I thought some of you TAR fans would need a little fix during the off season, so I rustled me up some Guidos and had a blast doing this interview. I'd like to thank Joe and Bill for being great sports about it and to tell them that I hope they find the good luck fairey that ditched them during the race.

I'd also like to extend an invitation to Team Guido to register with us and post during TAR 2. We'll need folks with an inside perspective.

1. Which tasks were the most difficult for you? Which were the most fun?

Bill: The tasks in general were all fairly exciting, considering most were not things the general public would be allowed to do. I think the most difficult were the fast-forwards, The clues were always cryptic at best and always difficult to find. (each team only allowed one FF in the race, and there was only one FF each leg of the race) Because of the advantage they allowed they typically were the most difficult clues to figure out. I think the most difficult task for me personally was confronting my fear of heights, jumping off the Batoka Gorge (Africa) was a life changing event for me.
The most fun was the whole day in Krabi, Thailand. We got to do what we loved the most, Kayak, Skin-dive in gorgeous water, rock climb all physical challenges and outside all day long. Most of the challenges were nearby each other, so we spent minimal time in taxicabs! We ended at the most beautiful Pit stop a beach camp, set up especially for the contestants. Little was shown on the episode, but it was a fun time. We had Kayaks on the beach, A Barbecue that evening, fire dancers to entertain us and the beautiful scenery of Thailand.

Joe: For me, the rock climbing and especially the backwards repelling off of the cliff in Krabi, Thailand was the physically most challenging. I was not comfortable going back down the mountain backwards and leaning far out from the cliff to lower myself. Bill decided to go first and show me how it was done and the assistants connected his rope completely wrong so that the brake did not work at all. We were the ones that discovered this while Bill was trying to show me how it should be done. He would have slid about 60 to 75 feet because the brake was misconnected and didn't hold at all. The most fun places for me were both locations in Africa. We saw central Africa and did the bungee jumping, etc., and I always wanted to go to Tunisia and Morocco to see the Islamic side of the continent. They are totally different places and it's hard to understand that they are both parts of Africa.

2. What did you do once you arrived at the pit-stops?

Washed clothes, did follow up interviews, we ate, showered if it was available, SLEPT! There was very little time for us to socialize, we did occasionally get to eat together, but we were so concentrated on the next leg of the trip where we were going next. Calling local travel agents, having flight schedules faxed to us etc. There really was very little down time.

3. Were your family and friends surprised by your competitive natures?

Bill: Not at all. I come from a large family and we always were a very competitive bunch. Our dad would always have a discussion at dinner about current topics, and we would play games at the beach, and board games at home. He always encouraged us to be winners....I don't know how he would feel about a third place finish, but I feel good about it. Some of my friends were worried about the way we were portrayed, but all of our friends know how competitive we are! We still enjoy a good game, whatever it is!
Joe: My mother was completely supportive once the show aired but she originally was not even going to sign the release forms to let me go. We needed her to sign since she's my "next of kin" and she wouldn't do it because she didn't want me eating weird food like they do on Survivor and Fear Factor. No one was ever surprised by Bill's or my competitive nature shown on TAR. Compared to a lot of our friends (and how we play other games), we were mild on this show.

I'm glad that TAR was too classy for one of those yucky food things.

4. How do you feel about your third place finish?

Bill: I just answered that question, but here goes. With the competition we had, I don't feel at all bad about our position. Any one of the Teams could have won this race. They were all very strong competitors. I feel that at times all of us had good luck and bad luck. Ultimately, it was our own bad decision that put us in third, and we are okay with that. We had an incredible trip around the world for free. It was an incredible adventure and all of it is on videotape!
Joe: We were sure we would place in the top three long before we left New York City. We correctly picked Rob & Brennan and Frank & Margarita as our top competitors but, naturally, we got the final order wrong. Better we should have placed third rather than fifth, after our Fast Forward mistake in Thailand.

5. Regarding the incident at the Tunisian Airport. Looking back, do you now feel that your actions were over the top or appropriate within the context of the game?

