After navigation troubles and their glass tower crash in the Champagne region of France, Jordan Lloyd and Jeff Schroeder became the fifth couple eliminated from the 16th season of The Amazing Race. Though the pair was initially frustrated by their many stumbles, they completed the day’s mission with dignity. “I wanted to throw my body on the glass!” Jeff tells In Touch about the couple’s failure to balance 680 glasses into a 15-level tower at the Taittinger La Marquetterie. “We knew we were beat when it broke. It was cold and dark, and we were tired. But we finished strong with our heads high!”
Jordan: We are navigation-illiterate! I told Jeff, “I’ll drive and you can navigate. I will get us lost!”
Jeff: I’m the worst with directions. I knew that we would have the worst time with that during the race. We knew going into it that it would be difficult.
When you saw Brent and Caite in the vineyard, did you think you still had a chance?
Jeff: We did think we had a chance. We went to the vineyard and I made a dumb decision to focus on the Tower instead of the Terra.
How did you feel when the champagne tower came crashing down?
Jeff: I wanted to throw my body on the glass. We knew we were beat, but when it broke, it was cold and dark, and we were tired. So we got some flashlights and headed to the vineyard and finished strong with our heads high.
Jeff, you seemed more upset at the end, while Jordan was better at accepting that you had lost.
Jeff: I’ve played sports, so I’m so competitive. She’s not competitive enough. She’s learned to pump it up a bit. I got a little down on myself. I had an outstanding chance to earn a million dollars, but it’s not about the money. It’s about the experience I had. I’ve learned to accept that. The win wasn’t in the cards for us. The experience was worth more.
You both said communicating would be the biggest challenge for you as a couple. Was that true?
Jordan: I think that was our downfall. We did not communicate at all together. We were the worst of all. When things were bad, they went bad.
How did your relationship change through the process?
Jordan: It really helped me to learn a lot of things I didn’t understand about Jeff. I learned to understand him, and he learned to understand me.
Jeff: I learned to speak with her like a coach rather than a boyfriend during the race. A lot of the downfalls have changed into positives in the relationship because we’ve learned from mistakes. We’re stronger than ever now.
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