‘The Amazing Race’ Season 34: Phil Keoghan Calls Derek and Claire ‘Cocky’
The Amazing Race has featured numerous duos from Big Brother and Survivor over the years, and the latest reality stars to crossover to the race are Derek Xiao and Claire Rehfuss. They met in Big Brother 23 and started dating after connecting in the jury house. And now they are racing around the world for $1 million. But do Derek and Claire have what it takes to win?
Derek and Claire are competing in ‘The Amazing Race’ Season 34
Before the first leg of The Amazing Race Season 34, host Phil Keoghan introduced the Scramble twist to the teams. Producers gave them three tasks to complete, and they could perform them in any order they pleased. The order that Derek and Claire chose obviously worked because they finished in first place. In fact, they arrived at the pit stop around 30 minutes before any other team got there.
The Big Brother couple thrived thanks to excellent communication and navigation skills. Unfortunately, they ran into a hiccup in the second leg.
Derek and Claire were among the first teams to arrive at the Roadblock in The Amazing Race Season 34 Episode 2. However, they were one of the last teams to leave, with only one other duo behind them. Claire performed the Roadblock, which entailed singing three yodels. But since she’s tone deaf, Claire had trouble completing the task.
Thankfully, Derek and Claire gained traction with the following Detour, and they finished the leg in fourth place. Then, in the third leg, which was a Megaleg, Claire struggled again at a Roadblock that had her building a motorcycle. But she eventually finished, and she and Derek left the Ducati Factory in sixth place. The remainder of the leg will be shown in The Amazing Race Season 34 Episode 4.
Host Phil Keoghan comments on the racing duo’s confidence
Before season 34 premiered, The Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan shared his thoughts on Derek and Claire with Entertainment Weekly.
“I think they wouldn’t flinch if I used the word maybe a little cocky, coming into it. Like, ‘We’ve done this before. We’ve competed on television shows before. We know what this is all about,'” Keoghan explained. “But then I think maybe once they got into the race, they kind of realized that it was a little more than they thought it was. In a good way. And in a humbling way. And I think they would be the first to admit that it was a little bit more than they thought it was.”
He added, “It’s very easy to look from the outside. It’s quite different when you get out, like most things, right? We look from the outside. We watch sports on TV, and we yell at the screen, ‘What an idiot! Why did they throw the ball there?’ But very different when you’re in the thick of it.”
Derek thought they had the win in the bag after the first leg of ‘The Amazing Race’ Season 34
Derek and Claire recap the episodes of The Amazing Race Season 34 on his YouTube channel. And Derek described how he felt before the second leg in one of the videos.
“I was pretty confident going into it,” Derek shared. “I was like, ‘Claire, I think we’re just going to win The Amazing Race right now.’ I don’t know how else to say this.” Claire interjected, “We’re about to sweep,”
Derek continued, “‘Congratulations, you have $500,000.’ So going into the second leg, I think I brought that same mentality into it. And I was like, ‘If we just keep doing what we’re doing, I don’t know when we’re ever going to lose.'”
New episodes of The Amazing Race Season 34 air Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET on CBS.
