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AE: If you could pick anyone to do Amazing Race with, who would it be?
DA: I would do it with Kristine from the show [The Apprentice]. She and I talked about that. She's the tall blonde. She's my fruit fly. Will I get in trouble for using that word? Or even Angela, the hockey player. We talked about it, too.

AE: Did you ever feel any homophobia yourself? Your teammates seemed to think very highly of you.
DA: The answer is no, definitely not. I was worried, though. A week before the game starts, you actually tape the introductions … but you can't talk to any of the cast mates at that time. I saw Muna, the Jamaican girl on my team, and she had a book with her at all times by Joel Osteen. He's like some religious person, like a pastor at a mega church or something. I saw it and thought, "Oh crap. They put a religious person on here just to clash with me." I thought I would hate her.

After the first task, I sat down with her and said, "Muna, I know you're really, really religious." At that point, I'd already come out to everyone because the first task was in West Hollywood and I came up with using the gay boys with the signs. So I sat down with her and said, "I know you're deeply Christian, and I'm gay, so I just want to know how that's going to play out between the two of us since we have to work together."

And this was her response — which is what my hope for what most Christian people would be like, which is probably true — but she was just like, "You know, Derek, I love you. I don't judge you. I have no problem with people being gay. If you love somebody, then why should I condemn that? You're not hurting anybody, and I love you regardless. I don't think the Bible has any problem with it." That moment, I fell in love with her. She's the most awesome person on the show.

Doubly interesting is that, being Jamaican, she said, "Derek, you know they actually kill guys in Jamaica; they beat them up for being gay." And I said, "Yeah, I'm vaguely familiar with that." And she's like, "I may catch some heat if they show you and I being terribly friendly with each other." Really? I could understand if it was a guy being friendly with another gay guy, but as a woman?

She was like: "No, I'll get some heat for it. I'd love to do a PSA with you in Jamaica or something." She's just such a beautiful person. She restored my faith in people of faith, to some extent. I have such an anti-organized religious bias because of all the stuff they spout off. But she restored my faith in Christian people.

AE: Do you think being gay is a plus, minus or neutral in the business world?
DA: That's a good question. I work in entertainment, so I think it's a neutral. It shocks me that there are people in my company that are closeted still — in entertainment.

In the law firm world, which is where I came from, I think it is a negative because to drum up business you have to hang out with clients who have a wife and kids. If they ask you about your family and you have a boyfriend, you can't really bring that up. I was out in my law firm, though. I've been out since I was 21 — at least to friends and coworkers, not the family. That's a whole other story.

People tend to view me as a novelty. They don't really believe I'm gay when I tell them. I think they're OK with me being gay because it doesn't make them quote-unquote uncomfortable. It pisses me off to some extent because I'm like, "Why are people accepting of me but not other people who are gay?" I feel like I want to cheer on those people who have a harder time fitting in to straight society.

When I was interviewing for jobs in the law firms, a lot of the partners viewed me as straight. They had no idea I was gay. And they would sometimes make anti-gay remarks during the interview process — you spend a lot of time with them, having dinner, spending all day on the phone. Even somewhat on The Apprentice, I was the first person chosen by Heidi, and she thought I was a straight, Midwestern frat boy. When people don't know that I'm gay, I get a peek in at how people can truly be when they don't think gays are around.

I don't think it's a positive in law or in entertainment. Except it does make for good connections in Hollywood.

AE: Which big twist this season changed the game the most: the project manager staying on until the team lost, the winning project manager sitting in on the boardroom, or the losing team living in tents?
DA: I would say the losing team living in tents, not because it was such a difficult living scenario … it really wasn't. It was because you don't have any interaction with the other team at all. Normally, in previous seasons, you stayed in the same house and got to know each other. I can honestly say I don't know the other team that well.

I know Carey because we spent three weeks in seclusion together after we got fired. Even after the show, when we were taking pictures and stuff, we socialized only with Kinetic, and the other team associated only with itself. It was like some big social experiment to see if we would integrate, but we never did. I think that changed the game the most. It made you hate the other team more. You didn't know them as much, so it was easier to just be like, "I want to take them down."

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