Brian & Ericka

Brian Kleinschmidt and Ericka Dunlap are a Married team on The Amazing Race 15.

They seemed in over their heads from the very beginning of the season, trusting more in karma to win them the game than their racing skills, and only finished above 3rd once despite making the Final 3. Twice during the season they dug themselves into massive holes, falling behind by more than an hour, only to be saved because Maria & Tiffany and Flight Time & Big Easy decided to quit tasks, and made the Final 3 despite repeatedly making stupid mistakes and failing to read their clues. In the finale, they got a lead following the rappelling Roadblock, but lost it when Ericka fell apart during the Cirque de Soleil challenge. Any chance they had to catch up was destroyed at the final challenge, when their dealer made a mistake while counting their chips, delaying them when they had already finished their task, and they finished 3rd.

Profile

Retrieved from CBS.com

Ericka and Brian Kleinschmidt are excited to be the first married interracial team on The Amazing Race. They have a singular game plan in mind — to win over the hearts and minds of The Amazing Race audience by proving that true love is color blind. They compare their relationship to the Yin-Yang symbol, which represents the philosophy of two total opposites coming together as one to accomplish a common goal.

Ericka and Brian met at a leadership seminar at the University of Central Florida nine years ago, and it was love at first sight for Brian. Ericka, on the other hand, played hard to get for the next five years….but Brian's persistence finally paid off as the couple shared wedding vows over two years ago.

Ericka has lived a very structured, prim and proper life but plans to embrace her true self and expose a vulnerable side of her life beyond Miss America while racing around the world. Her life's goal is to become hey a country music recording artist.

Brian is an all-American guy who contends that nice guys do not always have to finish last. He has enjoyed life as a standout athlete, singer, actor, and loyal friend. The opportunity to extensively tour the U.S. with his job as a sports and entertainment marketing manager has further boosted Brian's confidence and travel expertise.

Though some may see Brian and Ericka as total opposites, they believe that their differences are actually their greatest strength and will propel them around the world all the way towards the finish line.^[1]

The Amazing Race 15

Race History

Brian & Erika's Race History
Episode	Leg	Destination(s)	Detour Choice (underlined)	Roadblock Performer	Placement	Notes
1	1	United States → Japan	No Detour	Brian	6 of 12
1	2	Japan → Vietnam	No Detour	Ericka	10 of 11
2	3	Vietnam	Child's Play / Word Play	Brian	4 of 10
3	4	Vietnam → Cambodia	Cover / Wrap	Ericka	3 of 9
4	5	Cambodia → United Arab Emirates	Build a Snowman / Find a Snowman	Brian	2 of 8
5	6	United Arab Emirates	Gold / Glass	Brian	4 of 7
6	7	United Arab Emirates → The Netherlands	Farmer's Game / Farmer's Dance	Ericka	5 of 6	^[1]
7	8	The Netherlands → Sweden	Nobel Dynamite / Viking Alphabet	Brian	3 of 5
8	9	Sweden → Estonia	Serve / Sling	Ericka	4 of 5
9	10	Estonia → Czech Republic	Fast & Furious / Slow & Steady	Ericka	4 of 4
10	11	Czech Republic	Legend / Lager	Brian	3 of 4	^[2]
11	12	Czech Republic → United States	No Detour	Ericka	3 of 3
				Average	4.25
Legend: The team finished in first place The team finished in last place and was eliminated from the race The team finished in last place in a non-elimination leg The team that won The Amazing Race The team that crossed the Finish Line second The team that crossed the Finish Line third ⊂ The team used the U-Turn ⊃ Recipient of the U-Turn
Notes: 1: Brian & Ericka initially arrived 5th, but were issued a 30-minute penalty because they did not travel by bicycle to the Detour as instructed in their clue. This did not affect their placement. 2: Brian & Ericka initially arrived 3rd, but were issued a 30-minute penalty for writing down the letters in the Roadblock task before reaching the office, which was explicitly prohibited in the clue. This did not affect their placement.

Post-Race

In 2010, together with co-racers Meghan & Cheyne, Brian & Ericka started Custom Quest, a company that produces Amazing Race-like events to help facilitate team-building and leadership for organizations and corporations. Their first produced event was The Gotham Quest in New York City on May 8, 2010.
Prior to Meghan & Cheyne's marriage on May 7, 2011,^[2] Brian and Ericka had gotten a divorce.
Brian has since re-married and is now with his high school sweetheart ^[3]
In January 2015, Brian's commercial for Doriotos was a finalist for a Super Bowl contest.^[4]
In October 2015, Brian appeared on Shark Tank. asking for an investment in his company, EZPeeZ, which is supposed to make potty train children easier for parents.^[5]^[6]
- However, he received no offers and was advised to shutdown the product before putting more money into the company.^[7]

Trivia

Brian & Ericka are the first married interracial couple.
Youngest married couple ever, being 27 at the time of racing.
First co-ed team to finish the race without winning any leg at all.

External links

Ericka's Wikipedia page: Ericka Dunlap

Interviews

People.com (12/08/2009): "Ericka & Brian Stronger Than Ever"
Gina Scarpa at Reality Wanted (12/08/2009): "The Amazing Race 15: Exclusive Interview with Brian Kleinschmidt and Ericka Dunlap"
Digital Spy (12/08/2009): "Being at back had advantage"
Joyce Eng at TV Guide Online (12/09/2009): "Poker Chips — Not the Bungee — Were Our Demise"
Christopher Rocchio at Reality TV World (12/09/2009): "Exclusive: Ericka Dunlap, Brian Kleinschmidt talk The Amazing Race 15"
Jessica Liese at RHAP (01/26/2015): "TAR's Brian Kleinschmidt | Super Bowl Commercial"