Engaged couple Ernie and Cindy won the latest series of The Amazing Race. After the snowboarders were eliminated last week, it was anyones race.

Ernie and Cindy ran a faultless last leg, with Sandy and Jeremy coming in second.

Marcus and Amani were never in it after he kept on stuffing up the flight stimulater. In fact it looked like he did not finish the typewriter challenge.

Here are the exit interviews with Ernie and Cindy, Jeremy and Sandy, and Marcus and Amani.

Fans of The Amazing Race Australia will remember Chris and Anastasia the fighting couple. Well he really just yelled at her. The couple broke up shortly after the show aired.

TV Week have this cracker article in this week called Reality TV Ruined My Life and he was in it, and he still comes across as a tool.

The article states:
When Chris Pselletes signed up to The Amazing Race Australia with his girlfriend, Anastasia Drimousis, he had no idea that by the time the show finished airing, he’d be a single man.

“It was heartbreaking for me,” Chris 23 reveals to TV WEEK.

He admits the show put pressure on their relationship – and it didn’t help that the nation was hating him thanks to certain scenes with Anastasia, 21, during the race.

“I’ll always be remembered as the villain,” Chris says. “[The show] was focused around the idea of what I did wrong. It kind of makes it seem like I did that all the time, but you’re not meant to produce entertainment.”

Meanwhile, Anastasia’s biggest regret is how they were portrayed as a couple.

“Chris and I fought so much – we should have controlled our tempers more,” says Anastasia, who flew off a quad bike during a challenge.

“I have a massive scar under my knee. It’s a constant reminder of what happened. It’s like a battle wound, so I don’t forget about it,” she adds.

The strain placed on the pair’s relationship during filming only intensified once the show began airing.

“The break-up was influenced not by me or Anastasia, but other influences, [which was mainly] family,” Chris says.

While he won’t delve into the split, Chris says loneliness led to him finding a new hobby in body building.

“[At the time] my life was turned upside down and the only thing I had that was consistent was my family and my work. I thought ‘OK, what am I going to spend my time on to get my head out of all this stuff?’, so I figured I’d try body building,” he says.

As for dating, Chris says it’ll be hard to match what he had with Anastasia.

“I’m meeting a lot of girls, but to say I respect them in a way I respected Anastasia, that’s unlikely….” he admits.

The last sentence disturbs me – does he have a Madonna/whore complex?

The Amazing Race kicked off with a double episode to ensure we are now up to the US series. The first leg went to Taiwan where the oldest team was given a reprieve with it being a non-elimination pitstop. However the bad news for the rest of the teams was that there was going to be a double elimination on the next leg.

However this resulted in two of the more interesting teams being eliminated. These were Ethan and Jenner, two former Survivor winners and now dating, and Ron and Bill who were domestic partners. Eight of the eleven teams were turned back at the pitstop to go back to the orphanage to give up ALL their money to them.

The instructions to do this were in a frame on the table where the kids were surrounding, which is why a lot of people missed it.

Now Ron and Bill were quite zen about their elimination, but Ethan and Jenner not so much and they may have a point.

In their interview with Reality TV World (warning – if you click link you may see spoilers for Survivor) Ethan and Jenner said the clue

 When you went to the orphanage, did you realize there was a sign on the table at all?

Jenna Morasca: Yeah. Basically in our clue — and we’re always told we have these clues and the information that we’re supposed to go by in our clue — we were told to turn in all our rupiah…

Ethan Zohn: From the dancing challenge.

Jenna Morasca: … from the dancing challenge and when we got to the challenge, it wasn’t underlined or marked in red like you guys saw, and it also wasn’t marked with any Race flags. So, it was just like any other sign. I mean, if someone was holding a sign that said that, was that a challenge? So, I figured it said, “Turn in all your money that you raised and any additional money.”

So we actually turned in all of our additional rupiah because on the clue, and I checked the clue, it didn’t say anything about your converted money. Everything that it said was only about rupiah. So we only had like 20 dollars that we didn’t convert.

Ethan Zohn: U.S. dollars.

Jenna Morasca: U.S. dollars. So we did turn in all our additional rupiah and we figured if we had gotten it wrong, we wouldn’t have gotten a clue like on all the other Race challenges. It’s like if you said the wrong words to the monk [during the Roadblock at the Taipei Confucius Temple], he wouldn’t have given you the clue.

If you don’t do a challenge right, you don’t get the clue. So, I figured that probably other people missed that, but we wouldn’t have gotten the clue if we would have gotten that challenge wrong.

So once you had given the children all your money, you weren’t given anything further right? You didn’t receive a different clue or something?

Jenna Morasca: No, we did not.

Ethan Zohn: Yeah. Even if you gave them like no dollars — gave them one penny off the floor — you would have gotten your clue, which doesn’t make sense.

Jenna Morasca: We checked with the secondary clue and it says nothing about extra American money. So, we figured since we were in Indonesia, we’d give them our rupiah and we did. We gave them all of our additional money.

We just figured, “Well, they gave us the clue, so they must have been okay.” And we came in ninth. We checked in before the Vegas girls [Kaylani Paliotta and Lisa Tilley]. We were safe at that point had we be allowed to check in.

How do you feel about the whole leg coming down to the confusing sign? Did you think that was fair?

Jenna Morasca: I don’t know. I guess if we say it’s unfair, we’re going to sound like we’re bitter. But I’ve just never heard about doing a challenge where they give you the reward if you do it right or wrong. And the teams that got it wrong, like they’re not stupid teams. These are really good teams.

Ethan Zohn: Eight out of 11 teams got the clue wrong, not that that means anything, but it was obviously very tricky. I think it was meant to trick you.

Jenna Morasca: Yes, you can tell by the way [The Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan] was asking people. He was expecting them to get it wrong.

 

 

Nathan Joliffe may have won Season One of The Amazing Race Australia with his best mate Tyler, but he may have lost the girl.

Nathan has been living with media starlet Erin McNaught however this relationship is now over.

News.com.au revealed what happened, and apparently it was professional differences.

The article states:

The announcement came from McNaught’s people at Chic Celebrity and acknowledged professional differences as reason for the rupture.

“They have had an amazing two years together and have no regrets, but unfortunately their busy lives and careers has put strain on their relationship and they have decided to take time apart,” it said.

“There is absolutely no animosity and they continue to have the upmost love and respect for each other and they stay close friends.”

McNaught and Jolliffe, both from Queensland, were living in a beachside apartment in Bondi, which they are said to have since moved out of.

What I don’t get is what does Nathan actually do? Is there THAT much work for male models in Australia? Anyway it will be interesting to see how well they do get on as they will both be attending the Kids Choice Awards on Friday.

Fans of The Amazing Race will be pleased to know Channel Seven is fast tracking Season 19 of the series from the US.

It will premiere on Channel Seven on Thursday 6th of October at 9.30pm. Thursday night on Channel Seven going to be almost better than sex. Four Weddings kicks off the reality viewing at 7.30pm, followed by Beauty and The Geek, and then The Amazing Race will follow.

Above The Amazing Race host, Phil Keoghan, talks about the new penalty on the show which is called the hazard. Also looks like Phil has been hitting the botox. Maybe he is trying to be as ageless as his competitor Jeff Probst.

If you want to see the Channel Seven’s advertisement click here.

And if you want a run down on the teams see my previous blog post on them here.

What is your perfect reality TV line up?

The Amazing Race wins the Emmy for Outstanding Reality Competition Program. They wrestled it back from Top Chef who were surprise winners in 2010.

Jeff Probst picked up the prize for Most Outstanding Host of a Reality Program this was presented last week at the Creative Arts ceremony. Hoarders won Emmy for Outstanding Reality Program.

Here is an article from LA Blog saying why Jeff Probst is unbeatable when it comes to the Emmys.

Whilst waiting for the second season of The Amazing Race Australia there will be a US series, and hopefully Channel Seven will fast track it.

One of the interesting teams is Jenna and Ethan who are going out now but were both on Survivor on different seasons. Amber and Boston Rob were also on The Amazing Race – twice.

NPR’s Linda Holmes outlines the new cast and gives her views about them in a humorous way.

This fall’s repeat players are Jenna Morasca and Ethan Zohn, who have been dating for a few years after winning different seasons of Survivor — he won the third season in Africa, and she won the sixth season in the Amazon. Ethan has also been battling Hodgkins’ lymphoma since 2009, but seems to be doing well right now (which is certainly a relief). So they’ve got the whole Survivor/survivor metaphor going, and yes, you should expect to hear about it.

Other cast members include Laurence and Zac Sunderland — Zac was the youngest person to sail around the world. Laurence is his dad. They’ve probably done some traveling. Then there’s Marcus Pollard, an NFL tight end who most recently played for the Atlanta Falcons in 2009, and his wife Amani. They may have a slight advantage in athleticism over, say, Kaylani and Lisa, the friends-slash-cocktail-waitresses. Then there are the former Olympic snowboarders, Andy Finch and Tommy Czeschin — asked what famous person reminds him of himself in the show’s standard questionnaire, he said, “Opposite of Johnny Cash.” Not sure what that means.

Other teams include Bill and Cathi, the older married couple; Ernie and Cindy, the bickering and betrothed; Jeremy and Sandy, who are generic and dating (he works in real estate; she’s a nurse practitioner who works in cosmetic surgery); Justin and Jennifer, who are brother and sister; Bill and Ron, domestic partners and flight attendants (also probably knowledgeable about travel!); and Liz and Marie, the adorable blonde twins.

