Exclusive: 'The Amazing Race's breakdancing brothers Ernest Phillip and Jin Lao talk (Part 1)

The Amazing Race eliminated Ernest Phillip and Jin Lao during Friday night's broadcast of the CBS reality competition's 27th season.


The "Breakdancing Brothers" became the third team eliminated from the around-the-world competition after they arrived at the Race's third Pit Stop at the Museo Gauchesco in Argentina in last place.

Ernest and Jin started the third leg way behind the rest of the pack, but they really lost their chance of continuing on in the Race thanks to some bad luck and a bus schedule.

In an exclusive interview with Reality TV World on Monday, Ernest and Jin talked about their The Amazing Race experience. Below is the first half. Check back with us soon for the concluding portion.

Reality TV World: Do you know how far behind Tiffany Chantell and Krista Debono you finally arrived at the Pit Stop when you got eliminated?


Jin Lao: We do not know! The whole time we were running the Race, it's like, we didn't see anybody, so.

Reality TV World: Were you surprised to be the third team eliminated? I'm sure you guys saw yourselves going the distance. You seemed confident about what you were bringing to the table?

Ernest Phillip: We definitely were surprised. I mean, we honestly thought that we were one of the strongest teams out there, and we thought that we had what it takes to get to the end. It basically came down to us not catching a bus, putting us a ways behind. So, that kind of screwed us.

Jin Lao: Yeah. We were kind of doomed before we even got to the third leg because of how much time we wasted getting to the end of the second.

Reality TV World: I think you started the leg 45 minutes behind the team who left the second Pit Stop before you. How much additional time do you think you lost because of missing that bus?


Jin Lao: So, there were two buses. I think one left around 6:45AM and the other one left at 7:30AM. I think we left the Pit Stop at 7:16AM, so we had to make it to the bus station and catch it at 7:30AM.

And the bus station wasn't that close to the mat, so it just meant a little bit of bad news for us. Because literally, the next bus after the 7:30AM one didn't come until two hours later. And not only did it not come for two hours, it decided to come late. So it was two hours and 30 minutes late.

Ernest Phillip: We were screwed when we first left the mat. (Laughs)

Reality TV World: Would you say the third leg went pretty smoothly for you guys other than that, or, did you run across some other bad luck or something that went wrong?

Ernest Phillip: I would say the leg definitely ran smooth. It also ran very lonely because it was just us.


Jin Lao: (Laughs)

Ernest Phillip: So, I mean, (laughs) it did run smooth because we only had to focus on each other and we were basically cheering each other on and stuff like that. But I, to this day, would have loved to be able to be on an even playing field and race that leg with other teams. It would've felt good, you know?

Jin Lao: If we had got on that [7:30AM] bus, we definitely would've passed a couple of teams because that smoking the meat Roadblock, he got right in there and did it pretty quick.

Reality TV World: Was there any point at all along the way you thought you'd have a chance not to finish in last place? It sort of sounds like you knew you were doomed the whole time unfortunately. (Laughs)

Ernest Phillip: We honestly did feel like we were doomed, but at the same time, we knew in our minds that -- we felt like we moved faster than a lot of the teams there. So we were like, "There is a good chance we could catch up. We know the Race, people run into mistakes, and sometimes they're behind, like, hours. So we might actually be able to catch somebody."


And then once we got to the smoking meat Roadblock, I realized that a lot of the other teams' meat looked like it had been burnt, like they had been grilling for years. (Laughs) So I realized that we were really far behind. So we just kind of hoped that it would be a non-elimination until [Phil said] it wasn't a non-elimination.

Reality TV World: Ernest, how long did it take you to complete that Roadblock task?

Ernest Phillip: Alright, listen. I'm not going to brag or nothing, but you know, I don't smoke meat! I don't do that! But when I got there, my brother, he gave me the courage that I was the best smoker out there. And I would like to say that I'm pretty sure I completed that smoking that meat in less than 10 minutes. I was nice. I was the best smoker that they had out there. I was good.

Jin Lao: Yeah, [Ernest], you smoked it like a pro.

Reality TV World: What about the Detour task? First of all, what made you guys initially want to do the "Carriage" task instead of "Horse," and how long do you think it took you?


Jin Lao: We didn't want to do that one! We wanted to do the horses because it sounded like it was easier. The other one was more, like, I don't know. It was just more physical, and we were already kind of tired because we had been running the whole day. So, basically when we got there, all the teams had picked the easy one already. So, we had to do the other one.

Ernest Phillip: So we were left with what we had to do. So we decided to run down and make it interesting and put a lot of energy into whatever we had to do. And it ended up being the one that was probably the furthest away. (Laughs) We did a lot of running. We had the dog following us, and I mean, we completed it. We got to put on some sexy outfit -- well, I thought my outfit was sexy. I liked it.

Reality TV World: Would you guys say it was almost easier running this last leg because you were so aware of being in last place? In other words, did you feel more or less pressure to perform well?

Jin Lao: Hmmm.

Ernest Phillip: I wouldn't say that it was easier, because I honestly feel like -- and bro, you can jump in if I'm wrong -- but I feel like for us, it's easier when we have competition. I feel like it's easier when we know we have to beat somebody.

Jin Lao: I wouldn't necessarily say it was easier for us when we have competition. It's just that we work HARDER when we have competition. So, it's like, we believe we probably would've went faster if we were still trying to beat people.


Like if we saw somebody that was trying to complete the challenge, we're going to work! We're going to work harder than they do so we can try to pass them. So, I would say it was harder not seeing anybody.

Check back with Reality TV World soon for the concluding portion of Ernest and Jin's exclusive The Amazing Race interview.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski