'The Amazing Race 36's Amber Craven and Vinny Cagungun Recap Their Pit Stop Proposal

Amber Craven (L) and Vinny Cagungun (R)

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.

Amber Craven and Vinny Cagungun came to The Amazing Race as the ultimate test of their relationship, with a chance at a million dollars to boot. And, in that respect, they got just what they asked for. The nurse anesthetists proved they were not ones to sleep on early, soaring from second-to-last all the way up to second place. But with that came conflict, tension, and plenty of arguments. Vinny's intensity and competitive edge bristled with Amber's anxieties and negative self-talk, leading to agitated energy between the two. But, at the end of the day, their relationship was tapped into the vein of adoration. And nowhere was that more seen than their elimination, which saw Vinny stunning Amber by proposing to her on the mat.

The day after the finale, Amber and Vinny talk with Parade.com about Vinny's proposal came to be, their reaction to their conflict and edit, and what the race has taught them about being a supportive partner.

Related: Everything to Know About The Amazing Race 36

Getting to watch everything back last night must be the definition of mixed emotions. On the one hand, you have to watch yourself just miss out on the final run for a million dollars. On the other hand, you get to watch your engagement from a third-person perspective. What was the experience like?
Amber Craven: So when I actually got proposed to on the race, I'm pretty sure I blacked out. I don't remember what he said. I just remember being super light. So just getting to relive it last night was very surreal. And it was emotional. People got me crying. They would video the screen, and then pan out and video me and I'm just like a mess. [Laughs.]
Vinny Cagungun: Same for me. I could not remember what I said to her that entire time as soon as the cameras were rolling. And I got a really cool story to tell you Mike about what happened behind the scenes. But to be able to see that that day and relive it, it just kind of made this whole all encompassing experience coming together. 

Well I gotta start with what you just teased to me! Tell me the story of how the engagement happened, including the behind-the-scenes elements.
Vinny: Oh, absolutely. It was such a cool, cool, nuanced experience to this. So, if you remember, we got on those kayaks and crossed that water channel. And right before that we get into that kayak, people in the production team are like, "Vince, you gotta give me your backpack. Give us all everything." Because you saw Rod and Leticia flipping over. And I swear, Mike, I was holding onto this backpack like I was not giving it up. I was like, "No, no! You can't have this backpack. There's something special in this backpack. I cannot give you this backpack. I need this backpack because I think Phil is over there. And I need to do something when I get there." Well, they take the backpack from me. And I didn't know what to do. So we cross this channel, and I'm freaking out. I'm getting out of this kayak, and I don't know what to do. And we run to the mat and I just like blurt out to Phil, "I need my backpack!"
Amber: And I'm like, "Why do you need my backpack? Why are you so weird?"
Vinny: He is such a smooth operator. He stopped the whole thing and acted like there was a big production issue.
Amber: "We gotta record again. The mics are messed up from the water."
Vinny: So he did this beautiful thing. And Amber had no clue. He comes up gives her a coconut drink. And he slips me the bag with the ring behind me. And I'm like, "Boom, Mission Impossible: Accomplished." And then when he's like, "Alright, let's do it." We get back to the mat. And then I get the chance to get down on one knee.

So let's rewind back across the water and beyond. What was your fandom level on The Amazing Race coming in? How did you apply, and did you always eye each other as partners?
Amber: So I actually was talking to him about this this morning. It's been almost what three year journey for us. So Joy Gordo, a casting producer, reached out to us on Instagram in December of 2021 saying, "Hey, I think you guys will be a great team on The Amazing Race. We're looking for dynamic teams, up to you. If you're interested, message me and we can start this process." And I thought it was a scam because I'm just kind of pessimistic and I'm just like, "We ain't gettin' on The Amazing Race." And he's like, "No, let's pursue this!"
Vinny: So she goes and deletes the thing because she thinks it's a scam! And I go to work. Between one of my cases, I text Joy back and I hit her up that I was interested. And one thing led to the next; we're doing psych evals and all these applications. And then here we are running the Final Four!
Amber: So we applied for Season 34, and we did the psych eval.
Vinny: We go all the way up to where we are about to meet with the exec producer.
Amber: Then they told us that we weren't the right fit the puzzle this season. "Maybe we'll keep you in mind for future seasons." And so we were really heartbroken. We started training right away. 
Vinny: That day, we went to Barnes and Noble, and we were reading every travel book up and down these aisles. I mean, that's the thing, the pressure of this race just continued to grow. Because literally, this was almost like a three year journey of preparation. So it was all-consuming for that entire time.
Amber: When we go for something, we go hard 100%. And we give it our best. And so it's three years of really hard work and determination and grit. 

So then, at what point in the three-year process does the ring come in? Vinny, I imagine you didn't make a ring out of seaweed in Barbados to propose to Amber.
Vinny: Yeah, it was really, really interesting. Because right when I got on the race, we kind of started the journey, I started talking to my mom about, "Oh, I think that this might be the woman that I want to be with." We're about two years into our relationship. And so we're just getting serious, we got out of school. And so my mom gave me the ring that was passed down to her from my grandma. And she said, "I want you to repurpose this rock." And this was a diamond that was been passed on from generation to generation. And so from that point on, it was just a Mission Impossible to try to share a backpack, do this Amazing Race across the world. And then she has no idea that there's a diamond ring waiting for her in this backpack.
Amber: But did you plan on proposing if we had gotten on Season 34? You already had it in your mind?
Vinny: Oh yeah. So it was it was already set in stone, at least in my heart, that that was what we were going to do. And then in The Amazing Race, I was personally really testing our relationship and pushing it to the limits just for personal reasons. To really know, against all odds, we're gonna we're gonna go the distance on the race and in life.

Well, speaking about pushing those limits, I'd be remiss not to talk about the times we saw you disagree on the race. You've talked about how you're both so independent and Type-A that working together as a team leads to conflict. Give me your perspective on what your dynamic was. Were you surprised with how much conflict there was?
Amber: I don't think the conflict surprise me at all. That is something we have been struggling with our entire relationship, the way we communicate to each other. So I wasn't surprised at how we acted. Am I proud of it? No. Just that amount of stress and us also trying to work together as a team was just, I don't know, it was just not...
Vinny: It was a recipe--
Amber: For disaster! [Laughs.]
Vinny: For us to really see, how are we going to organically navigate this? We talked about it. We said, "Look, we have really one gear, which is full-tilt with whatever we do." And so you put some cameras around that, I'm not sure if America is going to be ready for that authenticity. And we chose to truly want to normalize what a real relationship looks like for people like us. And for anyone who may think it's Disney movies and Hallmark movies and happily ever afters, newsflash! Whenever you get into a deep, deep relationship like us, we live such at high level of collaboration, that it does get difficult and it does get messy.
Amber: Shane literally said last night, had he taken his wife on the show with him, "We would have gotten divorced." And all of our close friends have said that. It's just different with relationships. There's a reason why The Amazing puts people in relationships, partnerships on the rise, together. And it's because there is going to be conflict, and there is going to be situations where you have to work through and persevere. And it's just reality, right? It's reality TV. But do we fight like that in real life? Not to that extent, because we're not like that every day. [Laughs.] So to answer people's questions, no, our home life is very, very different than what we saw.
Vinny: The edits, I do believe, were very sensationalized.

Talk to me about that. I know you said the conflict you had reflects your reality. But how do you feel about your edit this season?
Vinny: For me personally, it did a disservice to who we truly are. We are very intense and passionate individuals for sure. But I believe that Amber was depicted as someone who was like this "I can't do this," very whiny, incapable woman. And the reality of our relationship is that if there's anyone that's incapable, it's me. And she is extremely capable and makes really the majority of our choices from a financial standpoint, from a life standpoint, from a domestic standpoint. She takes charge in so many ways that I don't believe that they did our relationship a true justice of what it is.
Amber: But I mean, they did have a story that they were trying to tell. And I think that for The Amazing Race, they did what they could with the footage, and then they had the proposal. So I think they had us struggling throughout the race, then we persevered, and we got engaged. I think that's the story that they were trying to tell. But our story has a conflict for sure. 

Let's move outside of your team and talk about the other teams. Amber, during the Megaleg, we saw you stop after the first Roadblock to help Angie, refusing to leave until she was done. Talk to me about your thoughts on the alliance, and your decision to stay behind.
Amber: I'm very empathetic. I do things with my heart. And Angie was kind of like this mother figure. Her and Danny's relationship really just touched me the whole race. Just seeing them at the Pit Stop that very second leg with Phil, and then having seen Danny cry, knowing this was such a special thing for them to do together. I was like, "I want Angie to be able to experience as many countries and legs with her son." That's kind of where my heart was. From a strategic standpoint, Danny is one of the most intelligent people I know. He's very good at navigation. And I felt like they were a strong team. So I think there was there was a combination of both.
Vinny: It was an alliance of the underdogs. Like if you saw us, we were really struggling to keep up, and you know that Danny and Angie are the same. People called them weak, but they're actually a really strong team. People would say things about us. But again, we made it to the Final Four. And so we really showed our skills in different ways. And that aligned throughout the race every time, and we showed up in a very loyal way.
Amber: They were loyal to us, too. And we didn't feel that way about any other team.

Finally, it's an understatement to say you two learned a lot about each other on the race. But what's the biggest thing you learned about the other person racing around the world together?
Amber: Like I said, we're both very strong individuals. And I have a hard time letting go of control. I'm kind of a control freak. And for me, it's just letting Vincent take control in situations that I know that he is strong in. One of those things was the navigation, just taking the lead and just letting him excel in that role. And it was really cool to just see that on TV and be like, "I need to let go a little more."
Vinny: So for me personally, I realized that I don't really listen that well. And so watching the TV show, she was talking me through a lot of things. But because I'm so tunnel-visioned, and this chip mind of mine will kind of be just overtaking my mental capacity, I'm not really listening. I can hear what she's saying, but I'm not listening. And so I had this little journal entry, where I was just writing about, "Why are you not listening? What are the things that would help you to be able to trigger you to tap back in and really, really dial our relationship back in?" Because it's almost as if she's speaking on a different frequency for me. And so then, once through that race, I started realizing, "Hey, you need to calm your mind, be able to listen to your partner, and actually work as a unit." And so for me, I think that was the biggest thing. After the race, I started to really slow down, close my mouth so much more, open my ears, and just really dial into our relationship so that we could hear each other. And I think that's where the basis of our problems were

Next, check out our interview with The Amazing Race 36 runners-up Juan Villa and Shane Bilek.