Day trader Garrett Paul, 28, and freelance editor Jessica Stout, 28, were eliminated from the 15th season of the Amazing Race due to fowl play in Vietnam. The California couple chatted with PEOPLE about the experience that literally ended with a diamond in the rough. --Carrie Bell
You had the makings of a strong team -- fluent in Spanish, physically fit, educated, well-traveled. What went wrong?Jessica: It all came down to my lack of duck herding experience and some bad luck. I had a broken stick and a duck with a broken foot they didn’t show on TV. I would have normally freaked out or started crying but I did my best to stay calm because I knew that would help the ducks. I was scarred for weeks. If I even saw a picture of a duck, I would cringe and I actually saw many live ducks in the weeks that followed.
Had you been to Japan and Vietnam?Garrett: We had never been to either of the countries so it was great to see a couple new places. We spent a lot of time in Vietnam because the elimination station was on an island off Vietnam. The Vietnamese were one of the friendliest cultures we have ever experienced. Japan was a whirlwind, a really quick leg, and was weird because you would try to ask directions and would look down or away.
Jessica: Mind you, we were frantic and yelling and traveling with a camera crew.
Have you acquired a taste for wasabi bombs?Garrett: I almost threw up! The toughest part was the real sticky rice in the bottom was almost impossible to get down without some water. It was so hot and painful. I was crying.
Your storyline revolved around your on-and-off seven-year relationship. Where do things stand now?Jessica: We have a big shocker for you.
Garrett: We were selling ourselves as a lot more unstable than we were when trying out. I brought a ring with me and proposed to Jess after we got eliminated, so we are now engaged and planning a wedding for sometime in 2010.
Were you surprised, Jessica?Jessica: So surprised! We had to talk about it with a bazillion before and on the Race. We told we’d never been in a rush to get married and that we might not survive the race. We had broken up and they ended the whole episode with Garrett saying we weren’t closer to it. Little did I know he had a huge diamond ring in his fanny pack the whole time. I was floored that he pulled it off because it's hard to surprise me.
Garrett: That was the very end of the interview and we were trying to get out of there quick. I was trying to say something to throw Jess off more. It was more of a farce. I asked them not to use that line but they did anyway.
Jessica was painted as the one with the temper yet Garrett seemed to take losing on the boat much harder.Jessica: It was like we switched personalities and it was way worse than what they showed.
Garrett: My hand was bleeding from hitting the boat. I ripped off my shirt. I was yelling at the top of my lungs. We don’t fail that often and I’m such an overachiever. It was such a lesson for us in accepting failure.
Who do you hope wins the million?Jessica: Zev and Justin. They are great solid guys and from California. Coincidentally Justin and I have in common. Small world!
Monty Brinton/CBS
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