S26: Blair & Hayley

[Lingo]

I don't know -- can you hold 55 pounds like that, squeezing them against your chest with cramped hands?  In the online clips Phil says each stein with beer is like 5 pounds, and even the Olympians said their muscles ached afterwards.  Apparently they went wakeboarding the day before in Thailand, and they said they wouldn't have been able to carry them if it were one day previous.  I think it was smart of Blair and Hayley to switch detours.

 

With that said, she is one bitter pill and I really want them eliminated immediately.

[scrb]

Wicked witch of the west indeed.

She should have done the serenade task because she deserves to get doused with the water.

[truthaboutluv]

I rarely do this because I usually don't care about these people beyond the season. However I was really curious if Hayley was saying anything on social media about how she's being presented and I found her on Twitter where lo and behold she's blaming editing for her portrayal. She did this while getting into it with someone. As the poster pointed out to her, she had to give the producers something to work with since they didn't manufacture the scenes.

Edited April 4, 2015 by truthaboutluv

[peachmangosteen]

I have been solidly Team Hayley and have been a big Blair hater but I gotta jump ship after that ep. Wow, that was tough to watch. Poor Blair. That man has the patience of a saint.

 

There's an extra clip with them and Hayley is just awful in it. How Blair manages to just laugh it off and still try to work with her, I have no idea. 

 

Also, I will admit that part of my turnaround is because Blair looked fine in this ep.

Edited April 4, 2015 by peachmangosteen

[fishcakes]

I was really curious if Hayley was saying anything on social media about how she's being presented and I found her on Twitter where lo and behold she's blaming editing for her portrayal. She did this while getting into it with someone. As the poster pointed out to her, she had to give the producers something to work with since they didn't manufacture the scenes.

 

Her tweets are really something. It looks like she's seeking out people who say something negative about her, even if they're not using her twitter handle (and therefore not showing up in her notifications), so she can argue with them. She calls people pathetic, implies that they're jealous, and then pulls out that most ripping of burns for 14-year-olds everywhere by telling them to get a life. Then there's this:

 

Edited April 4, 2015 by fishcakes

[jumper sage]

I hope she knows that tweets like that get people fired.  After seeing her tweets I have to be #teamBlair.

 

Felt bad for the one guy whose team had to drop out.  I kind of see the reason why the other guy has never been in a relationship.

[hendersonrocks]

That's an interesting feed to read. (Hey, that rhymes!) She's got an "I love you" to Blair on top of the editing blame game. In a world in which I made all the rules, reality TV contracts would include some terrible consequences for blaming the editors.

 

https://twitter.com/HayleyAnnRN/status/584166444189016064

 

(ETA: How did you embed that tweet, fishcakes?)

Edited April 4, 2015 by hendersonrocks

[AndreaK1041]

That's really unfortunate.  I can be pretty mouthy, and sometimes I would watch her and think how embarrassed she is going to be having to watch herself act like that on TV.  I know it would be a really uncomfortable mirror for me.  Lucky for her, she is awful and has learned nothing!  I think she is so over the top that Blair has just taken to laughing to himself about her. He may not be perfect, but he is handling this situation really well.

[fishcakes]

(ETA: How did you embed that tweet, fishcakes?)

 

I just took a screencap and embedded it as an image.

 

In a world in which I made all the rules, reality TV contracts would include some terrible consequences for blaming the editors.

 

Ha. Yes. I think every time a contestant blames an editor, the editor should get to go that person's house and tase them.

Edited April 4, 2015 by fishcakes

[Vicky8675309]

Blair completed the singing task on the first attempt. However, while Blair was doing the task she seemed to be bursting to tell him how he was doing it wrong and how to do it correctly. Then she threw some shade by claiming he was lucky. Hayley has surpassed Rachel in the annoying category.

[scrb]

People were talking about how Kurt wasn't into the race because he comes from a wealthy background.

 

But presumably you could say the same about Blair who must make good money or has very good career earning potential.  He said he promised himself that he'd see the race through but why put up with Hayley or any unpleasant task that he may encounter?

 

He's got to realize that besides the unpleasantness, they are not likely to win.

 

For that matter, Hayley must make good money in her profession but she seems to be more of a fan, who plotted her ways onto the show (if it's true she got breast augmentation to get on the show).

 

Surprised that she ever got any sympathy from the viewers.  The first recollection was howling about how doctors don't respect nurses but the way she said it and then told off Blair grated from the beginning.

[Bella]

I don't like to factor in a racer's personal wealth or lack thereof. I want to have good racers win. And I think wealthy people are just as capable of being fans of the show and being good, persistent racers as are people who don't have a lot of financial resources.

 

Blair could have intense debt from school, he could have tons of money piled up, or something in between. Same with Hayley. I think we've seen both of them at their worst, him more at the beginning and her more as the race continues. He's getting lots of sympathy now - including from me - because she's turned shrill and strident. But he was difficult in the early episodes. 

[ByaNose]

Haley was sure browbeating Blair last night. What a pill she is, isn't she? It was funny to see the other teams reacting to her at the car challenge. That's not editing. Even, they saw what biotch she was (or is) being.

[peachmangosteen]

It was funny to see the other teams reacting to her at the car challenge.

 

 

Did they show anyone besides Laura/Tyler reacting to them?

 

Kurt seems to really like Hayley, but I'm not sure if that says anything good. About either of them!

[ByaNose]

Weren't Kurt & Bergen watching them during their penality? Although, they may have been there before or after. Either way, she is such a whiner.

[kaygeeret]

 

Blair could have intense debt from school, he could have tons of money piled up, or something in between. Same with Hayley. I think we've seen both of them at their worst, him more at the beginning and her more as the race continues

 

I could use some help here.  I was on Team Blair in the first episode.  What did he do to come across as snippy - or condescending or whatever it is that had people disliking him.

 

Even tho' I AGREE with Haley that MDs often (not always) discount RNs, that happens more on the floor.  In the specialties,  e.g. ER, OR, PICU, etc.  RNs get a huge measure of respect.  They are fully functioning members of a team and they are respected.

 

My impression is that Haley presented herself as a ER nurse and I had my first disconnect.  I know a few ER nurses and they have no personality traits remotely similar to Haley's - -she wouldn't last a minute with them.  Yes, I know a small sample does not a generalization make - my bad!

 

Off the track, sorry.

 

WHAT did Blair do specifically in the beginning that had so many hating him and on Haley's side?

 

I remember him being blindsided by her incessant babbling from the get go and choosing to go silent until he could get a handle on it.  I had a similar experience - road trip with an acquaintance who was a mutual friend of a close friend of mine - it did not go well.  But I did the same thing, when the babbling began and continued and could not be shut down even for navigation, I went silent.  Admittedly I did not do any asides to others (there were no others) nor did I raise my eyebrows at the cameras (there were no cameras).  I get his entire silent thing.  Whenever he makes attempts to participate and suggest he is cut off - and has been from epi one.

 

Help me with examples where he is condescending.  Perhaps my previous experience is coloring my view.

Edited April 5, 2015 by kaygeeret

[muffkins]

I was wondering the same thing, kaygeeret.  He hasn't been overly enthusiastic with her, but I haven't seen him be completely dismissive of her either.  The food/zipline thing, sure, he did it his way and it cost them, but she also never actually insisted that he stop and listen to her.  She just did the passive aggressive nattering while he was walking up the hill.  By that point, I also had stopped listening to her.

[Rancide]

I'm not invested enough to go back and rewatch and find specific examples, but my impression in the first couple of episodes is that she was being friendly if a bit of a blabbermouth, and he was visibly rolling his eyes and not responding to her attempts at engaging him.

 

There could be any number of reasons for his behavior that wouldn't make him a bad person.  For example, he could be an introvert who was overwhelmed by the situation.  He could be someone who gets distracted easily and therefore doesn't like to talk while driving.  But having a reason doesn't make his behavior less rude-seeming or do anything to lessen the appearance he was giving of having written her off as an annoying airhead before he even really knew her.

 

Having a reason for giving a bad impression doesn't make it not a bad impression.  I'm an introvert, and one of the things I've had to come to terms with as an adult is that some not-insignificant portion of the world is going to think I'm not a nice person until they get to know me.  That's life.  Like how people with resting bitch face have to cope with having strangers think they're annoyed all the time.  Blair made, to me, a poor first impression by appearing to zone out when his partner he'd just met appeared to be trying to be friendly.

[beedee]

Posting one part of my gossip...got this from a current cast member who is still racing...

On a juicier note, apparently Hayley tried to sleep with Blair on their first pit stop but was rejected. This is the reason why she went from annoying to vicious. Nothing worse that a woman scorned. None of the other cast members can stand her and she is exactly as she is in real life as she is on the show.

And, yes, most of the blind dating singles submitted audition tapes with a different partner but for some reason they only chose one of the two because of a variety of reasons like: (1) the other potential team member wasn't attractive enough (2) the other potential team member is married.

I posted a few more tidbits about the other teams in the spoiler section since I wasn't sure where to post them.

Edited April 5, 2015 by beedee

[Donny Ketchum]

On a juicier note, apparently Hayley tried to sleep with Blair on their first pit stop but was rejected. This is the reason why she went from annoying to vicious. Nothing worse that a woman scorned. None of the other cast members can stand her and she is exactly as she is in real life as she is on the show.

This . . . explains so much. . . .

[interesting]

This . . . explains so much. . . .

Indeed..... =/

 

Oh I found a few tidbits about them too, Hayley auditioned with an ex-boyfriend, while Blair auditioned with his Dad (two years ago!!), so I wonder how they did end up with each other. 

 

Again, Hayley, 5 Gs girl 5 Gs!  Good God Get a Grip Girl!!

 

Did they show anyone besides Laura/Tyler reacting to them?

Not this episode, but the episode with the tree thing and while she was going on and on, Jelani (who stood in front of them preparing to go) gave the camera a very uncomfortable suggestive look.

 

Tyler was hilarious!!! So quotable:

 

Towards Hayley:  "I would rather be standing here all day than be with her", "Here comes the Wicked Witch of the West"

[Rancide]

Man, I really hope that rumor isn't true.  For one thing, Blair had a "WTF did I just get myself into" look on his face before they'd even left the US.  Unless there were warmer gestures not shown to us, it would take an exceptional amount of cluelessness to throw yourself at someone that obviously not interested.  For another thing, wasn't the first pit stop in the internet cafe where the couples slept in semi-public cubicles?  Ick.

 

I'm going to tell myself this one is just malicious gossip.  If it really did happen, one would hope Hayley would have enough pride not to tell the others and that Blair would be gentleman enough not to, so it's unclear how others would have found out about it.

 

[Electruck]

I would have quickly become exhausted by Hayley's seemingly non-stop talking, and would have to stop listening to get anything done. I can't imagine trying to drive in an unfamiliar location, even in the US, with someone whose job it'd be to provide navigation while driving, but talks so much beyond navigation.

I could not be as stoic as Blair. I'd have been begging her to be quiet and let me think, and snapping. I think much of the "boring" vibe comes from his self-control in not reacting to her. If he were with a friend or someone whose personality meshed better, I'm sure we'd be seeing a more lively side of him. If it's true he first applied with a real partner and he got invited to this, they must have seen some spark from him to keep him in mind.

[peachmangosteen]

Man, I really hope that rumor isn't true.  For one thing, Blair had a "WTF did I just get myself into" look on his face before they'd even left the US.  Unless there were warmer gestures not shown to us, it would take an exceptional amount of cluelessness to throw yourself at someone that obviously not interested.  For another thing, wasn't the first pit stop in the internet cafe where the couples slept in semi-public cubicles?  Ick.

 

Yea, for these reasons, I don't really buy that gossip. And honestly, IMO, Hayley didn't really get so aggressively horrible until this ep. Maybe I would believe she tried with him after the forth pit stop, but not the first.

 

But I do love good gossip! beedee, could you PM the other info you have or directly link me to the post you made? I don't want to go into the spoiler thread.

Edited April 5, 2015 by peachmangosteen

[fishcakes]

I normally would discount gossip like that, especially considering the pitstop was at the internet cafe, but in this case I can see it being true based on Hayley having the maturity of a teenager and also being poo-flinging crazy.

 

And this bonus clip! Good grief. When she was berating him on the sidewalk, he should have gotten in the car and driven away, tossing items from her backpack out the window while doing so.

Edited April 5, 2015 by fishcakes

[Electruck]

And this bonus clip! Good grief. When she was berating him on the sidewalk, he should have gotten in the car and driven away, tossing items from her backpack out the window while doing so.

OMG. If only she would follow through on "I'm not going to say another word."

[scrb]

Yeah the bonus clip shows him asking what good does yelling at him do but she won't stop.

[HaymakerHattie]

Well, I'm not soliciting dirt from current racers, so I can't corroborate anything that's been reported, but at least the part about not everyone being able to stand Hayley after the Race is demonstrably untrue if you check out any of their social media. She and Jeff hosted a viewing party this week (they live fairly close to one another) and she seems to be in regular contact with many of her castmates. I have no doubt that she can be irritating, but I also know that the editors don't do anybody any favors. 

[gator12]

Bonus clip: Why couldn't Hayley navigated while she was in the car? Why is she mad? How is it his fault that they got lost when she does nothing but yell pay attention? Pay attention to what exactly when one is in a new city and has no clue what east or west?

[DB in CMH]

OMG. If only she would follow through on "I'm not going to say another word."

Holy fuuuuk. Wow. I would have driven off.

[backformore]

It seems she was telling him to pay attention to the signs, and he was calmly trying to explain that without DIRECTIONS, reading the signs doesn't get them anywhere.

The fact that she says they wouldn't be lost if SHE were driving, but she doesn't agree to drive, makes her a bitch.

She doesn't want to drive, doesn't want to give directions, but HE'S the asshole?

[etagloh]

Bonus clips are selective in their own way, but they also point to some of what's being left out of the episode, and there's something... abusive about the exchange in that clip. That's just three minutes of two people who can't stand each other, can't communicate with each other, don't want to be in the same timezone as one another, and particularly in Hayley's case, don't mind being filmed showing it.

[biakbiak]

I wouldn't say they can't communicate with each other I would say she refuses to communicate with him. He is being calm and rational asking her what she wants, tells her what he needs from her(navigation) and she responds by berating him and not offering up a solution.

[beedee]

Well, I'm not soliciting dirt from current racers, so I can't corroborate anything that's been reported, but at least the part about not everyone being able to stand Hayley after the Race is demonstrably untrue if you check out any of their social media. She and Jeff hosted a viewing party this week (they live fairly close to one another) and she seems to be in regular contact with many of her castmates. I have no doubt that she can be irritating, but I also know that the editors don't do anybody any favors.

The racer I know (who relayed the info to me personally) is friends with Hayley on social media and they all keep commenting and liking each other's post; however, my friend can't stand Hayley. Just because they are on good terms on social media, it doesn't mean they like the person. Hypocrisy is ripe in the world...especially in the reality show world.

[Aubreychase]

I think it's funny that in the bios they do not mention that she is divorced. It says "long term relationship." She even kept her married name. If you google it you can see that she transferred the house over before TAR aired. Seems shady. I hope they give Blair something for participating.

[gator12]

Does it say when she got married and divorce? 

[Aubreychase]

https://www.toledolegalnews.com/realestate/details/id/210744

[peachmangosteen]

Well, I'm not soliciting dirt from current racers, so I can't corroborate anything that's been reported, but at least the part about not everyone being able to stand Hayley after the Race is demonstrably untrue if you check out any of their social media. She and Jeff hosted a viewing party this week (they live fairly close to one another) and she seems to be in regular contact with many of her castmates. I have no doubt that she can be irritating, but I also know that the editors don't do anybody any favors. 

 

Yea. This. That's part of why I don't really buy that rumor.

 

I hope they give Blair something for participating.

 

Isn't Blair also someone who wanted to be on with someone else but they didn't like the partner so paired him with a blind date? If so, he could have either not been on the show or been on with Hayley. I probably would have personally just picked not being on, but he did get something out of it.

[etagloh]

 

I wouldn't say they can't communicate with each other I would say she refuses to communicate with him. He is being calm and rational asking her what she wants, tells her what he needs from her(navigation) and she responds by berating him and not offering up a solution.

 

I don't think we're really disagreeing here, but I do think he's aware that 'calm and rational' winds her up. There's not much to be done about that. The extent to which Hayley is (perhaps subconsciously) setting the team up for failure and then very loudly placing the blame on Blair, though, is something to behold.

[Jersey Guy 87]

I'm not invested enough to go back and rewatch and find specific examples, but my impression in the first couple of episodes is that she was being friendly if a bit of a blabbermouth, and he was visibly rolling his eyes and not responding to her attempts at engaging him.

