‘The Amazing Race’s’ Scott and Lori on their emotional elimination, who hurt their feelings, and why Mark is ‘negative and mean’
Leg 5 of The Amazing Race ended in heartbreak for Scott and Lori Thompson. In Wednesday's episode, host Phil Keoghan introduced a surprising twist — an open-vote Double U-Turn — at the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary in Indonesia. Scott and Lori were stunned as teams they considered allies turned against them, ultimately voting them into the Double U-Turn along with Jonathan and Ana Towns.
"The [vote] that kind of hurt my feelings was from Nick and Mike [Fiorito]," Lori tells Gold Derby (watch the video interview above). "We had more of a connection with them and felt a friendship bond with them. What escalated it was Mark [Romain] saying we weren't 'as nice' or 'as kind' [as everybody else] — that we were just playing a game and we were tricking everybody. We are positive. We want everyone to succeed and do well! He just didn't believe us. I don't want to be friends with somebody that's so negative and mean. That's why I didn't even give him any more of my time."
Scott was disappointed to see what he thought were "genuine connections" get lost in the game. "We felt like the mom and dad of the season," he says. "I got to the point where I felt like it was our sons voting against us. It was because I couldn't separate friendship from gameplay. They voted for who they perceived as threats. We didn't perceive ourselves to be threats. It was hard for me to separate that."
As one of two teams forced to complete both U-Turns, Scott and Lori were first tasked with loading coconuts onto a bicycle and delivering them down the beach. In the second Detour, they had to attach five species of coral to a reef star, snorkel with the star out into the ocean, and deposit it for coral reef restoration. While the bicycle task was more physically exhausting, both agreed the coral was much more frustrating.
After slogging through both Detours, Scott and Lori were still within striking distance of Jonathan and Ana, but couldn't make the final push to catch them before the finish line. Scott broke down in tears when Phil told them they had been eliminated from the race. "I was physically exhausted," he recounts. "Also, I felt like I had let [Lori] down. She relied on me to do well on the memory stuff, and that was the challenge we struggled at. I felt like I didn't hold up my end of the bargain. We had so much more to give to the show...if we were given a chance to keep racing."
Lori says she doesn't blame her husband at all. "Scott is a Teddy bear," she explains. "He cries all the time. It wasn't surprising to me that he was crying on the mat. He's a big baby inside. It was a sweet, tender moment to see. I know he felt like he let me down because I'm not the memory person — I can't remember anything. For him to think that we lost because of him, I was like, 'No babe, it wasn't your fault, I promise.' It was a team effort and we just couldn't complete it fast enough."
SIGN UP for Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions