“ I like to be right and he likes to be right .”
Later in that first episode is where the wheels came off the wagon . Contestants ’ fear of heights was to be tested as one member of the team had to travel , hand over hand monkey-bar style from one end of a sky tram to another - over 500 feet in the air . Brandon didn ’ t complete the challenge on his first attempt . And the team took a risk and decided to move on with the leg and take a penalty .
While the decision looked to be a wise one , Mother Nature rained on their parade . Due to the inclement weather , the sky tram challenge was halted . Several teams who had yet to attempt the challenge were given a penalty calculated on the assumption that they would have succeeded on the first try . ( Of the teams that did attempt , several did not ).
In the end , the efforts and strategy of the Windsorites would not be enough . Despite arriving at the finish line fifth , their four-hour penalty bumped them to the end of the line and decided their elimination - within mere minutes of the other team that took the penalty .
To the boys ’ credit , during their interview with us they didn ’ t give us a glimmer of the outcome . What they did provide was some insight into the run-up to the competition .
For more than six months , the two had to fly under the radar of the typical teen in the 21st century and keep a major secret . No selfies or posts to Twitter to give away what they were up to . And what did the two say or do when they just vanished from social media and didn ’ t show up to work for a month ? With exception of a few people who signed a letter of confidentiality , the two had to figure out a way to keep their adventure a total secret until their reveal as contestants .
“ The secret wasn ’ t hard to keep ,” said Anthony . “ It was more the lying . Keeping track of our lie was difficult because we told everyone that didn ’ t know we were gone to South East Asia . When we came back they were all asking how the trip was , what we did and what we saw .” Laughing , Brandon said it was difficult for Anthony because he would often look to him for help on how to respond .
Anthony said it was helpful to text his teammate every time he told a lie to a coworker so they could keep track of the whole scheme . “ I ’ d add something , and text , ‘ by the way , we did this .’”
“ We couldn ’ t even tell people that we applied for the show back in November ,” added Brandon . “ Everything was totally secret . All the times I ’ ve spent at his house and him at mine , it was all lies since November . But we were always on the same page as to what we were telling other people to stay on track of the lie . The secret wasn ’ t tough cause we knew once it came out it would be unreal .”
Regardless of a first week elimination , Brandon and Anthony have shown amazing class and grace , both on social media and in person , thanking everyone for their continuous support . The two are still best friends and look forward to their next adventure , whatever it may be . They ’ ve also not forgotten about their source of inspiration , Zoey . Tweeting throughout the premiere , the two have reminded all of the Go Fund Me account setup to help raise money for Zoey .
Though their time in the spotlight was short , we can sense that this isn ’ t the last we ’ ll be seeing of Anthony and Brandon . Adventure is out there boys -and you ’ re winners in our books !