The rules of the game were never broken regarding the incident at the Tunisian Airport. However, I did apologize to Nancy in Ferrara, Italy (2 days later) at the bike shop. The incident was meant as a delaying tactic, and when it escalated into a pushy, shovy, wordy thing....It was too late to do anything different. The most important thing to me was Nancy accepted my apologies and we are friends now.

Bless her heart.

6. Did you have any embarrassing moments during the race?

Bill: Bad hair days...everyday! They didn't miss anything!
Joe: I could have muted some of the comments I made about other teams while I was talking to Bill. Most of the audience needs to know that almost all of those comments were made to Bill alone (many times prompted by our cameraman) and no other teams heard them at the time. I know all contestants made "catty" comments about each other but it seems mine were aired more than the others, especially in the beginning of the show.

Right, so it was all in the editing?

7. Was it strange having the cameras on you at all times, or did you get used to it? How often were they on?

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Bill: The cameras were on all the time, except pit stops, and an occasional break from filming when we were on transportation. How many boring hours in buses and taxis, do you think that's interesting Television? The pit stop was exclusively for the crew to rest. If they could of kept us going 24-7 I think they would have! Literally after we had left central park, I forgot how the cameras were in our faces. The stress of the race made you forget so fast, that a camera lens was two inches from your face. We were constantly running away from the camera man and sound man. (we just forgot they were there!) We were reprimanded constantly to remember that they had to have this on film or there wouldn't be a show!
Joe: I got used to the camera being in my face all the time after the first two or three hours on the first day. At the end of the race I missed the camera and missed the attention. We aren't used to traveling as a group of four people and most of the time it was like traveling as a small family -- at the end, when it was over, it was just the two of us again.

8. Who did you consider to be the toughest competition in the race?

Bill: From our interviews in California, Joe and I picked the three final teams. Although not in the order we eventually finished! Oh well!
Joe: Rob and Brennan because of their physical strength and stamina and educational background. Frank and Margarita for the same reasons. Margarita was especially impressive because she was always right on top of every situation. She was the one always researching out the situations, talking to everyone on trains and planes and at Pit Stops, checking everyone's answers two or three times. I considered her to be the smartest contestant on the program (besides us, of course).
Of course

9. Is the Bill and Joe that America saw on The Amazing Race the real you?

Bill: Yes, the relationship between Joe and I that you saw on TV is how we really are in our daily lives.
Joe: Yes, with the exception that we're not devious or deceitful, just hyper-competitive, just like Frank and Rob. We're really extremely lovable, friendly and entertaining!!!!

that damn editing. I tell ya.

10. During the last leg, when you were 24 hours behind the other teams, did you really believe you could catch up?

Bill: At the end of the show we felt that we would not try to second guess the outcome of the race, we felt we would play the game as we had from the beginning. Try our best to win. In my mind I was worried about the outcome, but we are not quitters. We felt something could happen to change the outcome and if we gave up, how would we feel? Therefore we have no hard feelings about the final outcome, we did our best and it wasn't good enough, but we are proud of our effort.
Joe: You never know what might be around the next corner. We were certainly close to the end of the show but they could have thrown in some out-of-the-way location to visit before the endpoint in New York City. For example, I was always hoping we'd have to go to South America from China or Alaska before New York and that could have allowed us to catch up via flight schedules. You had to be ready to capitalize on any opportunity and on any mistake that the other two teams might make at the end.

11. Where did you learn French? You speak it so well.

Bill: You are joking aren't you?

yes.

12. When you won the fast-forward and checked into a hotel instead of going to the pit stop, what were you thinking?

Bill: We talked to two ladies, one who lived in a town near Krabi, and the other the ticket seller! We believed them, who were also very sweet and charming. We usually had a rule of checking information at least 2 or three times before making a decision. This time we just blindly accepted it as fact. Our mistake!
Joe: We believed what these two women told us and accepted the fact that taking a 600 mile long taxi ride was out of the question. It is true for local Thais but not for contestants on The Amazing Race. We now call it our "Million Dollar Bus Ride".

