Amazing Race's Mark and Mallory: Our Communication Was Bad

The new — but not necessarily improved — Team Kentucky didn't last long on The Amazing Race All-Stars. After Mallory replaced Bopper to race with Mark, the hybrid duo became the second team eliminated on Sunday after they forgot Mark's backpack at the Roadblock and debated whether or not to go back and get it. "I think we were at a disadvantage from the beginning with communication," Mallory tells TVGuide.com. "We didn't know each other well and we didn't talk about anything about the Race since I came in so late." See what else the two had to say about their last-minute pairing, how the Detour also set the back and if they'd ever race together again.

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Did Bopper know what happened? 
Mark: No. He had no idea. Bopper watched it at his house with his family. He called me as soon as the episode was over. It was tough.You had some miscommunication at the Roadblock. Mark, you asked if Mallory had your backpack, but she replied about something else. What happened there?
Mallory: I think we were at a disadvantage from the beginning with communication. We didn't know each other well and we didn't talk about anything about the Race since I came in so late. My dad and I would know what to do in that situation had that happened, whoever did it, but Mark and I didn't have any time before to plan. We hadn't discussed anything. That's why I think it blew up so badly. There was so much going on. I was getting the taxi and Mark was putting the toy car in the back. He thought the bag was there. I'll take the blame for it.Mark: We're not going to put the blame on anybody. It was just something that happened. Like Mallory said, we didn't get to talk to each other. When I asked her if she had it and she said yeah, the backpack never entered my mind again because I thought she had it until she asked me where it was. That's when we realized we left it. I have to say "we" because we both left it. I should've started thinking about the backpack when I got into the cab. It was both of our faults. I didn't want to leave the backpack. It belonged to a friend of mine. I borrowed it and I was going to return it. It might have cost me $1 million to return it, but it was just a big mistake on my part.It was made worse by the fact that Mallory had your passport and your meds, so you could've continued. If she didn't, there wouldn't be a question of whether or not you should go back.
Mallory: Right. That's what broke my heart. I would never say, "Mark, no, we're staying. We have to continue." Our communication was bad, but I was still part of the team. I just wanted to make sure Mark understood that I had the passports, I had his medication. But I think we were both so flustered.Mark: It wasn't just the medicine and the passport. I didn't have my glasses or my contacts or clothes. And I get cold! I need my clothes. There's no way I could've gone on without my glasses. My contacts were only going to last another day or two before I would've had to switch them out. I would've been basically blind. ... My backpack was my lifeline. Mallory: And I understand the contacts, but we were already talking about buying a pair of glasses. And I'm there thinking, "Look at all these teams and their support for us." I knew Flight Time and Big Easy, and the cowboys would be the first ones to step up and hand over their clothes. I knew how much they cared about him and his story. I wasn't thinking that Mark was going to have to go around the world for 23 days in that outfit. I would've frozen in Switzerland and left my backpack, but you know, we're different. Like I said, my dad and I had that discussion, and Mark and I didn't. But I knew everyone would've supported us through the rest of the Race.

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You could tell at the finish. Everyone was crestfallen.
Mallory: Yeah, that was sad with everyone there. They didn't show a lot of it. A lot of people took a taxi to the finish, but we ran. We were like, "This can't be the end. Maybe it's a 'keep racing' leg." Then we came around the corner and saw all the teams lined up. It was really sad. It was good to have support because neither of us had our support there.You still caught up with everyone at the Detour.
Mark: Yeah, but now that I've seen the show, we should've done the other one! We both needed that massage on our backs! [Laughs] But we did the [shuttlecock] and that was a lot harder than we thought it'd be. It's hard to kick that little thing. We were there before two other teams showed up, but we could not get it down. Maybe if we had done the other one, we'd still be in it.Mallory: But we were flustered after everything that had happened. Not to blame it on anyone, but we picked a bad team to play with. Watching it, you can see all the other players tell team s when it went out of bounds. Our players, I don't know if they were tired at the end, but it was hard.Mark: When they got tired and they didn't care if they got in or not. When the other teams showed up, we started to panic, but they were in that "don't care" mode. But as soon as we got another team, we got it. So it was just bad luck.When did they call you to replace Bopper, Mallory?
Mallory: It was a few days before the Race started, but it wasn't definite because he didn't withdraw until the night before. I kept thinking, "Am I the Biggest Loser or something? Am I on Survivor?" I really had no idea what was going on. They didn't send him out there thinking he couldn't race. Mark: The day before we took off, they took more blood and he didn't get any better. I didn't want to do the Race at all, but I knew Bopper needed it just as bad as I did. He kept telling me to do it, so I said I'll do it for him. And I wanted to do it for our little town, Clay County, and I knew Mallory was a real go-getter. I didn't know a whole lot about her. I just saw her and her daddy run it. I just knew she was a little fireball.Mallory: Just a little too much fire this time!

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But you two hadn't met until the starting line, right?
Mallory: Yeah. We've met before, but not as a team to run the Race! And then not even 10 minutes later, the Race started. And everyone was crying and was upset. It was hard to come into that with vigor like, "Oh, here we go! I'm going to win this!" Mark was already in such a bad spot. He was leaving his friend. It's just hard all the way around. My dad was so supportive of it. He said, "Yeah, you go out there and help him."Mark: I felt like I had a lot of pressure. I had more to prove this time because I was going to let my county down and my best friend down if I didn't do good. She didn't know me and I didn't know her. ... It's hard to run the Race with someone you don't know the ins and outs about. People don't realize when Mallory and I got to the Pit Stop, it wasn't like we sat down and talked. She went to her room and I went to my room to sleep and we weren't around each other until we had to start the next leg.Mallory: I had a ton of pressure on me too. I almost won the last All-Stars. I was terrified that I would do awful. ... I wanted to do well because I didn't want everyone to think, "Oh, it's just her dad!" I'm very loyal to my state, my county, and I love the Race. I would run the Race 10 more times. All the pressure of having to worry about the money and I wanted to win for Bopper — I was going to give some to Bopper too. I just wanted to do well. I couldn't have it in the back of my mind that I was going to lose it for them.They should give you another shot with Bopper and your dad.
Mallory: I hope so!Mark: I don't think I would ever run the Race again without Bopper. No offense, Mallory! There's no way I would do it again without him. Mallory's a great person, but I would never do it again without Bopper. I would love to run it with Mallory and her dad on the same season.Mallory: That would be fun. As long as we've got our partners! (Full disclosure: TVGuide.com is owned by CBS.)