"Oldest and the slowest" - The Amazing Race contestant Melinda opens up about misreading the clue

The most recent episode of The Amazing Race saw Melinda and Erika get eliminated. However, the two were on a roll, making one mistake after the other. Had they won and stayed, Melinda thinks that they might even get a penalty of up to two hours because of the same.

The episode saw the contestants go through Bulgaria to win. They were especially asked not to use taxis during this stretch. However, Erika misread the information and thought they had to use only taxis.

For each taxi ride, the duo would have gained a penalty period of thirty minutes. Given the fact that they used taxis four times straight, the time duration could have expanded up to 2 hours.

The two had no idea that rules were being broken, and it was also costing them a lot of time to reach their destination while racing in Sofia.

At the end of The Amazing Race, when they finally made it to the spot, the girls found out that they were last and were going home. The twist came upon them realizing that the clue card had asked them not to take taxis at all, and the whole situation got comical with host Phil Keoghan.

Erika claimed that she was trying to read and understand the clue, but her mom was already bolting in various directions, trying to start the race.

This commotion caused her to misread the sentence, and before she could reread or understand it, they had already started on their journey. Defending her aggressive race strategy during an interview with the US Magazine, Melinda said,

"I didn’t always like being the oldest and the slowest and the last, and I’m competitive, so it was hard. So I kind of would jump the gun a little bit or just wanna get going, and it added pressure on [Erika] … but I think she did an incredible job guiding us and directing us.”

The Amazing Race contestant Melinda provides a reason for her competitive spirit

The Amazing Race contestant Melinda's motivation behind being fast is trying to prove herself to everyone younger on the race. She says that despite being one of the oldest ones in the group, she wanted to keep up with everyone else.

As for Erika, this is not the first time that she has read a clue incorrectly. During their first leg of The Amazing Race in Bulgaria, the contestants were required to take a taxi.

Erika messed it up and made her mom run 2 miles before finding Phil. This added a penalty to their last leg. Now, when they were not required to take a taxi, she did.

Explaining the same, she said,

"The first thing is the very first leg of the race. It’s so ironic, actually. When we went to find Phil, it said to take a taxi, but I didn’t read the clue and I made my mom run about two miles to find Phil,” she said. “So it’s ironic that on the last leg of the race, I was like, well, ‘Let’s take a taxi.’"

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The Amazing Race season 37 episodes release weekly on CBS at 9:30 PM Eastern Time on Wednesdays. They can later be streamed online via Paramount Plus.

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