Poker players Maria Ho and Tiffany Michelle defied many critics' expectations, but were finally eliminated in the latest episode of The Amazing Race this week.
The pair lasted a total of seven weeks on the hit CBS reality show and traveled half-way around the globe before running into two obstacles they simply couldn't overcome.
Despite their elimination the pair was upbeat when they talked to PokerListings this week.
"I'm incredibly pleased with how we did," said Ho. "We aren't the most physical people and we were totally out of our element."
"Amazing is the perfect way to describe our experience," said Michelle. "It was the most challenging thing I have done and it was perspective and life changing."
Despite their deep run on the show, the pair might be best remembered for a controversial move in the very first episode. Michelle and Ho decided to inform the teams they were competing against that they were non-profit workers instead of poker players.
The ruse didn't work as they were quickly identified by a poker fan at an airport later in the first episode. Several teams were miffed at the misrepresentation.
Only Female Team on Amazing Race
Both Michelle and Ho insisted they weren't doing it for sympathy, but were instead trying to hide the fact they were successful poker players.
"We were coming from a strategic point of view and we just wanted to highlight another part of our lives," said Michelle. "It wasn't anything that wasn't truthful."
"Nobody wants to help people that do alright for themselves," added Ho.
Michelle mentioned she does work with the L.A. Youth Network and both have played numerous charity tournaments including Ante Up for Africa.
Ho and Michelle were the only all-female team competing in this season of The Amazing Race and it proved to be a serious challenge.
"It was 10 million times harder than I thought it would be," said Michelle. "Just from a muscle point of view we were at a disadvantage."
No female team has ever won the race.
In their final episode, Michelle and Ho couldn't perform either one of the detour challenges they attempted and were forced to eventually take a 24-hour penalty, thus eliminating them from the show. Both challenges were physical in nature.
"I have no regrets about how we went out," said Ho. "We gave it all we had, but at a certain point you just have to accept there are things you just can't do."
With the show behind them both, Ho and Michelle have plans to return to the poker circuit at the British Columbia Poker Championship in Vancouver and then the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond at Bellagio in Las Vegas.
"I think for the first time we just want to go play poker," said Michelle. "It will be exciting to get back out there and see all the faces."
The mainstream exposure they received on The Amazing Race seems here to stay and Ho appeared on Anderson Cooper 360 this week in a panel on women breaking into the male-dominated world of business.
Meanwhile, Michelle recently launched a clothing line and plans on continuing her acting career by auditioning for roles in both television and film.
“They had to alternate on the golf, so a woman did have to participate.”
Yes, but it was a man that did the power hitting to get the ball as far as possible, which was particularly crucial in that atrocious weather. And there was no excuse for the bell-ringing to come BEFORE the dancing.
Marikina, Do you/did you watch the show? They had to alternate on the golf, so a woman did have to participate.
Sorry just my opinion, but they did quit, not eliminated as the article tries to make it sound..
“The ones that did were either all males, and or had a male doing the physically-strenuous stuff. You didn’t see Erika ringing that bell for her team.”
“And ultimately they were quitters. Although the tasks may have been difficult, the other teams managed to complete them. ”
The ones that did were either all males, and or had a male doing the physically-strenuous stuff. You didn’t see Erika ringing that bell for her team.
The amazing race sucks so much these days. It actually used to be not a bad show, but now it’s just way too predictable and the editing is so tight you never get to really know the contenstants. I watched one episode for the first time in years this season because of tiff and maria but quickly turned it off.
You give them far to much credit. They were hardly competitors. They would have been eliminated on the very first leg but were saved by a non-elimination leg. They did make some ground up from there. But they were last again and lucked out by another team losing passports. And ultimately they were quitters. Although the tasks may have been difficult, the other teams managed to complete them. Maria and Tiffany had no physical attributes to help them at any point.
You knew they were doomed when Maria started with luggage on wheels..
In the end they were just quitters!!!!!!!!!