Exclusive: Rowan Joseph and Shane Partlow talk 'The Amazing Race' (Part 2)

The Amazing Race eliminated Rowan Joseph and Shane Partlow during Sunday night's second broadcast of the CBS reality competition's 23rd season.
 
The "Theater Performers" became the second team eliminated from the around-the-world competition after they arrived at the Race's second Pit Stop at the Cascada De Las Animas -- a natural paradise in the Andes mountains -- in Santiago, Chile in last place.


In an exclusive interview with Reality TV World on Monday, Rowan and Shane talked about their The Amazing Race experience and early ouster from the competition.

Below is the concluding portion of the pair's interview. Click here to read the first half.

Reality TV World: Rowan, that shoeshine Roadblock clearly took you awhile to complete since you basically had to do it twice. Could you elaborate on what you thought your chances were of surviving at that point?

Rowan Joseph: When I first started, [Timothy Sweeney] was finished, but [Marie "Reebs" Mazzocchi] and [Kim DeJesus] were both still in it. Kim couldn't find one of the pieces of her kit. She never found it. I mean, she actually never ended up finding it. Well, she did -- she bought it, so she found it in that sense.


So, I knew that we were in it until the very end, but if I had gone to the correct place to begin with, we definitely would have survived that leg.

Reality TV World: Going back to the Detour task, what made you guys decide to do the mining one over the pool-floating task? Looking back on how that worked out, do you think you made the right choice?

Shane Partlow: We definitely made the right choice. I remember at the beginning, when me and Rowan were talking about it, he was saying, "What do you want to do?" And I decided, but Rowan would say, "Well, it's salt. I'll float, I'll float, I'll float." And I was like, "Oh, I don't know. We're going to get in that water and everything and God only knows." Mining just seemed right.

Rowan Joseph: Also, we learned early on, whenever you can do something that's objective and not subjective, it's a much better situation. Meaning, there wasn't a judgement on it. You either did it or you didn't do it. But we're floating and they could decide if you're floating or not.

I mean, I don't speak perfect Spanish, but I certainly speak functional-enough Spanish to say, "Charge the ship, men!" -- Which I did. And I said it three times the same way, but it wasn't until the third time that it rang correct in the ears of the person. So I was like, "Okay, we don't ever want to be in a situation where we're not in control over whether we succeed or not."


So any time -- we decided from that point forward that any time we came to a task, if it was a matter of doing something that completed and you did it without someone judging no matter how hard it was, that's what we were going to do. So I'd say it was in our hands more than the hands of, you know, someone else.

Reality TV World: How long do you think it took you to finish the "Mining" Detour task?

Rowan Joseph: 15 minutes maybe, maybe 20. I'm trying to remember, because I just remember it was...

Shane Partlow: Not as quick as the bearded guys [Brandon Squyres and Adam Switzer], because those guys, they got lucky. They got a rock that just split. But the NFL guys [Chester Pitts II and Ephraim Salaam] and us, literally, our rocks were crumbs. I mean, they would pulverized by the time we were done. (Laughs) It was literally a stack of pebbles when we found [the clue]. It was amazing.

Reality TV World: It looked like you guys got lost in your cab going to the start of that Detour task at Irlanda 3. What ended up happening there and how long were you driving around looking for that destination?


Shane Partlow: Long time!

Rowan Joseph: A long, long time. We were actually, ironically -- I think I'm correct in this -- we were the last team off of the ship somehow or another, because as they said, just the way the wind was blowing and they didn't hear me say the clue or whatever it was. We were the last ones off the ship.

But we were the first ones in the cab and on our way. We would've been at the task if the gentleman knew where he was going, as he said he did. We stopped at a school, thinking, "Oh, this is great! It's a school. Someone here will speak English." We looked on the Internet at the school. We couldn't find it. We stopped at some kind of a public office...

Shane Partlow: And a cement place.

Rowan Joseph: We stopped at a government office, and then finally, we found a student who spoke English similar to the gentleman at the bus station, who knew where it was and gave us the directions. And then, even then, the cab driver got in and he ended up stopping at the salt mines' offices before we went to the salt mines just to double check where we were going. So, ugh.


Shane Partlow: Even going into the salt mines, all we saw were trucks going up there. And I was like, "I don't know if this is right or not!"

Rowan Joseph: Yeah, we finally saw another cab and we knew we were right at that point. But the bad news was, the cab was going away from the site instead of to it. So we knew, "Okay, they're done and we're just getting there."

Reality TV World: It's obvious that most teams disliked Tim and Marie, who unfortunately were carrying that extra Express Pass around to give out. Rowan, you were shown calling Marie "the devil" in Spanish. What exactly happened that made you form that opinion of her, and did you mean what you said or were you just airing out some frustrations at that point in the Race?

Rowan Joseph: I mean, Marie's okay. Really, the Afghanimals were the only ones that we didn't end up speaking to and who we had no respect for at all. But Marie and Tim, she's a tough competitor. I mean, I have a feeling "diablo" will stick with her for the rest of the season, (laughs) and there's a little merit to that.

But, you know, at least she doesn't pretend to be one thing and she's another, which is really what the Afghanimals do. We don't like them at all candidly. But Marie, ask Marie, take her or leave her -- she doesn't care. So, you know, better the devil you know than the one you don't.


Reality TV World: Could you elaborate on why you have no respect for the Afghanimals -- "Cousins" Leo Temory and Jamal Zadran? Did you talk to them much?

Rowan Joseph: We did, but they were not -- that's the only team that, for us anyway, swore at us and just...

Shane Partlow: Made promises.

Rowan Joseph: Yeah, made promises -- a Muslim oath -- and then they'd completely break it. They were not -- they're completely 180-degrees opposite of us and anyone else that we encountered on the Race.

We are not fans of theirs at all. They lied to us blatantly to our face and they lied by taking what we considered to be "a special oath." They cheated us on money, they told us to go f-ck ourselves, they just made it clear that they didn't care about anything or anyone.

And that went for, not just us, but for all the teams -- except for the two girls [Allison "Ally" Mello and Ashley Covert], but it was clear what their intentions were there too.


So they were just -- and it was unfortunate, because [Ephraim] is a Muslim as well, and he pulled him aside and said, "You might want to consider..." they don't show any of that obviously, but everything that we value means nothing to them. So therefore, they mean nothing to us.

Reality TV World: As I'm sure you probably watched last night's episode, do you think Tim and Marie will follow through with the plan to eventually give [Nicole "Nicky" Getz] and Kim their extra Express Pass. And if so, do you think that would be a smart move on their part or no?

Rowan Joseph: I just think they're going to -- as anyone with that Express Pass -- use it as power as long as they can.

Shane Partlow: Yeah, I don't know. 

Reality TV World: When it got down to just you two and Nicky and Kim at the end of the leg, did you ever worry Tim and Marie might give their Express Pass to the girls then, to basically allow them to jump ahead of you guys and ensure their safety?

Shane Partlow: I don't really remember if they had any -- I don't remember them. I didn't think...


Rowan Joseph: It didn't cross our minds, I don't think at that point.

Shane Partlow: I didn't really think they were tight at that point.

Rowan Joseph: And I knew Marie. I felt I knew her well enough to know she was not going to give that away until she absolutely had to give it away. It was too much leverage, so giving it away in the second leg, I don't think would've been a smart move. And Marie is a very smart woman -- a very smart woman.

Reality TV World: Who did you see as being your biggest competition in the Race and why? Who do you think has what it takes to win?

Rowan Joseph: The nice part is that we really felt that the teams, despite the fact we were a 103-year-old team, (laughs) we really felt like all of the teams were competitive -- even ourselves, especially because of the way the Race works.

I mean, anything can happen, like, you could get in the wrong cab. So there wasn't any one dominant team, like the "Hockey Brothers" [Bates Battaglia and Anthony Battaglia] last year.


As far as the team we would've liked, you know, to have hung out with more and spent more time with, there were several of them. As far as winning, there are several that kind of -- our favorite team was definitely [Nicole Jasper and Travis Jasper]. I mean, we really, as far as emotionally, we really liked them.

The team we became the most friendly with, and we're still very, very close with, were Chester and [Ephraim]. They're good buddies. You really do become friends with people who you would normally never even meet, probably, in life. But this situation, it really does bond you. We're close with all of the teams, but especially with Chester and E.

Shane Partlow: We had a bond from the very beginning with Chester and E., right when we first met them.

Rowan Joseph: Yes, they're great guys. E., I mean, wow, what a great, great, great man all the way around in every way.

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






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski