LAST EDITED ON 07-15-04 AT 10:07 PM (EST)

Looks like the bowling chicks are in for the long haul along with Team Blue Lagoon (Brandon's religious belief comments foreshadows their lasting endurance in the race, as with past TAR examples, finalists Kelly/Jon and Will/Tara comments on Karma. This plus reports of sightings of a Flo/Zach like team in Denver)

http://www.elitestv.com/NewsPub/2004/Jul/ETV40f57fcd46dba.html

Elites TV spoke with Allison Irwin the morning after her and partner Donald Patrick became the second couple to be eliminated from the race. Donny was unable to join Allison for the interview because of “class.” Or, according to Allison, his complete lack of it.

Elites TV – Hi Allison, thanks so much for talking with Elites TV. According to the CBS website, you and Donny decided to do Amazing Race to see if you could date after your experiences on Big Brother. So the big question is, are you two still together?

Allison – We dated for a while . I actually moved in with him and his family, and then I couldn’t really take the way he treated me any longer so I decided to get up and leave him.

Elites TV – Yeah, it seemed like you guys had some rough patches on the show.

Allison – Yeah!

Elites TV – But you guys also said that that was normal for your relationship. Do you think the way The Amazing Race was cut focused on your bickering rather than good points between you guys?

Allison – No, we do bicker a lot, but we have really good times too which is probably why we stayed together for so long. I mean, did show us fighting but we do fight a lot. So, I can’t really complain about the show.

Elites TV – what was the biggest lesson that you learned from competing?

Allison- I can’t say that I learned a lesson by competing in AR, because I kind of learned my lessons from competing in Big Brother, which I did by myself. But during Amazing Race I learned to think more about me…respect myself more and not let others downsize or talk to me the way that Donny did. It’s bad to say, but I had to see it on TV to for me to realize that this is not what people deserve.

Elites TV - Interesting. So do you think that this is your last reality show or are you going to try for more?

Allison – I don’t think I’m going to be trying out for any more reality shows! But, um, you never know. Survivor is still going on, right?

Elites TV – Ok, now about last night’s show. When you showed up at the Pit Stop, did you know that you came in last?

Allison – I knew. I knew from the second Donny said, “We’re taking a bus.” I knew that that was like our fatal move.

Elites TV –That leads me to my next question: If you could change one thing about the final leg in the show last night, would it be to choose “Tango” over “Perro” or taking a taxi instead of a bus to La Estancia La Invernada?

Allison – Um, well, since both of those were Donny’s decisions, I would not let him think . I would do the race like I did the first leg. We would have done the Tango, we would have been in the taxi, and we probably would have been in second place.

Elites TV - Interesting…It has been said that this is the most cutthroat season of AR. Would you agree?

Allison - Yeah, definitely. Everybody was really competitive. Everybody was still really nice, but it was just more…driven this year.

Elites TV – Were certain teams more competitive than others?

Allison – Yeah, definitely.

Elites TV – Who was the most cutthroat?

Allison – The most cutthroat? Hmmm…let me think. I’m going to have to say the Bowling Moms. I think the reason they seemed most cutthroat was because it took me by surprise how cutthroat, conniving and competitive they really were.

Elites TV—Yeah, on last’s night broadcast they told Jim and Marsha to exchange their money at the airport. That was pretty surprising.

Allison – Yeah.

Elites TV – Who did you guys get along with most on the show? Did you have time to really bond with certain teams?

Allison – I really liked every single person on that show. There was only one person I didn’t really care for.

Elites TV – Who?

Allison – I didn’t really care for Marsha, from the father daughter team. I though she was really mean and nasty. Not only to us but her teammate. Everybody else I really did like like, even if, you know, they didn’t care for us. I thought everybody was really cool.

Elites TV – What went on behind the scenes that we didn’t see? Like when you guys were having dinner, were those really fun times? Were there any juicy stories?

Allison – No, I wouldn’t say that there were any really juicy stories. But, yeah we all did get along. We all had dinner together and everybody forgot about the race and got to know each other.

Elites TV – Were people really able to shed their race personas and just hang out and drink wine together?

Allison – Yeah, a lot of people were able to just bond and talk about their real lives instead of just our reality life.

Elites TV – Were there any moments that weren’t broadcast that you wish made the final cut?

Allison – No…I don’t know. There were all kinds of things that went on . All kinds of fighting and…you know what I mean. It got a little bit worse than what we all saw so I’m kind of glad that weren’t shown.

Elite TV (salivating) – Can you give a tidbit?

Allison – On the bus ride to the roadblock Donny and got into it pretty bad and he started making remarks like I was ugly, I was fat…I was everything that had nothing to do with the race. I think he was just taking out his frustration on me because he knew that he had made a mistake. Twice. And I think that he knew that we were in last place at that point and was very insecure because he knew that… We had a game plan going into this race: I was going to be the brains and he was going to do all the physical aspects of the race. And we didn’t stick to our plan. I think he realized that he couldn’t do my half of the bargain and I couldn’t do his, and he crossed the line. So we got into it really, really bad on the bus. I’m kind of glad I didn’t see that because that probably would have put me in tears.

Elites TV – I’m sorry. So where did you watch the show? With a big group of friends?

Allison - The first one I watched with hundreds of people. We had a huge party and rented out a bar and that was awesome. But last night I just watched it with a couple of close friends.

Elites TV – Did you find it really hard to keep the secret?

Allison – No, not really.

Elites TV – Which detour did you think was scarier, “Zips”or “Perro.”

Allison – I knew that no matter what, once you get on that zip line you’re going. And I knew that with the dogs you could stop at any time and get lost and we were in a foreign city with nobody around us, with Donny navigating…so I was a bit more scared about , that it was going to really hurt us.

Elites TV - Any big culture shocks or language barriers?

Allison - Of course there were language barriers. Just the way people live, the way they perceive Americans—it was all really weird and really new for us. It was uncomfortable but at the same time exciting. It was hard because when you’re running the race you don’t have time to check it all out and meet the people and talk about their cultures. You’re just like: “How do I get there.” It comes across as very rude, but you kind of have to because you’re on a mission. You’re out for a million dollars and if you don’t then that could put you in last place.

Elites TV – What team has most surprised you by their performance?

Allison – Probably the Moms. The Bowling moms

Elites TV – And Charla and Mirna? They were last night’s big surprise.

Allison – Yeah…but she’s strong, man. That girl’s got a lot going for her. She’ really strong, really determined, and I thought she was a huge threat. And obviously they are still there. We’re not, and they are.

Elites TV - What are your future plans?

Allison - I’m working in South Carolina until December and then I’m planning on moving back to Pennsylvania, to Pittsburg, away from Donny.

Elites TV – What’s Donny up to now?

Allison - I think he’s trying to go back to school

Elites TV - Good for him.

Allison - Yahhh…I really want to get into pharmaceutical sales and then in the future go to law school. But not in the near future. I need some time and breathing space.

Elites TV - Well good for you, great job on the show and it was a pleasure talking to you.

Allison - You too! Bye.

Laura Kenney