‘Amazing Race’ Season 32 Winners Will Jardell and James Wallington Honeymoon in Ecuador After Romantic Wedding: Photos

Credit: Will Jardell and James Wallington

'Amazing Race' Season 32 Winners Will Jardell and James Wallington Honeymoon in Ecuador After Romantic Wedding: Photos

A tropical getaway! After tying the knot late last year, Will Jardell and James Wallington continued celebrating their love with a special trip to Ecuador for their honeymoon. "The most exciting part about our honeymoon was right as we boarded the dingy to be transported to the cruise ship, we saw a sea lion blue-footed booby, and tons of Galapagos iguanas — and we hadn’t even started the actual cruise yet," Jardell, 31, exclusively told Us Weekly of the romantic getaway. "It made for an exciting seven days as we were able to see so many incredible landscapes and wildlife through the islands." Wallington, 32, went on to gush about how the Hurtigruten Expeditions cruise allowed the couple to experience the most beautiful parts of the country. "The most exciting part of our honeymoon for me was kickstarting married life together by doing what we love, which is traveling," he told Us about the adventurous trip. "Over the course of 10 days, we visited Mashpi, a rainforest hotel in the clouds, Ecuador’s capital city of Quito, Cotopaxi National Park in the Andean Highlands and flew 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador to the beautiful islands of the Galapagos on our cruise." The New York native added: "Everything we’ve been able to do has been spectacular and has felt very much like our time on The Amazing Race because of how active and on-the-go we’ve been." The couple met in 2014 during auditions for America's Next Top Model. Four years later, Wallington and Jardell competed on season 32 of The Amazing Race, coming in first place and winning $1 million. After having to postpone their nuptials several times due to the coronavirus pandemic, the pair got married in December 2021 in New Orleans. Following the major milestone in their relationship, the reality TV couple opened up about getting to enjoy their time as newlyweds. "This trip was the perfect bookend to a fabulous wedding journey," the Texas native told Us. "We’re still on such a high from our wedding and we were able to disconnect and spend quality time together as a married couple." Wallington, for his part, revealed that the "hardest part" of married life so far has been "introducing Will as my 'husband' to people" because the twosome were in the fiancé stage for "so long" leading up to their wedding. Scroll down for a special look at Jardell and Wallington's romantic honeymoon: [podcast_block]

Credit: Will Jardell and James Wallington

'Amazing Race' Season 32 Winners Will Jardell and James Wallington Honeymoon in Ecuador After Romantic Wedding: Photos

A tropical getaway! After tying the knot late last year, Will Jardell and James Wallington continued celebrating their love with a special trip to Ecuador for their honeymoon. "The most exciting part about our honeymoon was right as we boarded the dingy to be transported to the cruise ship, we saw a sea lion blue-footed booby, and tons of Galapagos iguanas — and we hadn’t even started the actual cruise yet," Jardell, 31, exclusively told Us Weekly of the romantic getaway. "It made for an exciting seven days as we were able to see so many incredible landscapes and wildlife through the islands." Wallington, 32, went on to gush about how the Hurtigruten Expeditions cruise allowed the couple to experience the most beautiful parts of the country. "The most exciting part of our honeymoon for me was kickstarting married life together by doing what we love, which is traveling," he told Us about the adventurous trip. "Over the course of 10 days, we visited Mashpi, a rainforest hotel in the clouds, Ecuador’s capital city of Quito, Cotopaxi National Park in the Andean Highlands and flew 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador to the beautiful islands of the Galapagos on our cruise." The New York native added: "Everything we’ve been able to do has been spectacular and has felt very much like our time on The Amazing Race because of how active and on-the-go we’ve been." The couple met in 2014 during auditions for America's Next Top Model. Four years later, Wallington and Jardell competed on season 32 of The Amazing Race, coming in first place and winning $1 million. After having to postpone their nuptials several times due to the coronavirus pandemic, the pair got married in December 2021 in New Orleans. Following the major milestone in their relationship, the reality TV couple opened up about getting to enjoy their time as newlyweds. "This trip was the perfect bookend to a fabulous wedding journey," the Texas native told Us. "We’re still on such a high from our wedding and we were able to disconnect and spend quality time together as a married couple." Wallington, for his part, revealed that the "hardest part" of married life so far has been "introducing Will as my 'husband' to people" because the twosome were in the fiancé stage for "so long" leading up to their wedding. Scroll down for a special look at Jardell and Wallington's romantic honeymoon: [podcast_block]

Credit: Courtesy of Hurtigruten Expeditions

A Trip to Paradise

For Jardell, the highlight of their trip was a two-day hike at Mashpi Lodge.

"If you don’t have a flashlight, you can't even see six inches in front of your face, which can be terrifying in a forest," he explained. "While we walked around, we were able to see spiders that had bioluminescent properties, glass frogs, huge bugs and even more unique spiders. It was so cool to see everything at night. I've also never been to or seen a volcano in person."

Credit: Courtesy of Hurtigruten Expeditions

Newlywed Bliss

Since competing on their season of The Amazing Race, which aired in 2020, Wallington revealed that his fear of heights has improved — just in time for a one-of-a-kind excursion. 

"When we were at Mashpi Lodge, we did 'The Dragonfly,' which is an open-air cable car that takes you over and sometimes through the rainforest canopy. The highest point was roughly 200 meters," he detailed to Us. "I was definitely nervous but the view was absolutely worth it!"

Credit: Courtesy of Hurtigruten Expeditions

Happily Ever After

Ahead of their honeymoon, the duo became the first LGBTQ+ couple to get engaged on the CBS series.

Credit: Will Jardell and James Wallington

Going on Adventures

"The most exciting part was being in the midst of the diverse wildlife. I kept saying to Will, 'We’re no longer watching Planet Earth from the couch, we’re actually living it!'" Wallington recalled to Us. "Then at the Mashpi Lodge, they have a hummingbird garden that left me enchanted as if I were in a fairy tale. The hummingbirds were so gentle — they would land on me to eat from the palm of my hand!" 

Credit: Courtesy of Hurtigruten Expeditions

The Next Chapter in Their Lives

Shortly after their wedding ceremony, Jardell and Wallington started thinking about their plans to start a family. 

"We’ve talked about adopting kids ever since we first met and we’re even more so looking forward to the process because of how positive the experience was of reconnecting with James' birth mom in 2017," they shared with Us in December 2021.

Credit: Courtesy of Hurtigruten Expeditions

Looking Ahead

As longtime fans of The Amazing Race, Jardell reflected on what his on-air engagement meant to him and his now-husband. 

“Watching reality TV was our first exposure to LGBTQ people in the real setting that weren’t actors or weren’t portraying some story in a movie or a television show,” he previously told Us in January 2021 after the season 23 finale. “That became our outlet as young people to see real people living out their truth. So for us be able to run the race as a gay couple — for the show to never mention that we’re gay, to just refer to us as a dating couple — was huge. And then to end the season with us winning and then also getting engaged was massive for the show to showcase that.”