'The Amazing Race' crowns Dana Borriello and Matt Steffanina the winning team

The Amazing Race crowned "Engaged Couple" Dana Borriello and Matt Steffanina the champions of Season 28 during Friday night's finale broadcast on CBS.


Dana and Matt arrived at the final Pit Stop in Los Angeles, CA, in first place, therefore winning the $1 million grand prize.

"18 cities, 10 countries, more than 27,000 miles, Dana and Matt, you are the winners of The Amazing Race and you have won one million dollars!" The Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan told the YouTube dancing stars.

"It's surreal. I am stunned," Dana said.

"To see all of the other teams we competed so hard against, having them applaud for us and hearing Phil say that we won the Race is something we will never forget," Matt explained.


Phil admitted to the team he thought their bickering was going to cause them to self-destruct at one point.

"We have ups and downs, but we said we'd rather be passionate than boring," Dana noted.

"At the end of the day, we have nothing but love and respect for each other. I think he is the most amazing person and competitor, and I just feel blessed to have him in my life at all. And he knows that deep down. So if we yell a little bit in the process, as long as it gets us to the finish line!"

"I think some of our weaknesses were really tested on the Race, and we fought through a lot on the Race, so I definitely think it's brought us closer," Matt explained.

"I think it's brought us 1,000 times closer," added Dana.


"Mother and Son" Sheri LaBrant and Cole LaBrant, who were the underdogs all season long, finished in second place. On their heels were "Best Friends" Tyler Oakley and Korey Kuhl in third place.

The Amazing Race finale began in China, where Phil told the Final 3 teams they'd be flying more than 7,000 miles on the same Premium Class flight to Los Angeles, CA. Once there, the teams had to make their way to Angelus Plaza in downtown Los Angeles and search for their next clue.

Dana and Matt arrived at Angelus Plaza first. They were then followed by Sheri and Cole and eventually Tyler and Korey, who got a little lost looking for the cluebox.

It then became time for one member from each team to complete a Roadblock task.

For the Roadblock, the participating Racers had to take a leap off a skyscraper and grab their clue dangling 170 feet above the ground. If they missed the clue, they'd have to rappel down, work their way back up to the top of the skyscraper and then jump off again.


Matt took on the Roadblock task as well as Sheri -- because Cole is terrified of heights -- and Tyler.

Sheri ended up crying on top of the skyscraper because she is also afraid of heights. Although her fear isn't as paralyzing as her son's, she was very hesitant to jump off and questioned if she could do it at all.

Matt got the clue on his first attempt, but Sheri and Tyler both missed it and had to try again. Sheri and Cole finished the task in second place after two attempts, and Tyler and Korey dragged behind them in third after it took Tyler three attempts to succeed.

Despite being in last place, Tyler and Korey had five wins under their belt, so they weren't too worried about the leg and planned to have fun.

The teams were then instructed to take a helicopter ride up the coastline to Santa Barbara and search for their next clue hidden somewhere in a maze of boats aboard the Theresa Ann. A fisherman on the boat would hand them their next clue.


The three teams looked for the Theresa Ann while riding in a dinghy.

It didn't seem to take Dana and Matt long to find the specific boat, so they received their next clue in first place. The "Engaged Couple" then learned they must proceed to Gibraltar Rock and search for their next clue.

Dana and Matt regretted not asking their taxi driver to wait, so they frantically ran around looking for one and acknowledged they had made a 20-minute mistake.

"Why did we let the taxi go?! Oh my God. This is killing me. This is our lead," Dana vented.

Meanwhile, Sheri and Cole found the Theresa Ann in second place. Tyler and Korey didn't appear far behind them.


"Slow and steady," Tyler said of their progress in this leg.

Sheri and Cole, however, encountered a similar problem as Dana and Matt in that they struggled to find a cab driver, mainly one who knew how to get to Gibraltar Rock. This enabled Tyler and Korey to jump into second place, but their cab driver didn't seem to know where she was going.

Dana and Matt arrived at Gibraltar Rock in first place. They were soon followed by Sheri and Cole in second place and then Tyler and Korey in third.

The teams' next set of clues instructed one person to attempt a 300-foot Tyrolean Traverse to retrieve half of their clue, and then as a team, they must simultaneously lower their partner down the vertical rock face to get to the other half of the clue. Once two team members returned to the starting point and reunited, they could piece together their next clue and move on.

Dana was freaked out about the idea of doing any sort of rock climbing. The pair agreed the task was "so difficult" and physically exhausting. Cole later called it one of the "most terrifying things" of his life. When Tyler and Korey got there, they knew they were in third place and really had to hustle.

Dana and Matt accomplished the feat before any of the other teams and received their next clue, which led them to Grassini Family Vineyards. Sheri and Cole finished it in second place, leaving Tyler and Korey trailing behind in last place.


Once at the vineyard, Dana and Matt couldn't find the cluebox, but that was because the clues were sticking out of a big pile of hay in a wagon.

It then became time for one member from each team to complete the final Roadblock task.

The teams were required to start with a hashtag and use barrel lids stamped with letters to spell the nine cities they visited on the Race that were all hashtagged in their clues.

Dana took on the task and knew all along that the hashtags in her clues were going to be involved in the final challenge, so she was confident and ready to go.

Cole opted to take on the task later on, and he was followed by Korey. Both guys insisted they knew what they were doing as well.

Dana, however, finished the Roadblock before anyone else and learned her team must find the finish line near a lake. Phil and the previously-eliminated teams were waiting at the final Pit Stop for the winners to arrive.


Dana and Matt soon found the finish line and ran to the mat hand-in-hand with big smiles on their faces. All the teams applauded their success.

Sheri and Cole finished the season in second place, and Cole was so proud of his mother.

"It's not the best, but it's not bad," Sheri said. "We've really grown. It was an amazing journey to see the world and to do it with my son... We did the whole race and I think we did it with a great spirit. We had a great job doing it... And this is our best finish!"

Cole reiterated how it was their first time finishing in second place.

When Tyler and Korey finished in third place, they told Phil the Race was the best time of their lives. They brought out the best in each other and had so much fun. Korey even cried, gushing about how he looks up to Tyler for his confidence and strength in life.

"My expectations were exceeded a million fold. It was the opportunity of a lifetime," Tyler noted.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski