Scott and Lori Thompson were prepared for a few groans.
As longtime fans of reality TV competition shows, they knew Latter-day Saints are rarely seen as fun or interesting additions to a cast.
So when they made the cut for Season 37 of “The Amazing Race,” the couple from Millcreek, Utah, set out to do more than win. They wanted to challenge stereotypes about their religion — and make some new friends.
“We wanted to show everybody that we can be understanding and we can be open and have fun and be kind and loving to people from all walks of life,” said Lori Thompson, 50.
For the past five weeks, “Amazing Race” viewers have watched the Thompsons pursue that mission — and $1 million in prize money — as they traveled from Los Angeles to Hong Kong to Japan to Indonesia in bright pink shirts that read “Salt Lake.”
They’ve been shown talking about meeting at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah, and raising eight sons, who range in age from 10 to 25.
They’ve been shown cheering on their fellow racers and each other and seeming to have a lot of fun.
And they’ve been shown squaring off against a sumo wrestler, folding a giant paper crane and doing several other unique tasks as part of the show’s many challenges.
Although Lori and Scott Thompson, 48, saw their adventure cut short during last Wednesday’s episode, they said they returned home grateful for the experience and feeling like they’d accomplished their faith-related goals.
On Thursday, the Thompsons spoke with the Deseret News about how they made it onto “The Amazing Race,” their favorite moments from filming and what it’s been like to watch the season with their sons.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Deseret News: Why did you apply for the show?
Lori Thompson: We love “The Amazing Race.” We love a lot of reality shows, like “Big Brother” and “Survivor.”
I’ve actually auditioned for “Survivor” the last six years and kind of gone through that process a little ways. For 15 years, I was pregnant or nursing and couldn’t apply to any of those shows, so I was excited to start applying.
We thought I would get on “Survivor” and that it would be our hook to get on “The Amazing Race,” but we decided to apply directly and made a video the same day. A month later, we got a call from one of our casting producers and here we are.
DN: What was your pitch to producers? How did you present yourself to the show?
Lori: Our hook was our eight sons, but we also have great banter, like how we can tell a story and interrupt each other, like “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe you told them that.”
We just kind of went off the cuff (in the audition video). Scott told some stories — including ones I was kind of embarrassed about — and it made it authentic and unique and more fun.
DN: How did your kids react when you got picked for the show?
Scott Thompson: They were excited for us.
We had to have them sign nondisclosure agreements — even the 9-year-old. It was kind of unique to tell them you can’t tell anyone else or we’ll get in a lot of trouble.
It was perfect timing for us because our oldest had graduated from BYU but hadn’t left for med school yet. There was a small window of opportunity where he was able to stay home and watch the kids for us during filming.
DN: How did you want to be seen by fans of “The Amazing Race”?
Lori: Two different things were incredibly important to me.
First, as an older mom, I wanted to remind other moms that they’re not just moms. They’re so much more than that. They’re powerful and amazing.
You don’t live your life just because you’re a mom. You live your life because you’re a unique human being.
I really wanted to make sure that I made it clear that even 50-year-old women could do these crazy challenges and travel across the world. We can do hard things and sometimes we fail and sometimes we prevail but we can do it.
The second thing is I really wanted to let people know that we are a fun, amazing, kind couple that is members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
A lot of times we are discounted, like “Oh they’re Mormon, we don’t want anything to do with that.” We’ve seen quite a bit of that with reality TV in the past.
Scott: We went in and had the intentionality of wanting to depict ourselves as in Paul’s letter to Timothy where he said, “Be an example of the believers.” We just wanted to be examples of what we thought believers look like, which is authentic to who we are every day of our lives anyways.
So often, we got the response from other racers and production people, “You’re not what we thought Utah Mormons would be like,” and we appreciated that.
Lori: It was a compliment.
Scott: That meant we were fracturing a little bit of a stereotype others had in their minds, and we were accomplishing the goal we were going in with, which was showing them an example of believers.
Lori: There was a moment in the very first episode — Carson and Jack, who are best friends and who are gay, they were doing some sort of voguing in the airport and Scott started singing “Cover Girl” from “RuPaul’s Drag Race.”
Let’s face it, most typical LDS members aren’t into “Drag Race.” That broke barriers down, and we ended up being really, really close to them.
DN: How much did you follow audience reaction to your run? There was a lot of discussion online about religion.
Scott: People are going to love you or they’re not. Lori and I are far enough into our lives where we’ve learned to accept that we’re not everybody’s cup of tea and that’s OK. We’re going to resonate with some people, and they’re going to be our people, but you don’t have to be one of them.
But we just want everyone to at least consider the possibility that you might like us regardless of how you might perceive us on paper.
DN: What’s it been like watching the show with your kids?
Lori: We’ve hosted watch parties for all five episodes with 50, 60 or 70 people. At least a few of our kids have been there for each episode.
But for Episode 3, all eight of my kids were there. Of course they knew we were on “The Amazing Race,” but they did not know what place we got or what challenges we performed.
When we won Leg 3, they were beside themselves. They were so shocked, like “Oh my gosh. My parents are rockstars.”
They knew we would do well and have fun but they didn’t expect us to do that well. Neither did we!
DN: You really were doing well, which is why your elimination in Episode 5 after the Double U-turn twist was a bummer. Do you feel like you have unfinished business?
(Note: The Thompsons finished last on Leg 5 in part because they were one of two teams forced by their fellow racers to do both challenges at a Detour as part of a Double U-turn twist.)
Lori: Yes, 100%.
We’ve been getting so many messages about how it was unfair or how we were robbed. I do feel like we have unfinished business, but I don’t have any bad feelings toward any of the teams that voted against us or against the show. It was a brilliant twist.
I’m so thankful to have been a part of the show and for how we played. We never fought or argued or swore. We never pitched a fit or had a tantrum. We played authentically us, which meant the cup was half full and we were cheering for other teams. We wanted everyone to succeed and now we’re genuinely friends with everyone.
DN: What’s your favorite moment from your time on the show?
Scott: My favorite moment was seeing Lori rock all the challenges that she was involved in. I knew she was a rockstar, but to see her step out of her comfort zone and accomplish things she didn’t even think she could do — I was happy to be her cheerleader, who was louder than you realized anybody could be.
Lori: Winning Leg 3. To be on “The Amazing Race” is already unique and amazing, but to get first place and have (host Phil Keoghan) say that to you — wow, it’s a dream.