Amazing Race's Bates and Anthony: We Were Confident We'd Be First

What started as a neck-and-neck battle turned into a clean victory for hockey brothers Bates and Anthony on The Amazing Race 22 finale. After arriving to the spy Roadblock in Washington, D.C., second, they completed it first and never relinquished their lead — even leaving the final task before any other team had gotten there. "We knew we were first," Bates tells TVGuide.com. "And that's an awesome feeling to have on the last leg, knowing that you're going to win." So what are they going to do with their $1 million? And what's really going on between them and Caroline and Jennifer? Find out below.

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Congratulations! How confident were you that you were going to win? You didn't even see anyone else after the spy task.
Bates: Yeah, we were pretty pumped up. We knew what we were doing. The cabbie was great. He knew where everything was, so we were confident we'd be first.The spy task and the globes task were both needle-in-the-haystack challenges. Do you think you got lucky finding your spy first?
Bates: I think we got lucky with everything. I ran into the right guy. It happened pretty quickly and I saw that Max was still doing it.Anthony: It was kind of like in Bora Bora. Bates got lucky there and found the right sandcastle with the clue. He went to the right spy and it worked out. And we got lucky with our cabbie. We didn't get lost at all and we all know [cabbie luck] can do you in in the final even if you are good at the challenges. ... [In the globes challenge] we knew exactly what we were looking for. We wrote everything down and we studied it all. I was in there rattling balls. We love balls! I figured it out pretty quickly. Do you know how far ahead of Max and Katie you were?
Bates: We don't know the exact time, but we knew we were pretty ahead of them. You were the favorites the whole season. Were you worried about getting U-Turned or your alliance turning on you? Are you surprised no one did?
Bates: Definitely. Honestly, going into the final leg, we were like, "How are we here? We made a mistake somewhere." [Laughs] It seemed too good to be true. We were prepared to be U-Turned somewhere, but no one did it.Anthony: We probably should've U-Turned Max and Katie because they were on a hot streak, but we were in an alliance with them and we're friends, so we didn't. We almost beat them the past few legs, but we won the one that matters. ... We were dogging it 'til the end! [Laughs]

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You guys were chill the whole time until the Titanic meal Roadblock, which was probably your worst moment.
Anthony: Oh, yeah! Bates was really, really mad at me. What color is chartreuse? You tell me right now. I've been asking you the past three days and you still don't know and you're mad that I didn't know.Bates: I still don't know. But me and Leonardo DiCaprio have so much in common now. We're so tight now.Anthony: Yeah, you're the king of the world, right? But you don't know what chartreuse is.How much time did you spend there?
Bates: Too f---ing long! [Laughs] Dumb-Dumb here couldn't the f--- figure out what color chartreuse was.Anthony: First of all, watch your language. Second of all, I figured it out and we came in second by two seconds. We're going to fight right now!Fight after this. Anthony, you also helped Mona and Beth with the menu there. Was that by accident?
Anthony: Yeah. Beth and Mona had no idea what was going on. They were all over the map. I kind of helped them out and I didn't mean to. It just came out, but I was being vague. But they did help me out with the chartreuse part. They're girls, so they knew what chartreuse was!If you hadn't helped them, they might still be there doing it and Caroline and Jen could've probably made the final. What's going on with you guys? Phil told me he thought you guys were flirting too much.Bates: Well, you know, we like to flirt! We were disappointed that they weren't in the final. Anthony: We're very friendly. That's how we do. We're nice people!
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Did you ever figure out who took your bag on the train, Bates?
Bates: No, I have no idea. I honestly don't think anyone was paying attention. They should've been.Anthony: I think Caroline and Jen threw it out the train so they could give Bates a thong to wear, but he never wore it.Bates: Like I wouldn't. I would.Anthony: You love thongs.Bates: It's so much more comfortable.You can buy some with the $1 million. What are you going to with the money? Are you going to get new teeth?
Bates: I'm not against the thong idea! [Laughs] I was hoping to buy [Anthony] some teeth, but he doesn't want to now.Anthony: I ain't buying new teeth. It's my staple now. The chicks dig it. No big whoop. Hashtag! [Laughs]Speaking of appearances, I liked when you fixed up your hair, Bates, when you thought you were meeting Obama.
Bates: Well, you know, I had to clean it up. It was my hockey hair. It's gone now.Anthony: When we do our next show, he's got to be clean-cut. I needed him to be presentable. It's going to be Hockey Brothers Do America! [Laughs]In thongs?
Bates: [Laughs] Yeah! We're bringing the thunder to all of America!(Full disclosure: TVGuide.com is owned by a joint venture between Lionsgate and CBS.)