‘The Amazing Race’s’ Amber and Vinny on their televised engagement and Vinny being ‘the villain of the season’
“The Amazing Race” couple Amber Craven and Vinny Cagungun may not have had the smoothest journey to their fourth place finish Wednesday night, but they capped it off in style with a marriage proposal on the mat in front of host Phil Keoghan.
“I was in shock,” Amber says. “I think I blacked out because I don’t really remember what you said. All I remember was you getting on one knee. I was like, ‘What is going on? Y’all are being so weird right now.’ Then you got down on one knee and I was like, ‘Ahh, it makes sense.'”
The couple reveals the entire production team knew Vinny had planned on proposing to Amber at some point on the race. “Right before the mat we had to cross a water channel on the kayak,” Vinny recalls. “Right before that they were like, ‘Vinny we need your backpack.’ I was holding onto this thing for dear life like, ‘No!’ That day I had told myself, ‘I am going to ask her to marry me regardless of what happens today. Because if we make it to the top three I don’t want it to be overshadowed or a part of the top three.”
It was no secret that Amber and Vinny had their fair share of arguments throughout the season and the couple admits it hasn’t all been easy to watch back. “It was hard for me to see constant fighting,” Amber admits. “I felt like it was not like that when we actually raced. I didn’t feel like we were constantly fighting.” Vinny adds, “It was actually such a blessing. We all have struggles. The struggle of love and life together is one of the hardest things to do. Regardless of that, going through that experience, I wouldn’t take it back. It opened up our eyes to a whole different reality that we didn’t see. You’re like, ‘Is that how I sound?’ There’s a whole different level of self-awareness. I am extremely proud of our authenticity. I mean, I didn’t enjoy being the villain of the season, but at the same time it was kind of cool. I’ve never been a villain before!”
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