Best friends Mary Crawford and Larry Graham talk with Parade following their elimination from 'The Amazing Race 37.'
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00:00Gentlemen, I'm very excited to talk with you.
00:03Listen, it wasn't a long time, but it seemed like a good time.
00:05And so I think I'm excited to break down your fun day in Hong Kong.
00:09I want to start just by asking in general, you know, what got you
00:13in Hong Kong on the race in the first place?
00:17Were one or you or both of you fans prior to this?
00:20You know, what made you decide to go from watching to playing?
00:25So it started with with me.
00:28My wife actually started watching the show back when it first began.
00:32And she's the one to say, no, that ain't happening.
00:35You come here and watch this.
00:36Look at what these fools are doing.
00:37And so I started watching and we became it became a
00:42a thing that we watch.
00:43We love reality shows.
00:45And I applied.
00:46I applied for Survivor two or three times, broken the
00:52tough as nails and this show a few times.
00:56And it's it's actually it's pretty tough to get people to commit.
01:01For number one, that you're you're embarrassing yourself on national TV.
01:05But two, it's it's a time factor.
01:07So I told Larry, you know, buddy, you got to do it with me.
01:10And he's he's my buddy. He's not going to let me down.
01:12And so he started watching it and caught up.
01:16And I'll I'll let him finish the story.
01:21Well, we got. Hong Kong.
01:26And the 747, that's about it.
01:29It was all Mark showed up.
01:31Talk about let's travel the world.
01:32And I thought he stopped at cruise ships and everything.
01:35And next thing you know, we're trying to get in shape.
01:39And, you know, so many thousands of people fly.
01:42And I really never thought it would happen.
01:44And I mean, dang, it happened.
01:46So it's pretty cool.
01:48So the so the
01:51that day of the first episode started
01:54that morning in L.A.
01:56And we were doing video video.
01:59You know, we would retake several, several things.
02:03And then three to one, let's go.
02:05So we raced around L.A., got to the airport at midnight
02:10is when we caught our flight of the first day.
02:13So we were up all day.
02:14So then it was a 14 hour flight.
02:16When the flight landed in Hong Kong, then it was like, OK, guys, ready?
02:20Three, two, one, let's go.
02:21So so if you work the clock,
02:24it was two straight days that we were just going.
02:28So fatigue and, you know, being absent minded and doing crazy things.
02:33We were pumped up.
02:34All the teams were pumped up on adrenaline and and fatigue, but didn't know it.
02:40Yeah. Well, let's talk about, you know, how things started to where things
02:44ended here, because I mean, it seemed pretty close
02:47between you and a couple of the other teams.
02:51Was that the sense that you got as well, that while you got out of the dance last,
02:55there was probably a lot going on with the cabs and getting lost
02:58to the pit stop and everything that you were minutes away from getting eliminated?
03:03Yes, it was.
03:04We could literally see the other teams when we got out of the cab.
03:10Wait, they were there.
03:12So it was that close.
03:13And that's Phil claims that was three teams that finished
03:17closer than anybody ever has.
03:20Wow. Between the black team, the yellow team and us,
03:25probably 45 seconds, you know, I'll say less than a minute,
03:28because literally we were trying to get the cab to stop
03:32and there was a bus there and he wouldn't stop and they were getting out of the cab.
03:37So time we settled up the cab, we were running behind.
03:41And that's that's how close it was.
03:45Wow. Wow.
03:47Well, let's talk about, you know, what ended up getting you in the hunt there,
03:50but towards the back of the pack in the first place.
03:52So you get this choice at the fork in the road, sing or dance.
03:58And, you know, dance wasn't necessarily your forte,
04:01but it sounds like sing wasn't either.
04:03Talk to me about what made you decide on that.
04:05And how do you look back on that decision, given everything that happened?
04:09Well, like I said on the show, we couldn't pronounce even the stop signs
04:13and just the signs of the street.
04:16So we knew singing wouldn't probably be our best thing to do.
04:21And there was going to be two teams behind us,
04:24you know, at the dance.
04:28And there was one team we knew was going to be about an hour.
04:31So we're hoping they would be behind us or they would give us even more time.
04:36But it ended up they got in the other lane.
04:39That kind of we can we can call it like it is.
04:42I cannot sing. And Larry's worse than I am.
04:46So it really wasn't a fork.
04:47It was just the direction we had to go.
04:50Hmm. So then what ended up happening with the dance?
04:53Because obviously, you know, it was a lot of trial and error for a lot of teams.
04:56Was there anything in particular about the dance
04:58that had you guys struggling the most with it to the point
05:01that it put you in last place?
05:04I think the instructor, when
05:08when you fail, you go back and the instructor wanted to start
05:12where we screwed up.
05:14But we need to start from the front and do the whole thing.
05:18And he couldn't understand it.
05:20And it's kind of getting a little bit frustrated.
05:21But, you know, it's a judgment call.
05:24We we thought we did great the first time we did it.
05:27But undoubtedly, we didn't. So
05:31that's, you know, it's kind of this.
05:33It's not like you can either jump over a five foot pole or you can't.
05:37You know, it's a lot of discretion and that kind of stuff.
05:39But yeah, so obviously, you know, while it was a lot of you
05:46running your own race, you had, as Mark was talking about, this two day period
05:49where you could get to know some of the other teams.
05:51Were there any particular teams that you got along really well with
05:55or got to know a lot during all these times
05:58when the teams were interacting with each other during your time in Hong Kong?
06:02Yes. So actually, we
06:06and we we were the more talkative ones
06:09when we're supposed to not talk to any team or or they're going to
06:14electrocute you or something.
06:15We we did communicate with a lot of them
06:19when the first day, just a little fun fact, when when the
06:24when when we were sitting around after one of the photo shoots
06:29and we were around each other and able to communicate a little bit.
06:33Larry and I had this scheme planned that we were going to.
06:37So we were going to let them think that Larry was somebody.
06:41So when they who are the two young girls
06:45are here again?
06:47Yeah. Yeah. Bernie and Kerrigan. Yeah.
06:49And so so she's a little busy body, just a little jabber jaw.
06:53So we we had her with her back to us.
06:56And and I said, Larry, they still don't have a clue who you are.
07:01And her little ears perked up.
07:03And so that turned into the rumor mill.
07:06And so for a long time
07:12through this entire show, they were trying to figure out
07:15who is who and who Larry was.
07:17And that turned into a big thing.
07:20Even after we were gone, it was still going on to who Larry was.
07:25And in the end, all he all area, he's my friend.
07:27That's who he is.
07:28But but that was a fun thing we did.
07:31But we got along really, really well.
07:34We would have probably teamed up pretty quick.
07:37And we had several teams that we were looking at.
07:40Melinda and Erica, you know, they agreed.
07:44Hey, you know, golly, we hate y'all got out because y'all was our pick.
07:48Jeff and Pops, man, they would have been great to team up with.
07:52Pops had a bad leg like Larry had a bad leg,
07:56you know, but there was,
07:58you know, man, teaming up is paramount, even in this game.
08:03But we were we were well on our way.
08:06I am so stunned.
08:08So like I've now I'm were you giving clues away or Larry?
08:11Were you trying to like walk around like you had an air of superiority to you,
08:14like you were waiting for people to recognize you?
08:17No, I had a beard, you know, so everybody's trying to hide something.
08:21You have a beard.
08:22So that was that's the only.
08:24But it was so much fun
08:26because we knew she was trying to hear our strategy.
08:29And then when we, you know, said that, oh, it was on.
08:32Even like at the airport.
08:33She go, I know who you are, but don't tell anybody else.
08:38I won't let you walk.
08:40So it was fun.
08:42Oh, my God, that I love.
08:43I absolutely love that.
08:45Well, let's go from, you know, the outward focus into the inward focus,
08:47because, Larry, you have this really touching moment on the mat
08:51when you're able to get really emotional and touching and open
08:54about your relationship with Mark.
08:57Talk to me about where that came from.
08:59I mean, maybe it's to Mark's point.
09:00Was it the adrenaline fading?
09:02Was it just like the special time and place
09:03that that had you talking about Mark in that way?
09:06Hell, if I know.
09:10I mean, it's just you're in Hong Kong
09:13and we had done the best we could, and, you know, we're in the middle
09:15of the race the whole time.
09:17And if you get in slow taxis or whatever, just mess you up.
09:23And and, you know, I'm here with my best friend.
09:25I had already hurt my leg.
09:27So we got off the plane.
09:29And you just have all those emotions.
09:31Why the F's? Why the F's?
09:32And it was just I don't know what happened, be truthful.
09:36But yeah, usually he's a cry baby, not me.
09:40And that's the fun thing.
09:42I got to poke at him instantly.
09:44You know, I'm Mr.
09:45Unsensitive now, but we were in our little week of quarantine.
09:50You know, he said, yeah, you're going to end up crying.
09:53So it backfired.
09:55I would go back to what you said, though, Larry.
09:56You said you you hurt your leg.
09:58I know that Mark had said you had had, you know, a bad leg.
10:01I think I heard you say something while you were going up the stairs
10:03to the pit stop at a certain point.
10:04Did you just like re aggravate an injury or did something happen?
10:07Now, what happened when we were in Hong Kong?
10:11We took off running for the taxis and it's kind of going downhill.
10:15And there's another team in front and she stopped.
10:18And when I planted my foot, I could feel my my knee
10:22like I've extended my leg.
10:26And and I could feel the tendons.
10:28And but it was tight that it would hurt only if you moved a certain way.
10:33And it just and it just got worse and worse.
10:37It started swelling on me.
10:39And three days I had to wear ice.
10:42So but that's just being old.
10:46Well, well, the last thing I want to ask is whether your international
10:49travel plans will be put on ice, Larry, because you said
10:51this was your first time out of the country.
10:54And, you know, it was it was it was a short time, but it seemed like you guys,
10:57especially at the end, really took in just like the mere idea
11:00of getting to experience this, if even for a day.
11:03So what was it like for you for this to be your first time out of the country?
11:07Oh, wow. Like I I told people last night, you know, our first flight
11:12was 14 hours out of the country.
11:14Then I took another 14 hours back into the country.
11:18You know, I'm about international.
11:20But Mark and I belong to a motorcycle club.
11:23Right. And then and we actually rode our motorcycles in.
11:28I think it was in September or so to Canada.
11:32We went over in Canada.
11:33So I got to use my passport twice the same year.
11:36So that's pretty good.
11:38Oh, well, this was such a delight to get the chance to talk
11:41with a real life celebrity and his best friend.
11:45I know it was a great time getting to the chance to, again, get a peek
11:49into your guys experience, because, again, we only got so much.
11:52It was a lot going on with that 90 minute episode.
11:54And I'm glad we got what we did.
11:55But I'm even more glad that I got the chance to talk with you today
11:58and truly get to get your perspective on not only what happened,
12:02you know, all the fun that was had on and off screen,
12:04but also very clearly the the bond that you guys have had for years
12:07at this point and will continue to have and has probably been
12:09even more strengthened by your time in Hong Kong together.
12:12So thank you guys so much for taking the time to chat with me today.
12:15I thank you.
12:16Yeah, of course.
12:17All the best to you and yours.
12:18And take care. You have a good one.
12:20All right. Jackie and Laura, we said, hey, I will.
12:23I will be talking to him in like half an hour.
12:25So I will say they are great.
12:27They are so much. I'm so excited to talk to them.
12:29All right. You have a good one, guys.
12:30All right. Bye bye.