Tag Archives: The Amazing Race Canada

Review: Limited space and fancy footwork on The Amazing Race

Maybe five seconds. That was the time between Brian and Cynthia stepping onto the mat in Buenos Aires and Dana and Amanda doing the same. But while the former live to race another Leg, the same can’t be said for the latter: the two Newfoundland cops were eliminated from The Amazing Race Canada.

Is it just me, or have the Season 3 challenges been the most difficult in the franchise so far? I don’t recall past teams having such brutal tests thrown at them this early and often; kudos to the producers for upping the ante. The result has been some of the most compelling footage ever captured and the realization that no lead is safe.

Nic and Sabrina were certainly proof of that. The pair, who have been using their knowledge of Spanish to great effect so far, saw Nic’s past as a soccer player amount to exactly nada during the Blind Soccer challenge. He just couldn’t get it together, and after seeing their lead out of the Mentos challenge evaporate, the pair took a two-hour penalty in hopes other teams would stumble along the way. The move paid off, but just barely as they placed eighth, just ahead of Brian and Cynthia and Dana and Amanda. The secret to the soccer challenge was unveiled after Nic and Sabrina had departed the scene: Racers jumped up and down with the ball between their feet rather than kick it, giving everyone more control.

And while Brian and Cynthia outlasted the Newfoundlanders, they’ve got to tighten up their game play and learn some manners. Rebuffing Hamilton at the Mentos challenge means they won’t be getting that extra Express Pass. I’m all for being conniving and picking your place to be friendly on the Race, but being rude to a player with power is just plain stupid.

Here’s how the teams finished this Leg:

  1. Neil and Kristin
  2. Gino and Jesse
  3. Nick and Matt
  4. Dujean and Leilani
  5. Simi and Ope
  6. Brent and Sean
  7. Hamilton and Michaelia
  8. Nic and Sabrina (took two-hour penalty)
  9. Brian and Cynthia
  10. Dana and Amanda (eliminated)

Notes and quotes

  • I always learn something watching The Amazing Race Canada. This week it was that a totem pole stands in Buenos Aires, a gift from Canada carved by Stan Hunt.
  • “Do I have to dance with you like that?!” — Nick’s reaction to the Dance Detour was priceless
  • Brent and Sean took 26 tries to score the soccer challenge. I’d still be there trying. And crying.
  • With the price of gas continuing to climb, that six months of free fuel from Petro Canada is even more valuable.

The Amazing Race airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CTV.

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Amazing Race Canada’s Jon Montgomery teases Season 3

Twisted ankles, wrenched joints and mild concussions are always a threat during an intense leg of The Amazing Race Canada. But show host Jon Montgomery acquired one in the most unlikely of places: the editing suite.

The Olympic gold medal winner and now-veteran host of CTV’s summer competition series—returning tonight—recently got his right thumb sandwiched between the telescoping parts of an office chair while doing voice-over work on future episodes. The swollen digit didn’t dampen Montgomery’s enthusiasm for TAR Canada‘s journey across the nation and selected countries around the world; the return bursts out of the gate in Quebec City before the 12 teams jet to Toronto for falls and tomfoolery at TSN’s headquarters.

“Every time I’m in Quebec City, I grow a little bit more fond of it,” Montgomery says from Bell Media’s downtown Toronto headquarters. “My first experience there was as an amateur athlete and Quebecers embrace that. They celebrate their athletes like nobody’s business and celebrate being outside and being part of a community. This trip I learned that the oldest patent in Canada was awarded just down the street from the Chateau Frontenac for a washing and pulling machine.”

Those history lessons, especially regarding Canada, have been an integral part of The Amazing Race since Montgomery yelled “Go!” at contestants in Season 1. This season’s group of teams are once again racing for the chance to win a $1 million grand prize, and it doesn’t take long for several pairs to make an impact. Hamilton, Ont., brothers Gino and Jesse are charming, funny and focussed; Newfoundland cops Dana and Amanda hearken back to Olympic hockey players Natalie Spooner and Meaghan Mikkelson; pro wrestlers Nick and Matt have the bulk to own physical challenges; and Max and Alias are perhaps the best-looking of the bunch.

