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.

Leo Temory and Jamal Zadran–alias “The Afghanimals”–were riding high as they approached the Guardian Building in Detroit. After a season of ups and downs, the excitable cousins had gained some momentum and stood a good chance of taking home the million dollar prize their third time around. Unfortunately, like many points this season, minor mistakes ended up squandering their lead. A misunderstanding at the Roadblock left Leo stuck at a vault door, making the Afghanimals a lock for third place.

Leo and Jamal were the only pair who raced twice together before, and their experience informed their prowess with two first-place finishes right off the bat. Along the way, they redeemed themselves on their previous Japanese elimination, made some new enemies, and talked a vulnerable Team Fun into doing their dirty work on the U-Turn. Their momentum soon slowed, though, until it lumbered like an obstinate elephant. As soon as they touched down in Vietnam, the Afghanimals began a race of mistakes. Every time they would get ahead, they’d make a choice that would send them to the back of the pack when it came to checking in. Their follies ranged from bad Detour decisions to misinterpreting tasks, coupled with the bickering that would derail the cousin’s performance even further.

Despite their foibles, like a cat with nine lives, the Afghanimals were able to play to the primary strategy of The Amazing Race: Survive. Every time they stumbled, they still recovered and outpaced their competitors to avoid last. They even dodged the U-Turn after being on the receiving end three times previously, using the opportunity to take a shot at Big Brother team Nicole Franzel and Victor Arroyo. They finished their international traveling on the same note that they started, facing the same country and leg that eliminated them their second season. But much like the British forces in World War II, they never surrendered, pulling ahead and never looking back to claim first place. Unfortunately, they stalled in the Motor City the next leg, as Leo stumbled at a complicated combination lock. The guys watched the others pass them by but finished with their heads held high, now holding the record for legs run across seasons.

After the race, Leo and Jamal speak with Parade about the highs and lows of their race, the strategy behind U-Turning Nicole and Victor, and why they consider themselves “kings of The Amazing Race.”

How did you guys react when you found out you would be racing for the third time?

Leo Temory: Definitely surreal. I didn’t even think it was possible. But when you get the call to come out a third time, you don’t think about it. The timing was right in our lives, so we were down to go around the world again. The experience in itself is just remarkable.

Jamal, your life changed significantly since your second season with the birth of your daughter. Did that change the way you viewed racing the third time around?

Jamal Zadran: Racing for the third time can sometimes play a trick on you because you’re over-analyzing what producers are thinking with tasks. For us, it was about keeping it simple. They’re not going to make it like it’s brain surgery. Figure it out; the clues are right there in front of you. But having a daughter this time around gave me extra motivation and made me look even more towards completing the race. I wanted to give it a good run so that when she grows up and gets to see this, she gets to realize, “My dad’s one heck of a competitor.”

Leo, I’m assuming you had the same feelings about your beloved Pablo the cat.

Leo: (Laughs.) A little similar, but not quite. Unfortunately, Pablo and I communicate on a different level. I think Pablo’s very proud.

Let’s get into the final leg. Leo, what was going through your head as you kept trying to open that door during the final Roadblock?

Leo: Going into the last leg, a lot of teams and we thought there was going to be a memory challenge. Jamal was going over details on the airplane and at the hotel and was getting questions right. So when we saw it was a Roadblock around going down a building, I did it. Opening the safe wasn’t even a big part of the challenge. But for some reason, God had other plans. I was completely stumped. I didn’t keep it simple and started overthinking it. It wasn’t going my way that day. The previous day, it definitely went our way. It was hard, especially when Colin and Tyler passed us. It’s hard to play catch-up on the last leg. In other legs, you have time to catch up, like in Croatia and the Netherlands. But on the final leg, it’s a lot harder because the challenges are much more about “finish and go.” It wasn’t in my cards that day.

When you finished the Roadblock, it was clear you were pretty far behind. Was there any hope you would be able to catch up, or were you resigned to finish with your heads held high?

Jamal: The attitude was to finish strong. The only hope we would have had was if maybe there was a final challenge that’s going to take 2-3 hours like [LINK] the season before. Then I can go in and crush it. When we went through each

task, we kept asking, “Okay, where’s the bigger challenge?” It seemed like building that drum kit would have been it. But we did it pretty fast because we saw three samples already made by then. It was tough to finish strong because you’re so far behind. At that point, it was just us racing against ourselves.

