The Amazing Race eliminated dating couple Aly Dudek and Steven Langton during the 26th season's special two-hour seventh episode Friday night on CBS.

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Aly, a 24-year-old Olympic athlete from Milwaukee, WI, and Steven, a 31-year-old Olympic athlete from Boston, MA, were ousted from the race around the world after they survived a non-elimination leg but then arrived at the subsequent eighth Pit Stop in last place.

Aly and Steve encountered some bad luck and made a few mistakes in the Race's prior two legs. In an exclusive interview with Reality TV World on Monday, the couple talked about what happened.

Below is the first half of Aly and Steve's interview. Check back with Reality TV World soon for the concluding portion.

Reality TV World: Any idea how far behind Michael Dombrowski and Rochelle Nevedal you arrived at the Pit Stop when you got eliminated?

Aly Dudek: So the second time when we were actually eliminated, we were like, I would say, almost two hours.

Steven Langton: Yeah, two hours.

Reality TV World: You two experienced some bad luck in the last two legs with your flat tire in addition to the Speed Bump and the U-Turn, etc. What exactly do you think did you guys in? What point or incident led you to believe there was no recovering and the Race was going to be over for you guys?

Aly Dudek: (Laughs) There's so many to choose from!

Reality TV World: I know. (Laughs)

Steven Langton: We got lost a whole bunch too, so add that to the pile.

Aly Dudek: Honestly, I think the flat tire just set us back so far that even when we were able to gain back a little bit of ground, it just was never enough. We were just, I don't know. I feel like that was probably the start of everything going badly.

Steven Langton: Yeah, the flat tire was definitely the [game changer], and then we just continued to go downhill from there.

Reality TV World: If you hadn't gotten U-Turned, do you think that would've made a difference? Would there have been any hope to beat Mike and Rochelle to the finish?

Aly Dudek: No, because we were too far behind. I mean, the fact that we were U-Turned was just, like, one more jab.

Steven Langton: We might've been an hour-and-a-half behind.

Reality TV World: Were you guys in on the plan to U-Turn Jenny Wu and Jelani Roy like most of the other teams seemed to be? And if so, was that just because of their Express Pass or for more personal reasons similar to Matt Cucolo and Ashley Gordon's, who clearly had a problem with Jenny?

Steven Langton: No, we weren't involved in that. Actually, we hadn't even really talked about it. I think if Aly and I had gotten to the U-Turn board and we were in a totally different situation, we probably wouldn't have used it unless we were U-Turned.

Reality TV World: In your final words, Aly, you said you think you made it easy for the other teams to get you out. What did you mean by that?

Aly Dudek: Oh, I stick by that! (Laughs) I mean, I think the other teams, they wanted us out from the beginning because they knew that we were a strong team and we are a strong team.

I think that scared them a little bit, so the fact that we basically took ourselves out of the Race, it made it easier for them. Yeah, I think that we definitely made it easier for them, because if we hadn't taken ourselves out, I do think that we would've taken it all the way.

Reality TV World: It didn't seem to surprise you guys much that you got U-Turned because you saw yourselves as a tough team to beat, therefore assuming everyone else did as well. But were you surprised to find out that Laura Pierson and Tyler Adams were the team to do it? Did you have any issue with them or do you think that was purely strategic on their part?

Steven Langton: Everyone on the Race got along pretty well. We fully expected -- and we voiced that a couple times that day, and actually even the day before -- that Laura and Tyler would U-Turn us if they had a chance because they were a pretty strong team too and were playing the game.

It was pretty evident that Aly and I were one of the frontrunners -- if not the frontrunners. So strategically to take us out was a smart move.

Reality TV World: Steve, the show made it seem like the packages that dropped from the planes during that Roadblock task landed about a mile away from the location you were originally standing on when you watched it fall. Is that accurate and how long did it take you to find that package and bring it back?

Steven Langton: Entirely too long! Honestly, that could've been accurate. According to my FitBit, I ran four-and-a-half miles in that desert.

Aly Dudek: (Laughs)

Steven Langton: So yeah, that could be completely accurate.

Reality TV World: Oh wow, that's brutal.

Aly Dudek: Horrible!

Reality TV World: Aly, what was going through your mind when you were standing a distance away, watching him search for that thing in the heat?

Aly Dudek: I was losing my mind! Losing my mind. No, but I, unfortunately with the Roadblocks, can't say anything or help him in any way. So I just have to stand there and just watch it all unfold.

But I never took my eyes off the package when it fell -- not that it mattered because I was not performing this Roadblock -- but I saw where it fell and I thought to myself, "Oh, that's not bad! It's right there." Because I could see it from where I was standing. And the second that Steve ran out of that little circle, he ran the wrong way. I was just dying.

Reality TV World: On that note, Aly, you seemed to get frustrated with Steve a lot during the last two legs. Why do you think that was? Was it the stress and exhaustion of the Race getting to you or you thought your communication was breaking down?

Aly Dudek: No, I mean, everybody was dealing with the same circumstances. Everybody was totally deprived and hungry and a little bit tired, especially because of where we were in the Race at this point. We were pretty deep in. Everybody left is a very strong team.

I was just frustrated with Steve because, like, the entire time, he has a way of keeping calm and I don't have that ability. I'm always, like, going 100mph. I guess I kind of wanted to see a little bit of that from him too. But he definitely held us together really well.

Reality TV World: Do you think the editing of Friday night's episode was an accurate portrayal of how you both were feeling and acting during your last two legs or do you think they focused on the bad times, ultimately exaggerating your situation?

Aly Dudek: Well, I do. I mean, personally, I did get a little crazy in those last two legs, but the editing -- because they were such long days and they had to condense it all into two short hours -- they definitely just took all of the crazy pieces and pieced them together, so it made it look like I never let Steve [off the hook] and relax.

I don't know, I mean, it was a stressful situation. But it was an amazing time, honestly, in Africa. We saw some things that we've never seen before. I'm just trying to shed some light on the Race.

Check back with Reality TV World soon for the concluding portion of Aly and Steve's exclusive The Amazing Race interview.


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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