Jill And John Vito Lost And Out

Dating Couple Jill and John Vito needed a miracle in Malaysia on "The Amazing Race." Getting lost in that country is common for any tourist, but in their case, it cost them a chance for a million dollars.

It was a down-to-the wire race between them and bickering couple, Ian and Teri. "We didn't even know that they were at the roadblock right before us. They were leaving when we got there. We didn't know it was that close," Jill said Thursday on The Early Show.

Since the game is down to so few teams, Jill and John Vito were running as fast as they could every step of the way,but were outperformed by the team everybody loves to hate.

"They're really nice. They are. Yeah, they're doing the best they can," said Jill. "They are surprising everyone."

In last night's first episode, Jill and John went for the Fast Forward award, which put them in first place for that leg. But they ended up in a cheese factory and it was apparent from the get-go that the team wanted out of there.

"You know what it was? I like cheese. I don't mind eating cheese. But those pieces of cheese were so thick. It's not like you just pop them in your mouth," explained John Vito. "The problem was you had to clear off the entire clue of cheese. And we got lucky; we found it relatively quickly."

In doing the Fast Forward in that leg, they missed the bungee jump, which only one other team was brave enough to perform. If they had done the bungee, they probably would have been ahead anyway, so the question is did they burn their Fast Forward one leg too soon?

"No, definitely not," said Jill. "Because what if it was an elimination. You don't know ahead of time. You can never predict. So we didn't want to be greedy and not go for the Fast Forward and end up getting eliminated. We got a great cruise out of it and we had an amazing experience."

"That would have been the worst outcome. We said we don't want to waste the Fast Forward and been eliminated not using it," added John Vito.

Nicknamed the Rocken Runs, Jill and John Vito tried almost everything in the race.

"We were there to have the adventure of a lifetime. And we did. That's why we jumped out of the plane. We regret not bungee jumping," said Jill. "I think everything we would love to do over again. You know, we say we would like to wake up every day and find out the next morning we're leaving for 'Amazing Race' again."

"An envelope full of money telling us where to go around the world," added John Vito.

Initially, Jill had applied to the Race with her brother, a trader for Cantor Fiztgerald who was lost in the World Trade Center attack.

"He was the reason we absolutely needed onto this race. And I know that. And I know he was with us every step of the way," Jill said. John Vito was a very good friend of her brother as well. "I met him in high school and we went to different colleges. And after college he was a bond broker at Cantor Fitzgerald and I was a bond trader and we met up again and we were great friends," he said.

The couple noted that having him in their memories was like having a third member of the team and that kept them going. Though the couple did not make it to the end, they did say the "Race" made their relationship stronger.

"We're still dating. It will turn into something else soon," said John Vito.