You got to redeem yourselves by finishing first in the two locations where you were eliminated previously. What was that feeling like?

Leo: I don’t think the feeling gets any better than that. It’s indescribable, blissful in a way. These countries took us out of the race. We compare it to winning a war, and getting a second chance at war doesn’t always happen. Being able to go to the same places and get first place was great. Especially because throughout the middle of the season, we kept messing up and not finishing in our best positions.

On that note, was there any particular pattern you guys kept falling into that made you struggle so much in the middle of the season?

Jamal: It was actually a blessing in disguise. You don’t want a big target on your back in the middle of the race because we knew multiple U-Turns would come. For us to survive three U-Turns in one season without even being U-Turned is unheard of. It actually played an advantage because we didn’t want to show teams that we were getting first in every leg. At the same time, we knew we had a cushion with teams behind us. We could definitely beat them and have a little buffer. But once it got to the end of the race, we didn’t have any weak teams. We had to make sure we performed at a high level. We were hoping to win the first two legs and the last two legs. It, unfortunately, didn’t finish that way, but that would have been a nice caption to the season.

Speaking of the U-Turn, you decided to target Nicole and Victor in Amsterdam, citing their vote against you at the U-Turn. Can you elaborate on what your thinking was there?

Leo: The U-Turn is there to help. It’s a lifeboat, an insurance policy. There were five teams left, and we had a driving task ahead of us. What if we had a flat tire? Why not take an insurance policy out? If you have any regards for prolonging your race and they put this there for you, it’s like a prize to take advantage of. Two teams were behind us in Nicole and Victor and Team Fun. Previously, Nicole and Victor promised they would never U-Turn us, then they voted for us. That was the only difference between us U-Turning them over Team Fun. It was simply strategic on our part to help us in the race if something were to happen. It was nothing against them as racers and people, but more so about keeping us in the race.

We saw Tyler and Korey and Colin and Christie talking about wanting an all-Amazing Race Final 3. Did you guys have that same mentality?

Jamal: No, we didn’t feel like that. We didn’t even know that was being said. We just wanted to race for ourselves and get to the Final 3. We couldn’t care less who’s there with us. We weren’t teaming up with others or trying to help each other. You can see in the Roadblocks of the past couple of legs; we did them by ourselves. We weren’t asking for help or going to other people for answers. That’s how we are.

Leo: It’s kind of ridiculous. Everyone looked at us as being sneaky. But you can see Tyler and Korey, Colin and Christie, and Nicole and Victor playing together quite a bit. Then towards the end, it fell apart. That’s worse than being close with everyone and just running your own race from the beginning. At the airports, we’re all friends. On the race, we’re on our own. A lot of time, these teams would help each other but then be like, “No, get away from me.” We would never do that.

A lot of Amazing Race alums season felt this was the most difficult race they’ve run. Do you agree with that, considering all the legs you’ve done?

Jamal: You can only air so much in 42 minutes of an episode. There was a lot more endurance and running just to grab a clue, which exhausted us. Compared to the first two seasons, the challenges were more thought out, and there was a lot more memorization.

Leo: After 31 seasons, the show learns and adapts. They make crazier and harder challenges.

You guys finished the race by declaring yourselves “Amazing Race kings” and setting several records. How does it feel to now be in the history books?

Jamal: We were teenagers when The Amazing Race first started. We told ourselves from that age, “One day, we’re going to be on that show and be great at it.” We didn’t know we were going to be on three times and hold records in most legs, countries, Roadblocks, etc. To think about all the past teams and individuals who raced and then say, “Leo and Jamal were the only ones who stayed consistent throughout three times” is fantastic. A few teams came back for the third time and not have that luck or charm and get eliminated early. To hold that record is an honor. I feel like The Amazing Race is one of the best reality shows out there, and people who have raced know it’s not easy.

Leo: We are in the record books. I did it with someone who I admire and wouldn’t have done it with anyone else. We wouldn’t have had the same outcome with different partners. We’re officially the kings of Amazing Race. When you think about Amazing Race, you’re going to think about Leo and Jamal now. Winning the race would have been thrilling. But we have solidified ourselves around the world as the best of the best. That’s why it’s priceless. Had we won the first time, we wouldn’t have been back three times. The experience is uncanny; it’s unbelievable. That’s worth more to me than the million bucks.