Canaan Smith says if the rules of the show hadn’t prevented him from doing so, he would’ve definitely pushed his girlfriend Mika Combs down the waterslide on this week’s episode of “The Amazing Race.”

In one of the most heated exchanges in recent race history, the Nashville, Tenn., couple found themselves battling it out at the top of a six-storey high waterslide in Dubai with Canaan trying to convince Mika, who is deathly afraid of water and heights, to slide down the straight drop in order to complete the challenge.

“That was probably one of the worst feelings ever,” says Mika, over the phone as Canaan chuckled in the background. “I know that he wanted really badly for me to go down it and I totally understood that but it was just really scary for me and he saw how strong I was, I think.”

With only one other team behind them – the Harlem Globetrotters – Canaan knew they were in danger of being eliminated.

At one point he grabbed Mika’s arms and tried to force her down as she yelled “Help me!” to the lifeguard.

“I didn’t know what to do,” says Canaan. “I tried every approach. I was really sensitive and sweet at first and then that wasn’t working so I became more aggressive and brash and our agreement going into it was: if I have to push you for any reason because you’re holding us up, I’m going to.

“Unfortunately the rules of the game didn’t allow me to actually go through with pushing her. I would have.”

And how does Mika feel about that?

“I guess I wouldn’t have had time to think about it. I would just be down the slide, right?”

The battle ensued for about 45 minutes before the Globetrotters, who tried to intimidate Mika from going through with it, arrived. Mika and Canaan then had a two minute window to complete the task or step aside. The time expired and once the slide was clear, the Globetrotters wasted no time in getting on the slide, catching much air on the way down. Frustrated, Canaan jumped down the slide shortly after, leaving Mika to confront her fear alone.

When she walked down the steps a little while later to meet Canaan at the bottom, he knew she hadn’t completed the challenge and was certain they had been eliminated.

“I was kind of short for words. I didn’t really have anything to say and she didn’t either,” says Canaan.

“We just didn’t really speak. We were afraid to talk to each other,” adds Mika.

Canaan said once the moment passed, they were able to embrace what happened.

“That’s just life … We were kind of the underdogs the whole time and to have gotten as far as we did and out beat the other teams that we did and whatnot, we’re really proud of ourselves for that,” he says.  

Watching it back on TV this week was another story. Mika says part of her realized she should’ve just gone down the slide.

“Yes, somewhat I do, but when I see myself I remember how I felt on top of the slide. It was the worst feeling ever and it kind of brings back that moment and how I felt. It was horrible. I do kind of regret it a little bit. I wish I did but I’m not going to beat myself up over it,” she says.

But everyone – including Mika’s parents – took Canaan’s side once they saw the episode.

“(Our friends and family) just wanted us to win so bad and it was very exciting for them every week to tune in and see us race around the world and then when it was my fault that I pretty much ended it for both of us, my mom was like, ‘I can’t believe you didn’t go down the slide’ and my dad said I still threw a temper tantrum like I did when I was a four-year-old so they were pretty upset with me,” says Mika.

Canaan says they’ve heard all kinds of reactions.

“We get some people who understand, who sympathize with Mika and also with me, but we also get some people who have been kind of brash and said some harsh things,” he adds.

Canaan said he forgave Mika for not completing the task and being the one responsible for their elimination shortly after the waterslide incident.

“To feel free to be yourself around each other is more important to me than continuing on a race and so we came out winners I think,” he says.

Despite what some might think, the couple is still happily in love and are pursuing their music careers in Nashville.

“We’d like to do a show that chronicles our music career and how we’re both pursuing that and that journey through that whole process of getting a record deal and the ups and downs,” says Canaan.

To hear their music check out http://www.myspace.com/canaansmith or http://www.myspace.com/mikacombs. (They even have a song together called “The Ragtop & The Rain”).

A song Canaan co-write with the band Love and Theft called “Runaway” is currently in the Top 10 on the Billboard charts.