We got Montgomery to weigh in on four teams that look like early favourites:

Nic and Sabrina
“Real smart and real physical. He’s a former professional soccer player and they’re really both quite bright. They have language abilities on their side. They both speak French and English, Fringlish, Italian and Fritalain and other language combinations that help with linguistic challenges. A team to watch out for.”

Hamilton and Michaelia
“Hamilton’s sexuality is just a part of who he is as an individual and not what he is. I love those two. They are the youngest competitors on the show and are so cute. Their relationship is beautiful. I think they will resonate with Canadians on a few levels given what we learned from Caitlyn Jenner. It’s not that transgender is new, it’s just that the exposure in mass media is new.”

Nick and Matt
“I love those guys! Pro wrestlers and Nick is a Grade 6 teacher! If he was my Grade 6 teacher, just with the beard I’d be intimidated. It looks like he draws it on every morning. Those guys know how to challenge each other and push each other and get the most out of one another because they do it every day.”

Dana and Amanda
“They are physically strong and mentally strong. They come from a strong lineage of people who serve and protect the peace in Newfoundland. They are gamers. They are full-on. They push themselves to their physical limits.”

The Amazing Race Canada airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on CTV.

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Review: And the Amazing Race winners are…

The only way to win the final Leg of The Amazing Race Canada is to be perfect and hope that your competitors make a mistake or falter. Best buds Mickey and Pete ran the perfect final Leg–and their competitors Meaghan and Natalie and Ryan and Rob struggled–and the boys from Muskoka, Ont., won The Amazing Race Canada.

The two fellows with the luxurious heads of hair arrived first on the mat at Ottawa’s Rideau Hall in front of host Jon Montgomery and those eliminated earlier this season, promptly pulled off their shorts and embraced. The friends, once they put their pants back on, will pocket $250,000, fly free for a year anywhere Air Canada flies worldwide in Business Class, plus two Chevrolet Silverado High Country Edition Pickup Trucks and a lifetime supply of gas courtesy of Petro Canada. Winter Olympians Meaghan and Natalie captured the silver medal while Ryan and Rob received bronze.

Rob and Ryan started the final Leg in first place after grabbing a cab upon arrival in Ottawa from New Brunswick but their cab driver headed to the wrong address and the other two teams passed them and they never made up the ground. Instead, they were forced to play catchup for the remainder of the Race. Meaghan and Natalie, meanwhile, got their inflatable kayak first but were out-raced to the water by Mickey and Pete. The boys’ knowledge of white water rafting–and the girls’ being rookies at it–meant they got ahead and never relinquished the lead. That said, things got very, very close several times and the leads could have switched at least twice.

A trip to John Diefenbaker’s Diefenbunker–a sprawling Cold War nuclear bunker outside of Ottawa–challenged teams to find miniature military models and if Natalie had been a little more diligent in her searches she would have been done first. Meaghan, meanwhile, had her own issues when her increasingly painful right hand was subjected to stress during a vertical rope climb to the top of the Canadian Museum of Nature. I was willing her to complete the task as quickly as possible, but she just couldn’t catch Mickey.

The final task–using  everyone’s memory to put together paintings of the countries the teams had visited–found all three teams in the same room and just minutes apart in completing it from one another.  Mickey and Pete appeared to arrive at Rideau Hall mere minutes before the other two teams did.

I’ve really enjoyed this second season of The Amazing Race Canada. Though I criticized producers for taking the show outside of the country, Legs to China and France (Juno Beach was a tear-jerker of a Pit Stop) enriched the show and made it an entertaining season.

The hour-long After the Race special hosted by James Duthie was a fairly lighthearted affair, revisiting key moments with all of the teams and announcing that there will indeed be a Season 3 of The Amazing Race Canada. They’re taking applications now.

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Amazing Racers put the “fun” in Fundy

And just like that, we’re down to the final three teams on The Amazing Race Canada. After thousands of miles and millions of footsteps, Olympians Meaghan and Natalie, best buds Mickey and Pete and co-workers Ryan and Rob will face off in Sunday’s season finale in Ottawa where one team will claim the grand prize.

Unfortunately, not in the running for the cash, cars and other baubles are siblings Sukhi and Jinder, who arrived on the mat in last place on the windy coast of New Brunswick and were eliminated.

“We feel so blessed that we got to do 11 Legs,” Jinder told host Jon Montgomery. “Now that we’ve done this race, I don’t want our lives to be any less extraordinary.” I really have to acknowledge how the pair evolved throughout the season. In the beginning, they were plagued by nerves and missed easy clues and got lost often, but as the Legs continued they became stronger and more cohesive. Sadly, a case of one red traffic light may have been the reason they were cut.

After placing first in Prince Edward Island, Sukhi and Jinder were the first to depart from Charlottetown. Their haste to get out of town and across the Confederation Bridge led to driving through a red light … and into a 15-minute penalty. They could only watch as Meaghan and Natalie and Mickey and Pete drove past and into the lead. The Olympians and the best friends arrived at and completed the Dairy Queen serving challenge and got to the Detour card location within seconds of each other. Both teams–and, as it turned out, all four–chose the Flag It task, a horribly complex thing where maritime flags denoting different nautical messages had to be hoisted up a flag pole in a certain order.

The difficulty of the test–so many flags looked exactly the same–meant that all four teams ended up in the muck surrounding the Hopewell Rocks in the Bay of Fundy at the same time, struggling to figure out why they weren’t given the green light to advance to rock climbing and, eventually, the mat. Meaghan and Natalie were the first to realize what they had done wrong and sprinted off to another first-place finish. Mickey and Pete were next, followed by Ryan and Rob and Sukhi and Jinder. The co-workers’ few seconds head start meant the difference between them placing third and advancing to Sunday’s finale.

At this point it looks like Meaghan and Natalie may have this whole thing sewn up. But, as evidenced in The Amazing Race franchise, one small slip can mean the difference between champs and chumps.

The Amazing Race Canada season finale airs Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on CTV followed by an After the Race special.

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Review: Racers flex their mussels in Charlottetown

Who else is amazed by the performance of Mickey and Pete on The Amazing Race? In a classic case of “never judge a book by its cover,” the duo from Muskoka, Ont., have not only made it to the semifinals but they could end up being the winners of Season 2.

Mickey in particular has excelled in several cases, mostly due to the fact that he successfully keeps his superpowers hidden behind a stoner, easygoing façade. Those skills were first unveiled in France, when his science background helped with the making of Calvados. During Tuesday’s Leg in Charlottetown, he showed off his running skills by pulling Pete around a racetrack. Every other team took turns running, but not Mickey. He pulled his brunette-maned bud around that course the whole time. At this point, it wouldn’t surprise me if Mickey was a surgeon or opera singer.

Meanwhile, Olympians Meaghan and Natalie are in disarray. Their calm, cool, demeanour has shown cracks, particularly with Meaghan, who is easily rattled when things don’t go her way immediately. Her struggles remembering the 10 men who helped shape Canada at the Charlottetown Conference left her shaken and upset; exactly the opposite formula for success on The Amazing Race Canada.

Sukhi and Jinder continue to surprise me; the kids that overlooked clue boxes right in front of them have been replaced by siblings who have found inner strength, able to muscle their way through what looked like a disgusting mussel harvesting challenge and outrunning Meaghan and Natalie to the mat for another first-place finish. The look on the mud-spattered face of Sukhi told it all last night: she wants to win this competition.

Alas, it won’t be Alain and Audrey cashing in the cheque at the end of the show. The pair from Quebec were eliminated during a close race between they and Ryan and Rob.

“I’m sad this experience is over,” Audrey told host Jon Montgomery on the mat. “But we’re gonna start our life together and that’s absolutely wonderful.”

Ryan and Rob were tasked with the most disgusting challenges of the Leg so far when they had to complete a Speed Bump that involved digging for three bottles of moonshine hidden in a massive, steaming pile of cow manure. Add to that they mussel harvesting challenge and I’m betting those boy were pretty darned ripe.

Next week the final four teams head to New Brunswick to decide who will be in season finale.

Here’s how the teams finished:

  • Sukhi and Jinder
  • Meaghan and Natalie
  • Mickey and Pete
  • Ryan and Rob
  • Alain and Audrey (eliminated)

The Amazing Race Canada airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on CTV.

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