Exclusive: Jet McCoy and Cord McCoy talk about 'The Amazing Race'

Jet McCoy and Cord McCoy seemed like they were in good shape to survive the The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business' ninth leg, because even though they were near the bottom of the pack approaching the Roadblock, the "Cowboys" team normally always proved they could move fast and find a way to catch up to the other teams.

However, their Race took a fatal turn when they dropped into last place after Jet struggled to complete a Roadblock task, which required the teams to travel across the tiny country of Liechtenstein and estimate its total distance, resulting in the "Cowboys" becoming the sixth team eliminated from the competition during Sunday night's broadcast of the all-stars edition's ninth episode. 


On Monday, Jet and Cord talked to Reality TV World about their The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business experience -- including whether the "Cowboys" blamed their demise entirely on the Roadblock task, what their reactions were to the other teams sharing information while excluding them, when they realized the other teams were targeting them and wanted them out of the Race, what surprised them most when they discovered they had been U-Turned, and why they felt they could have avoided elimination if certain instances had played out differently.

Reality TV World: Last night's episode made it look like Jet getting lost during the Roadblock was the main reason you guys finished last. Do you guys agree with that, or do you think there was some other reason?

Cord McCoy: It definitely didn't help our race. I wish a lot of other teams had got lost too and hung out with us there in the back.

Jet McCoy: When I made the mistake of turning in the wrong answer and the guy said, "You gotta go all the way back," I really wasn't too concerned at that point because I knew there was like three teams behind me and they were all lost too. I was like, "There's no way that they're all gonna get this right."


I thought, "Well there's gotta be at least one team that's behind me by the time I go all the way up there and back," but when you're there on the Race, you don't realize that everybody else is basically sharing information.

Reality TV World: Well in regards to that, last night's episode showed a couple of other teams getting the answer to the Roadblock from teams that had already completed it. It sounds like you're saying that you definitely weren't aware of that at the time. Now that you are aware of it, what are your reactions and thoughts about the situation? Do you think it was unfair, or do you feel everthing's fair on the Race?

Jet McCoy: I think it would have been a lot cooler if I would have been privileged to that information. That's the thing about it. If it would have benefited me, then absolutely. I'd sit here and say, "You know, yeah, that was great. We should be able to do that."

But then it didn't benefit me, so on one hand, you want to say, "Well, maybe you shouldn't be able to do that." But hell, like I said, if it works in my favor, then I'm for it. If it works against me, then I'm against it. So, it was hard for me to say one way or another.

Reality TV World: Do you guys have any idea about how long Jet was lost or about how much time it had cost you?


Jet McCoy: I think it took me like three hours to finish the bike riding.

Reality TV World: Wow, that was after you did it the second time?

Jet McCoy: It was 22 kilometers across Liechtenstein from one end to the other and I was on a moped that had a top speed of about 20 kilometers per hour.

Reality TV World: So you made the run three times total, then?

Jet McCoy: In all the time that I got lost, a lot of time went by.


Reality TV World: The episode made it look like a desire to get you two out of the Race was pretty much the main reason why the teams were helping each other with the Roadblock answer. Do you two feel that way, and what are your thoughts about that? Did you think it was a compliment?

Jet McCoy: I kind of take it as a compliment that everyone seemed to be so intimidated by us... What do you think, Cord?

Cord McCoy: Well, I guess they never did share the information that they were scared of us or wanted to get us out, but looking back, I guess they accomplished their mission.

Reality TV World: So you guys actually didn't know that they were targeting you during the Race or even when you got to the Pit Stop? Was it only when you were watching the episode you had discovered that?

Cord McCoy: I think when we were actually racing, we didn't really look around and pay that much attention to what everybody else was doing and their alliances and things like that. So, no, it didn't really just jump out at me that much.


But, when you get to watch the show and see where all the other teams were and what they did together and all the stuff comes out like that in the show, yeah, you can definitely see the alliances, you know?

Reality TV World: Herbert "Flight Time" Lang and Gary Ervin were the two folks that got told the answer to the Roadblock, and it looked like at least Flight Time was probably going to have to do the task again if he hadn't been told the answer. Hypothetically, do you guys think you would have finished ahead of Flight Time and Nathaniel "The Big Easy" Lofton if they actually had to do it over again?

Jet McCoy: No doubt. If they would have had to do it over again or any other team would have had to do it over again, we would have been ahead of them. Because I got it right the second time around and I was the only team member that actually had to go all the way back. So, yeah, there's not a doubt in my mind that if any other team had had to go back, then they would have been behind us.

Reality TV World: So that race to the U-Turn station between yourselves and Flight Time and Big Easy was actually pretty close?

Jet McCoy: Yeah, that was real close.


Reality TV World: Zev Glassenberg and Justin Kanew and yourselves were the only two teams to complete the "Cheese" Detour task. About how long did that take you guys, and how hard was it actually?  Because last night's show made it look like Zev and Justin really struggled with it but they still finished the leg in first place somehow.

Cord McCoy: They were actually struggling that much. I can attest to that.

Jet McCoy: That cheese was rank!

Reality TV World: (Laughs) About how long did it take you guys to complete it?

Cord McCoy: Plenty long enough!

Jet McCoy: Yeah.


Reality TV World: Looking back at it now, which of the Detour tasks do you think was harder -- the "Cheese" eating or the "Wheeze" luggage delivery?

Jet McCoy: Cheese!

Cord McCoy: Cheese! Yeah, that hauling the 20-pound luggage bag up a mountain will make your legs burn and make you sweat, but that cheese, boy, that's brutal.

Reality TV World: Were you guys surprised that the Globetrotters U-Turned you? Because earlier in the episode, it looked like you guys were expecting that, but then you two seemed surprised when you walked up and saw the sign, realizing that it had actually happened.

Jet McCoy: I think the thing that surprised us was the fact that we were the only team that got U-Turned. It would have been one thing if another team was U-Turned and then they U-Turned us with them or a lot of different scenarios, but I think the thing that shocked us the most was that it was a Double U-Turn and we were the only team that got U-Turned.

Reality TV World: I think it surprised a lot of viewers that the first four teams to arrive at the Double U-Turn sign chose not to take advantage of the opportunity. The episode made it look like you guys had definitely closed a lot of the gap of the Globetrotters, and we saw you do that a couple times earlier this season to the point where we have seen other teams talking about how they were expecting you guys to surge back into the Race. Why do you two think you developed that reputation and were so successful at that?


Cord McCoy: I don't know. The thing about it is that Jet and I put ourselves in a situation a couple times that we had no other way to go but to go fast. We would start an hour behind them and we just had to flat out outrun them. That was -- we got through a couple of them -- so when we landed there and were doing the luggage, there were four or six other backpacks laying there.

So, Jet and I knew we were still in the Race and if we had to beat the other team on the backside of the U-Turn or whatever, we could do it. There was never any doubt until we realized that we were the only team that got U-Turned.

Reality TV World: Gary and Mallory Ervin's Speed Bump task seemed pretty easy and was probably even the type of thing that as cowboys, you guys probably even had to do around the ranch before.  What were your thoughts on the Speed Bump, were you surprised it was so simple?

Cord McCoy: Well, it sounds real simple, you know? It might be real simple for Jet and I, but for somebody that has never mixed oil and gas like that, maybe it would be tricky. But that's the thing about it in the Race. Maybe someone had been a bellhop before or had traveled across the country.

You never know what's going to fit each team member's style and it's good when you're in situations and do tasks that match the things you do daily. But there's so many tasks throughout the Race that you have to reach out there and almost learn how to do something different. That's what makes it tough.

Reality TV World: On last week's episode, you guys made the decision to take an hour later flight that had fewer stops because you had been experiencing a lot of delays on connections and layovers. Did you guys debate that decision a lot before you made it, and how surprised were you that it didn't end up working out in your favor?


Jet McCoy: We didn't debate about it a whole lot. I mean, we talked about it and that's why looking back on Season 16, we took a flight from Argentina to Germany that was supposed to be 30 minutes behind everybody else and we ended up getting there an hour before everybody else. In situations like that, you just don't ever know.

Obviously on our first season, it really paid off and gave us a big lead and I think we ended up winning that way. Then, this season, obviously it didn't pay off, and it put us behind. So, you just kind of make those decisions the best you can as you go and then see what happens.

Cord McCoy: The Race is so much like life. Looking back, you can tell, "Yeah, we should have done this or we should have done that," but when you're the one standing there, you just kind of gotta make the best decision you can at the time. Jet and I, as I can recall, we like the sure thing right there because if there's any delays or anything like that you could either take the other flight by yourself, you could be the hero, or the zero, I guess.

Jet McCoy: And we were the zero.

Reality TV World: Jet, I think the first number you came up with when you were doing the Roadblock task was 35 kilometers. How did you come up with that especially when you took that wrong turn?

Jet McCoy: I had several wrong turns. Watching the show back, there's no way to really get the scope of how difficult that seemingly easy task was. There were so many little turns and twists and that kind of stuff, and all those little towns that you went through.


It was easy to get lost, which looking back, there were only two or three teams that actually got it right. So, what I was doing, was when I would get lost, I would just go back and basically kind of subtract the difference I had been lost to what my total was and just get as close as I can.

Reality TV World: How far do you think you arrived at the Pit Stop mat behind the Globetrotters?

Cord McCoy: Um probably -- it would have been -- after they U-Turned us, it was probably pretty late.

Reality TV World: But before the U-Turn it was probably just a matter of a couple of minutes?

Cord McCoy: No doubt. No doubt.

Reality TV World: The big controversy on this season seems to be how Kent Cothron and Vyxsin Fiala only received a 30-minute time penalty when they missed the mandatory flight from Japan to China and took another flight instead of waiting a full day for the next flight of the mandatory flight. When I interviewed Jaime Edmondson and Cara Rosenthal last month, they claimed most of the other teams were really upset about that and considered "revolting" against the producers. Was that true, and were you two one of the teams that got upset?


Jet McCoy: My thoughts are, if I was in the same position, I would rather wait 30 minutes than have to wait until the next day. That's one of those things that, you know, yeah we can complain and whine about, "They didn't get a long enough time penalty and they didn't get this or they didn't get that," but the same people that are going to complain about that would be the same people that if they were in that situation, they would complain if they'd give them a penalty at all, really.

So, that's just like the people that were sharing the information. If I'm getting the information, then yeah, I think it's great! So, I always try to look at both sides of it. So, in the whole scheme of things, it really didn't -- all the teams were bunched up together -- they ended up being right there with us. It didn't end up not making any difference in the outcome, anyway.

Reality TV World: Cord, do you agree with that?

Cord McCoy: Well, I guess I didn't worry about getting up into everyone else's business that much, but that's the thing about it. I feel bad they got lost and drove all night and had to go through all that, but when they walked up there, they pretty much had to take whatever penalty they gave them and deal with it.

In that particular leg, they dealt with it. Jet was talking about that earlier, penalty or not, it's not that huge a deal. I don't know why they run around and tell everybody else that their car broke down, but.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski