Interview with Margie and Luke from "The Amazing Race"

AE: Do you regret the fight with Kisha and Jen? Have you guys made up or is there still some animosity there?
MA: No, there's no animosity left. We totally regret...
LA: Maybe a little awkward.
MA: Yeah, it's definitely awkward, but the race was such a wonderful experience, everything single minute was fabulous, and to have just that one, short, brief moment on the race when things didn't go well... It was just an awkward time. There were a lot of misunderstandings, a lot of hurt feelings. We were exhausted. We've definitely made up with Kisha and Jen. We have so much respect for those women. They are fantastic athletes. They are wonderful women who contribute so much to the community with their jobs. They're just fantastic people. That is the one regret we have on the race that one little brief skirmish we had.

Kisha and Jen

AE: Were you close to any of the other teams?
LA: Cara and Jamie, and Tammy and Victor.

AE: That was nice that you all ended up in the final three, then.
MA: Yes. Actually, the first night of the race, when we stopped in Lucarte, Switzerland at the church, it was the day after Halloween, All Souls Day, which is a holy day in Switzerland, so a lot of the stores were closed, the streets were deserted. We found a little café that was open, and Cara and Jamie, Tammy and Victor, and Luke and I sat down and we shared one small pizza because we didn't want to spend our money. We had the nicest evening. We talked about how fun it was to be on the race, and how cool it would be if this was the final three, and how we really liked each other a lot, and we would help each other when we could, and when it was race time, it was race time. We stuck with that through the whole race, and it actually happened that we were the final three teams, so it was pretty cool.

AE: What did you learn about each other that most surprised you?
MA: The thing that I learned about Luke was how competitive he is. I had never, ever seen that side of him.
LA: Yeah, I'm very competitive.
MA: I mean, Luke has always tried his best. He did really well in school and graduated from college. He's always done his best, but I never saw that competitive edge to him that I saw on the race. I was so impressed that every challenge, he gave 110% of what he had to complete it. He was so encouraging with me, "You can do it, Mom. Come on." It was just really, really nice to see. Luke's always been kind of low-key and easygoing, a go-with-the-flow kind of kid, so to see that competitive spirit and nature in him was really nice.
LA: Before the race started, Mom used to doubt herself about her strength. I never doubted my mom for one second. I knew she could do it. I knew with a positive attitude she could do it. I knew she was the right team partner for me.

AE: Thanks for making me cry, Luke.
MA: [laughs]
LA: And not only me, I think she surprised herself. I don't think she knew she had those physical capabilities in her when we did those challenges. She's fifty-one years old, and she's an amazing person. I'm so proud of her.
Interpreter: And you're going to make the interpreter cry. [laughs]

AE: This season is being called one of the best ever. Why do you think it worked so well?
LA: The challenges, the cast chemistry, and a lot of my season had first experiences happen, like mom and me being the first mother and son team to make it to the final three, the first two-woman team to make it to the final three, the first Asian team the make the final three, and the fact that mom and I were in the top four from the beginning to the end.

And people would always say, you're either in first place or fourth place, you kind of take turns back and forth. I think people watched Phil learn sign language to say we were team number one or four or whatever place we came in. I think people really loved the last four because it was kind of Kisha and Jen against us, and Cara and Jamie against Tammy and Victor. And my season was the first time we used the U-Turn two times and both of them were successful. Last season, no one used a U-Turn or if they did, it failed. In my season, we were successful in using both U-Turns, there were a lot of first times for many different things this season.
MA: I agree, it was really exciting, but I think the number one thing was the chemistry of the teams. We all really liked each other, we respected each other, we saw what great competitors everybody was. We just got along really well. It was really nice. It was a nice group to travel with and just be with.

AE: What's next for the both of you?
MA: My fifteen minutes of fame is ticking away here, so I'm going to stay at my job and life goes back to normal.
LA: I'm looking for opportunities. I hope something will come my way soon. And also I hope we'll be picked for the All-Star team.
MA: [laughs] I need a vacation first.