TAR2 teams-Oswald & Danny
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The ClubHouse: Archives: TAR2 teams-Oswald & Danny
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Archive through May 09, 2002 25   05/16 02:22pm

Seamonkey

Thursday, May 09, 2002 - 08:10 am EditMoveDeleteIP
They didn't even apply for the race. They were spotted on the street in Miami by a scout I guess, who told them that there was a CBS casting call that they'd be perfect for. So, they figured why not, went to the casting call and got selected! I guess they must have been searching for an ethnic/gay pair!

That was what my friend said.. said Danny's a great dancer too :)

I'm waiting for them to show up on the morning show now..

Grooch

Thursday, May 09, 2002 - 08:21 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Thanks for the info, Seamonkey!

I don't care about the show anymore now that they are gone. :(

Max

Thursday, May 09, 2002 - 08:38 am EditMoveDeleteIP
On the Early Show....
They said they thought about it like a vacation, so they had fun. Producers kept telling them they had to run. Oswald said $525,000 each was really sort of like chump change. :) They talked about the shopping. They didn't eat well one day, but they had cologne!

They kept saying that it was their vacation. Every leg was like thier last leg, so they didn't worry. When asked why they did it, they said they wanted to see nice places and do something different. Not like their usual vacations which are 5-star. They wanted to get out of their comfort zone and do something different and they did.

They showed the bungee jump. Oswald saidit was the "Cuban meld" that he was trying to become part of Danny's body. Oswald said he didn't mean the "scream like a woman" comment in a bad way, just that his voice went an octave higher than usual.

They have a very cute little dog. She said they weren't like Team Guido and Danny said they have a prettier dog. :)

THey had t-shirts with "Reality TV Star" in glitter on them.


I'm gonna miss these guys!!!!!

Seamonkey

Thursday, May 09, 2002 - 08:41 am EditMoveDeleteIP
D/O on Early Show.

Wearing black muscle shirts with "Reality TV Star" in glitter !! They said Martha Stewart Specials.

Oswald said the cave was really hard, and the rocks.. worse than bungee-jumping.

Jane.. you felt guilty..

Oswald: "Hello, I was raised by a Cuban mother".

They called it the Oswald and Danny vacation..

They are so cute..

They said they had too much fun.. Oswald says, not chump change but...

They loved the shopping.

"We didn't eat that day, but we bought cologne"

"Every leg was the last leg for us" Pretty much, it was a free vacation. see nice places, do great stuff, would go to the places but not rapelled or bungee-jumped. Stepped out of comfort zone.

Bungee jumping was the Cuban "meld".. Oswald said he was holding Danny so tight.. his scream like a woman comment was just that his voice went up a couple of octaves.

They brought their dog.. Sabrina..

Jane says like Team Guido.. they both say .. no.. she's much prettier than their dog.

Jane asked if they were going to sell t-shirts.. Oswald said sure "arts n crafts for the Cuban community"

They are SO cute..

Jane didn't really ask much, didn't bash any other teams and D/O didn't either.

(dog is a yorkie or similar)

And then there is Bryant holding a crab.. boo.

Seamonkey

Thursday, May 09, 2002 - 08:43 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Oh good, Max, someone else was watching "with" me.

Wink

Thursday, May 09, 2002 - 10:18 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Seamonkey any idea what Danny and Oswald do for a living?

Max

Thursday, May 09, 2002 - 04:05 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
On Rosie:

Saw part of Danny and Oswald's piece. Oswald said he became Danny's fairy godmother when Danny's partner died. Rosie wants to be friends and go shopping with them in Miami.

They had the same shirts on as they wore for the morning show.

Rosie gave them a trip to Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills for a shopping spree! Oswald was doing a happy dance. :)

Rosie said she wants to give them a video camera to tape their shopping spree. That would be cool, except this is her last few weeks on the air, so it's not likely that it will happen.

Seamonkey

Thursday, May 09, 2002 - 04:18 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
NO.. my friends didn't want to pepper them with questions.. they were mostly dancing and drinking and partying a la Duval St in Key West.. but Oswald said he was taking a year off, had started before TAR.

