Amazing Race's Jaime and Cara's Taxicab Confessions: We're Nice Girls with Bad Luck

It was a taxi that was the deciding factor in Jaime Edmondson and Cara Rosenthal's advancement to the Amazing Race 14 finale, and it was also a taxi that was responsible for them coming up just short of the win. "So much of the game is luck and, without fail, we always had bad luck with the taxis, so it really didn't surprise us the final leg for a million dollars that we'd get the taxi driver that we did," Jaime tells TVGuide.com. The former NFL cheerleaders also weren't surprised with Jaime's "mean-girl" label. See what they have to say about their portrayal, as well as what it will take for an all-female team to finally win the Race.
Check out our interviews with winners Tammy and Victor here, and third-place finishers Luke and Margie here.
TVGuide.com: So did you offend or kill some taxi driver in a previous life? Because that was just total bad luck you had.
Cara: [Laughs] I don't know! Maybe we were really bad taxicab drivers in our last lives because it was like that from the beginning [of the Race].
Jaime: We wasted about 45 minutes. Between getting gas, taking us to a surf, and he actually just pulled over to the side of the road and sat there. He had no idea where to go, so he called his dispatch, who, as you saw, refused to offer any assistance.
TVGuide.com: I didn't get that. Isn't her job to find your destination?
Jaime: That's what we were thinking. We were still paying customers and our fare was running up. I would believe the role of the taxi dispatch would be to help. Even if we weren't in a race, I would still expect that. ... It's really hard, even six months later, to have all the what-ifs. When Victor left the Roadblock, I had one surfboard left, so that shows how much time we made up when we were there, so what could we have done with an extra 45 minutes? I could totally accept defeat if it's my own doing — if I cannot compete and I've given 100 percent and I still don't win. But it's really difficult to accept it when you put your fate in someone else's hands.
Cara: That was incredible, and it was amazing how fast she did it. But barring some ridiculous circumstance — we were joking that we need Tammy and Victor to get a flat tire — we knew when they left that winning was over for us.
TVGuide.com: Jaime, you've built up a reputation as a mean girl, bordering on xenophobic.
Jaime: [Laughs] Apparently I'm going to be on Mean Girls Part 2! I was very, very frustrated by China because, for us, the problem with the taxis began on the very first leg, and you can't fault the other Racers for getting a smooth ride. What people don't see is that at the end of every single leg, without fail, I always apologized to our taxi drivers and I always showed remorse. I say things without the intention of being mean, but I say things very bluntly. "Hey, you speak English? You don't? OK, I'll find someone else."
Cara: Obviously, Jaime did not expect people in other countries to speak English, but we ask because you hope someone will say yes and help you. In China, when we were lost for five hours, someone who knew English helped us, but what we didn't know is that our Chinese isn't very good and there are so many different tones, so how appropriate that with Jaime's "horrible and nasty tone," we got directed to the wrong place.
TVGuide.com: They showed you apologizing on the finale. Were you annoyed that they didn't show any prior ones, or with how they chose to edit you?
Jaime: I knew that was my character for the show and I accept that. I know I have a tone and I know I have a very straightforward personality and it could rub people the wrong way because it happens in real life.
Cara: I think Jaime represents something inside so many of us where we all wished we had at times in our lives said what we really wanted to say. We're proud that we were ourselves from start to finish. I say really corny things and Jaime is going tell it to you like it is. If still you think we're mean, well, you don't know us. You weren't with us for 24 hours a day and Jaime is not a yelling lunatic for 24 hours a day!
TVGuide.com: Was that foot massage really that painful, Cara? Or do you have a low threshold for pain?
Cara: [Laughs] It was horrific! I don't like my feet touched. I've been training in ballet since I was 2 years old and I danced professionally, so I've had so many foot injuries. My very kind masseuse hit every single spot I had ever broken or injured, and for months after, Jaime can tell you, I had bruises all over the bottom of my feet. In my left foot, I actually had a pool of blood down the whole arch. I say my fiancé is very lucky because I'm the one girl who does not come home and say, "Honey, can you rub my feet? I've been on them all day."
TVGuide.com: What is it going to take for an all-female team to win?
Jaime: Luck. I don't think it has much to do with your skill level. There have been many skilled female teams on the Race, but it could come down to a bad taxi and that's luck.
Cara: Luck and maybe not running against such incredible teams in the final three. We can't give enough credit to Tammy and Victor, and Margie and Luke. They're very fierce competitors — Kisha and Jen too. They're all great and tough.
TVGuide.com: What are you up to now?
Jaime: Getting back to normal. It's been a very surreal experience. Now that we don't have a million dollars, we have to work! [Laughs] It's exciting to mark this one off my bucket list and see what the future holds.
TVGuide.com: Maybe they'll have another All-Stars season and you can come back and win.
Cara: [Laughs] Oh, we'd love that!
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