Hello Race fans. Thanks for joining us for another exciting season of The Amazing Race.
This season will bring back the Double Express Pass. The winners of the first leg will get an express pass for themselves to use to skip a task and one that they have to give away to another team by the end of the fifth leg. Considering that since the Double Express Pass was introduced we have seen teams on both The Amazing Race and The Amazing Race Canada be eliminated while holding onto the Express Pass it could add some good drama and stupidity to the proceedings if teams are too over confident.
I will be back later tonight with my recap but first I will make my pre-season pick. Last season my team entered up finishing dead last so hopefully these two do better.
My pre-season picks are Timothy Sweeney, Sports Marketing and Marie “Reebs” Mazzocchi, Fitness Trainer/Gym Owner (exes). Both seem fit enough for most of the challenges that the race presents and I am hoping that since they are exes they are good friends but bad lovers and run a good race.
As always please feel free to comment below and enjoy the show!
V
We start off in an old ranch movie set as the teams are introduced:
Name: Hoskote Venkatesh
Age: 60
Hometown: Laguna Niguel, Calif.
Current occupation: ER doctor
Name: Naina Venkatesh
Age: 27
Hometown: Laguna Niguel, Calif.
Current occupation: fitness instructor
Connection: father/daughter (The Father and Daughter duo)
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Name: Jason Case
Age: 33
Hometown: Attleboro, Mass.
Current occupation: owner of a snowplow company
Name: Amy Diaz
Age: 29
Hometown: Providence, R.I.
Current occupation: social media manager
Connection: dating (Team Plow)
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Name: Leo Temory
Age: 26
Hometown: Los Angeles
Current occupation: entrepreneur/restaurateur
Name: Jamal Zadran
Age: 26
Hometown:Los Angeles
Current occupation: CEO/owner of Z.I.G. (Zadran Investment Group)
Connection: cousins (The Cousins)
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Name: Tim Wiyninger
Age: 26
Hometown: Cordell, Okla.
Current occupation: oilfield plant operator
Name: Daniel “Danny” Merkey
Age: 25
Hometown: Cordell, Okla.
Current occupation: oilfield operator
Connection: best friends (Team Beards)
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Name: Rowan Joseph
Age: 56
Hometown: Charlotte, N.C.
Current occupation: actor, producer, director and voiceover artist
Name: Shane Partlow
Age: 47
Hometown: Charlotte, N.C.
Current occupation: actor/producer
Connection: theater performers. They call themselves the “Queens of Bingo.” (Team Bingo)
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Name: Brandon Squyres
Age: 34
Hometown: Chico, Calif.
Current occupation: contractor
Name: Adam Switzer
Age: 34
Hometown: Chico, Calif.
Current occupation: eco-friendly farmer
Connection: childhood friends (Team BFF)
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Name: Allison “Ally” Mello
Age: 22
Hometown: Los Angeles
Current occupation: the NHL’s L.A. Kings ice crew girl
Name: Ashley Covert
Age: 25
Hometown: Los Angeles
Current occupation: the NHL’s L.A. Kings ice crew girl
Connection: L.A. Kings ice crew (Team Ice Girls)
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Name: Nicole Jasper
Age: 39
Hometown: Atlanta
Current occupation: ER physician
Name: Travis Jasper
Age: 43
Hometown: Atlanta
Current occupation: ER physician
Connection: married ER doctors (Team ER)
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Name: Nicole “Nicky” Getz
Age: 27
Hometown: splits time between Kansas City and Troy, Mich.
Current occupation: baseball wife/training to be a Pilates Instructor
*Married to Chris Getz, who has played for the Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals (currently)
Name: Kim DeJesus
Age: 32
Hometown: Chicago
Current occupation: baseball wife
*Married to David DeJesus, who has played for the Kansas City Royals, Oakland Athletics, Chicago Cubs and Tampa Bay Rays (currently)
Connection: baseball wives (The Baseball Wives)
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Name: Timothy Sweeney
Age: 32
Hometown: Morristown, N.J.
Current occupation: sports marketing
Name: Marie “Reebs” Mazzocchi
Age: 29
Hometown: Morristown, N.J.
Current occupation: fitness trainer/gym owner
Connection: exes (Team Exes)
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Name: Chester Pitts II
Age: 33
Hometown: Missouri City, Texas
Current occupation: sports analyst for Texans Insider/executive consultant for ZT Wealth and Altus HMS.
*Played for the Houston Texans and Seattle Seahawks for more than 10 years in the NFL.
Name: Ephraim Salaam
Age: 36
Hometown: Studio City, Calif.
Current occupation: co-host of Fox Sports Live.
*Played for the Denver Broncos, Jacksonville Jaguars, Detroit Lions, Houston Texans and Atlanta Falcons for 13 years in the NFL.
Connection: former NFL teammates (The NFLers)
The start off with Phil explaining how the Double Express Pass will work. He instructs them to voice dial a number in their vehicles and get their first location which is Iquique, Chile. Teams will be split up since there are limited seats on the first flight. Once there they will need to look for Javier for their next clue.
The Cousins are off first but that’s minor since the race just started. I instantly feel horrible for my pre-season pick since they are already arguing in the car ride to LAX. Team BFF are lost and stop to make an airplane motion to try to get an older Spanish lady who can’t direct them to the correct route.
Team Cousins are first on the plane followed by the NFLers, Team Bingo, The Exes, The Ice Girls, The Baseball Wifes, Team ER. Team Beards are cut off on the first flight so will be flying with Team Indian, Team Plow, and Team BFF.
We get some early interaction between the Ice Girls and Team Cousins who are worried they may be played but are ready to play.
Both planes are off and there is a three hour gap between flights. Team ER get the next clue first and it is the first Roadblock. One team member will follow there partner who will be paragliding to a landing spot. Once they reach each other they will get their next clue. Team ER’s Nicole nails the Spanish translation and is able to explain to her taxi driver easily what she has to do. The NFLers are right behind them as the other teams on the first flight reach Javier. Kim from the Baseball Wives is ready to have a panic attack as she is being suited up but she will need to get it together since the other teams are all off and gliding to their landing spots. She is able to get off the ground for her son Spidey (I really hope that is not his real name).
The teams had decided to release their taxis so new taxis must be called. Marie grabs Team Cousins taxi which pisses him off but everyone gets taxis and are off.
Team ER and The NFLers land first but Team Bingo had a better driver so they get the clue first. They are off to Muelle Prat for the next clue. Teams seem to be getting out of taxis way to fast on the Roadblock but they are all done the challenge before the second flight arrives.
Over at Muelle Prat there is another Roadblock. Teams must row out to one of three boats to collect five fish. The one who was paragliding must row the boat. There are tons of boats with different names so could be hard. Also boats have limited fish on board.
Team ER are first out on the water followed by Team Cousins and Team Bingo. Team ER finish off while the other first flighters arrive at the second roadblock. They are now on their way to the Pit Stop at Teatro Minicipal De Iquque. The first team to check in will get the two Express Passes and the last team to arrive will be eliminated.
Team ER grabs a taxi which would usually be ok except in this case they get a penalty because the clue read that they must make their way on foot so they have to sit around for 30 minutes hoping no one else checks in. It’s amazing that 23 seasons in and teams are still making the mistake to not fully read their clues.
We get our second mistake when the ladies let Leo know that he was supposed to be doing the road block and when he tries to yell at his teammate he is ignored. Team Exes finish the task and since they know how to read a clue they finish the leg first and get the Express Passes. Team ER finish their penalty and check in second place. Team Bingo finish as Leo finally gets across to his cousin.
As the second set of teams are paragliding Team Bingo finishes in Third. They are all on their way as the NFLers and Baseball Wives finish in 4th and 5th. Team BFF, Team Plow, and Team Beards are off while The Father and Daughter duo are last to head off due to some spotty taxi driving.
Team Ice Girls finish 6th followed by Team Cousins in 7th. Over at the roadblock Tim is a rower so he flies through the challenge and are off as the father and daughter arrive
Team Plow finish in 8th followed by the BFFs in team in 9th. It’s down to Team Beard and The Father and Daughter Duo. Team Beard make it in 10th while the father and daughter realize they read the clue wrong and she has to return to send him out on the water for the fish. The writing is on the wall since it is night when they finish and they have been eliminated from the race.
I am ok with them going because they didn’t really jump out with huge personalities and they end their race by the dad saying that father knows best in regards to finding his daughter a husband.
Next week teams have to crack some rocks and we will see teams strip down and carry what looks like bags of salt to a tub of water.
None of the teams really jumped out as favorites. I can see the Exes becoming annoying fast which sucks since I picked them to win. I can also see the Cousins grating on my nerves if their crazy antics aren’t calmed down. On the other hand I think Team Beard and The Ice Girls can be fan favorites as the race goes on. We will see were the season goes but I am ready to see what happens.
Eliminated: The Father-Daughter team – Hoskote and Naina Venkatesh
