Chris Hammons and Bret LaBelle were eliminated from The Amazing Race's 31st season during the latest broadcast on CBS.

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Chris, 40, and Bret, 44 -- who raced as friends and former Survivor castaways from Moore, OK, and Dedham, MA, respectively -- were ousted from the Race to win $1 million after arriving at the ninth Pit Stop at Matejuska at Split Harbor in Split, Croatia, in last place.

"We started out great and it just went downhill," Bret explained. "I'll never make detective because I didn't find those coins!... Croatia kicked our butts."

"But the bromance is still going!" Chris noted with a laugh.

During an exclusive interview with Reality TV World after the episode aired, Chris and Bret talked about their time on The Amazing Race and unfortunate ouster. Below is a portion of what they had to say.

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Reality TV World: Looking back on the Detour, do you think you could have done anything differently or better when searching for those coins in the water?

Chris Hammons: You know what I regret, Bret? And I just thought of it.

Bret LaBelle: What?

Chris Hammons: I bet you a million dollars that when Colin and Christie were walking off, if we had asked them for their two coins, they'd have given them to us.

Bret LaBelle: Yeah, you're probably right!

Chris Hammons: They had found two coins, and it was exactly what we needed. I bet you $100 they'd have given them to us.

Bret LaBelle: (Laughs) They probably would have. Well, I don't know though, because Christie didn't give [Rachel Reilly and Elissa Slater] the clue that time.

Chris Hammons: Yeah, but that was the Reillys! We're different.

Bret LaBelle: That's true. That's true.

Chris Hammons: If we told them not to do it and said, basically, "We've been here for hours" -- we could've told them it's easy and then left them there with us. I think they'd have given them to us.

Bret LaBelle: That's an interesting [thought]. I would love to ask them that. That's an interesting question.

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Reality TV World: Well I'll be sure to keep that question in mind when I talk to Colin and Christie later in the season. As you probably recall, Rachel and Elissa had U-Turned Colin and Christie, so that seemed to be why Christie and Colin wouldn't share their Detour clue with them.

Bret LaBelle: It's the O'Reillys! The O'Reillys. (Laughs)

Reality TV World: Nicole Franzel and Victor Arroyo are the only team left on the show that never competed on The Amazing Race before. Do you think being an experienced Racer is THAT much of an advantage or would you simply say the best teams are still around? Meaning, maybe a team like Tyler Oakley and Korey Kuhl would still be doing this great had they never been on the show before?

Bret LaBelle: No, no, no. It absolutely [is]. Whoever came up with this idea, CBS, to do this, somebody knew, "The Race teams are going to have the upper leg," and boy did they ever!

I'll tell you right now, if [former Racers Art Velez and JJ Carrell] didn't have that colossal mix up in the first leg, they'd be right there too.

It's definitely a learning curve, and Chris and I have it now. If we ever go back out there, you can bet we're going to be extremely prepared, you know what I mean?

And we're going to be the team to beat! But, you know, it's a learning curve and we did learn it. We know it.

But again, there's always something else you've got to learn, like you don't have to memorize the whole [poem] and you can break that up. That's something we should've known.

Chris Hammons: Yes, there were definitely some advantages, but that's not to say the Race teams -- they're good at doing it, period. But there are certainly some advantages and a learning curve that happens.

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Reality TV World: Speaking of preparing, how did you two prepare for this season of The Amazing Race? Corinne Kaplan and Eliza Orlins, for example, took stick-shift, line dancing and sewing lessons to prepare themselves for potential tasks.

Chris Hammons: No, I mean, we were alternates, so we were picked very late. I think we had four days. Something like that.

Reality TV World: Oh wow, so it sounds like you just had to throw yourselves into the Race.

Chris Hammons: Yeah, so there was no preparation for us. (Laughs) We were bumbling idiots the first three legs for a reason. (Laughs)

Bret LaBelle: That's correct. Yeah.

Chris Hammons: And I carried Bret's backpack for a reason the entire Race.

Bret LaBelle: (Laughs) Yeah, we don't need to talk about that.

Chris Hammons: Yeah (Laughs).

Reality TV World: Well how did your casting come about then? Did one of you get the phone call and you were able to pick your Survivor partner, or did CBS just pair you up and say, "Hey, you two, are you ready?"

Bret LaBelle: They called me and said, "Who would you like to do it with?" And I said, "Who's that poor attorney guy down in Oklahoma? What was his name again?"

And they said, "Chris Hammons." And I was like, "Yes, yes. Why don't we give him a call because he looks like a strong guy and maybe he could help me out." (Laughs)

No, they actually picked us, yes.

Chris Hammons: Yeah, they wanted us together from the get-go. Yeah.

Bret LaBelle: A lot of production had seen us in action because Chris and I hit it off right away. We enjoyed busting each other's balls and having a good laugh.

And I think a lot of people who worked on Survivor and in casting picked up on that, like, "Oh my god, these guys are really fun together. They are a lot of fun and they act like they've known each other for a long time."

So I think they saw that and when they were looking for Race teams, they just thought, "Bret and Chris would be perfect for this," you know?

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Reality TV World: Out of the "Reality Clash" twist, Survivor teams seemed to perform the worst out of Survivor, Big Brother and The Amazing Race. Do you think that was just a fluke or what do you think was going on there?

Chris Hammons: Well, I do think -- who knows. It could be a fluke. You know, [Rupert Boneham] and [Laura Boneham], it's just a game of inches on The Amazing Race, whether you get the right tuk-tuk or you get the right situation or you get the right elephant.

If you get the right elephant, you cruise through and you're fine, and maybe you'd make it another leg. Corinne and Eliza, I thought they would be one of the teams at the end.

I thought they were going to be one of the strongest teams. But you just run into one of these things where you get lost or you get a little bit behind, and there's just no overcoming it.

Bret LaBelle: Yeah, right.

Chris Hammons: So it's a little bit of both, you know what I mean?

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To read the first part of Reality TV World's exclusive The Amazing Race interview with Bret and Chris, click here. And be sure to check back with us soon for the remaining portion.


About The Author: Steven Rogers

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