The Amazing Race eliminated Redmond Ramos and Matt Ladley during the penultimate episode of Season 29 on CBS.

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Redmond, a 28-year-old former U.S. Navy corpsman from Murrieta, CA, and Matt, a 25-year-old pro snowboarder from Denver, CO, were ousted from the around-the-world competition after they arrived at the eleventh leg's Pit Stop on the islands of Sevit Some in Seoul, South Korea in last place due to transportation problems.

"We were both just super happy to be here," Redmond noted following the team's elimination.

"We wanted to show the world that nothing can bring you down. No matter what your struggle is, you can succeed," Matt said, before telling his stranger-partner who had become a friend, "I'm stoked you were my partner. We had a good time."

During an exclusive interview with Reality TV World via email, Redmond talked about his The Amazing Race experience. Below is what he had to say.

Reality TV World: When you finally arrived at the Pit Stop on the islands of Sevit Some in Seoul, how far behind the third place finishers were you?

Redmond Ramos: 15 minutes (From what we are told).

Reality TV World: How long do you think you rode the subway for in South Korea and how long do you think it took the other teams to arrive to the Gangnam District via taxi? And would you say that was the biggest mistake you guys made during your whole time racing?

Redmond Ramos: The subway cost us 20 minutes. The lost taxi driver cost us over an hour and a half. That was what cost us.

Reality TV World: Your taxi driver took you guys to the wrong gym when you were supposed to be going to Hanyang University Olympic Gym. How frustrating was that?

Redmond Ramos: It was incredibly frustrating. The other teams had about a 15 minute drive to the university -- our cab took over an hour and a half. The most frustrating part is that Matt and I asked three separate Taxi drivers. 

The first two did not seem to know the University, so we moved on. The last taxi driver knew exactly where it was (he thought). We showed him the clue with the university name three separate times and he said he knew the place. We were hoping that we would get to have some hard challenges to make up time, but then we had a 10-minute cup stacking challenge haha.

Reality TV World: The show made it look like everything came easy for you guys this season. Even when you got U-Turned at one point, you still avoided a last-place finish. So what did you find most challenging or difficult about your Race? Was there a specific task or moment?

Redmond Ramos: HAHA I can assure you that nothing was easy for us. We fought tooth and nail every single challenge.  Matt and I just did not complain -- ever. We realized how fortunate we were and wanted to give it our all. 

Matt was racing with a bum arm (he had to get surgery right after) and I had a horrible infection in my leg half of the race. We never complained, even though we were both in intense pain. I would say that the most difficult part of The Amazing Race was simply running everywhere. My leg was in intense pain and every single step hurt.

Reality TV World: You guys seemed tight with a lot of different teams this season. Whom did you consider genuine allies, and which team did you view as your biggest threat this season, and why?

Redmond Ramos: I honestly love everyone on the Race. Yes -- even [Ashton Theiss] and [Vanck Zhu]! Our little fight was just me being butthurt and trying to scare them and every other team into not U-Turning us again. I actually love them both.

It is hard to say who were genuine allies. I loved [Joey Covino] and [Tara Carr] and #TeamFun [Becca Droz and Floyd Pierce], but they were the toughest competition in my eyes, so we were worried about having them in the finals.

Matt and I never U-Turned anyone and don't know if we would have. However, I can say that we wanted two teams that had never beaten us [Brooke Camhi and Scott Flanary] and "LoLo" [Logan Bauer and London Kaye] in the final, so we sort of allied with them.

Reality TV World: At the time you got eliminated from the Race, which team did you think would end up winning The Amazing Race? And which team were you hoping would win?

Redmond Ramos: Everyone knows that I love the teams that were left (So don't hate me guys!) but I definitely was #TeamMomandDad! [Tara and Joey]. We loved racing against them and when you get eliminated, you normally want the team that beat you to win the whole thing :)  

Reality TV World: You guys clearly made an amazing team; it's funny to think you paired up as strangers. How do you think your strengths and weaknesses complemented each other during the Race?

Redmond Ramos: Thank you! Matt and I became great friends right away. I think that we were one of those rare teams that were incredibly similar but still worked well. There wasn't anything that one of us couldn't do (Except for that damn foot rowing challenge haha). Our biggest strength had to be our Heart (Or as Joey says... "Haht!") and our attitude. 

Reality TV World: Was this your first time ever applying to compete on The Amazing Race? And is it safe to say you'd race together again in a heartbeat if given the opportunity?

Redmond Ramos: Yes it was both Matt and I's first time, and I would race with him again in a heartbeat!
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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