'The Amazing Race' Exit interview: Ralph and Vanessa

By Diane Vadino

Special to MSN TV

 

Fourth-place finishers Ralph Kelley and Vanessa Macias didn't fight as much as some of the other coupled-up teams. But the freelance writer and bar owner are, nonetheless, no longer together. After a gritty final episode in which Vanessa, with a sprained ankle, took on one of the season’s most challenging tasks, we talked to them about watching the finale last night, paying their respects in Hiroshima, and the start of the battles with Rachel and Brendon.

 

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What it like watching Sunday night's episode? 

Vanessa: It was the one episode I couldn't sit down and watch. It's like watching the sinking of the Titanic. If you're on the Titanic, you don't want to see it go down. After a couple glasses of wine, I did watch it on the DVR. 

 

Still, Vanessa, it seems like you should be proud of how hard you went after that challenge.

Ralph: It says a lot about her character that she left it all out there. She'll be the first one to tell you, though, that she should have listened to me and gone to the gym. 

 

Vanessa: I don't know if that would have changed anything.

 

Ralph: It might have. But it doesn't matter. She was a bad ass. She showed a lot of heart. And it was heartbreaking watching it. 

 

Was there anything you could have done differently? 

Vanessa: No. We were going tit-for-tat on the Roadblocks, and when I had to do it, we were joking in the cab about if it'd be a physical challenge, like, "Leap this building" or something ridiculous. 

 

Ralph: We tried to strategize where I was doing the more physical ones, but this couldn't be avoided. 

 

Vanessa: The one thing we would have done differently, overall, is the Fast Forward [in India.] I knew there was a reason Rachel was crying [when she and Brendon failed to take the Fast Forward because Rachel didn’t want to shave her head], and she was, like, "Why don't you go try the Fast Forward?" I knew there was something behind it. But she didn't know that I totally would have cut my hair. But still, our position in the race wasn’t in jeopardy because Mark and Bopper were so totally behind. So I’m not sure it would have mattered.

 

What was your favorite moment on the race? 

Ralph: My grandmother's Japanese, so going to Japan was really special. And I'm a history nut, so being able to stop at the memorial [in Hiroshima] for a minute was incredible.  

 

Did they actually make you stay there? 

Ralph: Yeah, it was written into the clue that you had to be there for so many minutes. It was hard because you’re racing, and the other teams are standing right there. And it was awesome that the show made us take a few minutes to stand there and take it in. 

 

Why do you think you and Rachel had such tension all the way throughout the race, Vanessa? 

Vanessa: At the very first airport, there was a conversation where she attacked my personal and political views, and then one comment led to another. It was really just a lot of personalities. We would probably never get along in the real world. I tend to deal really well with difficult personalities. But if we'd been in a country where they don't extradite …

 

Ralph: Everything was left where it was. 

 

Vanessa: I apologized for the nose [job] comments. That was below the belt. And after [the race], we were humans to each other. But we're not having tea and crumpets. 

 

Are you guys still together? 

Ralph: We're not. 

 

It seemed like the race was really hard on everyone's relationships, even Rachel and Dave. And they’re married.

Vanessa: We were actually building our tent [in Tanzania] next to Dave and Rachel, and I was like, Wow, they aren't getting along very well. There was just sort of a major and soldier relationship there. More like cold -- not abrasive. But they're still together, so they're doing something right.