Here, once again, is Romber, of Amazing Race: All Stars.
Who's the first date from hell? Who's utterly desperate? Who is this year's comeback kid? And who have we seen just a bit (OK, way) too much of? TV Guide calls 'em like we see 'em in our wacky Reality TV Awards. Did your favorites make the cut?
Roughest RidersThe men of American Chopper (Thursdays at 7 pm/ET, TLC) Mikey, Paul Senior and Junior build custom bikes — choppers — for stars, movies, Web sites and basically anyone who'll pay. Sometimes they're cool. Sometimes they're not (we still don't get Junior's green dream Web bike). But it's fun watching them fight their way through the process.
Fiercest BacheloretteTiffany Pollard of
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Question: Why does everyone seem to hate Rob and Amber so much? I really like them. I think they are very much in love, as opposed to Adam and Candice, for example. He always treated her with the utmost respect and courtesy throughout Survivor and The Amazing Race. And both of them are close to their families — they love and respect their parents and siblings. You don't see nearly enough of that nowadays. I think that the reason most people dislike them is Rob's voice, which sometimes even grates on me. I enjoyed watching them on Survivor and Race and on their wedding special. The thoughtfulness of their gifts to each other was a delight to see. Yes, I realize they had almost unlimited funds to acquire those gifts, but they both went to so much trouble to get just the perfect tokens of their love. I know he was a little arrogant, but that seems to be part of playing the Survivor and Race games. So what is wrong with them?
Answer: In a word: overexposure. Words cannot adequately convey
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Love 'em or hate 'em, Rob Mariano and Amber Brkich were definitely the most talked-about team on the seventh season of The Amazing Race. The ex-Survivors dominated the race from the very first leg, regularly finishing in the Top Three and winning scads of prizes. But their scheming ultimately didn't get them to the finish line in first place — they wound up placing second to Joyce and Uchenna Agu. Here, the now-married couple discuss their controversial approach to the race and tease their TV future.
TVGuide.com: Coming to the finish line, how far behind Uchenna and Joyce were you?Rob Mariano:We were about 30 minutes behind them, but we pretty much knew it was over when we got to the cigar shop. We were disappointed that they held that plane from Puerto Rico to Miami to let Uchenna and Joyce on. If they hadn't, we would have had the race in the bag. We were pulli
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The Amazing Race's seventh season has loyal aficionados scratching our heads. The early favorites to win — brothers Brian and Greg and boyfriends Lynn and Alex — all bit the dust. This month the final four battle it out to see who'll take home the $1 million prize by landing first on host Phil Keoghan's finish mat. Which Racers will end up with the bucks and the bragging rights? TVGuide.com weighs the percentages of the dynamic duos most likely to succeed (and fail).
Meredith and GretchenVital stats: The underdog married couple has run at the back of the pack for the entire season. At ages 69 and 66, respectively, however, these retirees are the oldest pair ever to make it this far into game. And they haven't had a cakewalk of it. In South Africa, Gretchen suffered a head trauma, causing them to arrive last at the pit stop — where Phil confiscated all
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If nothing else, Susan and Patrick Vaughn made history for being the first mother-son team to run The Amazing Race (Tuesdays, 9pm/ET on CBS). After a strong start, the twosome had trouble keeping up with the rest of the pack, and a defective boat finally sunk their chances this week. Here, the Philiminated mom and her openly gay son tell TVGuide.com about their often-contentious relationship — and Patrick reveals how he really feels about "media whores" Rob and Amber.