OH no.. for some reason I thought they'd be on a later Rosie.. Grrr. Omigosh.. what a great gift for them. I had a feeling she'd love them and forgot about the Florida connection.. They'd be really fun to hang out with, I bet.

Grooch

Thursday, May 16, 2002 - 02:10 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Great article from the Miami Herald.


Team Cha-cha-charm
Ousted Miamians gave CBS' 'Amazing Race 2' a dose of fabulousness
BY NERY YNCLAN
nynclan@herald.com


WILD ONES: Danny and Oswald, the Cha-Cha duo, race across a field in New Zealand.


NEW YORK - Danny and Oswald bungee-jumped off a cable car into an Australian ravine, rappelled off a cliff in Rio de Janeiro, herded sheep in New Zealand, bathed an elephant in Thailand and for the most part, went hungry. But in their Lucy-and-Ethel mad dash around the world, the most torturous thing was unforeseen:

Hardly any time to shop!

''We went without food to have some money to shop. We found a way,'' says Danny Jimenez.

''A good tip -- duty free shops, you can sample everything,'' says Oswald Mendez.

The two Miami best friends, known to TV viewers by only their first names, used their Cuban charm, class and candor about being gay to make CBS' Amazing Race 2 must-see Wednesday night TV (the finale is at 9 tonight). But today, they're at Barney's in New York, eyeballing a lilac ruffled shirt -- to the amusement of the store clerk.

''I recognized you guys right away,'' says the clerk, who would not give his name. ``I saw you on the Early Show. You guys were so great.''

It's the second installment of Amazing Race, a reality series in which 11 teams go on a six-week globe trot that takes them to exotic world wonders while they perform some not-so-wonderful tasks. The first team to reach the final pit stop wins $1 million.

Danny and Oswald, better known as Team Cha-Cha-Cha, were the most popular team this time around, according to fan voting on the CBS website. They were eliminated in last week's semi-final round -- coming in just 20 minutes behind Boston best friends Chris and Alex, who muscled past them in the last heat through New Zealand's Lost World caves.

The day their final episode was to air, Oswald knew exactly what he needed: retail therapy.

BIG APPLE CALLS

And what better place than New York? The damage: $1,700 for a Cavalli shirt. After all, they did have to be ready for the post-show media blitz, which continues through May.

''I wanted to feel better,'' says Oswald. ``It's a hippie shirt, huge cleavage and turquoise stones on it. You know the kind -- you can only wear it once.''

Danny took his turn on the credit card couch in Miami Beach: ``I turned to the shops of Bal Harbour, in a big way.''

Don't be fooled by Danny's metal-studded Dolce & Gabbana jeans suit and Oswald's orange Sonya Rykiel sweater, complete with big yellow star across the chest, into thinking they're all show, no smarts. They were already well traveled before the show kicked off from Las Vegas, and in episode after episode it became clear they were world class cajolers, schmoozers and kissers (both cheeks, Italian style).

Their self-deprecating humor won the fans. People began recognizing the duo as soon as the show started airing in March, but one fan was particularly memorable:

'We were in Key West sunbathing in the nude, and somebody came up to us and said, `You guys look like Danny and Oswald,' '' says Danny. ``That's when we thought, Oh my God.''

LANDING TV GIG

So how did 37-year-old Danny, a real estate investor, and 32-year-old Oswald, an advertising consultant, land in prime time rowing down a Thailand river on a bamboo raft?

A total fluke.

''We got out of the movie theater on Lincoln Road and they were having an open casting call next door,'' says Oswald of the audition last fall. ``We had no idea what it was, what show it was for, nothing.''

Says Danny: ``So we filled out paperwork, went to a little sound room so they could videotape us and we were so bad, so over the top, so naughty, we can't go into it in a PG newspaper.''

They got the call from Los Angeles three days later. They told relatives they were taking a long vacation, albeit sudden. They weren't able to say a word until the show started to air.

CBS' vice president of alternative TV, Ghen Maynard, says that when he saw Danny and Oswald's audition tape, he was ``on the floor laughing.''

''They are very sure of themselves, and they don't care what people think,'' says Maynard. ``They are so relatable no matter how different they seem on the surface to the average American viewer. People were rooting for them.

``These guys are so kind, they support each other, they have a great sense of humor, they're people you'd want to hang out with.''

TRIPPING

Danny and Oswald say that for them the race just seemed like a way to circle the globe for free.

''We never had any Cuban agenda or gay agenda,'' says Oswald. ``We are who we are. If people like us, God bless you, thank you. Not everybody is going to like us. Our agenda was to have fun, be ourselves and respect everyone else.''

While other teams stayed up nights plotting strategies to take home the million-dollar prize, Danny and Oswald would pop a sleeping pill and rely on glitter to get them through. Yes, glitter.

''When you get down, a little glitter goes a long way,'' says Danny, who would sprinkle it around his neck. ``Oswald's bag was packed with the vital toiletries (Clinique aloe shave and Guerlain instant lift), and I had the glitter.''

They also had Dolce & Gabbana glitter shirts bought especially for the race. Danny's was imprinted with ''Weird'' and Oswald's ``Rebel.''

Danny and Oswald packed for impact because they never dreamed they would go very far in the race. But whether it was South Africa or Bangkok, somehow they would manage to persuade someone to escort them wherever they needed to go.

''In Cuba I stood in line many times with my rations book,'' says Oswald, who didn't leave until he was 13. ``Once you have been in one of those colas [lines] to buy meat -- you learn how to schmooze, if you don't schmooze you don't eat.''

On the Hong Kong leg, the pair walked into the most expensive hotel they could find and asked for the best travel agency while other teams dashed to the airport. Not only did they get the first plane reservations for that leg of the race, they were driven to the airport in a Mercedes. The tactic left them enough time for a trip to the mall -- where instead of food they bought a bottle of Loewe Classica cologne, $30.

''There was one stretch where we didn't eat for 20 hours,'' says Danny. ``I lost like 15 pounds on that trip and Oswald 10.''

MEETING FERN

It was in Bangkok that Danny encountered his favorite person of the trip, Fern, a college student they met on a bus and talked into being their guide all day.

''We're fun and we're cute -- people can't say no,'' says Danny. ``We're still in touch with Fern by e-mail. We just told her she could go to school or come with us and have a really fun day.''

For Oswald, the most memorable person was the guide he recruited in a small town outside Cape Town.

''You may think I was sweet-talking the guy to help me out, but I so identified with those people -- I was on the verge of tears talking to this guy,'' says Oswald. ``After living in Cuba for 13 years of my life experiencing extreme poverty to the point where you don't know if you're going to eat that day and these people with this newly found freedom, I felt a real connection.''

So which was their favorite stop?

''New Zealand, definitely,'' says Danny. ``The scenery, the vastness, the wide open spaces.''

And what about the remaining competitors in tonight's two-hour finale?

Of brother/sister team Blake and Paige, Danny says: ``I hope they invest in therapy. They're too close for comfort.''

Of the heavily accented Boston friends, Alex and Chris: ''We never understood anything they said. Paaak the caa in the yaa? What's that?'' says Oswald. ``It was a different language altogether.''

On Tara and Wil, Oswald: ``Poor little Wil. He's an a--hole. Tara, honey, walk away, no -- run.''

Who would they like to see win?

Says Oswald: ``Our fantasy ending has Wil falling down a hole. Tara realizes she's secretly in love with Blake. Blake realizes that it's wrong to be with your sister and so Tara and Blake team up and run to the finish line.''

VP Maynard says the actual ending is a heart-stopper: ``Fans will be on the edge of their seats screaming.''

And what would Team Cha-Cha-Cha like to see come of their tango with fame?

Oswald: ``Free clothes.''

Danny: ``Yes, I hope Dolce & Gabbana send us free clothes.''

Jewels

Thursday, May 16, 2002 - 02:22 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I love these guys!!! Thank you for posting that Grooch!

Grooch

Thursday, May 16, 2002 - 02:35 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
No problem. Here's another interview.

Link

Wink

Thursday, May 16, 2002 - 02:48 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Grooch that was fabulous. Thanks.

Moondance

Thursday, May 16, 2002 - 02:54 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I LOVE them.... thanks G:)

Max

Thursday, May 16, 2002 - 04:23 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
ANy and all stories about Danny and Oswald are on my MUST READ list. Thanks for posting! :)

Grooch

Tuesday, May 21, 2002 - 02:08 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Here's a great article from the Advocate. (Though there was one paragraph that I didn't need to know about. )

Just two gay guys from Miami

On CBS’s The Amazing Race 2, gay best friends Oswald and Danny surprised everyone, including themselves, by outlasting all but three other teams. The day after the broadcast of the episode in which they were eliminated, the Miami pals talked to Advocate.com about defying stereotypes, their gay adventures off-camera during the race, and what went on in a certain unlocked bathroom.
By Bruce C. Steele
An Advocate.com exclusive posted May 10, 2002

On The Amazing Race 2, airing Wednesday nights on CBS, gay buddies Oswald and Danny may have done a lot of shopping, visited a lot of four-star hotels, and had the occasional (OK, frequent) camp moment, but their “just be ourselves” strategy carried them for most of the show as seven other teams (out of the 11 who started) were eliminated one by one.

For the uninitiated: The show is a round-the-world race between teams of two people each: married couples, separated couples, siblings, parent-child duos, and just good friends, like Oswald and Danny. Teams figure out clues and perform challenges along the route, with the last team to arrive at certain designated “pit stops” eliminated. On the May 15 finale, the remaining three teams will race to the finish line for a $1 million prize.

Both Cuban-born and openly gay, Oswald and Danny presented a new face of gay life in the realm of reality television: the indestructible bond between best friends who share everything—except, perhaps, boyfriends. They spoke to Advocate.com by telephone from New York, eight hours into a media marathon on the day after their final episode aired.

Hi, who’s there?
Danny: I’m Danny.
Oswald [in a scratchy, broken whisper]: And I’m Oswald, the one with no voice left.
Danny: Ozzy is scratchy today.

Well, that’ll make it easier for me to tell you apart on the telephone.
Oswald: Exactly.

My God, you really have lost your voice.
Danny: For you, he has an accent and a scratchy voice.
Oswald: [unintelligible]
Danny: That was “F*ck you, b*tch,” but you know—
Oswald: So he writes that down.
[Danny laughs]

So was getting eliminated before the final three [after which it’s a no-holds-barred sprint to the finish line, with no further eliminations] a big letdown?
Oswald: Not really. Actually, we never thought we would make it to the final four.
Danny: Right.

How did you hear about the show in the first place? Because you got involved with Amazing Race 2 before the original Amazing Race even aired.
Oswald: Why don’t you tell it?
Danny: Let me tell this story, because he’s probably said it so many times that that’s why he’s lost his voice.

OK, go ahead.
Danny: We have a ritual on Fridays: We go to see movies, whatever movies premiere on Friday. We go to a matinee, so we can have the whole theater to ourselves. So we went to the movies, we got out of the movies, and they were doing, like, a casting for something. And we walked in and filled out the application, four pages long. They took a videotape of us, sent it away—
Oswald: We didn’t know what the show was.
Danny: We didn’t know what we were doing, we just—
Oswald: We were just killing time before we bought our cappuccinos.
Danny: Right before our cappuccino run. And then two days later, CBS is on the phone saying, “We love you guys.” The rest is history.

So why did you decide to do it? Were you seasoned travelers?
Danny: Oh, CBS is paying—why not take a little travel, you know? Why not do it? It was fun.
Oswald: It was a great adventure.
Danny: It was a great adventure. Totally.

Where did September 11 fall in this process? Was that during your casting, after your casting, before your casting?
Oswald: Right before.
Danny: That was right before. We actually were in L.A. when that happened, but for a separate reason.

Did it have any effect on your experience with the show?
Oswald: No, but the fact that we actually went ahead and did it, I think it showed faith in the travel industry.
Danny: Absolutely. I mean, when we first got picked for the show, I had a small reservation about doing it because of September 11. And then I realized: We were actually in L.A. when the towers came down, and we flew that first Friday when everybody started flying again, and we didn’t stop from that point forward. It never became an issue. We always felt very safe, and CBS really went the extra mile to make sure we were safe. All of us and their entire staff.

Were there any security problems because of September 11 that didn’t make it onto the show? Because it always seemed—with you carrying those big backpacks around—that people would be very suspicious.
Danny: Weren’t they sexy, those big backpacks? I want to tell you that some designer should make a backpack that’s fashionable! Personally, no, we didn’t have any—
Oswald: Well, we did at customs, because—
Danny: Well, I think customs was an issue because of the cameras, but not because of September 11. See, I mean, we were basically outside of the United States the entire time we raced, and so I personally noticed—and this is just an observation of mine—it was pretty smooth getting from one country to the other. It was very apparent when we were finally coming [back] into the United States—suddenly it seemed like we were being stopped more so than from Australia to New Zealand, so to speak.
Oswald: And you know something, Bruce, the reality is a lot of countries outside of the U.S. already had taken the precautions—
Danny: The precautions—the proper precautions.
Oswald: You know, when it came time—
Danny: It seemed that we were playing catch-up.
Oswald: So, you know, the reality of it [is], I’ve traveled enough in Latin America and other places in the world to realize that the security measures that we’re implementing here now have been pretty standard for a long time [in other countries].

Did you think about the fact that in some sense you’d be representing all the gay people in the world in The Amazing Race 2?
Oswald: No.
Danny: We didn’t think about it—that’s the answer to that question. But I had the most amazing message from a friend of mine, and he just said that he was so proud that we did such a great job of representing the gay community. And, to be honest, you know, I don’t think we ever thought about it. We were just being ourselves.
Oswald: Yeah, it was never a crusade for us to represent the gay community because, you know, somebody could basically say we’re two flaming queens, you know—
Danny [chuckling]: —who like to shop—
Oswald: —who like to shop, from Miami.

Do you feel like the show portrayed you accurately as you’ve watched it, episode by episode?
Both: Absolutely.
Oswald: We are who we are, and we make no excuses.
Danny: No. I mean, they edited what we gave them, and that’s who we are.
Oswald: We are who we are.

Do you feel like you’ve learned anything about yourselves, either by being in the show or by watching it?
Danny: Definitely. I learned that my friend is a little bit afraid of heights and he doesn’t like to bungee jump!
Oswald: Exactly, well—
Danny: And that he likes to scream when he’s jumping!
Oswald: Exactly.
Danny: Excessively, in fear.
Oswald: But you got a major hug out of it, so—
Danny: I would’ve liked some tongue instead, but you know, that’s the whole of the story.
Oswald: My tongue was way down my throat at that point.

Did you learn anything about each other that you didn’t already know?
Oswald: That we’re incredibly patient towards each other.
Danny: Yeah.

What’s the most embarrassing thing that happened that you’re glad they didn’t show?
Danny: I also hit three light posts with that big thing they gave me to drive.

Really?
Danny: I did a lot of car things. [At the very beginning of the game,] I left the car in Las Vegas in a 7-Eleven—yeah—and they couldn’t find it. And I kept going back to security and, you know, the people who were with us and saying, “Did you find my truck yet?” Because I felt attached to it, because I left it somewhere in Las Vegas and got into a cab and went to the airport.
Oswald: Actually, the funniest thing—
Danny: I’ll tell it, because you can’t even speak. The funniest thing, probably, was that we were at a pit stop—a 36-hour pit stop—and, you know, a guy’s got to release himself. And so Oswald and I would take turns going into the bathroom to masturbate. And the bathrooms didn’t have locks. One of us would stand guard outside—
Oswald: —while the other one—
Danny: —while the other was in there masturbating. Because you’ve got to release to be able to focus on the race!

Well, I guess that’s true. Although I don’t know that I would have asked—
Oswald: So that’s probably the most embarrassing—
Danny: —the most embarrassing one.
Oswald: No one knows about it, and we haven’t told anyone.

Well, they know now. [Both chuckle] Tell me a little about yourselves, because we don’t really learn much about your life back home while we’re watching the show. Did you both grow up in Miami?
Danny: I was born in Cuba. Left Cuba to Madrid. From Madrid we came here to New Jersey, and New Jersey to Miami. And I’ve been in Miami most of my life.
Oswald [barely able to speak]: And I was born in Cuba, left in 1983 to—
Danny: —to Costa Rica—
Oswald [whispering]: —Costa Rica.
Danny: From Costa Rica he came to New Jersey. I’m just going to speak for him a little bit because he’s really in trouble.

It sounds painful.
Danny: He came to New York for about a 10-year period and then started working for [the leading marketing firm] McCann-Erickson, where he was relocated to Mexico for a while, and then eventually his company relocated him to Miami, and that’s how he ended up with me.

And you met in Miami?
Danny: Actually—
Both: —no.
Danny: I’ll tell the story—you just shut up. Enjoy this. We met through my boyfriend—my boyfriend worked for MTV Latin America, and Oswald was working for McCann, representing Coca-Cola, and they were doing—
Oswald: We were doing the first deal—
Danny: —the first deal that Coca-Cola—
Oswald: —that Coca-Cola did with MTV Latin America.
Danny: And we were in Atlanta, of all places, and that’s when I first met him. And then I met him a couple of times here in New York at clubs, where he proceeded to do all sorts of obscene things at clubs that I will not even repeat.
Oswald: Thank you.
Danny: And then eventually we became good friends after my partner passed away from AIDS.

How long ago was that?
Danny: Three years ago, July this year. I’m sorry, June.

So you’ve never dated each other?
Danny: No. But we would never do that. We wouldn’t ruin the friendship that way.
Oswald: No.
Danny: He tried to tongue me once or twice here or there—
Oswald: Oh, hello, and you?

But that’s just between friends.
Danny: Yeah.
Oswald: Exactly.

You both seem very comfortable meeting new people. That actually helped you out more than once along the race. Did you meet any gay people along the way?
Danny: Did you see the Australia shot where he’s out doing his thing [one of the challenges was for a single team member to follow clues leading from person to person in Sydney] and he’s talking to the beautiful guy with the umbrella [who had one of the clues]?

Yes.
Danny: I want you to know that I regretted not doing that [challenge]. If I would have found that guy with the umbrella, we wouldn’t have come in first; I would’ve gone home with the guy with the umbrella.
Oswald: I know.
Danny: There’s no reason for that not to happen, because he was gorgeous.
Oswald: I wanted his number, I wanted to take him out to dinner with, like, the $5 that I had. [Danny laughs] But no.

There was no chance for you along the way to investigate any gay culture around the world?
Danny: We went out.
Oswald: We went barhopping in Sydney.
Danny: We actually went out that night [after the challenge] in Sydney and went to the clubs, but we couldn’t get anything on camera because they needed permission to bring the cameras into the club.
Oswald: And you know how some people are—you know, they didn’t want to be shot on camera [in a gay bar].
Danny: Right.

Well, actually, as my friends and I watched the show together, we would joke that you guys should pick up a local to be your tour guide in every city, like you picked up the girl in Hong Kong. She came with you for the whole day, right?
Oswald: Back off. [Danny laughs]

So we wanted you to pick up somebody in every city and bring them along. That was fun.
Oswald: We wanted to, but the challenges were different in every city.

Are you happy that you got the Fast-Forward when you did [early on, in South Africa]? Do you wish you’d waited longer, or do you think you would’ve been eliminated sooner?
Oswald: His leg would’ve been amputated.
Danny: I needed that Fast-Forward desperately.
Oswald: You know, actually—the show said that Danny had a yoga injury. The reality is that Danny developed the gout.

Really?
Danny: Yes, I did. I did. And it was because that particular pit stop, the night before we were at a winery where they gave us red meat, which I don’t eat. And I had dropped weight because of the race, and the combination to get the gout is exactly that: You drop weight, you eat red meat and [drink] wine excessively. Trust me when I tell you I drank excessively that pit stop.
Oswald: That night, exactly.
Danny: On that night. And that’s how I got the gout.

That was in South Africa.
Danny: Yes. And that beautiful winery. The minute we walked in, they gave us wine. And if you know anything about me, when I got to the hotel, when I got my Fast-Forward, what do I do? I reach for the wine—or the mimosas, rather. So I was very happy at that winery.

So the gout was not diagnosed until you were done with the race?
Oswald: Toward the end.
Danny: Toward the end. I mean, at every pit stop I had medical attention. CBS had arranged for, you know, my medical records to be held—I think it was in London or somewhere. We would radio in and I would see, basically, a doctor at every pit stop who’d actually come out to the site and see me and give me medication.

No wonder you looked exhausted in your final episode.
Oswald: Exactly.
Danny: We hit the drugs.
Oswald: The painkillers.

What were you thinking in that last leg? How were you feeling?
Oswald: “Let’s go home!”
Danny: “Let’s go home!” Listen, you don’t know how many times we wanted to go home.

You said it on camera once or twice.
Danny: [Laughs] We were having a great time, but I mean, out of everything that we did, I think that maybe—what do you say?—30% of it made it on camera?

Right.
Danny: And it came out three times that we wanted to go home. [Laughs]
Oswald: I know.
Danny: So I mean, we just always thought that we were going to get eliminated.
Oswald: I mean, the reality of it is that we were very honest about how we felt.
Danny: Yeah.
Oswald: And we never really, you know, cared to hide those emotions.

Well, you also had a very laid-back style. Everyone else seemed to get a lot more excited and nervous, and you guys just took it easy. That actually helped you once or twice, when you went to.
Oswald: Absolutely. Because we were focused on having a good time, just enjoying the race—
Danny: Absolutely.
Oswald: —rather than, you know, focusing on the $1 million reward at the end.
Danny: I think one of the saddest things that I saw throughout this whole process was, a lot of these people had never been to these countries, and they literally rushed through them, not taking a moment to look back. For instance, [the identical twins] Shola and Doyin, their father is from South Africa, and they were eliminated in South Africa, ironically enough. And I don’t think they were able to enjoy that as much as they should have. I mean, I don’t know what their style of racing was—I was never with them, I can’t pin it on them. But we tried, any time that we could get the chance, to take the longer route or just see more, you know, because you take it with you. I mean, that’s priceless—that has no price on it.

Any place that you want to go back to that you were in?
Danny: Cape Town would be great.
Oswald: Cape Town, yeah.

Cape Town, South Africa?
Both: Yes.
Danny: They were so cool, because on the plane on the way to Cape Town, they had ads about the gay life. I mean, that is how wonderful Cape Town is.

I’ve heard that Cape Town is a very gay-friendly place.
Danny: Gay capital of the world! And I want to be the president!
Oswald: I actually think it’s going to be or is about to become the new Miami–South Beach. Or the African Riviera.

Bill and Joe, Team Guido from the first Amazing Race, are now very active in gay causes, and I’ve even heard that they’re trying to negotiate a talk show on the new Gay TV channel. Do you guys hope to use your newfound celebrity in any similar way?
Oswald: Well, if we can help anyone—
Danny: Absolutely. As a matter of fact, Oswald and I were talking about when my boyfriend passed away, MTV created a foundation for him, and we were hoping that if anything, that we can get some recognition for the foundation so that we can give something back to the community.

That would be great. And that would be in Miami?
Danny: Yeah, it’s called the Nelson Benedicto Trust.

You’ve actually been home in Miami for a while. How’s the reaction been to you back home?
Danny: It’s so cool, because we get recognized all the time. It’s like, the other day I was on Lincoln Road [along the beach in South Beach], and I’m walking and this touristy-looking car—you know, like a rental—pulls over and says, “Hey, listen, we’re looking for—” [one of the restaurants on Lincoln Road] and I said to them, “Look, it’s probably a good idea for you to find a parking spot, because you really should just walk on Lincoln Road. It’s about two blocks that way.” There’s a couple in the back, and she goes, “Which one are you—Danny or Ozzy?” And they were just, like, hysterical to run into me. So it was pretty cool.
Oswald: Can I tell you something? The most interesting thing is that we’ve had a great response, not just from the gay community but from the general community.
Danny: Right.
Oswald: And it’s because of the fact that we never really went on this great crusade to promote homosexuality or just that we’re gay. It just happens to be a tremendous aspect of our lives, and we’re very proud of it. But we were really more representing two people who absolutely care for each other and were having a great time and were being themselves and being polite and respectful toward one another and the people that we met.
Danny: Right.

You come across as very genuine.
Oswald: We are who we are.
Danny: This is what you get!
Oswald: Exactly.
Danny: This is the real thing.

And yes, you come across as people it would be very fun to hang out with.
Danny: Well, yeah. We were in Sydney—it was so funny because these guys were like, “How come you have this camera following you around?” And we turned to them and go, “Look, we get so messy and drunk at the end of each night that we decided to hire a cameraman to take us around so that we would have a documentary of what we did the night before and talk about it at brunch.”
Oswald: Exactly.

Did he believe you?
Danny: I don’t know. [Laughs]
Oswald: No. I mean, we had to think of something because—
Danny: —we weren’t allowed to say that we were doing the race.

Oh, you’re not?
Danny: No. When we’re out, we’re theoretically not supposed to say we’re doing the race.
Oswald: Throughout the whole show, basically.

Although some of the other contestants would say “We’re in a race” to cabdrivers and so forth.
Oswald: They broke the rules.
Danny: They broke the rules.
Oswald: We never said it.

Speaking of the other contestants, one of the friends I watch the show with wanted me to ask: How did you stand being with [bickering separated couple] Will and Tara so long?
Danny [snorts]: We pretty much tried to stay away from not just Will and Tara but the entire pack.
Oswald: Exactly.
Danny: We always looked at the race as our vacation, and we don’t do—
Both: —tours.
Danny: So we decided to stray away any chance we could. So the answer to that is, we tried our damnedest to stay away from them.
Oswald: Which is really everybody, because I think of the race, everybody sort of has an exaggerated version of who they are under very stressful conditions. And it happens to be that we’re incredibly relaxed; other people were incredibly hyper, and obviously that was reflected in how they behaved.
Danny: Correct.

Anything else you want to say to the readers of The Advocate?
Oswald: We’re both single!
Danny [laughs]: Yeah! And looking! At least for right now.
Oswald: I’m looking for—whatever! I’m not even going to go there!

Well, you can go ahead and specify, if you’d like, what kind of person you’d like to have look you up.
Oswald: Basically, we’re both single and looking—you don’t have to specify anything.

Any man will do?
Oswald: No, no, no, no, no. Obviously there’s certain criteria, but—that’s too long to discuss over the phone.
Danny: We’ll take applications!

Seamonkey

Tuesday, May 21, 2002 - 02:50 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Ahhhh.. so nice reading all of those...

Max

Tuesday, May 21, 2002 - 03:11 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I wanna go to Miami and walk on Lincoln Road! Maybe I'll run into one of these guys. How fun would that be?! :)

Moondance

Tuesday, May 21, 2002 - 04:03 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I LOVE them!:)

Fanny

Tuesday, May 21, 2002 - 04:18 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I love these guys. Wouldn't it be a riot to hang out with them? I'm still laughing.

Spygirl

Tuesday, May 21, 2002 - 05:08 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
What a hoot! My favorite is their answer to the question in the car about why they had a camera following them everywhere. I would have never thought of something that hilarious!

Grooch

Tuesday, May 21, 2002 - 05:32 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Max, they said in the article that they go to the Friday matinees to watch the new releases.

I have been toying with the idea of playing hookey and see if I can "accidently" run into them at the movies.

But they mentioned Lincoln Road, and I think they mentioned in another article they went to Cocnut Grove to see a movie. I'd have to guess where they would be.

I don't know if I have the balls to do it. It sounds a bit stalkerish.

Seamonkey

Tuesday, May 21, 2002 - 05:40 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
And we know they were in NY at least a couple of nights ago since they were at the Survivor wrap party..

Grooch

Tuesday, May 21, 2002 - 05:50 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Oh, Great! Now I have to consider their travel schedule, also. Oh, My Heck!