Amazing Race 2015: Staten Island Contestant Defies Borough Stereotypes
By Kathryn Carse
SILive.com
When the 27th season of “Amazing Race” takes off Friday on CBS, Richmond resident Krista DeBono will be atop a water bike with teammate Tiffany Chantell Torres, peddling and paddling from Marina del Rey to Burton Chase Park in Los Angeles for the first leg of a 21-day race around the world.
Former NFL cheerleaders, they will be one of 11 teams starting out on the Emmy-winning series’ premiere at 8 p.m., Sept. 25, striving to avoid being eliminated while heading for unknown destinations that include China, India, Zimbabwe and Netherlands.
The goal with each challenge is to avoid coming in last and face elimination. The ultimate goal is to win $1 million.
The prize was a big motivation. It would enable DeBono to repay college loans that include a masters in speech pathology. But regardless of whether she achieved the ultimate goal, DeBono set her sights an equally valuable one.
“We only wanted to make our hometown and family proud,” said the 29-year-old. “People already have stereotypes from ‘Mob Wives’ and ‘Jersey Shore.’ That’s what they expect from you when they hear you’re from Staten Island.”
Working the role as “The Cheerleaders,” she relished being underestimated and revealing there is “so much more to us than cheerleading.” Her day job is at a private school in Brooklyn as a speech pathologist. Torres, who lives in Hoboken, N.J., is a consultant with Physicians in Healthcare.
Not that cheerleading isn’t important to them. On the New York Jets Flight Crew Cheerleading Squad, the two became best friends. And they say in their introductory video, the preparation and discipline getting ready for the season was rigorous.
Still, when it came to the “Amazing Race,” they both hired personal trainers to work on cardio and strength training three of four times a week to take their fitness up a few notches. DeBono says she did a lot of mental gymnastics too – puzzles and brain teasers. It was the combination of challenges, both mental and physical, that made this particular reality show right for her, she said.
“It had to be a family show. I would not have done anything that was not right,” she said.
Completion of the first challenge got you a plane ticket to the next one in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
“When you watch, it looks so easy. But when you have no sleep or food, you’re just exhausted; it’s a whole different ballgame,” said DeBono.
That is as much as she could reveal. Although she knows the outcome (which she is under contract not to reveal), she is as anxious as anyone to see the final edit of hours and hours of taping.
She discovered that there is an extra interest for some – they are betting on an Amazing Race Fantasy League.
“You can see on the threads [comments]: These two will be the first ones out,” she said. “Hopefully we will inspire other women, and teach you should not judge a book by its cover.”
“I’m just really excited for people to see us travel around the world and for them to get a glimpse into other places. It was amazing to see them first hand,” she said.
DeBono is not the first Staten Islander to compete in the “Amazing Race.” One of the most successful Islander competitors was fellow St. Joseph-by-the-Sea almuna Danielle Turner who competed in 2006 with her classmate Danielle (Dani) Torchio. Turner returned in 2007 to win with Floridian Eric Sanchez, who she met her first time competing.
