Scott and Lori Discuss the Shocking Twist That Knocked Them Out of 'The Amazing Race' -

If you ever needed proof that The Amazing Race can change on a dime, look no further than Scott and Lori Thompson. While you may have perceived them as underdogs looking at the makeup of the Season 37 cast, you’d be completely wrong. The Utah parents of eight boys proved that looks can be deceiving, dominating the first four and a half legs of the race. But then, the Season of Surprises got them. And got them good.

Despite believing they had strong relationships with many of their fellow racers, when Phil Keoghan met the remaining nine teams for a shocking Double U-Turn Vote, those friendships went out the window. Joining Jonathan and Ana Towns as the recipients of the Double U-Turn Vote, it was an all-out race to the mat. Unfortunately, a twist ended their journey, but these The Amazing Race superfans still maintaining an optimistic disposition despite the circumstances. “I totally stopped even looking at him. I was just focusing on Phil because I didn’t want to give my time and energy to that negativity and that absolute wrong representation of that,” Lori revealed about the shocking Double U Turn Vote spat.

Scott and Lori are Super Fans of ‘The Amazing Race’

COLLIDER: They dominated the race until the Season of Surprises got them. It’s Scott and Lori! How are you doing?

LORI THOMPSON: We’re doing great.

SCOTT THOMPSON: Yes, we’re wishing for a different outcome this morning based on last night, but it is what it is.

COLLIDER: Listen, that’s the game. It’s really a Season of Surprises. Let’s talk about the general experience. If you could describe your time on The Amazing Race in a single word, what would it be?

SCOTT: I would say amazing. I mean, it seems so cliche to say The Amazing Race was amazing, but I truly, for us, it was so amazing to have an experience with each other that reaffirmed what we’ve known for 26 years. Like we feel like we have a very good, strong communication style. We know what each other’s strengths are. We know where our weaknesses are, where we need to step up to support the other, but then also knowing how important it was to approach life with a positivity that we approach it, that that might be something that we could manifest on, something like The Amazing Race, and to see it be successful was, I think, truly amazing.

LORI: I would say adventurous, because you just don’t know what’s happening and what’s around the next corner, especially this season, like you just said, this Season of Surprises and twists. Like every leg for reals?! Every leg is going to have this crazy thing, it’s awesome. It makes it so entertaining and so fun, not even just to be on it, to watch it? It is so cool.

COLLIDER: How proud were the kids watching your adventure?

LORI: Oh my gosh, they loved every second of it. So they knew, obviously, we were going on The Amazing Race. But when we got back, they only knew the locations that we went to. They never knew what place we got, or anything like that. And so when we actually won Leg Three, we had all eight of our kids. We had watch parties for every episode, and we had all eight of our kids there. And again, they’re thinking, I don’t know second or third place, but they see Jack [Dodge] and Carson [McCalley] and us, and Jack and Carson and us, and then they don’t know. And then all of a sudden, when we win, they just blew up. They were so shocked. And then after they’re like, “I can’t believe you didn’t tell us. I can’t believe you held that secret.” I’m like, “I did it for this, for this reason, for this experience.” It was so fun watching their reaction, and I had a phone up, recording them.

SCOTT: It was so epic.

LORI: And they were just like, their mouths were on the floor. It was awesome.

COLLIDER: Going in, what were your expectations? How did you prepare for this race around the world?

SCOTT: Well, I think that we again, knew we had strengths and weaknesses that we needed to be aware of. We’ve been watching as super fans since Season 1, live on the couch. Like, literally, 9/11 happened between episode 1 and episode 2, where that second episode got pushed back two weeks. So Lori was writing in her journal every week about how we were tackling the challenges, who was doing what roadblocks, knowing what we would do well at, what we wouldn’t. But for much of that time, we couldn’t apply. Why?

LORI: Because I was pregnant, nursing for about 15 years straight, because having eight children. So just a couple, last year, I’m like, “We are going to apply finally,” because that’s something we’ve always wanted to do. And we just did it. I’m like, “Let’s do it today.” And we did it, and it was one take, and we had to edit it down because it was too long. And then we sent it in, and we got on. But as for preparing, Scott and I, the last couple years, had been working on our health, and we had lost a bunch of weight, so we just continued to, he would just run on the treadmill, and I would lift weights. We would try to do little things like that, because, I mean, it’s hard to prepare something, you know that they run. That’s pretty much all you know that’s going to happen on The Amazing Race.

SCOTT: And carrying packs.

LORI: You’re going to carry this pack, and you’re going to run, and who knows what’s going on. And so we just kind of, we just wanted to enjoy every second of it. So we weren’t so focused on making sure we were ready, as much as, let’s just go and do the best we can, have fun at it.

SCOTT: But we also wanted to be intentional in bringing that positivity to the table. You know, can we be supportive of others, run our race still, and maybe be successful at the same time. And I think we proved to ourselves that we could. It was awesome.

Scott and Lori Reveal Their Strategy for ‘The Amazing Race’

COLLIDER: The first four legs of the race, you did extraordinarily. What do you chalk that up to? Did you expect, seeing the competition, that you would be at the top of the pack?

LORI: Well, I would say the first four and a half episodes, we did amazing because we killed that coconut challenge, I might add. So I was, honestly, I was super nervous going into The Amazing Race for two main reasons. I have to sleep 8 to 10 hours, and I love food. And Amazing Race, you don’t really, that kind of is thrown up in the air when you’re on a 14-hour flight, and I can’t sleep on an airplane, so I was nervous for that. And then, when I see the competition, and see how young and strong everyone is.

SCOTT: Fit.

LORI: And we’re not that fit or not young, and we don’t run. Knowing, okay, they will outrun us every chance they get, there is no way to outdo that part of it, but in the challenges, we could be very specific and very intentional of who we’re choosing and how we’re doing it, and we’re not blowing up and getting mad like we’re staying focused as much as we can to finish this challenge as best we can. Also, getting the taxi, the correct directions, because every moment, every minute, counts in our favor, because they can outrun us. Like Jack and Carson did on episode four. We finished first, and we were going. We were there. We saw Phil and whoop, they just ran right past us.

COLLIDER: Let’s go back to the Driver’s Seat for a second. You were quite vocal about Jonathan and Ana making a bad move, especially when they wasted the Express Pass. And then you caught up to them. How did that series of events change your outlook on the rest of the race?

SCOTT: I think that it was frustrating for us, because again, we felt like we had a genuine connection with them in the airport that didn’t quite make the edit, where we thought they wouldn’t necessarily handicap us. We didn’t understand how they were running the race. And so it did feel a surprise to us, but then we understood it. Again, we’re not going to be despondent in the moment. Oh, woe is me. We’re going to tackle the challenges that come to us. You know, we do hard things, so Lori’s like, I’m going to take my frustration out on this rice. And we beasted that out. One of the surprises for us in that leg was we get to the mat, and literally, Phil tells Lori, He says, “You not only did the fastest time in the 25 pounds, you had the fastest time of all the 15 and 20 pounders, and you were faster than all production that ran it yesterday.” And so just that realization of like she beasted that challenge out, was awesome. And so to make up quite a bit of time and surprise them when we got to the Penjor and they realized, “oh, shoot, we don’t have as much of a buffer as we were hoping.” I mean, they still finished 40 minutes ahead of us on that leg, so, it still helped them, but I think it was a surprise that we weren’t as far back as they counted us.

LORI: Yeah, something with Scott and I, we definitely don’t hold a grudge, but if something is bothering us we are great at communicating. We want to talk about it. And so that’s why we called them out, because us three teams, we thought we had, I wouldn’t say an alliance, but some kind of an agreement that we would try to, keep us in the top of the pack. And so I was surprised when they immediately gave us a 25, so you know, I called them out and talked about it. They give their side of the story. I get it off my chest. Scott gets it, and I’m like, “Okay, yeah, we’re moving forward. It is now water under the bridge. We are not holding a grudge.” That’s why we hugged it out. And I’m like let’s just keep going. Let’s just keep playing this game. And genuinely, that’s how I feel in life. I don’t like the drama. I don’t like to hold grudges. If I’m going to be your friend and like you, great. And if not, then you know I don’t have to have this big, huge production. Just like arm’s distance away. And I’m moving on. I have too many other things on my plate to worry about, honestly.

Lori Breaks Down the Spat During the Double U-Turn Vote

Scott and Lori react to getting votes during the Double U Turn Vote on 'The Amazing Race' Season 37. — Image via CBS

COLLIDER: The Double U-Turn Vote was brutal. Were you surprised to receive votes?

LORI: Absolutely. So I had that gut feeling that we would be the second team. Scott was kind of in the clouds and like, “Oh no, all the teams love us, and we love everybody, and not a chance.” And so that first vote turned, and I was like, “I told you.” It was kind of surprising. The one that kind of hurt our feelings was Nick and Mike [Fiorito]’s, just because we felt like we were really close with them, and we had a genuine connection with them, so that kind of hurt our feelings a little bit. And then what kind of escalated everything is when Mark [Romain] had mentioned that we were disingenuous and not really this nice in real life, and we were playing a game, and that’s when I’m like, “No, no.” That’s when I had to call him out, and I try to have a conversation. But he was so adamant of like, “Nope, you guys are this way.” And so that’s why I’m like, “Hey, I’m not friends with people that are like that.” I totally stopped even looking at him. I was just focusing on Phil because I didn’t want to give my time and energy to that negativity and that absolute wrong representation of that.

SCOTT: Misrepresentation.

LORI: Feelings were hurt a little bit with Nick and Mike, but then that kind of blew up, and I was like, “Okay, I’m done with that. Let’s just play the game.”

SCOTT: Let’s just race.

LORI: Let’s just focus on that.

COLLIDER: You kind of consider yourselves underdogs, and everyone else saw you as competitors at the top of the pack. Where do you think the discrepancy came from?

SCOTT: I think that we were very vocal about the fact that we thought we would lose every foot race because we knew we were slow. Lori has a term, and she calls it “slogging.” Slow jogging, and she actually made that term up. I don’t think anyone’s ever heard of it before, because she made it up. But we realized that where we were going to make a big impact was being decisive about what we knew our strengths were in challenges, knowing let’s quickly go towards what we know is going to cater to what we know we’re good at. And so, I think where we had our impact was doing so well in the challenges. That’s what surprised people. And so, where we were discounting ourselves was more in the physicality of foot racing The Amazing Race, where the challenges were not stopping us nearly as much as it was stopping other teams. And that was what was causing some of the discrepancy for people.

COLLIDER: The nature of the Double U-Turn, it was between you and the Towns. Did you feel like it was a one-on-one the entire time? Was there any moment you’re like, “Okay, we can beat them?”

LORI: We thought we would be them the entire time until they got their clue and came out of the ocean, and Scott was still in the ocean. That’s why I had that moment with Ana. I’m like, “You guys are amazing. Good luck with everything.” And I hugged them, and I wish them the best. That’s the only time.

SCOTT: We counted ourselves out.

LORI: That’s the first time that I thought I knew that we were going to lose. But that’s the great thing about The Amazing Race. Honestly, we could have gotten there first. We could have finished that challenge and gone to the next. We could have gotten first place in that leg. That is what Amazing Race is all about. You don’t know what the twists and turns. You don’t know if someone’s going to struggle. Like they could have struggled with coral, and we could have killed it on the first time. We would have been in and out of there, even doing the two challenges. Like the coconuts, we did really fast. We were the second team to leave the coconuts after a Alyssa and Josiah [Borden]. So we never could count ourselves out. We don’t count ourselves out in life anyways, but in The Amazing Race, you have no idea the next twist and turn. A little taxi ride, a little wrong turn here or there, it’s anyone’s game.

SCOTT: And you see it as soon as we get in the taxi leaving the monkey sanctuary. We’re already talking about, we’re not counting ourselves out. Yes, we just got Double U-Turn, but we might win this leg. We could surprise some people here.

LORI: Anything can happen.

SCOTT: So we never possibly considered the possibility that we were out.

COLLIDER: Were you hopeful that it might be a non-elimination leg?

LORI: Yes! Yes.

SCOTT: We were praying. Stars could align.

LORI: We were praying. When Scott ripped and read the clue, and it said “will be eliminated,” I was like, “Oh, dang it.” But we knew down that path where it was, because we had seen the other team. So we knew exactly where we were going. We couldn’t see Phil by any means, because it was still quite a long ways to run, but we knew it was on that little end of the peninsula, so we knew exactly where we were going, and it was six minutes that are a difference between Jonathan and Ana and ourselves touching that mat.

SCOTT: So close.

CBS-Amazing-Race-37-Fork-In-The-Road-Pops-Jeff

‘The Amazing Race’ Twist Sparks Outrage After Shocking Elimination

Season 37’s Fork in the Road sounds good, but fails to deliver.

Scott and Lori Are Ready to Do ‘The Amazing Race: Family Edition’

COLLIDER: Obviously, back in the day, as super fans, you remember the Family Edition of The Amazing Race. Would you ever want to do a Family Edition with your kids?

LORI: 100%. And I remember watching that season, with all my little kids, and I’m like, “In a couple of years, when my kids are a little bit older, we could do that. Yes, my kids are very outgoing, very athletic, very smart. I mean, some are in med school. Some are about to be in med school. I have extremely brilliant kids, mind-wise, but also physical. They play college sports, they’re on varsity. We would have so much fun. I mean, just seeing the dynamic. And I think it was only four, was only four?

COLLIDER: Yes, teams of four.

LORI: Yeah, you wouldn’t be able to see as much as the crazy dynamic of the craziness and loudness of my family with just two kids and Scott and I, but it would be so much fun to watch.

COLLIDER: How has your relationship changed since the race?

SCOTT: I don’t think it’s changed at all.

LORI: No.

SCOTT: I think it reaffirmed, it strengthened what we already knew, which was that fact that we lean heavily upon each other at different times in our lives to lift the other when one’s struggling. But just knowing that our mentality, the way we approach life, can hold up in a competition like The Amazing Race, it was very reaffirming to see positivity can be a strength for good. And so being able to see that, I think really helped us know that we’re doing a pretty good job. Keep going.

LORI:We had gotten asked a lot before it had aired. They’re like, “Oh my gosh, are you worried how it’s going to be edited?” And I’m like no, because we don’t ever. we’re never yelling and mad at each other or swearing or pitching a fit or having this meltdown. That’s just not our personalities, even in that high-stress situation, like the one in Bali when I’m like, “Okay, we need to do this.” That was like the most “mad. and then we weren’t even mad.

SCOTT: Like she’s literally saying, “Babe.”

LORI: And then something about

SCOTT: “We’re good partners.”

LORI: Yeah, we’re the best partners. So people are like, “Oh my gosh, they’re so mad at each other.” No, we were just trying to be directive and precise so we could get the heck out of there as quickly as possible. But yeah, that’s just not our personality and not who we are as a couple.

SCOTT: Yeah, it’s fun.

COLLIDER: I think when we get to redemption season, you’ll be at the top of the list because twists are not fun. But listen, I think we would have very different result at the end of the race had you still been there. Would you do it again?

SCOTT and LORI: Oh, 100%.

SCOTT: Yes, we would love the callback, any point. I mean, we’ll be 65 with oxygen masks, pulling our oxygen tanks. If they call us, we’re coming. It doesn’t matter.

LORI: And honestly, it’s not even like “I want to come back for redemption to show them.” I just want to go back to have more fun, to meet new people, and go to these crazy challenges. Like the challenges are so unique for the culture and the community and these little tribes, almost, of these people. We could travel to all these places and never do–

SCOTT: Never have that experience.

LORI: Just to be part of this organization and this community is just like, we’re so lucky and so blessed. So yeah, we would do it in a heartbeat. So call! Phil, give us a call.

COLLIDER: Did you have a favorite location you got to visit?

SCOTT: We really enjoyed Japan. We’re actually already planning on taking our boys back to Japan next year, if we can.

LORI: So they’re crazy into anime. They all love it. So we had decided, after coming back from The Amazing Race, knowing we had gone to Japan, I’m like, we need to go back. The kids have been asking to go do that, but that’s a big trip for 10 people to go to Japan. And that’s not really high on my list, until we went to The Amazing Race and got to experience the culture and the people, and it was awesome. So yeah, next summer we are going back.

COLLIDER: My final question is, what was the best part of The Amazing Race that was not game-related?

LORI: Oooh! Meeting all these people, I guess would be for me. I’m in this little bubble in Salt Lake City, Utah. Most of people around me are LDS, are Christian, and it’s just like this small little community here, and being able to meet this vast variety of individuals that we would never have met in real life. It’s such a blessing. Like, cute Jeff [Bailey]. This cute, younger, what is he? 35 or 36. This Black guy from Missouri and Scott are literally best friends. They talk on the phone, and he wouldn’t have had that, that connection, or this new bestie without this Amazing Race. And like we are friends and communicate. We have a thread on a text thread going with the whole crew. Everyone has all these connections. Melinda [Papadeas] just messaged me a month ago. “Hey, your son’s in Arizona at med school. If you ever need anything, let me know.” And I’m just like, oh my gosh, I wouldn’t have had that. I wouldn’t have had all the support around the country from all these amazing people that are just the kindest, wonderful and so amazing to have met, to now know and call my friend

SCOTT: For sure.

COLLIDER: Oh, that’s so good to hear. You both were so inspiring. I loved watching you, and I can’t wait to see it happen again, because, ooh, that twist done you dirty! Congratulations on your amazing run.

SCOTT: Thank you so much.

LORI: Thank you, Michael. Appreciate it.