The Amazing Race: All-Stars crowned David O'Leary and Connor O'Leary the winners of the CBS reality competition's 24th overall season and third all-stars edition during the finale episode.
 
Dave and Connor, "Father and Son Cancer Survivors," won The Amazing Race's $1 million grand prize after crossing the twelfth and final leg's finish line at Aria Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, NV in first place. The team was victorious after traveling 22 cities, nine countries and more than 23,000 miles.

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Dave became the oldest individual to ever win The Amazing Race. Not only that, the pair's victory marked the first time in The Amazing Race history a parent and child have ever won together.
 
In an exclusive interview with Reality TV World, Dave and Connor talked about their experience on the show. Below is the concluding portion. Click here to read the first half.

Reality TV World: When you guys got U-Turned earlier in the season, Dave, you made a comment suggesting you were pissed off and offended Brendon Villegas and Rachel Reilly would U-Turn "the old man" in the Race. Some people interpreted that comment to mean you sort of expected the other contestants to maybe go easier on you because of your age, but wouldn't that kind of diminish your victory? Could you talk about that a little bit?

Dave O'Leary: Yeah and I certainly didn't say that expecting special treatment in any sense of the word. I guess I said it because it was a fact. I mean, if you looked at the teams that were left at that point, I was clearly the old man. In fact, at that point, "The Globetrotters" were still in it and, out of all those teams, I think [Nate "Big Easy" Lofton] might've been older than my oldest child, so he would've been the only one.

So I had kids older than everyone else I was racing against, so I did feel like an older guy. I did feel like that was a factor, but you know what I was really mad about? It was not them U-Turning me or Connor, it was just that we thought it was a stupid decision. They should've U-Turned "The Cowboys" [Cord McCoy and Jet McCoy] who had the Express Pass and who were clearly the strongest team on the Race.

Reality TV World: So you think Brendon and Rachel's decision to U-Turn you was a more personal one rather than strategic?

Dave O'Leary: Well, you know, to listen to Brendon, he said, "We want to win the cars," which it ended up not being anyway. So, I mean, if I think it was a strategic decision and they really wanted to win the Race, they should've U-Turned "The Cowboys."

Reality TV World: Are you still holding that grudge against Brendon and Rachel now?

Dave O'Leary: Not at all.

Reality TV World: Oh, okay. Because when I talked to Leo Temory and Jamal Zadran, they had told me that being U-Turned was actually really a compliment to them and they appreciated other teams viewing them as a threat. So I didn't know if you guys shared that perspective at all.

Connor O'Leary: Yeah, I mean, Leo and Jamal are great guys. Of course they had that optimism and outlook. But yeah, no, I think, I mean -- I don't think we were ecstatic about it and saying, "Oh, what a compliment!" But at the end of the day, it didn't hurt the outcome, and so, it was water under the bridge and what happened, happened.

Dave O'Leary: Brendon said in a later episode, "Oh, don't worry about Dave. He's old and slow."

Reality TV World: Well you proved them wrong.

Connor O'Leary: We did!

Reality TV World: I wanted to ask you more about Leo and Jamal. You seemed to become pretty friendly with them during the Race. Were you surprised they didn't end up being one of the Final 3 teams, or was it a relief because then you didn't have to worry about beating them?

Connor O'Leary: Yeah, it was definitely a surprise. They were one of the strongest teams, and it was definitely a bummer to see them go. But at the end of the day, we were glad that we weren't racing against them in the Final 3. Because, again, they were probably a stronger team, and so, we were glad to race against the teams we did.

Dave O'Leary: We think the world of those guys. They're great guys.

Reality TV World: Brendon and Rachel were shown saying a couple times that the Race is not about being polite. And clearly they weren't trying to be polite. I want to get your thoughts on that stance. Do you feel their behavior went way beyond impoliteness and crossed more into bad sportsmanship?

Connor O'Leary: Yeah, I really do believe in karma, and I think they got what they had coming to them. I mean, they definitely were not trying to not be polite, but I almost feel like they were being belligerently aggressive and not nice at all. But if that's how they wanted to run that Race, you know, then more power to them.

Dave O'Leary: I mean, you still have to get up every morning and look yourself in the mirror and say, "Did I represent myself?" And for me, my family, well. And I hope I haven't done anything to embarrass my family.

Reality TV World: Did you guys prepare for some type of memory task or a really challenging final task that didn't happen? And were you surprised there ended up being no such task? Because skydiving pretty much seemed to seal each team's fate unless a Racer missed that speedway sign on the flight.

Connor O'Leary: Yeah! We were really surprised. We took vigilant notes after every single leg, because we've seen prior seasons so we know that they did currency, flags -- and so, we were racking our brains. We were writing down every detail of every leg trying to be prepared for that last leg. And to be completely honest, we were extremely relieved that we didn't have a memory challenge.

Dave O'Leary: (Laughs) Yeah, we talked about it. I'd rather jump out of a helicopter than have to figure out something mentally.

Reality TV World: But it sounds like you would've been ready for it!

Connor O'Leary: Oh yeah, we were ready for it. My dad would've done that challenge definitely, and I think he would've done well either way.

Reality TV World: Dave, did you actually have a fear of skydiving or was that just something you thought you'd never get to do? Because I knew you were pretty shocked in the moment you'd actually be going through with that.

Dave O'Leary: No, I have an absolute fear of heights. I hate heights. And that is not anything I would ever choose to do on my own, so to climb into that helicopter and realize I was going to jump out was terrifying. And at the same time, it was exhilarating. I mean, once I had my feet on the runner of the helicopter and was ready to fall forward, I thought, "I better enjoy it!" And I did. It was really a blast.

Reality TV World: Did you two have a real strategy all season as to who would do which Roadblock task? Did you kind of just go with the flow and pinpoint who should do what based on the clues?

Connor O'Leary: No, there was some strategy. Obviously we knew we had to do a certain amount each, and so, we kept that in mind. But at the same time, we played a fine line as far as if it's something physical or something [I'm] going to be better at, then he'd do that.

And if it's something my dad is going to be better at, then he'll do that. So we kind of, you know, flew by the seat of our pants, but at the same time, had a very good strategy.

Reality TV World: What are you planning on doing with your prize money?

Connor O'Leary: Um, that is a really great question. I think I'll definitely donate some to cancer research and invest the rest.

Dave O'Leary: And I'm still trying to -- it's not even a reality to me! I kind of think, "Wow, did we really win this thing?!" But I'll do the same thing. I'll put money towards cancer research and then plan for retirement.

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


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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