‘The Amazing Race 34’: Rich and Dom React to Sharik Almost Quitting and Their Own Stress
The Amazing Race showed the Love and Light Team leaving after an emotional megaleg. Showbiz Cheat Sheet talked to Rich Kuo and Dom Jones about their journey on the show and life after filming on Zoom on Oct. 13.
Rich and Dom talk about coping with stress through ‘The Amazing Race 34’
Q: Dom, you talked about being a Leo. Rich, what is your sign? And do you know how that came into play with your dynamic in the show?
Rich: Gemini.
Dom: He’s a Gemini! And me being a Leo, that’s fire, and he’s air. And actually, it is perfect in our dynamic. We’re actually very much matched because what is air do to fire? [Makes flame motions]. So it works really well for us. And my fire ignites him, and his air expands my fire.
Rich: Totally, and I’m very much the calming force, and she is the life of the party.
Q: I do think, though, you guys took turns having a freakout and like being the other person, calming the other person down. The first time we saw one of you guys meditate was with you Dom and I totally forgot what I was like rewatching like Rich you did it too. And I was like, ‘They’re perfect together.’
Dom: We love to meditate, Nicole. Like it’s something that really grounds us in our lives. We like to spend time together spiritually grounding, and for us, that’s why we were Team Love and Light because we really believe and can see that our world needs more love and unity and less division. And so we wanted to share that not only with the world and with our fellow cast members but to enjoy that together. And for us, it’s that meditation and sending out that love that really activates our spirit.
Rich: And we get to love. All of us humans, everyone watching this right now, you get to love. We get to love. We all get to love each other. Our world needs it.
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Q: Did you guys talk in preparation of the season of what your coping mechanisms would be like? Did you guys already have a plan? Like, if we need to meditate, do it. Or is that–it just came naturally on the fly of, like, this is how we’re going to cope?
Dom: Yeah, I think it came very natural to us because it’s naturally who we are. Like, literally, I’m in the wellness space, so that’s what I do. I help people to cope honestly in life. So it was a very natural thing. And we did talk about on the show though, just being supportive to one another, you know, making sure that we were lights to each other and we were building each other up even when it would get difficult, cause we knew it would, to fight through that together.
Rich: Right, and I think The Amazing Race was such a powerful and perfect example and tool for couples like us to grow our communication, our patience, our compassion. And I think it’s it’s a great analogy of life.
Dom: It really is.
Q: Dom, you did start the season doing some more self-talk and focusing on your breath. That was like literally the first time we saw you guys in the car. Did you still do that in Florence? Or by that time you were so frazzled, most of that was going out the window?
Dom: No, actually, I definitely continued to do that. In Florence, I mean, you guys saw me really going through a lot doing the sculpture. And during that sculpture, I was actually processing through a lot because people didn’t know that my grandmother was ill when I was on the show. And so I was processing through her.
And also this Michaelangelo, thinking that I literally, genuinely thought I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, like they want me to make God.’ Like, and I’m looking, and I’m thinking, you know, I would thought I was trying to be a realist. Like, OK, this is not my forte, you know?
And but as I worked through Nicole, I realized that Michelangelo that I was trying to carve out and its imperfection that I was trying to correct for me were a reflection of my life and what I’ve been through because I’d been through a great deal growing up. And it helped me to realize to love myself and to even love this sculpture right in the middle of struggling with it to get through it.
So being a motivational speaker that’s not about being perfect. It’s not about not having any vulnerabilities or flaws. In fact, it’s about sharing the world with, we’re all in this together. We’re going to go through pain. But it’s about pushing through that pain is one.
Dom reacts to Michelle giving her the wrong information about the sculpture challenge
Q: To be fair, I think as viewers also thought, you guys were supposed to create it from scratch and also had the same panic. And then we learned what the rules were. And also, to be fair, you literally ask Michelle [Burgos], like, ‘Are we supposed to do this?’ Like, are we sculpting and she wrongly tells you you’re creating this statue which then sent you on a spiral.
Dom: Nicole, you’re very quick! You caught that.
Q: How long did it take for you to figure out that she was wrong?
Dom: Right. Because if you notice because in the end, they caught it and they showed it on camera that I, I realized after that’s like read the clue. They always, always read the clue.
I realize it said sculpt out. And that was the keyword in the clue was those little words. It was like, sculpt out. And I’m like, ‘Oh, it’s in here. I have to really hammer at this thing.’ And so that’s what I utilize, what I am good at, which is anything physical. And I start hitting, and I’m like, ‘There it is. So I really and I did realize that because everyone was that was a stress–it was a mega leg. Everyone was so stressful. Nobody really probably wanted to give anyone a leg up at that point, you know what I mean? So I understand it, you know.
Dom on considering taking that penalty
Q: Are you glad you didn’t take the penalty? Because you look like you were seriously considering it?
Dom: Yeah, I’m very glad I didn’t.
Rich: We’re not gonna let that happen. [Laughs.]
Dom: He’s wasn’t gonna let me have to take that, Nicole!
Rich: She wanted to. I was like, ‘I was like, Do it for another 15 minutes. I’m like, and then do another 15 minutes. And then do it for another 15 minutes.’
Dom: I genuinely didn’t want to take it because I didn’t want us to get out. But in my head, I’m just trying to figure out the most expeditious way to move forward. But I didn’t want to take that penalty. And he let me know, ‘Honey, that would put us out for sure.’ So I’m glad I didn’t take it. I’m glad we pushed forward.
Dom reacts to Sharik almost quitting ‘The Amazing Race 34’
Q: Yeah. You weren’t the only one who was, like, mentally and physically struggling. In this episode, we saw Sharik [Atkinson]’s motivation drop fast after the sculpture. Is there anything you wish you could have told her for her to get her motivation back?
Dom: First off, I love team Jamaica. I love Sharik and Linton, her father. It’s a very personal thing for me to see. I didn’t grow up with my father. So a beautiful, you know, Black queen and her father, and together, it warmed my heart. And they were literally just so, so special to me.
And if I could have seen her again, I would have told her, ‘Girl, come on, we got this together. We can not let this get the best of us. We are here because we are here with purpose and intention. We can do this. So if she sees this, I love her so much, and she still pushed through. And I’m very proud of her though.’
Rich: Yeah, I must say, being with a Black queen, it’s a, it’s an emotional journey and being able to relate with other people and their struggles is so real, you know, and it’s a beautiful thing. And everyone some people might not understand the struggles such as what Sharik was going through. And you know, lots of love to both Linton and Sharik.
And it’s real. Everyone is on their own personal journey. And you probably saw that from ours. And that’s one thing we’re proud of. You know, people say, ‘Oh, your motivational speakers, you know, shouldn’t you, like, be all motivated and stuff?’ We’re human beings. We’re human beings with our challenges. And we’re here to be human, to grow ourselves. And we’re so honored that we got to see that with all the cast members for us going through all of our journeys.
Q: If she did choose to quit, that means you probably could have stayed. But do you do you think you would have been happy or stressed out? Like, yeah, we have to keep going because I think even see that with Sharik when she decides to stay, it’s like, ‘OK, we’re it’s it’s going to be another day.’ How do you think you would have felt if you were given that opportunity?
Dom: Right. Well, you know, it’s interesting watching it back last night, we actually had no clue that they were even considering that when she was on the mat with Phil, I was like, ‘OMG, she would have, you know, considered that.’
I would have been–And I thought to myself, how would I have felt if I would have gone there? He would’ve said, ‘Oh, you can stay because this team quit.’ I would have literally said, ‘No, really? She quit? No. Are you kidding me?’ Like it would have hit me hard because I don’t want anyone to leave, you know? You know, it’s a journey together. I don’t want that.
But I would have continued happily forward, of course, because I love The Amazing Race. We are fans of the show, and we truly believe that to stay on that race, if you allow it to, it’ll continue to teach you so much about yourself in life.
Rich: And that’s what it was about. And we’ve been talking. Every single leg is a huge blessing. Every single leg was an offering for us to learn, grow our relationship, grow ourselves. And that was what really that was a prize.
This interview has been edited and condensed for this article.
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