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It was game over for Abbie Ginsberg and Ryan Danz on Sunday night's episode of The Amazing Race after the Chippendales U-Turned them.

"It's part of the game," Abbie reacts in an interview with ETonline. "When you get down to five teams, you have to do what's best for your survival. We would have used it. We don't fault the other teams. We were surprised it was who it was out of the teams left. We had built a friendly alliance with the Chips since day one."

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Ryan concurs about the deceitful gesture, recalling that the Chippendales (Jaymes Vaughan and James Davis) had given them a big greeting, saying, "We can breathe again," when, to their relief, the two teams reunited after not seeing one another for several legs. "It's hard not to feel like you were played. It's a real bizarre length they went to to tell us how close we were," he feels.

The girlfriend and boyfriend team also "strategized" with the Beekman Boys. Ryan explains, "We each wanted the other to be together as we went through this sort of misery. It's more than lifting heavy objects, it's so much more about strategizing." Abbie was more cautious of the "twinnies" Natalie and Nadiya Anderson. "[They] are out to get you," she warns. "Watch your back!"

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Through thick and thin, the challenges encountered on this global race only brought this real-life couple closer. Ryan acknowledges that when they were cast, the show "thought they were getting a combustible relationship. The relationship has grown tremendously... We definitely gained clarity." Abbie reveals that they saved their moments of bickering "for the hotel room" and focused on running the race competitively while the clock was ticking.

Over the course of the competition, Abbie and Ryan hit roadblocks figuratively and literally. "The balloon thing just got to my head maybe because it was the first roadblock," Abbie says of her least favorite challenge. "It mentally broke me down." Ryan cites limitations with booking flights as his toughest task, though Abbie laughs about him overcoming his fear of dancing.

Now that their jet-setting lifestyle has simmered down, Ryan most appreciates the "mental pictures" he was able to take during ferry rides and other down moments. To see which remaining team crosses the finish line, tune in to The Amazing Race on Sunday night on CBS.

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