Exclusive: Pamela Chien and Winnie Sung talk 'The Amazing Race' (Part 2)

Pamela Chien and Winnie Sung were eliminated from The Amazing Race during Sunday night's seventh broadcast of the CBS reality competition's 22nd season.


The "Best Friends" team became the fourth team eliminated from the around-the-world competition after they arrived at the Race's sixth Pit Stop at Royal Tree Lodge in Botswana in last place. The pair fell behind when they decided to switch Detour tasks.

In an exclusive interview with Reality TV World on Monday, Pam and Winnie talked about their The Amazing Race experience. Below is the concluding portion of their interview. Click here to read the first half.

Reality TV World: Jessica Hoel and John Erck have been highly criticized for getting eliminated with an Express Pass in their possession. Many fans have been calling the move idiotic and John cocky because of it. What was your initial reaction when you found out that happened and what are your thoughts on it now?

Winnie Sung: I mean, we were definitely shocked when we found out that they got eliminated without using the Express Pass, but really, the Race is crazy, like you are not yourself when you race.


We all thought that we would have to do crazy things and we would just do anything. Me and Pam were ready to shave our heads if we needed to, and looking back, I would've been really pissed that I was bald. But you are really not in your own mindset, you're not like yourself.

Pamela Chien: So it's shocking but it's not surprising that people lose themselves in the Race, you know?

Winnie Sung: Yeah.

Reality TV World: What did you girls think of Max Bichler while you were racing? He was shown making fun of Jessica and John after that Express Pass incident, and based upon what you're saying, it sounds like maybe Max should've been a little more understanding of their situation since he knows what racing is like and how crazy it can get.

Pamela Chien: Max is hilarious.


Winnie Sung: He is so funny!

Pamela Chien: Yeah, it's like we all -- I mean, it's not even like, "Oh, we should've given them more slack." It's like, we're racing. We're all kind of characters and we're kind of like pawns in this game. So it's like you can't really take what anyone says too seriously.

Winnie Sung: Yeah, I mean, you have -- if you're going to come on this Race, you have to be able to laugh at yourself because you're going to do some pretty stupid stuff. If you can't laugh at yourself, you know, it just makes life so much harder and less fun.

Pamela Chien: Yeah, you should be able to laugh at other people too though. (Laughs)

Reality TV World: Joey Graceffa and Meghan Camarena disapproved of Max's comments, as they kind of suggested they thought he had an attitude problem. But it sounds like you girls think Max was just joking around.


Pamela Chien: It's a game, you know? If you're going to take anything personally or so seriously, it's like, you've really got to realize like this isn't real life. No one was taking out a gun and like shooting someone's head or something.

Winnie Sung: And Max was laughing at John, but then if you were to make fun of Max, he would be laughing too, you know? It's just like, you've got to be able to dish it and you've got to be able to take it.

Pamela Chien: Yeah. I mean, Max is really tan. We made that very clear. (Laughs)

Winnie Sung: We laughed in his face about it. If you're going to be crying in the corner because we're making fun of him, then no.

Reality TV World: All of the teams seem to be in an alliance except for Mona Egender and Beth Bandimere and Joey and Meghan. Could you talk a little bit about how that came about and were you girls in a sub-alliance with anyone? Viewers didn't see much of any of the teams helping each other out last night.


Winnie Sung: The teams weren't so much in an alliance. I mean, Meghan and Joey and Beth and Mona were definitely in an alliance where they are going to help each other out while racing.

The rest of the teams were more in agreements with each other -- at least that's how me and Pam took it, because we were never in an alliance. That came about when we knew there was going to be a U-Turn.

None of the teams wanted to be U-Turned, so that's why we made the agreement to U-Turn Meghan and Joey, just to ensure that me and Pam would not be U-Turned. And it didn't go on for more than that leg. We didn't help each other race or we didn't agree to do things together. It was just solely for the U-Turn for us.

Pamela Chien: Yeah, I think some of the other teams, like the "Hockey Brothers" [Bates Battaglia and Anthony Battaglia] and the "[Friends and] Country Singers" [Caroline Cutbirth and Jennifer Kuhle] had kind of like an unset alliance where they helped each other out.

But yeah, as far as how we raced, we didn't align ourselves in a way where we were going to help each other get ahead. It was only just -- any agreement we made was just to protect ourselves.


Winnie Sung: And you know, originally when we first made the agreement regarding the U-Turn, we wanted to U-Turn the "Hockey Brothers" because at that point, they were...

Pamela Chien: Strong competitors...

Winnie Sung: Yeah, they were our strongest competitors and they were the biggest threat to us, but the "Country Singers" completely beat us with that idea and they were friendly with more teams than we were. We had to go along with Meghan and Joey, so as long as it was anybody that -- as long as we weren't a target, then we were fine with whatever.

Reality TV World: Winnie, during a prior leg, Connor O'Leary peaked at your surfboard when you were trying to find The Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan, so when he copied you, he quickly found the correct board with the Tahitian priest on it and then beat you girls to the Pit Stop with his father -- taking first place away from you. Some fans suggested Connor kind of cheated and some saw it as poor sportsmanship. So I want to get your take on that. Were you a little surprised Connor pulled that move and do you see it as fair game or, I guess, cheating?

Winnie Sung: I mean, I was definitely shocked that Connor did that. I didn't know that he did that until I watched the episode back on the Sunday night that it aired. So that definitely surprised me. I mean, with that being said, every player goes into the Race deciding how they want to play the game. So I mean, it was a strategic move on his part, so you can't really be mad at that. It's not against the rules.

Pamela Chien: I still think they should pay us like royalties now for first [place] (laughs) for helping them win that money.


Reality TV World: Chuck McCall and Wynona McCall got off to kind of a rough start this season, but now they seem to be stepping up their game and proving themselves as real competitors. Do you think the remaining teams have been kind of underestimating them a little bit? And do you think that might ultimately work to Chuck and Wynona's advantage?

Winnie Sung: From the very, very beginning, all of us were scared of Chuck. Like we knew he was a scary man. I know he doesn't come off that way on TV, but he's incredibly smart and he's incredibly fit and just his life experience being a hillbilly helps him tremendously in the Race.

So we were convinced he was in some kind of like Navy SEAL or army. So everyone was scared of Chuck from the very beginning. So, it's not surprising if they go far in Race because he's crazy. He's like a beast.

Reality TV World: So it sounds like you think they have a pretty good shot to win the whole thing!

Winnie Sung: I definitely think they do. I mean, if anything shows from past seasons, it's that the Race is really anybody's game, you know?

Reality TV World: So out of all the teams, who would you girls say you were closest with, and who did you see as being your toughest competition? It sounds like Chuck and Bates and Anthony?


Pamela Chien: Yes, I think from the very beginning, we found Anthony and Bates to be our toughest competitors just because they're professional athletes and they play on a competitive team. In general, the season was filled with a lot of really good competitors.

Actually, it's funny because all the eliminated teams so far were actually really big competitors for us in the beginning. And then as far as friends, we like had no friends. (Laughs)

No, we liked everyone and got along with everyone. I don't know that we really got close to anyone. I guess the only -- we shared the comment -- we shared a lot of laughs with Max. So, I guess in that sense, they were kind of our friends. (Laughs)

Reality TV World: Would you ever be interested in an all-stars edition of the show? If given the opportunity would you want to race again?

Winnie Sung: For sure! We would race in a heartbeat, like for no money. (Laughs)

Pamela Chien: For donkeys. (Laughs)


Winnie Sung: Yeah. (Laughs)

Pamela Chien: For donkey revenge!

Reality TV World: How were you two cast on The Amazing Race? How did you end up on the show?

Pamela Chien: We submitted a video to get on the show.

Reality TV World: Was it your first time applying?

Pamela Chien: It was our first time applying!


Reality TV World: Oh wow, well then that worked out great for you girls!

Pamela Chien: Yeah, we were really surprised.

Above is the concluding portion of Pam and Winnie's exclusive interview with Reality TV World. Click here to read the first half.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski