Dusty Harris would be the first to tell you he’s a man of high highs and low lows. It helps him fill in the blanks of the superhumanly calm and patient Ryan Ferguson, and vice versa. The best friends experienced similar volatility during The Amazing Race 33. The first half was marked with some extremely strong finishes, making them the team to beat. But costly errors had them facing several setbacks, most prominently in the final leg. Ryan and Dusty came to the race looking to make up for lost time, as the best friends had missed out on a decade of memories due to Ryan’s wrongful incarceration. So it was a nice fringe benefit when they found themselves doing incredibly well. They finished first in three out of the first five legs, setting themselves up undeniably as the team to beat. But every dog has its day, and this dog does not mix well with cheese. In Corsica, Ryan and Dusty confidently took a cheese-making Detour, only for their patience to boil over when their milk wouldn’t. Their choice put them in last place for the first time in the race. But a canyoneering Roadblock had them not only catch up but even pass four other teams, giving them an epic comeback to crow about. Unfortunately for Ryan and Dusty, it was just the beginning of their trips to the back of the pack. Partially due to the staggered group start times, the guys frustratingly maintained their third-place finish the next two legs. But the lowest was yet to come under the watchful eyes of the Oracle of Delphi. Tasked with finding a coin in a field of rocks, Dusty toiled, struggled, and nearly reached his breaking point temper-wise. But Ryan brought him back to a calm place, which promptly got amped up when they discovered they had survived the last non-elimination leg of the season. By the time the final leg hit, Ryan and Dusty were uncaged and ready to go, the first time they would start the same time as the other teams. But the pattern repeated when the very first clue stumped them. It put them back in last place, sending their chances of winning down as smoothly as an elevator. Now out of the race, and with Ryan unable to talk with us at the moment, Dusty speaks with Parade.com about their early dominance, hitting his rock bottom moment, and what he learned about Ryan in his time on the race. I’ll start with where Phil left you at the finish line. Have you indeed not gone in an elevator or even wanted to hear the word “elevator” since this was filmed last fall? I mean, there are three things that have come from the show with hatred. It’s elevators, it’s cheese, and it’s rocks. The number “1025” is burned and etched into my memory. It was something so foolish to take us out before we even got started. I mean, Ryan and I talked about this every single day. No, no elevators. I tend to take the stairs now. But it was gut-wrenching to watch that again. After you fall behind so early on, how much hope do you have that there could be a task that allowed you to catch up? And how much did that erode over the day? After the elevator incident, we realized we were probably way behind. We saw the two lockboxes open. All we wanted was to get into the dance and start recording and progress with everyone. And sp, in our mind, we’re like, “Okay, level playing field, we’re all going off at the same time.” And Ryan and I had won most of the legs where we had started in the front and tied with people. And so after the elevator, in the back of our minds, we both kind of realized, “Penn and Kim and Raquel and Cayla, they don’t slip up.” That’s the thing that the world needs to know. They’re absolute savages. So I tried to stay positive. But like in Greece, we said, “Let’s just enjoy the ride. And let’s be respectful of The Amazing Race. And let’s give it everything we have.” And there’s a small part of you that’s like, “Something can happen.” It’s Amazing Race, right? There’s always a chance. But to be completely frank, we kind of knew the boat had sailed. No pun intended. You had come into that final leg having finished third or lower every leg since Leg 6. Did that take the wind out of your sails at all? Or just give you more motivation to push to the front of the pack? It was rough finishing third for three or four legs. That whole time, we’re not sleeping; we’re thinking, “Raquel and Cayla and Penn and Kim are going to U-Turn us at some point. They don’t want us to get into the front.” So behind the scenes, there was stress and the pressure cooker of just being terrified of what one of these two teams was going to do to us. We all love each other. I think every cast can say that. But it is a war. And so there’s this just gut feeling of dread that something’s happening. It was just these foolish little mistakes. We would do all the things well, and anything we always felt like if we could get better at it, we tended to get better at it and get it done. One bad decision can ruin the whole thing. And when we started level on the top of the building in L.A., we felt very good about our chances of winning this. And it just wasn’t our day. Again, it was something that so foolish took us out of our race. But you see, the rest of the leg, we kill it. But you just can’t make one mistake, especially when you’re competing against Penn and Kim and Raquel and Cayla. They are too good. Let’s go back to your early success at the beginning of the race. Did your dominance surprise you in those first few legs? I mean, it was great. At the same time, though, our conversation every single night with having success early in the race was, “Man, there’s a target on our back now.” At that point, we finished second, first, second, first, and first. I’m like, “Ryan, have a chance to maybe be the best Amazing Race team ever. At that point, in my mind, I’m like, “Let’s not just win it. Let’s go down in lore.” And so I think that kind of got to us a little bit with how we finished personally. But I think it just put a target on our back. I mean, you hear Penn and Kim and Raquel and Cayla say they were tired of us winning. They just weren’t going to cough up that first group the rest of the race. And I think they did everything in their power to make sure we didn’t get in front. So it is what it is. I mean, it’s just such a hard pill to swallow. Because I feel like we’re a great team as well. I mean, I know third places don’t show it. But in my gut feeling, we should have won. To that point, I know there were clips where Raquel and Cayla were talking about you gloating about your track record. Is that true? I mean, I’m just the guy who wears his emotions on his sleeve. So in my mind, I’m like, “We’re starting level with you again, guys. How does that feel? You’ve had this opportunity to save 15 minutes in front of us.” I think the 15-minute thing, so many people don’t give this credit. When you’re competing against people that are so good, 15 minutes is such an eternity. I mean, I think we may have gotten a little too big for our britches at the beginning. A little humble pie is always good. But I just want everyone to know that that’s just the human I am. If it’s going right, it’s going to be great. If it’s going bad, it’s going to be bad. I wear my emotions on my sleeve. It’s kind of who I am. Let’s talk about the first major roadblock you hit on the race (though it was a Detour): The cheese-making in France. How did it feel to crumble that way and come back so fiercely? I think I said it on the mat. It was the best that we ran. Maybe not the best result. But we were dead to rights standing there going over from the cheese-making to the donkeys. And so in the car, you didn’t hear this, but I’m begging for something physical. And lo and behold, we get two opportunities. And so, I think it just showed our resiliency as a team. I really think it just showed our friendship as well. That was the most important thing to me on this race. We wanted to win so bad. But really, I wanted to just get to the end and have the full experience with my best friend. I mean, this is just such an opportunity to make up for lost time. And I know everyone talks about these kinds of things. But to get to do it on this platform, especially with Ryan and everything he had been through. It meant the world to me to do that. Getting into your dark place, let’s go to the rocks. You’ve talked a lot about what this moment meant to you. But can you elaborate now that you’ve watched it back? Man, the rocks. I was dreading this episode. Because I just didn’t know what was going to be aired. I just have no idea what it’s going to look like. But it was truly beautiful. And so I just got to take my hat off to CBS and Amazing Race. It was awful. It was the worst experience ever. In the back of my mind, I’m like, “What the hell am I doing here? I’m blowing this for Ryan.” Our biggest fear was: 1. Losing first, and 2. Being the one to take us out of the race. And so it’s just all these emotions, thinking about home and my son, thinking that I’m letting my best friend down who gave me this opportunity to race with him. I mean, it crushed me. It was inhumane. I remember looking at everyone around me, I’m like, “This is the most inhumane thing I’ve ever been through.” And so it all boiled over. And I was very worried about what was about to happen. And so for Ryan to have the due diligence and know-all to bring me up there, which I don’t even know if you’re really supposed to do but at this point. I was like, “I’m gonna go stay with my buddy and take in the scenes.” So it was a feeling of dread, a feeling that I let my best friend down. We’ve been through so much to get to this point. And with that task, it’s luck. There’s no skill to this, like zero skill whatsoever. And I’m about to be eliminated for something that really was just luck. So I was crushed. And I just a lot of things started coming into my mind. Thinking about my father, my son, my family, what am I doing here? I just want to go home; maybe it’s time to go home. But then Ryan just had to talk to me. And he was like, “Buckle your shoes up, buddy. Your son is going to watch this. Make him proud.” And I’m just so blessed that he had that conversation. I’m literally about to cry again. You know, I know I’m a wild guy. But I allowed therapy to happen. I think it was 38 years of built-up stuff that came out. And it’s just crazy that it happened on a platform like The Amazing Race. But it changed my life. I never want to do it again. But it is something that changed my life. Talk to me more about your dynamic with Ryan. First, how did you two end up on The Amazing Race together? So The Amazing Race had approached Ryan about being a contestant. And actually, his dad was going to do it with him at first. But he had some health issues. I think he had hip surgery prior to starting the race back in 2020. And so, lo and behold, I get the lucky phone call. He calls me early in the morning, and Ryan’s a guy who likes to sleep in. So I’m at first like, “What’s going on?” And he’s basically like, “Can you take a month of work off?” And I’m thinking, “What are you getting me into?” It’s always something with this guy. He presented this opportunity. And I was immediately in 100%. It was actually funny. Ryan’s like, “What about work?” And I’m like, “I’ll quit work right now. If this is real, I’m going to do this with Ryan.” I was just so blessed to have the opportunity to do it with him. It would have been amazing to see Bill do it with Ryan as well. And I would have loved to watch that. But I’m so blessed that I got the opportunity. Bill would have been a formidable foe to these people, man. He’s well-traveled. It would have been cool to see that as well. Maybe down the road. So did you see your best friend in a new light racing around the world together? Honestly, I was blown away by Ryan prior to the race. I mean, everything he’s been through, just to have the temperaments, talents, convictions that he has for going through hell and back. But spending this time with him, you really get to know one another. There’s a lot of downtime. He’s the most incredible human being I’ve ever met. And I’ve said this multiple times. I love my wife. Ashley, I love you. But there’s no one else in the world that I could do this race with. Because I run like a psychopath. I mean, it’s the highest highs and the lowest of lows. My wife is very similar to me, so it would be great TV. But Ryan is just the most impressive guy I’ve met. He’s gone through everything he has and stays calm and full of life. I just respect him. I love him, man. The opportunity he gave me changed my life, but the main part of it was just spending time with him. He’s just the most even-keel cool cucumber you’re ever going to meet. And he gives a damn about everyone! Ryan’s goal now is to bring a voice to these people that are wrongfully convicted. I just have so much respect for him not to be diabolical, to not be mad at the systems. I mean, he is mad at some systems. But he’s doing what’s right for everyone and giving a voice to these people. I’m just blown away by his resiliency and who he is as a person. He’s amazing. Next, check out our interview with The Amazing Race 33 second-place finishers Raquel Moore and Cayla Platt.
