The 22nd season of The Amazing Race premieres this Sunday at 8pm on CBS but before the teams make their way to the first exotic destination on the Emmy Award winning show, Tanner and Guenn has a chance to chat with two local competitors: Gaffney’s own Matthew Davis and Daniel Moss.

While they couldn’t say off the bat if they were a million dollars richer (and mind you, we tried to find out) they did give some insight on their worldwide travels and how the stressful situations affected their friendship.  While filming only takes generally 30 days, The Amazing Race takes viewers on an exotic trip every week while situated comfortably in their living room.  Even Daniel and Matthew were baffled how quickly time flies while filming.  ”In about 30 days you literally travel the world,” Matt admits. ”[You get] very little sleep and you focus on keeping going.”

The firefighter friends have already experienced travels not many people see and haven’t even hit 26-years-old yet.  ”I never even owned a passport until we applied for the race, so I was very new to traveling,” 24-year-old Daniel admits.  Even their beginning trip to Los Angeles was a foreign experience.  ”Just go to go California, they weren’t speaking our language,” but it didn’t keep the best friends from working together in foreign lands in hopes of becoming the top team.

In past seasons of The Amazing Race, viewers were taken on a dramatic journey through bickering couples, friendships that ended, marriages that frayed and families who were shaken up from frustration but did the stress of running around the country test these Gaffney boys’ friendship?   ”No, Matt and I spent a lot of time together so we were used to being around each other,” Daniel says before adding, “we both said ‘no matter what we’re still going to be friends in the end’.”

It’s a mantra that worked for the team since they still consider each other close friends.  Thankfully, their firefighter background was a true advantage with the physically grueling portions of the show.  ”We’re put in stressful situations all the time so I think Matt & I could look back and look at the bigger picture of the race,” Daniel reveals of the team’s strategy.  ”We carry air packs on our back, and that’s like a backpack…. we didn’t have the 6-pack abs but behind the scenes we’re pretty tough.  I think people underestimated us a little bit.”

About the Amazing Race on CBS:

Teams will travel more than 30,000 miles, over five continents and through nine countries as they skydive from 10,000 feet in Bora Bora, participate in a Shemozzle race in New Zealand, hunt for scorpions with the Bushmen of Botswana and scale the treacherous north face of the Eiger Mountain in Switzerland.

This season’s diverse cast includes twin brothers who are both OB/GYNs, father/son cancer survivors, Southern firefighters, roller derby moms and female country singers.

Catch The Amazing Race this Sunday February 17 at 8pm on CBS.

-Jodi Phillips / The New 103.7