Amazing Race's Gay Winners Speak Out

By now, the whole world knows that Chip and Reichen won the fourth Amazing Race. The openly gay duo crossed the finish line a full eight minutes ahead of runners-up Jon and Kelly and hours ahead of third-place team David and Jeff. But storm clouds threaten to dampen the couple's victory celebration: Rumors persist that while Chip and Reichen were able to go the distance on the show, the same can't be said for their relationship. In a revealing interview, the stereotype-shattering twosome clear the air about the state of their union, their real feelings about Jon and Kelly and the climactic kiss viewers didn't see.

TV Guide Online: First off, congratulations on your victory. When did you know that you had the race sewn up?
Reichen: Honestly, I didn't know that we'd won until we ran up to the podium, and I didn't see David and Jeff anywhere. We figured the whole time that they had found some sneaky way to get ahead and that they were just going to be there waiting. I really thought we were going to be second.

TVGO: Now that it's all over, how did you feel about your portrayal on the series?
Chip: I'm actually a comedian in real life, so I don't know how they got that serious side of me. (Laughs)
Reichen: I think the editing was fair, although they really nailed it to Chip when he got frustrated and freaked out in the car in Korea telling the guy to speak English. It was kind of taken out of context. Other than that slam, I think we got really fair editing.

TVGO: Were you happy with the way the show depicted your relationship specifically?
Reichen: I think we were portrayed well. A lot of people have asked us if there was some sort of restriction on how much PDA we could show. Chip and I are just not very demonstrative in public about affection. I think it really was true to life, and I think as far as portraying us as a gay couple it came out exactly like I wanted it to.

TVGO: Was there a moment we didn't see between the two of you that you wish had been included?
Reichen: Chip and I laid a big kiss on each other at the very end of the race that will never be shown to family television audiences.
Chip: People actually stopped clapping I think. They were all like, "Woah, how do we respond to this one?"

TVGO: What teams did you bond with?
Chip: Up to the final four teams, we were closest to Monica and Sheree. And then we really bonded with Jon and Kelly.

TVGO: Really? You seemed to have such an intense rivalry with them.
Reichen: We all bonded on that train ride through India. After that it was just constant gay jokes being fired back and forth and they made us laugh so hard. The camera only showed a fraction of how often Jon was firing gay jokes. And we'd fire back, telling Jon he was gay and pretending to hit on him by telling him how cute he was. We had an absolute blast. I wish the editing had shown how funny and friendly that was. They wanted to make it more dramatic, like we had this rivalry going on when it really wasn't like that.
Chip: I look at it as two brothers who poke fun at each other. Some people would say, "That's cruel, how can you say that to your brother?" But he's my brother, we like doing that to each other, it's fun. Some people look at Jon and Kelly's actions and their words as hostile, and we looked at them as if they were corny. We were able to retaliate back, like brothers would.

TVGO: Chip, several readers wanted to know why you did all the driving even though you seemed to hate it.
Chip: In the first episode when we were driving to the L.A. airport, I was navigating and I had the map turned upside down so we got there 10 minutes behind everyone else. Suddenly, we're on the third flight and Reichen's looking at me like I'm an idiot — which I was — and saying, "Oh my God, this is not going to happen again." So I said, "Okay, the only way it's not going to happen again is if you navigate."
Reichen: Just so you know, I hate being in the backseat. It's so stressful.

TVGO: What are you both up to now?
Chip: I'm going to stay in the media business and try to get a more steady job than I've been doing. I've just been consulting for the past year and a half and I want to use this exposure to springboard into something a little more stable. I've also been approached by a couple of people to maybe go out and speak around the country to kids in schools about what it means to be gay.
Reichen: I just agreed to be the spokesperson for the Service Members Legal Defense Network charity. It provides free legal service to gay people who are undergoing litigation for being gay in the military. I also got the opportunity to be in the season premiere of Frasier. That was awesome. I play the part of the Impossibly Handsome Man. I only have one line, and I wouldn't trade it for the world. I got an acting coach, I'm signing with an agent next week and I'm hoping to go on a soap opera. That's my goal.

TVGO: There have been lots of rumors flying around about the state of your relationship. Can you set the record straight?
Reichen: Chip and I have undergone a lot of stress since the race ended in February, and it put a lot of pressure on our relationship. We're just trying to work through things privately right now. The most important thing though, just sitting here together, I know that Chip and I agree that we love each other very much. We're just trying to work on things.

TVGO: Finally, it's no secret that The Amazing Race is facing an uncertain future. Do you hope to see it return?
Reichen: Absolutely. I know we're biased because we were on it, but we love the show and think it deserves the Emmy. It's a real competition; it's about performance and if you perform the best, you get to stay. It's just the best reality show on TV.

Tomorrow, Race runners-up Kelly and Jon and David and Jeff speak out!