by Gina Scarpa

 

Last night, on The Amazing Race, a capella singers Connor and Jonathan fell from the top of the pack to the bottom. Teams traveled from Ghana to Sweden, where a sledding challenge proved to be tough on the Princeton students. They changed tasks but the damage had already been done and they were the last team to arrive at the pit stop. Today, we spoke to Connor and Jonathan in an exclusive interview about their experiences on the race.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What made you decide to try out for The Amazing Race? Were you fans of the show?
A. Jonathan: I was a fan of the show. I watched it when it started for a bunch of seasons. We found out about the deadline the night before and I thought, "This would be cool for me and Connor." He hadn't seen the show before but trusted that it was good for us. We sent a video in and, luckily, got picked. It was totally spur of the moment.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What makes each of you a good partner for the other?
A. Connor: Jonathan is incredibly smart, very athletic, and we both work so well together. Not only did we perform relatively well on the challenges, but we complimented each other in so many other ways. That's one of the reasons why we never did get into a fight. We are so close and we get along so well. There wasn't anything that could shake us. I think we make a really good team.
A. Jonathan: Connor's an amazing partner because he's driven, he's competitive, he's talented, and smart. On top of all that, he's incredibly supportive. We never said a cross word to each other. When I was botching the sledding and falling, he never said anything mean to rile me up because he knew that wouldn't help.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What was the biggest surprise about actually being on the race as opposed to watching it on tv?
A. Connor: I was surprised there was no soundtrack. I was like, "Where's our music?"
A. Jonathan: It was tougher than I thought it was going to be. The other thing is that there are giant blocks of times when you're traveling that really drain you. It's fun to watch but much tougher to do. When I was crashing in the sled, I was like, "Ow, this is really hurting!"

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Traveling from Ghana to Sweden on this week's episode was a pretty big change, at least when it came to climate. How did you adjust going from country to country?
A. Connor: So much is thrown at you at every leg of the race, not only country to country, but it's like sensory overload. You don't even have time to really realize or appreciate the differences between the different locations. You always focus on the next clue.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Is it tough that you never actually get to sightsee in these countries because you're too busy running the race?
A. Connor: That's actually the biggest different between watching and experiencing. You see these people that have had these incredible experiences but you don't realize how oblivious you are when you're on the race. I think we both would've loved to have more time to sightsee and take in everything.
A. Jonathan: When we were picking up the clue at Stonehenge, I felt bad that it was basically a marker to get to our next clue. We didn't get to stop. One of our favorite moments was on the ski lift to go sledding because, at that moment, we didn't have to think of anything and we just got to look at this beautiful view.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What is the biggest thing that you took away from being on the race?
A. Connor: I took away a new appreciation for my friendship with Jonathan, I think, more than anything. We got along so well. We didn't say one cross word to another and our relationship was strengthened as a result. I look at the whole experience as a capstone to our time at Princeton with one another and a celebration of our friendship over the last four years.
A. Jonathan: For us, whenever we see taxis, I want to run after them and hail them down!

 

 

The Amazing Race airs Sundays at 8/7c on CBS.

 

(Image courtesy of CBS)

 

Follow Gina at twitter.com/ginascarpa

 

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