'The Amazing Race 35's Robbin Tomich and Chelsea Day Clarify the "Manufactured Contention" with the Other Teams

Robbin Tomich (L) and Chelsea Day (R)

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Robbin Tomich and Chelsea Day were not one to typically go with the pack on The Amazing Race 35. Perhaps it comes with age, as the second-oldest team in the race, or the independence garnered during the unthinkable tragedy Robbin has gone through after both losing her husband and battling cancer. But it became apparently quickly that, to quote an old reality TV trope, the childhood friends were not there to make other ones. And, throughout the season, their behavior, specifically not providing any teams assistance when asked, did not wear well with the others. Yet, despite having the lowest approval rating going into the U-Turn vote, they survived by the skin of their teeth.

Robbin and Chelsea's independence provided mixed results for them on the race. It leapfrogged them to the front of the pack a couple of times, netting a first and second place finish (though, ironically, the latter came as a result of them following Greg and John Franklin for the second half of the leg). Other times, though, it had them struggling and avoiding elimination by one or two places. In Slovenia, Robbin and Chelsea once again set themselves apart. Unfortunately, it was because Chelsea was the only one to fail the Roadblock on her first time, and they were the only team to outright miss the entrance to Pivka Jama caves. Unfortunately, those two errors proved incredibly costly. Despite their race being as set as the sun when they checked into the Pit Stop, they still went out with heads held high, grateful for a new chapter in their decades-long friendship.

Now out of the race, and with Robbin unable to attend our call, Chelsea talks with Parade.com about how she went from reality TV superfan to contestant, her reaction to how the other teams perceived them, and whether nearly being U-Turned surprised her.

Related: Everything to Know About The Amazing Race 35

To start, how long have you been watching The Amazing Race? And what made you and Robbin decide to go from superfans to contestants?
So since 2001, it must have been, that's when The Amazing Race came out. Between that and Survivor, Robbin and I were just always hooked right from the get-go. And I don't think alone, I had anything too particularly compelling going on in my life to apply for any of these shows. And then Robbin and I had started hanging out again, once we had children in common and life had brought us back around to each other. And Robbin had gone from obviously the situation she was in to becoming a rockstar CrossFit beast. And I was at the gym, being inspired by her ,just knowing what she'd gone through. And so we're at her house one day, and we're all pumped up because we're talking about how fast I was and how strong she was. And then we started talking about Amazing Race. And then it literally felt like a light bulb over our heads of like, "Oh, my gosh. We've got a ton of story at this point. Why wouldn't we just try it out?"

Let's go from the beginning of your race to the end. When Phil told you that you had gotten eliminated, Robbin had replied, "We kind of knew that six hours ago." And, indeed, it seemed like the mistake at the Roadblock combined with getting so lost to the caves just did you in. Did it really feel like a last lap once you had figured you were probably out of it?
Oh, yeah. Yeah, it did. And then that walk took a really long time. It was kind of like Chinese water torture or something. It was just , "Okay, here I go again." And I could tell that everybody else had gotten through right away. So we were pretty defeated when I got back. And then to get as lost as we did on top of that. A slow death might be better than a quick death on The Amazing Race, because at least we had a sense that there wasn't any future, as far as that was concerned. But then we kind of got into the swing of things and just enjoyed those beautiful caves and enjoyed the Adriatic Sea, and started thinking about our families. My daughter's birthday just happened, and my birthday. I think my birthday was the same day. So I actually got to spend 36 hours on my birthday because of the time gap, and got to be home with my family. So I think we were just relieved and enjoyed the last leg, and hoped that Phil wouldn't meet us out there at some point.

So suffice it to say, we got a lot of content this season about other teams not liking the fact that, when they asked you for help, you would provide them with either a vague answer or nothing at all. Talk to me about your approach to that, and did you know that the other teams were reacting in such a strong way?
No, I don't think I got a sense in that moment necessarily. I mean, you're seeing each other so quickly. I will say that I was working together with people on top of that hotel. I got half of the riddle and gave it to Joel, who gave it to Victor, who figured it out. And by the time I got back with the wrong answer, everybody had it figured out. We're all working together, though, because we're all panicked at being someone on top of the building who didn't have the answer. And there's another scene where they don't show that, when Ian and Joe miss their clue, we let them cut in front of us in Vietnam to get on the boat to get their clue. So they didn't show that. And it was like no problem. I think people maybe don't take into consideration that we were last for two legs in a row. And being last for two legs in a row puts you a little bit more in a survival mindset. We never got to be comfortable in the middle, and feel like we had that extra wiggle room to help each other out. We were always kind of scrapping along. So by the time we were able to jump up a few spots, we played a little tighter to our chests.

To your point, it never felt like you and Robbin were able to nestle in the middle. There were legs where you finished first and second, and others where you finished third-to-last or second-to-last. What was it like to have to adjust to such polarizing finishes?
I think every leg, you kind of start just on a whim, and you just kind of hope for the best. I mean, when we were in Vietnam, we were on the very last bus. And for us to then kind of jump up each notch and to have a super amazing taxicab driver during that time, that was extremely helpful. And then to crush the challenges, it was an emotional roller coaster. Unlike some of the teams who really stayed right in the middle the whole time. We just didn't have a chance to get comfortable in any position.

Well, something that would contribute to that discomfort is the fact that you were nearly U-Turned halfway through the season. We did see some teams tell Anna Leigh that they had U-Turned her and Steve. Did you get a sense that you were one vote away from getting U-Turned?
So I watched a lot of Survivor. And so I was asking people who they're going to return from the get-go. I was kind of feeling everyone out, kind of seeing where people were at. I could tell when we were at the airport in Vietnam--or maybe it was Thailand--there was a bit of a divide. Todd and Ashlie, Steve and Anna Leigh, and Liam and Yeremi were all kind of banded together. And that was the scene where I said that Anna Leigh had a charmed life. I was trying to kind of integrate; I was trying to kind of feel them out. But I could sense that we were on the outs with them a little bit. But I also was in enough communication with the people who didn't U-Turn us that I had a feeling that we were good with them. Corey and Rob were the only people that were the wildcards. So I thought there was a good chance we'd get U-Turned. It was not out of thin air.

In one of those previously mentioned airport scenes, we saw Robbin mention that she didn't have a lot in common with the people on her flight, and she wasn't looking to make friends. Did that comment extend to all of the teams? Was there anyone in particular you got along with?
I didn't dislike anybody. I don't think we didn't get along with anybody. I mean, I would say that we got we're the closest with Joe and Ian and Joel and Garrett. Those are people that, unless it's whoever's last in the last to the mat, we would work with them if given the opportunity. So it was a bummer that Joe and Ian went out on the fourth leg. But any of this whole kind of manufactured contention, I didn't really recognize it on my side of things. Maybe I'm lacking some self-awareness. There were a few moments. Right out the gate in Hollywood, we managed to get in front of Liam and Yeremi.

Ah yes, they told me about this story where you claimed their car by grabbing the clue on the windshield.
And you know, I admitted later I didn't realize how awesome Liam and Yeremi would be. Until we start the race, we are just judging each other and not speaking to each other. That's how it works when you're not mic'd up and with cameras on you. And so we saw them and we saw Yeremi's Arby's beef sandwich tattoo on his leg. And we didn't really think we'd have a lot in common with them. And lo and behold, we get to the airport, and Liam's one of the funniest people in the world. He is just like a totally handsome clown. And Yeremi is awesome. And they have a wonderful story. So I think we got proven wrong in a lot of regards.

Well let's turn outward to inward. You have a decades-long friendship with Robbin. But what did you learn most about her racing around the world together?
I would say that when it came to navigation, we both were dead in the water in many regards. However, there were moments where Robbin was so super-duper clutch, like at the mustard challenge and the puzzle challenge in Egypt, when it really got kind of dire, she was able to just put her head down and sort it out where I'd kind of do this panic freeze thing. So she really has that perseverance and can really pull it through when the all the chips fall, or whatever the thing is. [Laughs.] Her perseverance definitely showed up. Lke at the pomelos challenge, I don't know why they didn't show this. But she dead lifted all of those baskets. All the boys were carrying the two of them. And Robbin's just like, "No problem."

Next, read our interview with Morgan and Lena Franklin, who were eliminated in The Amazing Race 35 Episode 8.