TVGuide.com: So Patrick, you were down in the dumps in your last episode. Having watched it, do you regret being so defeatist?Patrick Vaughn: I definitely shouldn't have expressed it so much, but we were so far behind. It seemed like every little comment I made was aired. Maybe I did talk about it a lot. [Laughs] It was that whole boat thing — that did it for us. When our
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Part of the fun of watching The Amazing Race's bickering couples is trying to figure out why they're even together. Indeed, the race has run over many a relationship — as well as the warring team's chances of winning. How can lovebirds like Rob and Amber avoid the same romantic pitfalls? We asked a few Race alumni for their advice.Reichen and ChipThe finish line: These Season 4 winners broke up after the race; they're still friends. What went wrong: "We started to get frustrated with each other," Chip says. Reichen's response? "I wouldn't let Chip near a map after he got us lost getting to L.A.!" Their advice: "It's OK to let out a little tension and yell," Chip says, "but don't stay angry." Reichen warns: "If you're going to fight, don't do it in front of the other teams. It empowers them."
Hayden and AaronThe finis
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Since getting engaged on live TV in May, life's been a whirlwind for Survivor: All-Stars runner-up Rob Mariano (aka Boston Rob) and $1 million winner Amber Brkich. Together, they've traveled the nation doing public appearances to cash in on their 15 minutes of fame. They're now happily promoting Survivor: All-Stars — The Complete Season DVD set (currently available in stores). Here, TV Guide Online catches up with the couple to dish their upcoming nuptials, their future reality-TV ambitions and other silliness.
TV Guide Online: Have you adjusted back to real life?Amber: We are so not living real life yet. We're having fun with this and we want it to last as long as it possibly can. But I know that once we do have a house and a normal life again, we'll love that, too.Rob: Since the show ended on May 9, we've been together almost every single day, 24/7. Between the time on the island and our time off, we've already don
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Survivor: All-Stars backstabber Boston Rob gets another shot at that $1-million jackpot tonight at 8 pm/ET, when America decides which castaway most deserves to join Amber in the winner's circle. While the Beantown baddie performed some serious damage control by proposing to his suddenly wealthy gal-pal on Sunday's post-finale reunion show, was it enough to convince viewers that he's not the greedy, compassion-challenged conspirator he acted like on the show? Well, just in case it wasn't, the future Mr. Brkich makes his case once again to TV Guide Online.TV Guide Online: Do you think you have a shot at the second million-dollar prize?Boston Rob: I hope so. What I'm hoping is that people will mix up Rupert and Robert and I think I might have a shot. I don't know. We'll see. I think I played the game the best. I think I deserve to win. Who knows, maybe the public will see it that way; we'll have
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Amber Brkich won really big at Sunday's Survivor: All-Stars finale. Not only did she beat Boston Rob for the $1-million prize, but her Beantown beau also proposed on national TV. While many fans think the grumpy jury chose wrongly, this giddy 25-year-old is clearly delighted with the verdict. Here, she tells TV Guide Online about tasting victory, the surprise engagement (and that huge rock!) as well as what her family really thinks of her new fiancé.
TV Guide Online: Has it sunk in yet that you've won $1 million? Amber Brkich: It started sinking in on [Monday] night, and then I actually got some rest. So now, I'm actually getting excited about it because I'm much more awake. It is weird because I really have no clue how much a million dollars is. That is a huge sum of money, so it is hard to really fathom. But I'm really excited!
TVGO: Have you had chance to decide when and where you'll marry Rob?Amber: No,
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Shii Ann Huang lived up to her "Shii Devil" rep on last Thursday's Survivor: All-Stars when she tore into her knucklehead tribemates for annihilating what was left of the Mogo Mogos instead of targeting the game's biggest threats (i.e. Amber, Rob, Rupert... ). In the end, the 30-year-old Big Appler still got her torch snuffed, but at least she went down fighting. Here, Shii Ann dishes about her climactic Tribal Council tirade, her real feelings about Boston Rob and why swimming challenges are the death of her.
TV Guide Online: I loved your speech during tribal council.Shii Ann Huang: Thanks! I am really happy with the way it turned out. It was everything that I felt that I'd been holding in for a couple of days. It was really exciting to just let loose.
TVGO: Do you think it will help? Shii Ann: I don't know that it was meant to be helpful. I just kind of wanted people to stop being so content with coming in third,
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