would say amazing.
Like we feel like we have a very good, strong communication style.
We know what each other’s strengths are.
Like every leg for reals?!
Every leg is going to have this crazy thing, it’s awesome.
It is so cool.
COLLIDER: How proud were the kids watching your adventure?
LORI: Oh my gosh, they loved every second of it.
So they knew, obviously, we were going onThe Amazing Race.
But when we got back, they only knew the locations that we went to.
They never knew what place we got, or anything like that.
And so when we actually won Leg Three, we had all eight of our kids.
We had watch parties for every episode, and we had all eight of our kids there.
And then all of a sudden, when we win, they just blew up.
They were so shocked.
And then after they’re like, “I can’t believe you didn’t tell us.
I can’t believe you held that secret.”
I’m like, “I did it for this, for this reason, for this experience.”
It was so fun watching their reaction, and I had a phone up, recording them.
SCOTT: It was so epic.
LORI: And they were just like, their mouths were on the floor.
COLLIDER: Going in, what were your expectations?
How did you prepare for this race around the world?
We’ve been watching as super fans since Season 1, live on the couch.
But for much of that time, we couldn’t apply.
LORI: Because I was pregnant, nursing for about 15 years straight, because having eight children.
And we just did it.
I’m like, “Let’s do it today.”
And then we sent it in, and we got on.
That’s pretty much all you know that’s going to happen onThe Amazing Race.
SCOTT: And carrying packs.
And so we just kind of, we just wanted to enjoy every second of it.
SCOTT: But we also wanted to be intentional in bringing that positivity to the table.
And I think we proved to ourselves that we could.
What do you chalk that up to?
Did you expect, seeing the competition, that you would be at the top of the pack?
So I was, honestly, I was super nervous going intoThe Amazing Racefor two main reasons.
I have to sleep 8 to 10 hours, and I love food.
And then, when I see the competition, and see how young and strong everyone is.
LORI: And we’re not that fit or not young, and we don’t run.
Like Jack and Carson did on episode four.
We finished first, and we were going.
We saw Phil and whoop, they just ran right past us.
COLLIDER: Let’s go back to the Driver’s Seat for a second.
And then you caught up to them.
How did that series of events change your outlook on the rest of the race?
We didn’t understand how they were running the race.
And so it did feel a surprise to us, but then we understood it.
Again, we’re not going to be despondent in the moment.
Oh, woe is me.
We’re going to tackle the challenges that come to us.
And we beasted that out.
And so just that realization of like she beasted that challenge out, was awesome.
We want to talk about it.
They give their side of the story.
I get it off my chest.
Scott gets it, and I’m like, “Okay, yeah, we’re moving forward.
It is now water under the bridge.
We are not holding a grudge.”
That’s why we hugged it out.
And I’m like let’s just keep going.
Let’s just keep playing this game.
And genuinely, that’s how I feel in life.
I don’t like the drama.
I don’t like to hold grudges.
If I’m going to be your friend and like you, great.
And if not, then you know I don’t have to have this big, huge production.
Just like arm’s distance away.
And I’m moving on.
I have too many other things on my plate to worry about, honestly.
Were you surprised to receive votes?
So I had that gut feeling that we would be the second team.
And so that first vote turned, and I was like, “I told you.”
It was kind of surprising.
That’s when I had to call him out, and I venture to have a conversation.
But he was so adamant of like, “Nope, you guys are this way.”
I totally stopped even looking at him.
Let’s just play the game.”
SCOTT: Let’s just race.
LORI: Let’s just focus on that.
Where do you think the discrepancy came from?
Lori has a term, and she calls it “slogging.”
Slow jogging, and she actually made that term up.
I don’t think anyone’s ever heard of it before, because she made it up.
And so, I think where we had our impact was doing so well in the challenges.
That’s what surprised people.
And that was what was causing some of the discrepancy for people.
COLLIDER: The nature of the Double U-Turn, it was between you and the Towns.
Did you feel like it was a one-on-one the entire time?
Was there any moment you’re like, “Okay, we can beat them?”
That’s why I had that moment with Ana.
I’m like, “You guys are amazing.
Good luck with everything.”
And I hugged them, and I wish them the best.
That’s the only time.
SCOTT: We counted ourselves out.
LORI: That’s the first time that I thought I knew that we were going to lose.
But that’s the great thing about The Amazing Race.
Honestly, we could have gotten there first.
We could have finished that challenge and gone to the next.
We could have gotten first place in that leg.
That is whatAmazing Raceis all about.
You don’t know what the twists and turns.
You don’t know if someone’s going to struggle.
Like they could have struggled with coral, and we could have killed it on the first time.
We would have been in and out of there, even doing the two challenges.
Like the coconuts, we did really fast.
We were the second team to leave the coconuts after aAlyssa and Josiah [Borden].
So we never could count ourselves out.
A little taxi ride, a little wrong turn here or there, it’s anyone’s game.
SCOTT: And you see it as soon as we get in the taxi leaving the monkey sanctuary.
We’re already talking about, we’re not counting ourselves out.
Yes, we just got Double U-Turn, but we might win this leg.
We could surprise some people here.
LORI: Anything can happen.
SCOTT: So we never possibly considered the possibility that we were out.
COLLIDER: Were you hopeful that it might be a non-elimination leg?
SCOTT: We were praying.
LORI: We were praying.
But we knew down that path where it was, because we had seen the other team.
So we knew exactly where we were going.
SCOTT: So close.
Season 37’s Fork in the Road sounds good, but fails to deliver.
Would you ever want to do a Family Edition with your kids?
LORI: 100%.
Yes, my kids are very outgoing, very athletic, very smart.
I mean, some are in med school.
Some are about to be in med school.
I have extremely brilliant kids, mind-wise, but also physical.
They play college sports, they’re on varsity.
We would have so much fun.
I mean, just seeing the dynamic.
And I think it was only four, was only four?
COLLIDER: Yes, teams of four.
COLLIDER: How has your relationship changed since the race?
SCOTT: I don’t think it’s changed at all.
LORI:We had gotten asked a lot before it had aired.
And I’m like no, because we don’t ever.
we’re never yelling and mad at each other or swearing or pitching a fit or having this meltdown.
That was like the most “mad.
and then we weren’t even mad.
SCOTT: Like she’s literally saying, “Babe.”
LORI: And then something about
SCOTT: “We’re good partners.”
LORI: Yeah, we’re the best partners.
So people are like, “Oh my gosh, they’re so mad at each other.”
But yeah, that’s just not our personality and not who we are as a couple.
SCOTT: Yeah, it’s fun.
Would you do it again?
SCOTT and LORI:Oh, 100%.
SCOTT: Yes, we would love the callback, any point.
I mean, we’ll be 65 with oxygen masks, pulling our oxygen tanks.
If they call us, we’re coming.
It doesn’t matter.
We could travel to all these places and never do–
SCOTT: Never have that experience.
So yeah, we would do it in a heartbeat.
Phil, give us a call.
COLLIDER: Did you have a favorite location you got to visit?
SCOTT: We really enjoyed Japan.
We’re actually already planning on taking our boys back to Japan next year, if we can.
LORI: So they’re crazy into anime.
They all love it.
So yeah, next summer we are going back.
COLLIDER: My final question is, what was the best part ofThe Amazing Racethat was not game-related?
Meeting all these people, I guess would be for me.
I’m in this little bubble in Salt Lake City, Utah.
It’s such a blessing.
Like, cuteJeff [Bailey].
This cute, younger, what is he?
This Black guy from Missouri and Scott are literally best friends.
And like we are friends and communicate.
We have a thread on a text thread going with the whole crew.
Everyone has all these connections.Melinda [Papadeas]just messaged me a month ago.
“Hey, your son’s in Arizona at med school.
If you ever need anything, let me know.”
And I’m just like, oh my gosh, I wouldn’t have had that.
COLLIDER: Oh, that’s so good to hear.
You both were so inspiring.
Congratulations on your amazing run.
SCOTT: Thank you so much.
LORI: Thank you, Michael.
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