Pack your bags, because The Amazing Race is back! Every week, Parade’s Mike Bloom will bring you interviews with the team most recently eliminated from the race.

Rachel Reilly is no stranger to being targeted on reality shows. It happened to her within the very first week of her Big Brother career and has made its way around the world in her three “fun and good” times on The Amazing Race. All the while she’s persisted, becoming the new record holder for race longevity. But this season with sister and fellow Big Brother alum Elissa Slater proved to be her toughest trek, as an unprecedented U-Turn vote in Switzerland put them on the block for Amazing Race eviction.

Though representing Big Brother, Rachel’s race experience had her leading the Reilly sisters. This included the season’s first U-Turn of the season, where she targeted “Team Fun,” infuriating the usually happy-go-lucky pair. They attempted an olive branch with a peace offering, but the drama had only just begun. The rest of their race had them falling to the back of the pack, even finishing last in a non-elimination leg in Dubai. They also became involved in some heavily emotional moments on the mat, including being the receiving end of Corinne Kaplan and Eliza Orlins’ frustration and tearfully eliminating friends and fellow moms Janelle Pierzina and Britney Haynes.

Their biggest conflict came from Big Brother allies Victor Arroyo and Nicole Franzel. They tried to warn the dating couple about being targeted but ended up putting the target on themselves in the process. It was unfortunate timing for the sisters as the teams got hit with a U-Turn vote the very next leg. With their shady actions fresh on everyone’s mind, democracy did them in, and they found themselves U-Turned next to Colin Guinn and Christie Woods. Facing elimination yet again, they tried to cut a path of survival as tidy as a Swiss hay field. But a high-stakes crossbow shootout proved to be the killing blow, ending their exciting journey.

With Rachel unavailable to speak, Elissa talks with Parade about her reaction to the U-Turn vote, their plan to make as many friends as possible, and what she learned about her sister in their race around the world.

You and Rachel were at the center of a lot of drama this season. Now that you’ve had the opportunity to watch the episodes and see the other teams’ thoughts on you, what’s your reaction?

I was happy with Leo and Jamal. We have a friendship with them outside of the race. Even though they were upset about the whole U-Turn thing, they moved past it and still tried to have our back. But they had every right to be upset that Rachel spilled the beans. I didn’t know Chris and Bret were so upset with us. They were mad that we pulled in front of them in Switzerland. Obviously, we were competing against them, so I was taking any opportunity to get in front of them. We knew we weren’t ahead of the pack, but we didn’t want to go out. They were super mad, and I think that made them bad sports. I’m wondering if we were a guy team, if they would have said, “Man, they really outdid us!” But since we’re a girl team, they think it’s okay to change our names and really go after us. We can be super good competitors also! I didn’t think that was very cute.

Chris and Bret were one of the teams to vote for you to get the U-Turn. What were your thoughts on the vote and how it went down?

I was just like, “Oh, shoot.” (Laughs.) We had a pretty good relationship with all the teams before the U-Turn drama. Before that, we were neutral with everybody and getting along with the other teams. Chris and Bret were still really bitter about us pulling in front of them. I’ve never played Survivor, so I don’t know how emotionally these votes are cast. I haven’t watched their season, so I couldn’t tell you how they play the game. But obviously, I don’t think it was a good move. You want to get the biggest threats out. But I’m quite honored we were honored by big guys, that made me think, “You better watch out. We’re coming for you!” (Laughs.)

You mentioned having a good relationship with all the teams, something obvious during your race. As part of that, you made peace offerings for Team Fun and even made a Big Brother. What was your thinking behind that strategy?

Whenever you’re playing in a reality competition show, it’s very smart to be in good graces with all sides. I like getting along with people, and I feel like you can have a friendly competition. You just have to compartmentalize the game from reality. You saw Colin and Christie and Team Fun do that at the mat. They said, “Yeah, we get it. We are a big threat. We’re moving forward and getting over this.” In the beginning, Rachel and I weren’t viewed as a threat because they didn’t know we were there to compete. They thought, “These sisters are going to be easy to beat.” But then we started to get in front of the pack in the beginning. Then they were like, “Oh, never mind. It’s not okay for girls to be competitive.” Then they started to get a bad taste in our mouths towards us. I don’t want to go into shows to make enemies.

It was definitely a strategy; I told Rachel, “We have friends in this.” We had Leo and Jamal; Team Fun seemed cool just watching them. We liked Colin and Christie from what we knew of their season. But when you’re competing, it’s all a fair playing ground if people get upset with you.

What contributed to your decision to U-Turn Team Fun in the second leg?

They were a very strong team that we weren’t close with. We wanted to U-Turn a strong team. Colin and Christie and Nicole and Victor were next to us, and we wanted to work with them. So we weren’t going to U-Turn them, and we weren’t going to U-Turn the Afghanimals. We didn’t see the Survivor teams as a big threat because they didn’t finish well the first leg. That only really left Team Fun. It’s not that we didn’t like them. But we knew Becca and Floyd are both crazy athletic, and if it came down to a footrace, they would beat us.

Corinne and Eliza took out their frustrations on you at the mat in Vietnam. What were you thinking while that was happening?

We didn’t know Corinne or Eliza prior to the race. When you don’t know someone and they talk about you, it’s like being on social media. Who cares? I don’t know you, that’s fine. You’re making judgments about me based on my appearance; that’s not very intelligent. You can’t be mad about it. We didn’t think anything of them because they didn’t say anything to our faces. They weren’t even on our radar. We didn’t know that they didn’t like us. I think that’s just how the race goes. You want to get over things as quickly as possible, and don’t allow outside opinions to affect your progress or your ability to be successful. My headspace was, “Alright, they don’t like us. Not everyone has to like me. Moving on.”

Another pit stop conflict came when you got into an argument with Victor and Nicole over Rachel telling them about the other teams targeting them. What’s your side of things?

I’m so glad Rachel is sparky and feisty. (Laughs.) I’m more of a thinker; I try to pick what my focus is and how to accomplish what I’m going after before deciding how to react. If something’s not going to benefit my long-term goal, then I’m not going to act on my emotions. But Rachel will. She’s a killer force. But she’s never a mean girl. She never personally attacks people. She’ll just say how things are, maybe not in the most tactful way. We were not raised like that and will never be the people taking personal digs. That’s not our personality. Even if Rachel takes a low blow, it would be something that’s not nasty. I am proud to be a sister to a feisty redhead.

Often this season, we would see Rachel start to get negative, only for you to comfort her in “zen Elissa mode.” We even saw that last night when you got eliminated. What was that dynamic like?

I just felt super fortunate to be on the race. It was a dream of mine, so I was looking at the big picture. We were so blessed to be able to be on this show. The crew they had on this team is so awesome. The camera people, the sound people, the people waiting on the mat, our handlers. They are the coolest people to work with. They made it so awesome that I thought, “We have nothing to complain about.” In my opinion, we did great. I couldn’t have done that crossbow any better than Rachel. I’ve never shot one before. However, I had friends over last night who had two crossbows and are going to teach me. I’m like, “If only you had said that a year ago! A day late and a dollar short.” (Laughs.) I was just really grateful.

Rachel was super upset because she had never been eliminated from the race. She was embarrassed because she’s so competitive. She told me going in, “I’m not doing this with you if we’re not going to win.” But we were both there to win, and we thought we could win. We’re both super competitive and intelligent. I’m tactful in relationships; I like being civil with people. I think we had the perfect storm to win. We made it through the U-Turn and got to the Roadblock when there were several other teams there. We were still in it! Rachel was super devastated because these shows mean the world to her. She prides herself off of being the feisty reality female winner. She wants to go hard and compete, and she’s always in it to win it. I’m just the little sister who got brought into all of this. She’s very invested in CBS reality; they feel like her family. She doesn’t want to disappoint her family.

Did you learn anything new about your sister racing with her?

When we were together, we had so much fun. Because both of us have families and we don’t live close to each other, we missed that goofy sister dynamic. We actually had a club named Bungalow 7 after our elimination with the other girl teams. And things went down in the club! I guess that’s what I learned. My sister’s still fun; she’s still got it.