 

There could be any number of reasons for his behavior that wouldn't make him a bad person.  For example, he could be an introvert who was overwhelmed by the situation.  He could be someone who gets distracted easily and therefore doesn't like to talk while driving.  But having a reason doesn't make his behavior less rude-seeming or do anything to lessen the appearance he was giving of having written her off as an annoying airhead before he even really knew her.

 

Having a reason for giving a bad impression doesn't make it not a bad impression.  I'm an introvert, and one of the things I've had to come to terms with as an adult is that some not-insignificant portion of the world is going to think I'm not a nice person until they get to know me.  That's life.  Like how people with resting bitch face have to cope with having strangers think they're annoyed all the time.  Blair made, to me, a poor first impression by appearing to zone out when his partner he'd just met appeared to be trying to be friendly.

 

I had the same initial impression of the Blair/Hayley dynamic - he seemed dismissive of her from the start as not meeting some standard he had set for a potential romantic partner and she tried way too hard to engage him.  Early on he ignored her suggestions a couple of times, costing them time in the race.  At some point Hayley realized that Blair wasn't at all interested in her both romantically and as a race partner and she shifted into complete nag mode.

 

Neither of them, IMO, have handled the situation well.  Blair never seemed to make an attempt at an actual partnership from the get-go and Hayley has decided to just berate Blair going forward.  That they've made it this far while being completely dysfunctional as a team is actually some kind of amazing since there's close to zero cooperation between the two.  For a while they were somewhat amusing in a trainwreck sort of way, now they're just annoying and I'd love to see them go home.

[Special K]

The difference is that Blair's behavior is at least (as we've been shown it) within the realm of adult, professional, socially acceptable behavior.  He may not be your cup of tea, but you can imagine him functioning in normal, adult society.

 

Hayley's behavior is not even close to how an adult should behave in public. I'm shocked that she can hold a job at all at all, let alone one in a high-pressure environment.  She seems like the very last person you'd want in any kind of crisis or urgent situation.  God forbid she should ever have children.  Can you imagine?

 

I could not even watch that bonus clip because her voice made my ears want to explode. 

 

ETA:  I did watch long enough to hear her declare herself "very sweet" and a nice person.  (!!!)

Edited April 6, 2015 by Special K

[Ottis]

There's an extra clip with them and Hayley is just awful in it. How Blair manages to just laugh it off and still try to work with her, I have no idea.

 

 

At some point when someone reaches the heights that Hayley has, you have no choice but to laugh it off. Not having a shot at $1 million would hurt. But in every other strategic and personal wellbeing sense, laughing is his best option.

Edited April 6, 2015 by Ottis

[Special K]

The thing that's amazing about these two is how well they're doing. Which is to say how well he is doing.  I mean in the last episode, did she contribute anything at all to get them to the end of the leg?  It seemed like he did all the work and she just nagged and criticized him (and I have to say, seeing her nagging while wearing that dirndl and cardigan was a great visual).

 

I dislike her intensely, but she really lost me when, after Blair had to stand on a ladder and serenade her with a freaking love song, and after he did so without penalty on the first try (the only person who did that, right?) her reply was, "well you got lucky."   That is like abusive.  I keep thinking what people would think if she were a man and he were a woman.

 

Also:  his performance in spite of her makes you wonder how he would have done with a partner of his choosing -- which I guess was his father on his initial application.

Edited April 6, 2015 by Special K

[LizBug]

What if ... Hayley and Blair are faking all the animosity?  When they realized they weren't a love connection, they could have come up with the shrew and the long-suffering dude.  This would give them more screen time, maybe make other teams steer clear of them and perhaps not target them with the U-turn.  And they've been doing pretty well, overall, in the race.

[kili]

The thing that's amazing about these two is how well they're doing. Which is to say how well he is doing.  I mean in the last episode, did she contribute anything at all to get them to the end of the leg?

 

Let us compare contributions for this episode:

 

- Blair wore the male German outfit

- Blair carried both their bags up the tower

- Blair drove and navigated (Haley flatly refused to do that in the BTS and screamed him for not doing it himself)

- Blair correctly pronounced the name at the Winter Wonderland

- Blair successfully delivered 14 mugs of beer

- Blair successfully stacked 15 crates

- Blair sang a German love song on his first attempt

[speculating, but I'm sure I'm Correct] - Blair rowed the boat to the clue

 

- Hayley wore the female German outfit

 

[being Charitable] Blair could not have finished the leg without Hayley [since I'm guessing it was against the rules for him to wear both outfits nor is he allowed to check in without his partner]

Edited April 6, 2015 by kili

[Rancide]

It occurs to me that one of Blair's worst habits is not looking at Hayley when she's speaking to him.  This isn't just when she's ranting--he's been doing it since they met.  If they're sitting or standing next to each other, she's looking at him intently, and he's staring straight ahead.  If they're facing each other, he's tall enough that he can, and does, just look over head.

 

This is not entirely polite behavior and contributes to his appearance of not listening, particularly when he both doesn't look at her AND doesn't respond to what she's saying.  Unless he's driving or reading a clue or something that requires all his visual attention, there's really no reason not to at least look at her when she speaks.

[Electruck]

It occurs to me that one of Blair's worst habits is not looking at Hayley when she's speaking to him. This isn't just when she's ranting--he's been doing it since they met. ...

This is not entirely polite behavior and contributes to his appearance of not listening, particularly when he both doesn't look at her AND doesn't respond to what she's saying. Unless he's driving or reading a clue or something that requires all his visual attention, there's really no reason not to at least look at her when she speaks.

I have a terrible poker face. If I'm as upset as I'd be when faced with someone like Hayley, it'd be very difficult for me to look at her and not show what I'm trying desperately to hold in, so I'd be looking everywhere but at her most of the time.

Then again, I doubt I'd be holding it in after this amount of time.

[Camera One]

She was so annoying in the bonus clip at the side of the road, when she was reprimanding him for not being careful looking at the signs (when she's supposed to be the navigator).  But I thought he was a bit whiny at the bonus scene Mat Chat about how Hayley reminded him every time there was a red light, a speed limit sign, etc.  

 

Overall though, I find Blair kind of funny with his put-upon look.  Good point about him not really looking at her.  I seriously thought their relationship was getting better when they were "joking" about how they hated each other at times but then the arguments continued after.

Edited April 7, 2015 by Camera One

[Camera One]

Despite the mismatch, both of these people did apply specifically for the race, with other people, so at least they actually wanted to Race.

 

 

 

Hayley’s Road to the Race:
She applied and is not a recruit. Hayley drove 16 hours to a community college in Biloxi, Mississippi for an open casting call. She applied with a male friend and get parsed out to be a single. The “left-behind” guy has no idea that she ever moved on in the casting process.

Blair’s Road to the Race:
He applied in 2012 with his dad. “My video was somehow found for this upcoming season.”

 

Source: http://www.thewrap.com/sizing-up-the-new-amazing-race-cast-nkotb-olympians-and-10-blind-daters/

Edited April 7, 2015 by Camera One

[truthaboutluv]

It occurs to me that one of Blair's worst habits is not looking at Hayley when she's speaking to him.  This isn't just when she's ranting--he's been doing it since they met.  If they're sitting or standing next to each other, she's looking at him intently, and he's staring straight ahead.  If they're facing each other, he's tall enough that he can, and does, just look over head.

 

 

In fairness, this may be one of those things a person gets judged for that just might be who they are and is not meant to be dismissive or rude. Perfect example, I don't like looking people in the eye. Again, it's partly because I'm such an introvert, so I'm uncomfortable staring someone dead in the eyes and someone staring at me intensely like Hayley and her batshit crazy does, actually freaks me out.

 

 And again, I don't do it to be dismissive, I don't do it because I think someone is beneath me or to be condescending, it's just uncomfortable for me and it's entirely possible that's Blair. Because I've watched the clips and he has looked at her directly a number of times when speaking to her or listening to her. He just doesn't do it often and isn't on the completely opposite end as her who stares like she's trying to shoot daggers into his soul.

 

Despite the mismatch, both of these people did apply specifically for the race, with other people, so at least they actually wanted to Race.

 

 

And that's probably why they're still succeeding where a team like Kurt and Bergen failed because as bad as it is and even with Blair's wanting to run away, they both truly want to win the race and are committed and invested in at least that aspect.

Edited April 7, 2015 by truthaboutluv