The team with the most makeup couldn’t make up lost time on “The Amazing Race.”
Goth couple Kynt Cothron and Vyxsin Fiala were eliminated in Mumbai, India, after encountering two new race twists: the U-Turn and Speed Bump, the CBS reality show’s new penalty for teams spared removal during non-elimination legs.
Cothron and Fiala previously came in last place on “The Amazing Race” but weren’t eliminated. While the flashy team easily overcame the yoga-posing Speed Bump challenge, they made their biggest blunder with the race’s second U-Turn, which allows one team to force another team to backtrack during the race.
“We don’t see what you see at home,” Fiala told The Associated Press during a telephone interview Wednesday. “You’re omnipotent. We really don’t know where other teams are during the race.”
That’s why Cothron and Fiala failed to target dating couple Nathan Hagstrom and Jennifer Parker — the only team trailing the goth couple from Louisville, Ky. — with the U-Turn.
“From our vantage point, they were the one team ahead of us,” Cothron said.
Cothron and Fiala weren’t able to catch up to Hagstrom and Parker, the bickering dating couple from California who have referred to Cothron and Fiala as “freaks” and claimed they had “witch powers” during the race.
“Anyone who looks different is probably used to getting called names,” Fiala said. “I can’t say that’s the first time Kynt or I have been called something cruel based on our appearance. To be honest, those are hardly the worst things we’ve been called.”
The team says their flamboyant pink-and-black attire didn’t deter them during their time on the competitive reality series. In fact, Cothron believes their ostentatiousness was an asset.
“We never had trouble getting information or directions,” says Cothron. “Although our look is definitely different, there’s nothing intimidating about us. We’re very friendly people. We love having conversations with complete strangers.”
Cothron and Fiala estimate they spent about a half-hour getting dolled before the beginning of each leg.
“I think I was the first person on ‘The Amazing Race’ to pack a flat iron,” Cothron said.