13. From the show, who are you friends with?

All are our friends, the closest are Nancy and Emily, but Leslie and Kim have stayed at our home and are so much fun! We see Rob and Brennan occasionally and Paul and Amie also live close in LA. Dave and Margaretta email us all the time. With a bond like the race I imagine we will all be friends for life.

I'm sorry, but can you refresh my memory? Who is this Leslie and Kim you speak of?

14. Why did you name your team after your dog?

Guido made our original audition tape that we had sent to CBS. So for continuity sake, when we had been chosen to participate the natural progression of things in my mind was Team Guido. The producers had suggested (Mildly) that we think in terms of team identity. Well we did, we took that idea and ran with it. The rest is history. (matching clothes, embroidered hats, shirts...you know!)

huh?

15. How do think TAR will be different after Sept. 11?

Bill: I don't know? The producers I am sure will take all the necessary precautions. I will be watching the next installment to see!
Joe: I think there won't be as many airplane flights and the ones there are will be very long ones that get you far around the world to do more exercises. There will be more local things to do and more local transportation to take like buses, metros, rental cars, trains, etc. We had too much money which allowed too many taxi rides which seriously reduced our interaction with local people. That will probably change in The Amazing Race II.

16. How long was the actual race? Were you competing every day or did you have days off?

Bill: 31 Days and 41,000 miles. We had some long pit stops (36 hours total) that were necessitated by sand storms, sick crew members etc. But I can count maybe 4, if I am correct. It always seemed we were getting an average 6 hours sleep every 3 days. Because so much time was spent on interviews, eating, and washing clothes (the always fastidious Guido's).

Oh yes, the Guido's were the "freshest" team on TAR

17. How has the reaction from the public towards you been since the show aired?

Bill: Without exception it has been positive. The time spent in NY we were mobbed on Fifth Ave. We were booted out of Sax Fifth Avenue for creating a Tunisian Airport like incident near the escalator! See our website for fan photos <http://www.TeamGuido.com> We were in Las Vegas recently having lunch and we were stopped about 50 times for fan photos. Our waiter finally came over and said "what show are you appearing in here in Las Vegas?" We are so happy that the reaction to the show is so positive.
Joe: We've had 39,000 hits on our website which just went operational on December 15th.

Yes, I've seen your website. You may want to fix that heading that says "Place Your Heading Here". Just a tip.

18. Do you dress alike at home or was that just for team unity?

Bill: We had a Team Spirit, we wanted to keep in mind our dog, who couldn't participate for obvious reasons. We also thought with 11 teams we wanted to stand out. Little did we realize how easy that would be! Although we have fun now dressing alike to freak out the public. The reaction when we do is hilarious. It is becoming a trademark!
Joe: We never dress alike. CBS originally suggested that we dress in similar-looking outfits so people watching the show will understand who our fellow teammate is. Naturally, we took this to the extreme (and an excuse to go shopping). It was probably one of the very best gimmicks on the whole show, along with naming ourselves TeamGuido. If this attention continues, we'll dress alike forever.

Spoken like a true DAW!

19. Do you have any plans to revisit any of the countries you traveled to? Do you have any one favorite place that you got to visit during TAR?

Bill: As soon as possible to as many as possible....do you want us to report for you? We are available as roving reporters!
Joe: I still want to go to Morocco and back to Tunisia. Also, I would love to spend a month or two in China someday. We already know France well enough -- did you know we lived there for two years? I'd go back to Italy if I can learn some more "crappie ass" Italian.

Is that anything like "Crappy ass" French?

20. Do you have any plans regarding your celebrity status and the media?

We don't have any right now, but stay tuned to our website. www.Teamguido.com Right now the only concrete plans are to appear on Rosie after taping our week in Aspen, at Gay skiweek (Jan 20-27). We will appear on Rosie February 4, 2002.

Gay ski-week? Hey! How come I wasn't invited