'The Amazing Race's runner-up team Justin Scheman and Diana Bishop talk (Part 2)

The Amazing Race's "Engaged Couple and Amazing Race Super Fans" Justin Scheman and Diana Bishop finished Season 27 as the runner-up team during Friday night's finale broadcast on CBS.


Justin and Diana were defeated by the $1 million winners Kelsey Gerckens and Joey Buttitta, who are "Dating Co-Workers and News Anchors" that conquered five continents, 10 countries and more than 34,000 miles.

"Dating Paparazzi Business Partners" Logan Fazio and Chris Gordon finished in third place.

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

Reality TV World: I know you basically watched every episode of the Race three times and set up your own race to practice. Were you just trying to memorize everyone's mistakes so you wouldn't make them? And did you do anything else to prepare?


Justin Scheman: Yeah, there's a lot we did! Go ahead, babe.

Diana Bishop: Well, I mean, I'll let you speak in terms of your preparation, but Justin did make -- we made up these 10 hard commandments and it was the result of why people win and why people go home. We referred to those commandments vigorously throughout the game.

You know, Justin would be doing something and I would be yelling, "Remember No. 3! Remember No. 3!" It helped us focus when we were doing tasks. And I think that it definitely played a part in being successful.

Justin Scheman: Yeah, and I think knowing the Race and the way the clues are worded and things like that really, really helped. But we did a lot of preparation and a lot of those things directly reflected on the Race. Part of our fake race was analyzing French love poems and we ended up doing a French rap.

Part of the race was a fireman task and I went and trained with the Phoenix fire departments to learn rappelling and firefighter challenges, you know, things of that nature.


And so, things that we genuinely prepared for, like, me and Diana took a rock climbing and rappelling class so she'd be comfortable in a harness. She wound up getting in three, four harnesses, so she was much more comfortable doing it that first time.

So I think all of these little things just take the edge off, or add a minute or two here and there. They just add up, and I mean, we only beat Kelsey and Joey a lot of times by five, 10 minutes. And I think it was a result of all these minutes gained here or there and being prepared.

Reality TV World: I think it was Tanner Kloven and Josh Ahern who told me they thought you mapped out every airport you traveled to so you could run out quickly. I want to confirm whether or not that's true because the guys weren't even sure. (Laughs)

Justin Scheman: (Laughs)

Diana Bishop: No, that's not really true. We heard some really, really funny comments that Tanner and Josh said. At one point, Tanner said that "The Green Team" needed to be tested for performance-enhancing drugs. The other teams were just getting so frustrated that they couldn't come close to us.


We did not map out every airport. I mean, before we left for the starting line, we were watching the news to watch for maps and to see if we could find, you know, how to get to the airport if we needed to when we were in Los Angeles. But that turned out not to be helpful.

Justin Scheman: We just tried to gain any advantage we could and we were always -- and I think at the airports, the reason we got out of the airports faster was we were just more comfortable navigating, following signs and making decisions quickly.

If you're used to subway systems and you see the subway points down, you go. If you're not used to subway systems, you look at it more and you're like, "Wait, is that where we need to go?" You just hesitate more, and that was such a big advantage for us.

Reality TV World: You guys work incredibly well together but at times, your bickering was pretty brutal. Were moments tough to watch back? I mean, even Phil Keoghan sort of scolded you once Justin to be nicer to Diana. Does that dynamic actually help push you both during the Race or hinder your efficiency?

Diana Bishop: Justin and I have been together for eight years, so we really know the ins and outs of our relationship and how we communicate best with each other, and also how we start breaking apart when we're not communicating properly.


So, I definitely think being together for so long and having such a close relationship really helped us get in and out of the tasks together. We can almost read each other. As far as the not-so-pleasant moments, I'll let Justin talk about those.

Justin Scheman: Yeah, obviously I hate watching every second of it. Who wants to see the worst side of themselves? And not only the worst side of themselves, but the worst side of themselves reacting to the person they care about the most. You're giving the person who you love the worst side of you in front of everybody. I mean, there's nothing that hurts more than watching something like that.

I think it's something that eventually pushed us forward. It's something that I know I need to work on and something that's going to be great for our relationship, because we can see the problems that we have and need to work on. But it definitely gave us this inner-drive, like, even if it was just to prove each other wrong at that point, it was a drive forward. It gave us this energy.

Diana Bishop: And I always say, Justin and I, we love each other, and people that meet us think we have just met because we're still that in-your-face PDA, mushy-gushy couple. But you know, part of what I love most about him is I love his New York attitude.

I love that I feel safe with him, that he can stand up for me if he needs to and he can protect me if he needs to. But also, I think that New York side of him is sometimes what, you know, frustrates me most, that he has this need to be right and he forgets who he's talking to.


Reality TV World: Do you have any marriage plans and how might you fit all of your prize winnings into that timeline? And you mentioned a babymoon at the end of the finale episode. Do you want kids right away?

Justin Scheman: I'm going to shoot for getting married by the end of next year, 2016. And I was thinking about it, if the opportunity arrives to do all-stars, it would probably be Season 30, which would probably be kicking off right now or even next year, so I wouldn't want to interfere with that. (Laughs) No, I'm just joking. I think the end of next year, regardless, we're getting married. There's nothing stopping us from getting married.

Diana Bishop: Even if we have to pick up and elope, we will be married by the end of next year.

Justin Scheman: Diana was like, "What are you talking about?! We're going to get married! I don't care!" (Laughs)

Reality TV World: I think it's safe to say you'd be shoo-ins for an all-stars season. What would you do differently if there was a next time or how might you prepare? I know you did so much to prepare for this past season, but...

Diana Bishop: Well, you know, going back to our 10 commandments, Justin and I would, I guess, revise some of those and keep the ones that worked. But I think we'd have to make 10 amendments to our commandments and one of those amendments would certainly be never letting go of a cab. For us, that's like Amazing Race 101 as well, like, don't let go of your cab.


Justin Scheman: And follow your gut. There were, like, three times on the Race when we truly didn't follow our gut. There was something that said, "Listen," and we didn't listen. And I think that's really important, like, your first instinct usually is the right one.

Don't be in a rush, but follow your gut. And all-stars, yeah, I am going to stalk the producers and keep feeding them, have my fans feeding them, like, we want redemption! Season 30 Unfinished Business 2, please, let's do this!

To read the first half of Justin and Diana's exclusive The Amazing Race interview with Reality TV World, click here.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski