Reality Exploits - Reality TV

Interview With Ron & Christina, the 2nd Place Team on The Amazing Race

by Lynn on January 21st, 2008

Before I begin, I have to say that this is the first season ever where I have loved all three of the final teams. I didn’t know who to root for, since I liked them all! And then, today, I got to talk to them all. What a great time!

Ron & Christina were the father/daughter team that went on the race to become closer and ended the race in second place. They started off with quite a bit of conflict between them, but as the season went along, they grew better at communicating and started to do much better at the race as a result. I liked them both because they were able to make it through the difficulties and find the wonderful relationship they had both wanted. And they did very well in race too! (be sure to read to the end to see how you can join with them to help the orphans in Birkina Faso) Here’s what we talked about:

I know the race improved your relationship, has it stayed the same or has it gotten better since you left the race?

Ron: It hasn’t stayed the same, it’s improved a lot. Now I’m getting to talk a lot more to Christina whenever she calls from the West Coast. Now I’m getting the longer conversation then the typical two or three minute salutations and “How are you?” so I’m no longer so jealous when she was talking longer to my wife. (laughs)

Christina: Yeah, after the race there wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t call my dad and even through the holiday season we’ve just grown closer. Things have definitely improved.

Was it fair the way they edited the conflict at the beginning of the race? It seemed really difficult for you two.

Christina: It was tough, especially in the beginning, the leg in Amsterdam. We hadn’t slept the night before. We had come in ninth and were facing elimination. There was a lot of stress. We did have our conflicts but any conflict that you saw was always related to lack of sleep. There were those moments. We were actually grateful for those conflicts because it opened things up for discussion. It helped us to change our strategy and become a more improved team.

Ron: Yeah, I would consider it cheap therapy. (laughs) After that particular leg, Christina and & had a heart to heart talk to say, “Hey, this is not the way we’re going to get up to the top three positions.” We had to make radical transformations, mostly on my part. I made changes, but it was not something I would say happened overnight that I was transformed into a different being but I made progress on each leg, I think. On each stressful leg, especially with the hernia, I would fall back into the comments. But I think I was changed for the better in each leg.

We could see the change happening and it was really impressive to watch, but Ron, I have to ask you, do you regret saying the “boogers in your nose” comment on national TV?
(follow the jump for the rest!)

(We all laughed at that)

Ron: Yeah, I regret saying that and other dysfunctional words that didn’t seem to quite make sense at times. I was just trying to say it in the most efficient way and it was something I got from my mother. She doesn’t mince words. (chuckles) She has the very blunt way of saying things that are not the most uplifting way to say things.

Christina: It’s a very tough love relationship.

Ron: I grew up in a home where the love is always there and we could say things because we know that it was out of love, but it’s not the most edifying way of doing things. It’s a thing I need to change.

And you did, that’s what’s commendable, but I got a kick out of the fact they even replayed it in the finale.

(Everyone laughed)

Christina: Well, hey, if I’m sitting down to the table, I’d be so grateful if anyone, a friend or family member who tells me that I have food stuck on my teeth or a booger hanging out. (laughs)

Ron: I’ve seen people go through half the day with these things that need fixing and no one tells them. Only family members would tell you right away.

That’s a great point. So, at what point in the last leg did you realize that you weren’t going to win?

Christina: That’s a good question. When I finished the Road Block after Rachel, my heart dropped because I turned the corner and I didn’t see TK there any more waiting for her. And my dad said that I finished about 5-8 minutes after her but what was really the killer was the cab driver that drove us from Goose Lake Park to the Captain Cook Statue. He took us 45 minutes out of the way.

Ron: Boy, that was a killer.

Christina: That’s when it all kind of settled in.

Ron: We were trying desperately to see if we could get another cab. Christina was astute enough to get the phone number of the first cab driver that was just wonderful. He took us to those spots, the Outfitters and all that. He knew the places like the back of his hand. But unfortunately, we lost 40 minutes in that circuitous, round-about way with that taxi driver.

Christina: C’est la vie.

Ron: We knew that we were coming in second, at least.

Sometimes it’s just the luck of the draw with the cabs.

Ron: I remember that time with the EZ Pass cab.

Christina, It was awesome how you knew how to speak Japanese. How much of an advantage do you think that gave you?

Christina: I think it gave us a pretty good advantage. But possibly not quite as much at the Road Block where I drove the taxi cab. But knowing Japanese actually helped us to win the leg. In Japan, Jen & Nate, who are a very competitive team, found their flower first, they finished their Detour first and they were heading to the Pit Stop before us. Because I was able to communicate with our cab driver about the fastest ways to go in Japanese, we go there before them.

Looking back, is there anything you two would do differently, if you had the chance?

Ron: Yeah, I think that I would not use my Mars way of talking to Christina and use more the Venus like approach so it would be more uplifting so we wouldn’t have that stress level. Other than that, we just had a wonderful ride. It was a great experience to share with your loved one. It was great to go around the world and to have this experience seared into our memory. It was just wonderful.

Christina: Yeah, we had a blast.

So, do each of you have a favorite task and a least favorite task from the race?

Christina: In Burkino Faso we really enjoyed the “Teach It” Detour. We enjoyed making friends in the village of Bingo and being in Africa for the first time. We both had fun with the student we taught. And needless to say, the “Hunt It” Detour with the bikes in Amsterdam was rough.

Ron: Yeah, that was our least favorite. There were oceans of bikes.

Christina: There were oceans of bikes, we were facing elimination, we hadn’t slept for two consecutive nights so I think that one would take the cake.

Ron: I just found that Burkina Faso was such a spiritual place. Here we were coming in with all the paraphernalia and all the people in the village of Bingo were just wonderful people who didn’t have much. But they were all smiles and very, very happy.

Christina: They had very infectious smiles. Actually, my dad had this great idea. We’re auctioning off our “Who’s Your Daddy” and “TIGER FATHER TIGER DAUGHTER” Chinese character t-shirts on eBay and all of the earnings will go to the orphanage in Burkina Faso.

Ron: Yeah, it’s all going to a tax-exempt organization. They’ve placed I think about 100 kids in homes out of the Burkina Faso area.

“WHO’S YOUR DADDY?!” and “TIGER FATHER TIGER DAUGHTER” Chinese character shirts will open up for bidding this Wed, Jan 23rd. All shirts are in good condition and have been worn only around the world in Los Angeles, Ireland, Netherlands, Burkina Faso, Lithuania, Croatia, Italy, India, Japan, Taiwan and Alaska! Please take a minute to bid on one of these 7 shirts and know that your donations will be going straight to help orphans in Burkina Faso. All 7 listings will be posted at the bottom of this page under “Item.”

All auctions will begin at 12:00pm EST on Wednesday, January 23rd and end on Sunday, February 2nd.

I can’t think of a better way to end the interview than with a way that we can get involved and help the orphans in the Burkina Faso area. I think it’s a very generous and thoughtful thing for Ron & Christina to do. Be sure to go bid for the shirts here!!

I enjoyed my conversation with Christina & Ron and was glad that they made it through to the final three. They are truly nice people! I loved it that they were able to work through their issues and emerge a closer and happier pair!

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POSTED IN: Interviews, Reality Stars, The Amazing Race