“We Do Not Do Cold Weather!” – Reality News Online’s Exclusive Interview with The Amazing Race 20's Kerri & Stacy

Reality News Online: Hi Kerri & Stacy! Thanks for talking to Reality News Online! What made you decide to apply for The Amazing Race?

Kerri: It was Stacy’s idea because she’s been a fan of the race for years. We’ve been separated with her living overseas with her husband playing basketball. Stacy thought it would be a great opportunity for us to be together and be double trouble again like we were in high school.

RNO: How cold was that leg?

Kerri: Oh, my gosh! Did you not hear me say the weather outside was frightful?

Stacy: It was freezing!

Kerri: Right now I’m in little shorts and a little tee shirt because we are in the southern heat and it is 80-something degrees. We do not do cold weather!

Stacy: I don’t do snow – the only snow I do is snow cones.

RNO: You weren’t in last place in this leg until right at the end – do you know how far behind Nary & Jamie you got to the Pit Stop?

Stacy: I don’t think we were very far behind them – or at least I’m hoping we weren’t. I knew we had left [the Roadblock] within five minutes of them because, watching the show, Nary got it after a couple more tries.

If we could have just gotten the right directions we wouldn’t be talking to you now.

RNO: Kerri, you said you were lucky to navigate yourself to the mall at home – why were you navigating for the team and was that a problem for you during the race?

Kerri: I feel like Stacy’s stronger at driving in Europe because she lives in Europe for half the year. I’m not going to say that I’m a self-proclaimed “great navigator,” but I’m okay. We were both navigating together, but of course she was the driver so she couldn’t look at a map.

At that point we had a map. I was trying my best. I’m a smart person and I can still overcome that one, small weakness. I’m a woman – we’re good at multitasking.

RNO: How long do you think you were lost looking for the Pit Stop?

Stacy: It felt like forever! Every minute feels like an hour, but I would guess we were lost for maybe 15 minutes. When we left the Roadblock someone sent us to the castle. We showed them exactly where we needed to be and, despite that, we were looking at the castle a minute later. We were just getting bad directions the entire evening. Goodness gracious!

RNO: You also went to the wrong castle first – what made you choose that castle as Sleeping Beauty’s castle?

Stacy: Actually, Kerri and I – the way that we had come into the little town [was a bit different]. Other teams came from a higher angle. We came into town from a different directions so we didn’t see the [correct] castle right away.

So we ran up to the yellow castle. When we got to the top we said, “Stop. Is this the right castle?” When we were going up the first hill to that castle we then saw the other castle. So we checked before we even went in there because we both had that feeling that something wasn’t right. I would expect Sleeping Beauty’s castle to be a bit more jazzy.

RNO: You did the gingerbread Detour. How long did it take you to actually get to the witch?

Kerri: It felt like forever because we had to get enough gingerbread to complete the gingerbread house – and we had no idea how big the house was so we wanted to make sure we had enough.

It was very, very hard to find the house. They didn’t show the whole thing, but we were probably walking through that little enchanted forest for a good 30-45 minutes. We went through a neighborhood and the house was at the bottom of a hill. We had to go up the hill to follow the gingerbread path, but the house was at the bottom. It was kind of like a path to nowhere.

Plus it was heavy snow. Sometimes we would have to search through the snow for some gingerbread pieces because the snow covered it up. Then we had other teams with us – and that was a distraction in and of itself.

RNO: When it came to actually making the gingerbread house you completed it the fastest of those teams with you. Did you feel pretty good about your chances when you were leaving the Detour?

Kerri: Yeah, Stacy and I definitely were feeling good. In every challenge we did we made sure to focus and stay on task. Some of the other teams got off task by singing or whining or crying. We were so focused. We had no time for singing. That’s how we were able to get out of that challenge before everybody else.

RNO: Why did you choose the gingerbread Detour option over the beard styling?

