Amazing Race's Nick and Vicki: We Regret Taking the Six-Hour Penalty

Quitting has its consequences. After opting against finishing the Detour on The Amazing Race last week, Nick DeCarlo and girlfriend Vicki Casciola, both 26, incurred a six-hour penalty, forcing them to miss the first flight to Seoul this week and a shot to make the final three. "I don't think we had any chance of making that flight," Vicki tells TVGuide.com. "We got to the airport a little too late. ... But we were still in good spirits in thinking that you never know what's going to happen." See what else the two have to say about their disastrous penultimate leg, if they did all the tasks this week and why Nick felt "a little OK" quitting last week.

TVGuide.com: When did you know it was over? When you missed the first flight?
Nick: Pretty much when we missed the flight, but a little before that as well. I mean, six hours is a lot to make up. And then the next flight was nine hours later, so ...

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TVGuide.com: Do you regret taking the six-hour penalty?
Vicki: Absolutely. But at the same time, we were tired, we were hungry. It was a long day, a draining day with the whole sushi thing. It took me probably three and a half hours to find the fake food. It was a long time! We regret it, but that's all that we could do.TVGuide.com: How did you pump yourselves up for this leg knowing you had the penalty and especially after you didn't make the first flight?
Vicki: Just staying positive like we did throughout the entire game. We just talked to each other and said, "We got this far." We did the best we could with encouraging each other. We just wanted to have fun with it. That's what we did. We just kept our spirits up. We got to travel all over the world. There's nothing really to be upset about, even though we knew it was most likely our last leg.TVGuide.com: Did you do all the tasks? We just saw you doing the speed bump.
Vicki: Yeah, we did all of them. It was just because it was so dark and we were so far behind that it was probably pointless to show. In [the other three teams'] competition, it was so head-to-head that they probably wanted to show that. ... We did [speed skating]. Everything was fun!TVGuide.com: What was going on with that guy who was hitting on you?
Vicki: Those guys were really awesome. They were really funny. I feel like they got us through the leg because their spirits were so high. They were like the comedy act. They kept our spirits up, trying to get us through it and hitting on me! [Laughs] They were having fun with Nick. It was really funny.

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TVGuide.com: Nick, we saw a nice montage of all of your angry moments. You seemed a lot calmer this leg. What happened between the last leg and this one?
Nick: A lot of it was just the sleeping and eating factors. We got that extra six hours of sleep, which helped. Just replaying in my head all the legs where I did get angry and seeing how it didn't help at all, I just told Vicki and myself that I'm just going to have fun this leg, especially since it very might well be our last one. And we did. ... [Last week] was definitely my low point. I just made things worse and I realized that. I wanted to at least have fun and go out like that instead of going out angry.TVGuide.com: Do you regret quitting on Vicki last week?
Nick: Definitely. After seeing that, I was definitely angry with myself. After so long with no food and no sleep, eventually your body's going to say "enough is enough." That's where I got to. ... I kind of had a feeling that it would be a non-elimination leg, so I felt a little OK saying, "enough is enough." It felt good [when Phil told us we were still in it], but at the same time, right then and there, it was just exhausting.TVGuide.com: A lot of fans think you were too mean toward Vicki and lost your temper too often. What do have to say?
Nick: I would have to say the people passing judgment really have no idea how mentally, physically demanding that race is. I really don't let it bother me, to be honest. I don't read any of it. They don't know who Vicki and I really are as people or as a couple. They're judging a character; they're not really judging who we are as people.

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TVGuide.com: You quitting and saying you wanted to go home last week gave the perception that you didn't enjoy the race, but did you have a good time?
Nick: Oh yeah, I most definitely had a good time. We had a lot of fun, but we had those moments of bickering and fighting. I mean, they showed what they showed. We did have a lot of fun. We got to see really cool things, really cool places and met great people along the way. It was life-changing for sure.TVGuide.com: What was your favorite leg?
Nick: I would have to say Norway and Sweden. I love the snow. It was just fun. I ride dirt bikes and we both snowboard, so it was all related to us.Vicki: Anything athletic I was super-excited about. I felt like we had an advantage in that department. Besides seeing everything, I just love being able to be active and athletic. What are you up to now?
Vicki: Just basically the daily grind, just working a lot. We both work a lot and spend a lot of time with our dog. Staying active with snowboarding season starting. That's pretty exciting!