I have seen zero spoilers about the season, but I predict the final three teams are Laurence and Zac, Andy and Tommy, and Amani and Marcus. Ethan and Jenna are certainly a possibility, but my guess is that most of the normal people are toast. Enjoy that, normal people!

The applications for The Amazing Race Australia Season 2 close in a week on the 19 August. So you better lock down some team members if you want to go on the show.

As fans of the show will know the first season on The Amazing Race Australia was fantastic and they went to some great locations. If you applied for the first season don’t be afraid to apply again. As from the US experience sometimes it takes a few seasons to get on the show.

Entry details can be found at www.yahoo7.com.au/theamazingrace. Applications close on August 19.

The Amazing Race Australia is a Disney format and will be produced in conjunction with Active TV. Production begins later this year.

Remember when you are doing your video to be yourself, and make an impact in the first 30 seconds. So don’t worry so much about the cinematography, a opening shot panning the amazing mountain behind you could get your audition tape stopped. With the thousands of applications to go through anything bland and boring will be deleted.

It was a continuation of a leg this week unfortunately for Chris and Anastasia as they had landed on the mat first but were then sent on their way to Krakow, Poland.

However, lucky for the Farmers as they were the last to land on the pit stop and it meant their race would continue.

It must have been cold in the church where Grant Bowler was standing as he had cold smoke blowing out of his mouth. In fact the whole of the leg the weather looked pretty hideous.

The teams had to take the train to Krakow, Poland.

Nathan hinted at the Tyler and Sam romance as he said Tyler was happy she was on the train. But it wasn’t all fairy floss and rainbows for Tyler as their bum bag was stolen. Renae found it in another cabin with their money stolen but their passports intact.

The first team’s train arrived at Krakow at 3.00am, and the train with the WA bikies and the farmers on it arrived at 6.30am.

First up was a Roadblock in this most incredible Wieliczka salt mine, where miners had carved art works into the walls. It was the salt equivalent of the sistine chapel. They had to find a key to unlock a vault.

Nathan was apparently claustrophobic, and was feeling anxious. He was also peeved when Luke found the key and wouldn’t show him what it looked like. Nathan thought he should have showed them. On the other hand Nathan and Tyler have ran top three for all of the legs, so if you were on the race you would want them to be eliminated at some point.

Next was a detour – Herd or Hoe down.

Herd was where you had to build a sheep pen and herd three marked sheep into it or hoe down was where you had to learn the Polish Axe dance.

All teams did herd.

Jeff and Luke were having trouble reading the map to get to the sheep, as were Chris and Anastasia and he said “I would smash the navigation.. I would never make a mistake in my life.”. He then called her a retard.

The WA models got to the sheep first. I did laugh when Jeff and Luke who thought they had a good sheep herding strategy lost all their sheep over a wood fence.

The farmers said it is not hard to crash tackle a sheep and get him in his prospective place. Ok guys time to get on Farmer Wants A Wife I think. In fact I read today that they had been approached a few times to be on that reality show.

It was then to an intersection where Renae and Sam and Chris and Anastasia had to work together. It was a killer of a challenge where they had to slice four pieces of wood with a flimsy wood cutter in the freezing cold.

It took Renae and Sam about an hour to do their bit, and then Chris and Anastasia had a crack. Anastasia found it too hard and kept on crying, and in the end they decided to take the time penalty.

Lucky for Renae and Sam they only got a 2 hour one, whereas the other team because they had not sliced through one bit had a four hour one.

Lucky for Nathan and Tyler they managed to score Jeff and Luke in the challenge. Whereas the farmers who never seem to show any frustration, got Dave and Kelly. It nearly took them the whole of the four hour penalty to complete.

Even after the crystal key incident, Nathan and Tyler decided to let Jeff and Luke onto the pitstop first as they knew they had been key in getting the sawing challenge finished.

Sam and Renae were third, with the WA bikers and Farmers making it just within Chris and Anasta

In the end Chris and Anastasia were eliminated.

Even before the teams had left the Melbourne Cricket Ground I had taken a dislike to NSW married entrepeneurs Richard And Joey.  This couple are very intense and use  slogans like “Focus, Believe, Achieve”, “Crush It!”,”Bring it” and “Step up”. You just know they have been to an Anthony Robbins seminar or three.

The first episode of The Amazing Race Australia was entertaining, and having a 90 minute one to start the series meant we got to see a fair bit of the eleven teams. Also the challenges particularly the detour and the counting of the rupiah allowed for the teams to catch up and overtake. I always find it frustrating/boring in the US version when the challenges are too easy and the first team that gets there is the first to leave.

Most teams were likeable. In fact I really liked Renae and Sam the models from WA. They were savvy, and worked well as a team together. However take a point off from them for saying to the Balinese cab driver “you have two Australian princesses in cab” – that was cringeworthy.

Tracey and Anne-Marie the ladies from Big W were also a hoot just determined to have fun with this fabulous opportunity that has landed in their laps.

Mo and Mos were fabulous as well particularly after abseiling down the MCG towers, they said “I am surprised they didn’t call the police, an arab climbing around the MCG – should we be concerned?” Their tongues firmly planted in their cheeks.

The great thing about reality TV is they showcase different cultures, backgrounds, and genders. And to have two ordinary Australian muslims on the show goes a long way to break the stereotypes that a lot of people hold against them.

By the way I am surprised there is no gay team in the Australian version this is obligatory each season in the US version.

Conversely I think Mel from reunited sisters team is going to irritate me, as is Chris from the dating couple Chris and Anastasia. They think if The Amazing Race will be a good test for their relationship, and if it goes well they will consider getting married. Something Anastasia who is only 21 is particularly keen on.

The show’s host Grant Bowler greeted the eleven teams at the MCG, and announced the prize money is $250,000 which is a quarter of the prize money of the US version. But this was no surprise.

Grant seems very serious, and even at the pitstop does not have Phil Keoghan’s cheekiness, nor the eyebrow lift, but maybe a personality will emerge during the series.

They started off with a Roadblock straight away, and it was to abseil down the MCG light towers. No one baulked, but Dave from the married biker team was afraid of heights but he still got through it fairly efficiently. It was then a race to the airport. Nathan and Tyler the two models arrived their first and got on the first flight out and were the first to arrive in Bali.

The first leg was to Lombok Indonesia, which had previously been reported on this blog as the teams had been spotted at Melbourne Airport flying to Denpesar.

Unfortunately for Nathan and Tyler once they had signed on to be on the first boat to Lombok the other teams were able to catch up to them as they overnighted at the boat office.

Nathan and Tyler look like they are going to be a strong team. They seem like nice enough guys, but model material? Really? Also the same goes for model’s Sam and Renae, they are pretty girls but models? Maybe that is just a fancy name for promotion girls.

Team male models continued to take the lead for most of the leg.

Once they arrived at the fishing village they had to find the clue, this was tricky and all the teams then caught up.

I thought the hiding of the clues on fishing boats was a bit tough. Regular viewers of the show would know the clues are normally kept in a clue box.

The teams then had to travel to Pura Lingsa Temple by taxi and walk through rice cake throwing ceremony to get their next clue.

At this stage did Chris call the balinese pussies once his girlfriend Anastasia fell over on getting pelted with rice cakes? If so that is outrageous.

Another contestant who was inappropriate was Richard. On finding the clue in the fishing village turned and gave the villagers  a slight bow, with hands pressed together. I always thought that was more a Thai tradition. However I do hope Team entrepreneurs stay in awhile as they will make good TV.

The clue at the temple was for a detour. It was either cash or carry.

Cash – the teams had to sell  15 bowls of Bakso (soup) for 5000 rupiahs. The Carry detour was having to balance a basket of vegetables on their heads and walk to another market stall to deliver them.

Nathan and Tyler were in the lead at this point but after picking the carry detour lost ground as they had to abandon it. They were particularly demoralised when the WA models went zipping past them.

Joey from the married entrepreneurs stuffed up when she found out she was collecting the incorrect amount of money. Props to them as a couple that they did not start fighting, but just got on with the job of completing the task.

After the tour it was off to Malimbu beach to catch a boat to Gili Trewangan and snorkel to find a brief case and count out cash. But anyone who has been to Indonesia will know that this is no easy task.

The WA models showed their smarts by picking the boat with the most powerful motor and extended their lead.

The cases were pretty deep in the ocean and the Big W ladies Tracy and Anne-Marie really struggled to get theirs. As did Mo and Mos.

However the task of counting was a good challenge as it allowed the teams that were behind to catch up.

I did laugh when Nathan and Tyler said they found counting of the money mentally draining.

Matt and Tom the nice farmers lost 2000 rupiahs under their hut and did not realise and they owed Dave a favour for seeing it and handing it to them.

The only teams that got it on first go were Ryot and Liberty, as Ryot is a poker player, maths was this challenge was great for them, I also think the Big W ladies also got it in their first attempt.

The models Sam and Renae counted it first and made it to the pit stop first and won $10,000 and the express pass.

Dave and Kelly came in second, Ryot and Liberty were third. In order of arrival after that was Jeff and Luke, Matt and Tom, Nathan and Tyler, Chris and Anastasia, Anne-Marie and Tracey, Alana and Mel, and Joey and Richard.

Mo and Mos were the last team to arrive but lucky for them it was a non-elimination round.

What did you think of the first episode? And which teams to you like and dislike at this stage?