Kerri: Well, we didn’t! We originally wanted to do the beard challenge. We’re sassy divas – we do our own hair. But we couldn’t find the challenge and we saw a couple of the other teams going to the gingerbread challenge – and we knew it was better to be in a group – so we just decided to change plans and go with them.

RNO: Kerri, you got to the Roadblock well after Nary & Jamie, but it definitely took you a while to complete. How long do you think you were sliding gnomes?

Kerri: I know for sure it was 69 slides – and that’s a lot. We got focused, we got our rhythm going, and we got out of there as fast as we could. It was just hard because you had Bopper who came in and hit it on the first try. It was a lot harder than it looked.

I’ve never played shuffleboard before. It was hard and then the ice was slippery and the gnome was slipping and sliding. The hard part was actually tailoring the velocity.

RNO: What was the smartest thing you did on the race?

Stacy: I think the smartest thing Kerri and I did… We saw eye to eye and we knew what our goals were. We weren’t worried about other teams. We weren’t focusing on crazy strategies. We were incredibly focused through every challenge. I’m proud of us and how we handled ourselves on the race.

Kerri: I think our strong suit was that we prepared for so long. Stacy and I worked together for months preparing and spending time together – and practicing challenges. Our family made us backyard challenges in the country. That was really different because we were working on our camaraderie and just gelling. We knew our strengths and weaknesses before we got to the race. We knew who would be better at what before we started the race.

RNO: Stacy, you wanted to run the race to show your children they could do anything – what were your families’ reactions to watching you both on the race?

Stacy: Oh, my gosh! My kids are so awesome. Our family is incredibly supportive. We have the same family – our moms are sisters. It never felt like it was just Kerri and I running the race. It was Kerri and I and our uncles and kids and husbands.

Personally, this last leg my son and my daughter were just so heartbroken when they saw we were actually out. Even after the show went off my son was still saying, “Mom, wait a minute. You’re going to be on next week, right?” I had to say, “No, baby, that’s the end.”

He was crying and hugging me and saying, “Mommy, we’re proud of you… But we knew you could win.” I think that was a moment for me that let me know Kerri and I did a good thing by going on the race. My kids saw me in the light they usually see my husband. He can conquer anything. He’s this fantastic basketball player. I look at him in awe.

I only wanted my kids to look at me like they look at him instead of just looking at me as a mom – as a hug-giver. I wanted them to see me as a hero. I got that satisfaction last night.

RNO: What else would you like to tell our readers about your experiences on The Amazing Race?

Kerri: I’m really glad that we did it. I’m glad we were able to show people that no matter where you come from or where you’ve been whatever you put your mind to you can accomplish. We’ve had a lot of people give us positive affirmations about how we inspire them by going and facing our fears. Even though we didn’t win, it was still a positive experience for me and other people around me.

Stacy: What I have taken from the race -- and one thing that Kerri was dead set on showing me – was that it doesn’t matter what your role is in life. I’m just a mom. My life revolves around my husband and my kids and supporting them in their endeavors.

Sometimes mommies get lost in the shuffle. Sometimes we don’t have time to say, as women, “I can do this crazy thing!” We never set time aside to go and accomplish these things. I’m so happy I learned this from Kerri.

I definitely in the future see myself taking out time to just go and do something adventurous. Women, we can have our cake and eat it too. You just have to eat the cake early in the morning.

RNO: Thank you so much for talking to Reality News Online today.

Kerri & Stacy: Thank you.

You can follow Reality News Online on Twitter and on Facebook! On Twitter, you can get up to the minute notifications on article postings and other reality TV news by following us. So head on over to Reality News Online’s Twitter page! On Facebook, you can become a fan, join discussions, and more!

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out these other recent Amazing Race articles:

Teeuwynn is a professional author, puzzle, game, and event designer.

Be sure to sign up for our e-mail update so you can stay informed about new articles on the site! And take a look at the rest of the site. You can even buy reality show stuff at our Reality TV Store!

For more news about The Amazing Race, be sure to check out SirLinksALot: The Amazing Race!