‘The Amazing Race 14′: A chat with sisters Kisha and Jen

Sisters LaKisha Hoffman, 28, and Jennifer Hoffman, 24, stayed true to each other through thick and thin. When  Jen struggled in the swimming challenge, Kisha kept her on track. Even in the face of elimination on the 11th lap when the sisters missed the finish line by seconds because Jen stopped to use the bathroom, there was never any blame on Jen. They went far with their competitive spirit and athletic abilities and had a great time. I got to ask them a few more behind-the-scenes questions about the race and congratulated them on a good run of it.

Of all the countries you went to, what was your favorite travel destination?

Kisha: Mine was definitely Thailand. I enjoyed the beautiful scenery and weather.
Jen: I liked Thailand and also India.
Kisha: Jen traveled more internationally than I did. I enjoyed the opportunity to get out there and appreciated all the things I experienced.

What was your least favorite country?

Jen: No I enjoyed every country we ransacked and ran through.
Kisha: Siberia was so cold. I’m definitely not a cold-weather person. That was an adjustment for me.

How did the race affect your relationship as sisters? Sisters fight, right? But we only saw you supporting each other. Were there any off-camera squabbles?

Jen: People say that like it’s such a surprise that we got along. They depicted us very well. That’s the way my sister and I are on a normal basis. Usually we just communicate by phone calls and text messages. We have our arguments over the phone sometimes. That question surprises me.  Everything you saw on TV was completely us.
Kisha. It showed we had a tough time adjusting to each other in the beginning. But we learned to work together, and by the end of it — as sisters and as a team — we progressed from beginning to end.

What’s next for both of you?

Kisha:  I live in New York and work as a youth program coordinator and basketball coach.
Jen: Currently I’ll go back to Louisville to be a coach in women’s volleyball. I want to stay in the realm of college athletics. I also dabble in modeling. I’m only 25, single, no kids. It’s great being single.

Oh yeah, has the show brought in any romantic fan mail?

Kisha: I have actually.
Jen: I haven’t.
Kisha: I did earlier today.
Jen: Get out, I didn’t even know about that.

Kisha, you sound disappointed that you have, and Jen, you sound disappointed that you haven’t.

Jen: (laughs)
Kisha: I’ve gotten straight, funny and good e-mails. But it’s funny that they can fall in love with you just from watching the show.

Lots of the challenges asked for one person to participate. Was it difficult to choose between the two of you who would do what challenge?

Kisha: No, I think we had a pretty good idea before we decided. Jen is not afraid of heights, so if it had heights she’d do it. If it was a water one, I’d do it. There wasn’t any situation where we had to fight about who’d go to the roadblock. In our last leg, when it was the massage, she said, “I’ll do it.” And I said I’ll do it based on the number of roadblocks left. My mindset was getting into the final three. I wanted my sister to complete the last roadblock.

It was clear you were not the best of friends with Margie and Luke, was there a team that you did bond with?

Jen: We definitely bonded with Mike and Mel. Mike is an amazing person and has a good heart. We recognized that early on and worked with them during the bungee jump.

Kisha. I think everyone communicated through group e-mails. We spent last weekend with Jamie and Cara. Some pretty good friendships may grow out of this.

Were you surprised that Tammy and Victor pulled the U-Turn on you?

Kisha: No, it was strategic. They had said if it came down to a footrace we would win. Other teams were intimidated by that. It was disappointing, but we were not surprised.

– Jen Leo, Los Angeles Times Travel & Deal blogger

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 6, 2009 at 11:48 am by Jen Leo and is filed under Amazing Race, News, Tips & Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.