‘The Amazing Race’: Abby and Will Dream for Round Two After Shocking Ending to Their Race
High school sweethearts went from watching The Amazing Race on the couch to competing in season 34. Abby Garrett and Will Freeman talked to Showbiz Cheat Sheet about their experience over Zoom on Nov. 1 and revealed they want another shot at their dream.
How Abby and Will started watching ‘The Amazing Race’ together
Q: You said you’ve been watching this show since you met 20 years ago. What was the first season you watched together?
Will: Yes, I think we started really watching when we started dating, I think Abby’s family had been watching it for–since they were really little. But I’m trying to remember what our first season would have been, Abby.
Abby: The one I remember watching with Will was the green team with Justin and Diane. And I remember watching that one because in my head I was like, he proposed with an Amazing Race proposal, like ‘Will, keep this in mind.’ But I think the earliest one we’ve watched together because of course, we like tore through all the like Hulu, Prime kind of seasons was maybe like season seven with like Boston Rob and the meat eating challenge.
Q: What was your strategy going in and did it have to adjust?
Will: I think going into it because we’ve watched so much of it, we kind of figured out, like, OK, what are my strengths? What are our weaknesses? And so we’re like if there’s a dance challenge, we’re going to avoid that at all cost. If there’s a physical challenge, let’s hit it. Obviously, that strategy kind of fell apart when Abby immediately had us do a dance challenge, but–
Abby: Not Immediately! But like the choices were rhythm or rhythm. And I thought dancing is a little more athletic. But also Will looked at me like I was crazy. It was like we had one strategy, and you’re just throwing it out the window. So yeah, we definitely had strategies going in, but you just underestimate how much the adrenaline and excitement and like the ‘We just really don’t want our dreams to be over’ feeling like, just totally takes over.
Abby and Will on being starstruck by Phil Keoghan
Q: Phil [Keoghan] joked that he thought you guys were gonna pass out at the beginning of the race out of excitement. What was it like being in front of him and him noticing your excitement?
Abby: So that was actually the scene I was most nervous to watch back because in the moment, like, I genuinely don’t know how to describe it other than an out-of-body experience. I had no control. Like, I remember thinking to myself, what is happening with my body right now? Am I just going to start sobbing? Am I going to pass out like it was like Phil said my name, and I just had no control. I was at the mercy of Phil and my emotions, and the fact that Phil acknowledged it. I was like, This is a dream.
Will: As excited as Abby was on that starting line, what they showed was probably like half of what she actually– or less of what she actually did. She went just hardcore for a minute, just screaming and yelling, and Abby’s excitement comes out that way.
Mine was that I was about to throw up throughout the entire beginning of the race. I was so nervous and excited. I was so close, and we were sitting there and I was like, I’ve just got to do it. I just got throw up. And Aastha and Nina were standing next to us, and Nina was like, ‘Don’t do that. Because if you throw up, I’m a throw up. We don’t want to get that started.’
Abby: So ironically, I was the calm one, all things considered.
Q: Did that starstruck around Phil ever wear off?
Abby: Not around Phil. Every time I was around Phil, I was like, ‘This is the dream.’ I think like the, the super fandom was starting to, like, not necessarily wear off, but like settle in. Like, I was starting to get past the, the whole mentality Will talked about of like, we just don’t want this to be over and starting to switch on the competitive drive and less of that just like, I can’t believe this.
Abby and Will hope to race again
Q: Was there any talk of you guys getting a second chance?
Abby: We sure hope so. Like, I hope that there’s another chance in our future because it does stink. Like we–no one–when we never lost. Right? Like we didn’t come in last. We didn’t show up to the pit stop last. So it does feel like it was unfinished. Like there’s no closure with it. So, man, we hope that CBS gives us another go at it.
Will: Yeah, and we weren’t on the–we weren’t on the Luis and Michelle trajectory of first, first the past two legs. But we were like the step behind them moving up. So we’re like, we’re also doing better. So there’s like what could have been kind of thing. So we hope so, we hope there’s another chance.
Q: Yeah, there’s always going to be a question of that. And I think Phil really liked you guys. Like, I don’t know, with all of these shows, I feel like they just always love the fans that like, jump in. I’m like thinking of Jeff Probst definitely loves that. So I’m just, yeah, I don’t see how they can ask it.
Abby: We hope so. We loved being on it. So one time is like what? Two times my head would explode.
Will: Dream round two is what we’re hoping for. We would love to do it again.
This interview has been condensed for this article.
Other Exit Interviews:
‘The Amazing Race 34’: Sharik Addresses Sabotage Accusations, ‘I Was Dying, so I Needed to Finish’
‘The Amazing Race 34’: Rich and Dom React to Sharik Almost Quitting and Their Own Stress
‘The Amazing Race 34’: Rex and Tim Reveal Their Routine to Drop 50 Pounds
‘The Amazing Race 34’: Aastha and Nina on Their Slow Start and Double Dates With Claire and Derek
