Characters / The Amazing Race Asia 4

The Amazing Race character index
United States original: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8: Family Edition | 9 | 10 | 11: All-Stars | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18: Unfinished Business | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24: All-Stars | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31: Reality Showdown | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35
Asia: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
China Rush and China: China Rush 1 | 2 | 3 | China 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Australia: 1 | 2 | 3: Australia v New Zealand | 4 | 5 | 6: Around the World | 7: Celebrity Edition
Canada: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6: Heroes Edition | 7 | 8 | 9

After taking a year off following Season 3, The Amazing Race Asia came back for a fourth and final installment. The show maintained the shorter and faster paced format of the third season, and even increased the usage of Confession Cam shots, which had been sparingly used in previous seasons. Though it was an overall good season, it relied too heavily on the Conflict Ball, throwing teams in arguments and rivalries with each other without ever properly setting up or explaining why these teams didn't like each other.

Though this would be the final installment of the show (at least until Season 5 came in 2016), the production company would go on to make the first two seasons of The Amazing Race Australia, while Allan Wu would become the host of The Amazing Race: China Rush. Along with China, both Vietnam and the Philippines would create their own versions of the show, meaning this was not the last Asia would see of The Amazing Race.

Richard Hardin & Richard Herrera (The Richards)

Basketball player and model from the U.S., now living in the Philippines. They were the season's most consistent team, only finishing below 2nd place twice, though their tendency to always come up just short of winning legs kept them from being seen as a truly dominant team.^note they only had two leg wins prior to the finale, and one was by Fast Forward. They mostly stayed out of the drama being stirred up by Michelle & Claire preferring to stay as neutral as possible when dealing with or talking about the other teams. The were the obvious favorites going into the finale following Jess & Lani's elimination, and thanks to Claire & Michelle having trouble finding a flight in Singapore, and Hussein quitting the tightrope Roadblock, they were able to cruise to victory.

• Conflict Ball: Generally avoided conflict. In Korea, Herrera mentions to Claire that he and Hardin only talk about strategies and avoid emotion when dealing with other teams.
• Critical Existance Failure: Nearly avoided elimination in Indonesia when they were forced to backtrack to an earlier clue location when they violated a rule that forbade them to hitch-hike to the Detour. They finished the leg second-to-last, only surviving in part due to Ethan and Kharie's lack of progress which in turn led them to last and thus elimination.
• Covered in Mud: They were the only team to choose the Pig Detour in leg 5, and all the diving around a pig pen, trying to catch greased pigs, left them covered in mud.
• Don't Look Down: Herrera's advice to Hardin at the Marina Bay Sands tightrope walk, even though it was Herrera doing the task.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Not just for them; they earned a victory for the Philippines in the show's Grand Finale, despite the prior successes of past teams (especially Rovilison and Marc) not resulting in a first place finish.
• Face Palm: Herrera, when Hardin said that he "ain't gonna let no kids take [him] down," at the Fustal task in leg 1.
• Follow That Car: In the penultimate leg, when they saw that Natasha & Hussein had paid a cab to lead them around South Korea, they decided to follow the father and daughter to the Detour.
• Failed a Spot Check: In the finale, leaving the crab meat task, they missed the cab idling right outside and ran to a nearby road to hail one, allowing Natasha & Hussein to get that cab and pass them.
• Failure Montage: In leg 6, Hardin got one of him growing increasingly frustrated as he got "tackled"^note touched at the rugby task over and over again.
• Follow That Car: They did not bother researching the Hands of Harmony before leaving the airport in South Korea, and just told their cab driver to follow Claire & Michelle. They eventually ended up turning around and returning to the airport to look it up.
• Honor Before Reason: Herrera said that following native Australians Jess & Lani around Brisbane would have been the "pansy strategy," though by the time they got out of the airport the women were long gone anyway. Similarly, when a regretful Ethan offered their early boat ride, Herrera told them to keep it while they make do with their current positioning.
• Lampshaded Double Entendre: At the log cutting task in leg 6:
  Herrera: Someone came up to us and said, "Oh, you guys are using the Rhythm Method," which I think is also a form of birth control... not an effective one.
• Losing a Shoe in the Struggle: Herrera kicked his shoe off during the rugby task in leg 6.
• Lightning Bruiser: Both men were capable of blowing through most physical challenges with ease. Notably, both men have played football in the States before moving to the Philippines, and Hardin was a former professional basketball player.
• Manly Tears: Hardin broke down while sending a message to his girlfriend in leg 7.
• Nice Guy: Both. Notably, they persuaded numerous locals to help them throughout their race, and built a rapport with the other teams, who don't have that many bad things to say about them. It helps that they've never gotten tangled with the others in terms of rivalries and conflicts; Khairie admits that the Richards truly play the race like gentlemen.
• No Sense of Direction: Despite leaving the Detour in 1st in leg 2, they got lost on the way to the Pit Stop, costing them the leg win, ultimately ending up 2nd after all the penalties were handed out.
• Oh, Crap!: In leg 7, they thought that they had gotten the only flight to Sydney that day, and were complacently strolling through the first task in Australia, but then they showed up at the Hilton bed making challenge to find Jess & Lani already leaving.
  Herrera: Worlds were turned upside down.
  Hardin: That was a downer right there 'cause we thought we were in first. We thought we were the only team in Australia at that time.
• One-Steve Limit: Averted with each other. They, as well as the other racers, refer to each as Richard or Rich.
• The Stoic: Herrera, who remained neutral on as much drama as possible, even when Hardin was fuming over Ethan & Khairie's betrayal in Indonesia. When they won, he just covered his face with his hands, one of the most understated victory celebrations ever.
• Pretty Fly for a White Guy: Being a basketball player who grew up in the U.S., Hardin had a particular American urban flair to his speech and body language. Herrera had this as well to some degree, but not as much.
• Reality Show Genre Blindness: They jumped into a private vehicle when leaving the Lombok fishing village, with Herrera thinking it was okay just because the clue said "make your way," and nothing about a taxi. Had the production crew not told them immediately to turn around and correct their mistake, they would have been penalized and possibly eliminated at the end of the leg. Instead, they were forced to fight to avoid elimination.
• Tranquil Fury: In leg 9, Richard Hardin got upset when Ethan & Khairie broke their agreement to take the second longboat together, instead opting for a 30 minute head start.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Heights for Hardin.
• Worthy Opponents: Hardin stated that they don't hold grudges against those who can perform better than them.

Claire Goh & Michelle Bachmann

Rebel pals from Singapore, they were extremely foul mouthed, and had a knack for finishing in 3rd place, accumulating six 3rd place finishes over the first ten legs without ever finishing higher. They quickly made friends with many of the other teams, becoming very popular with the male teams and Natasha & Hussein, while despising the season's other female teams. While their rivalry against Sunaina & Dimple was reciprocated, Jess & Lani not only refused to say anything bad about them, but appeared to be hurt by the hatred being thrown their way. In the finale, their poor decisions booking a flight to Singapore, in which they bet everything trying to get on a direct flight that landed at midnight instead of getting guaranteed tickets on a later flight like the Richards, put them in a hole they could never recover from. Though they were able to pass the penalized Natasha & Hussein, they ultimately finished 2nd.

• Alpha Bitch: The became this in the penultimate leg, when they started insulting and complaining about Jess & Lani non-stop, acting much worse than the "villains" they were crusading against, who said nothing bad about anyone. Hints of this were shown earlier in the season when they instigated the rivalry with Sunaina & Dimple by getting a ticketing agent to lie to them and cost them tickets on a better flight, only to later act like they were the untrustworthy ones for Yielding them.
• Boyish Short Hair: Claire.
• Brought to You by the Letter "S": Their hats, which had the first initials embroidered on them.
• Cluster F-Bomb: Michelle, after they were Yielded in leg 3.
• Determinator: Best shown in the second leg, where they ate 275 chicken balls for an advantage in the next Roadblock, 70 more than any other team, despite vomiting starting after the 180 mark.
• Failure Montage: Claire got one at the surfing Detour in the finale, Michelle was not included, as she was able to stay up on her board, and was responsible for most of their accumulated time.
• Fire-Forged Friends: With Ethan and Khairie as well as Richard Hardin and Richard Herrera to a lesser extent. In the Korean temple challenge, they stated that they would have joined the former team if the race paired them up.
• I Lied: Claire lied to her parents about going on the Race, telling them she was going on sabbatical instead. She confessed this in her videotape home during leg 7.
• It's Personal: The reason why they U-Turned Dimple and Sunaina in New Zealand was because Dimple and Sunaina Yielded them earlier in Sri Lanka.
• Lady Swears-a-Lot: They got bleeped a lot, far more than any other team in The Amazing Race Asia.
• Moral Myopia: They complained about Dimple & Sunaina and Jess & Lani playing dirty when they were the ones to start the dirty play by getting a ticketing agent to lie to Dimple & Sunaina about flight availability, costing them tickets on the second flight to Kota Kinabalu.
• Nausea Fuel: In-Universe. Michelle's reaction to eating the witchetty grub in leg 8 both prior to and afterwards, as she started to act very loony and twitchy while Claire read the clue.
• The Runaway: They both were this as teenagers, which is when they bonded. After all, their team name is "Rebel Pals."
• Unknown Rival: Jess & Lani had no idea that Michelle hated them until the opinion matching task in leg 10, when they saw Claire & Michelle had put them down on their board three times, as the team they disliked the most, the team most likely to stab them in the back, and the team not deserving of making the Final 3.

Natasha Sutadisastra & Hussein B. Sutadisastra

Father & daughter from Indonesia, they spent a lot of time scrapping along at the back of the pack, just barely managing to stay in the Race, with Hussein's self-perceived limitations causing him to struggle with many tasks, several times outright quitting them. They accrued 12 hours worth of penalties,^note Actually only 10 hours; their penalty for failing the Roadblock in the second leg was announced as four hours, when it was in actuality only around two making them the most penalized team in The Amazing Race Asia. They gained steam near the end of the season, winning the penultimate leg and looking like a possible threat to win. However, when they were nearly at the end of the final leg, Hussein's fear of heights reared its head, and he decided to quit the tightrope Roadblock, justifying it by saying that the Richards were too good, and they would have no shot to catch up. His decision caused them to finish in 3rd place.

• Born Lucky: They definitely had a great deal of luck in their race:
  • Avoided last place in leg 1 after driving off course when Nadine screwed up the Detour.
  • Survived leg 2 because of Yani & Nadine's Marked for Elimination penalty.
  • Survived leg 5 because Natasha was able to finish the luck based kayak Roadblock before Manas.
  • Avoided elimination in leg 7 thanks to a double leg and an overnight airport equalizer despite having a four hour Roadblock penalty.
  • Survived leg 8 due to Dimple & Sunaina getting even more lost in Australia.
• Broken Tears: Natasha was reduced to this when Hussein gave up on the tightrope walk in the finale. As he kept trying to justify his decision to quit, she was reduced to tears because she didn't want to finish the race in such a horrible manner.
• Beware the Silly Ones: Hussein, more than his daughter. Considering how much they survived being eliminated, it was a wonder they made it to the final three.
• Disqualification-Induced Victory: The four hour penalty Natasha received for failing to complete the Roadblock in time in leg 2 almost got them eliminated, as the only team who checked in behind them completed the Roadblock, but they were saved by Yani & Nadine's Marked for Elimination penalty, which, on top of their own four-hour penalty, dropped the women to last instead.
• Don't Look Down: Natasha said this to Hussein at the tightrope Roadblock in the finale.
• Failure Montage: They got one of them attempting the surfing Detour in the finale, repeatedly falling over before either of them let go of the rope to start the timer.
• Follow That Car: They did not bother researching the Hands of Harmony before leaving the airport in South Korea, and just told their cab driver to follow the Richards. When the Richards turned their cab around to return to the airport, they did as well.
• The Millstone: Hussein quit Roadblocks twice, the trapeze Roadblock in leg 7, where they were saved by the double leg, and the tightrope walk in the finale, costing them the Race. He also forced them to switch Detours in leg 4, when he fell off the coconut ropes course, costing them a top 3 finish.
• No Sense of Direction: Thy got lost driving around Australia in leg 8, but not nearly as lost as Sunaina & Dimple.
• Read the Freaking Clue: In the first leg, the clue told them to go to Swettenham Pier in Penang, upon which they drove straight onto a ferry instead of looking for their clue there. They were saved from last place due to Nadine botching the Detour by getting turned around in the cruise ship.
• Troll: When Natasha was struggling to cut a log in leg 6, Hussein started blowing a whistle to "encourage" her.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Hussein was afraid of heights. He quit two height based tasks because of it, the second of which cost them the Race.

Jacinta "Jess" James & Lani Pillinger

Australian party girls based out of the Philippines. They were notorious flirts, and were probably the most successful team to ever play this card, as they were able to obtain money from men all over the world. At first, this seemed to be the only thing going for them, as they hovered in the back and middle of the pack for the first six legs, despite getting a number of strategic confessionals. However, upon landing in Australia they caught on fire, winning the next three legs without ever leaving 1st place. This made them the first female team in the franchise to win three straight legs, and winningest female team in The Amazing Race Asia. Their hot streak came to an end upon reaching South Korea in the penultimate leg, as they got lost twice, dropping them into a deficit they could not overcome, and they were eliminated in 4th place.

• 20% More Awesome: One of Jess's shirts said "110% or Nothing."
• Action Girl: They performed well on most of the tasks, and were even the third team to finish the log cutting task, behind the two male teams.
• All of the Other Reindeer: In their final leg, all the other teams targeted them for subverting the line at the airport to get their tickets first, when they had left the Pit Start first anyway. This included all the other teams naming them as the team who didn't deserve to make the Final 3, and Natasha & Hussein and Claire & Michelle shotting at their picture at the Bow 'n Arrow Detour.
• Ankle Drag: Jess did this to a sheep during the Pen Detour in leg 7, dragging one of the unmarked sheep out of their pen by its back legs, causing her to freak out that she had just come off as a "murderer" on international television.
• Back for the Finale: Averted, Lani was absent from the Finish Line due to breaking a collarbone.
• But Not Too Foreign: Lani is ethnically Filipino despite being Australian.
• The Charmer: They had a record of successfully flirting with young guys to get free money. In the 2nd leg they somehow went into the airplane cockpit and successfully talked the pilot into leaving before the other plane to get a head start over the other teams, and in the following leg jumped the line at an airport ticket counter.
  Lani: Somebody threw a wallet at me, and I'm not one to turn down an open wallet.
  • This did backfire on them in leg 6 while trying to catch a connecting flight to Invercargill, New Zealand. After a ticket on the first flight was stolen away from them by the Richards having a faster ticketing agent, they tried begging someone on the first flight into switching tickets with them. Not only did this fail, but the Richards managed to secure a second ticket using the same method, and they were ultimately slowed from getting on the second flight by security as their fellow travelers complained about harassment. They were put two hours behind, but managed to pass both teams on the second flight before finding the next clue.
• Chekhov's Hobby: They both had experience with guns, and were able to get through the shooting range task in leg 8 before anyone else even showed up, Jess even hitting the target on her first try. Other teams had to go through multiple reloads before completing the task.
• Conflict Ball: The other teams suddenly cast them as the huge villains in their final leg, after they pulled a brilliant move to get tickets at the airport. This is after them having almost no interaction with the other teams for the first nine legs.
• Dartboard of Hate: Averted in their final leg. At the Bow 'n Arrow Detour, while all the other teams put up pictures of other teams to shoot at (Claire & Michelle and Natasha & Hussein put up Jess & Lani, while the Richards put up Manas & Sahil), Jess & Lani put their own picture up because the didn't feel comfortable shooting at anyone else.
• Designated Villain: In-Universe. Discussed in their final leg, when they decided that the other teams did not like them because they kept to themselves, and they needed someone to hate with Dimple & Sunaina eliminated. They were a bit justified in being perplexed, as they had done nothing to, nor said anything bad about the other teams, and even felt guilty saying negative things about them during the opinion matching task, with Jess saying the everyone deserved to make the Final 3, while everyone else put them down as the team who didn't deserve to make it. Even after seeing the other teams hated them, they still put up their own picture at the Bow 'n Arrow Detour, because they didn't feel comfortable shooting at anyone else.
• Down to the Last Play: Thanks to Natasha & Hussein having a faster horse pulling their cidomo, they and Jess & Lani reached the Pit Stop in leg 9 at the same time, resulting in a footrace for the leg win, which Jess & Lani won.
• Fanservice: They both did the money counting task in Indonesia in their sports bras.
• Felony Misdemeanor: They charmed their way past the security checkpoint at the airport in their final leg in order to get their tickets to South Korea first, which the other remaining teams treated as if they had broken some sacred Race rule. Michelle called it "low," and said she wanted to compete with fair people.
• Global Ignorance: Played for laughs at the beginning of the the ninth leg when leaving the Pit Start. Told to travel to Indonesia, the ladies have this exchange:
  Lani: The Indonesians^note Natasha & Hussein are gonna be so good at this.
  Jess: Have they been there?
  Lani: Well they live there. They're from Indonesia.
• Gone Horribly Right: At the shooting range in leg 8, Jess succeeded in hitting the target on her first try, which disappointed her when she realized that meant she did not get to fire the weapon again.
• I'm Not Here to Make Friends: Stated in their final leg.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: They finished 7th and 8th for the first three legs, then 4th and 5th for the next three, but once they hit Australia they started breezing through everything they were asked to do, and were not out of 1st place until they left Indonesia, winning three straight legs.
• Loners Are Freaks: While they liked being on their own, in order to to stay out of the drama of the other teams, the other teams did not like them for this. In particular, this happened in their final leg when they were targeted for not playing "fair."
• Loophole Abuse: At the Above Detour in Indonesia, the ladies pressed the flexible woven baskets down on their heads, while the other teams initially perched the baskets atop their heads. This led to them easily completing the task on their first try, while the other teams all dropped their baskets of vegetables at least once before getting the same idea.
• No Sense of Direction:
  • They got lost driving to the bungee jumping Detour in leg 6, dropping from 3rd to 5th.
  • They got lost looking for the Detour in their final leg, which is what dropped them to last and eventually got them eliminated.
• Out of Focus: They did not have much airtime in the first four legs, and what little development they did get focused on their flirting for money. However, leg 4 suddenly started showing them as a serious team with several confessionals focused on strategy, despite them having only one finish above 7th place before that leg, in order to set up their later dominance.
• Reality Show Genre Blindness: They used all the extra money they begged for to go shopping, which cost them later when they didn't have the money to lead them all day in South Korea, and as the other teams did do this, they got lost and were eliminated.
• Shopping Montage: They had two of these in the recap episode, where they begged for money from local men in Manila and Australia, only to use the money to go shopping for wardrobe.
• This Is A Race: At the beginning of their final leg, the said this in relation to how they thought it was ridiculous that other teams were getting so emotional over the game, and were taking it too personally.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: They got a local to ride with them to show them to the Batu Caves in leg 1, then left him there when he expected them to drive him home.

Ethan Lim & Mohamad Khairie

Social misfits from Malaysia, they came in as the obvious Plucky Comic Relief team for the season, providing humor by laughing both at themselves and other teams. Despite this, they also proved that they had come to play when they won the first leg, and continued to run solid legs after that. In leg 9, after getting on the first longboat to Longbok, Indonesia, they wasted over an hour at the Beyond Detour, looking for a single grave in a massive cemetery, thereby losing the massive lead they had due to the Richards accepting a ride from a local, and being forced to go back and correct that mistake. They ran neck and neck with the Richards for the remainder of the leg, ultimately losing when the Richards were able to guess the correct number at the money counting task first, and they were eliminated in 5th place.

• Asian Drivers: They got a warning from a police officer in New Zealand for driving too slow. Though it was not their fault, as they were stuck at the back of a caravan being led by Hussein who was the actual slow driver.
• Big Eater: They ate 204 chicken balls in the second leg, twice as many as they needed to, in order to get an advantage at the next task, but as they were the first team to leave, Claire & Michelle were able to surpass their number.
• Call-Back: At the beginning of leg 2, they mentioned how Malaysian teams had always done well on the Race.^note With the 8 Malaysian teams combining for 12 leg wins, four final 3 births, and 1 Race win (Zabrina & Joe Jer), it made Malaysia the second most successful country after the Philippines and their 16 leg wins (though half of those came from Marc & Rovilson)
• Disqualification-Induced Victory: They were the last team to arrive at the Pit Stop in leg 2, but as five other teams were forced to take a four-hour penalty for failing to complete the Roadblock within the time limit, they checked in at 5th.
• Failure Montage: They and Sunaina & Dimple collectively got a lengthy one of all of them repeatedly falling down at the skiing task in leg 7.
• Fire-Forged Friends: With Michelle and Claire and, to a lesser extent, Richard Hardin and Richard Herrera. Their relationship with the latter turned sour when Ethan went first in booking a boat for the Indonesia leg, despite an agreement for all three teams to ride the second boat together. In Korea, the Singaporeans stated that they would ally with them if the teams were comprised with four people.
• Honor Before Reason: When Richard Hardin got upset at Ethan for breaking their agreement to all travel on the second longboat in Indonesia, Ethan offered Richard Herrera the opportunity to switch boats with them, and their half hour lead. Eventually, they discussed via Confession Cam how it all blew away near the end of their final leg.
• The Load: Ethan made fun of Khairie for being this in the peanut selling task in leg 3. He said that he had sold all of their peanuts, while Khairie just stood there saying, "Peanuts?"
• No Sense of Direction: They got lost driving to the bungee jumping Detour in leg 6, dropping from 2nd to 6th.
• Plucky Comic Relief
• Reality Show Genre Blindness: Heading to the longboat signup board in Indonesia, Ethan suggested to Claire & Michelle and the Richards that they all signup for boat 2 so that they could travel together, not realizing that there would be set times for the boats to leave, and thinking the three of them would be able to depart whenever they wanted. This later led to a conflict between the duo and Richard Hardin when they elected to break their pact.
• Toxic Friend Influence: Once their friendship with Claire & Michelle blossomed, the originally wholesome duo became much less likable taunting Dimple & Sunaina for no reason
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Heights for Ethan.

Sunaina Gulia & Dimple Inamdar

Glamour girls from India, they played the default villains of the season due to clashing personalities with a number of the other teams, even though very little of the conflict ever made it to the screen. They started off the Race strong, finishing in the top 4 for the first five legs, and even winning the third leg. However, their navigational skills proved to be their weakness once they reached the Australian continent. They drove over an hour the wrong way while looking for Kurrawa Beach in leg 8, dropping them so far behind that they were brought to the Pit Stop without completing the Detour, and were eliminated in 6th place.

• Conflict Ball: The other teams, namely Claire & Michelle, Ethan & Khairie, and Natasha & Hussein, did not like them, and other than ladies Yielding Claire & Michelle in leg 3, none of their "untrustworthy moments" made it to air, making it look like the other teams just simply decided not to like them.
• Failure Montage: They and Ethan & Khairie got a lengthy one of all of them repeatedly falling down at the skiing task in leg 7.
• Follow That Car: Every single team on the third flight to Kota Kinabalu in leg 2 followed them out of the airport and to the Warrior Village, because, as Dimple put it, people think Indian girls always go the right way.
• No Sense of Direction:
  • They got lost driving in New Zealand in leg 6, losing their two hour lead over Jess & Lani.
  • They drove an hour in the wrong direction in their final leg, which got them eliminated.
• Non-Gameplay Elimination: Of the Mercy Kill variety. They were never shown attempting the Detour in their final leg, and were just brought to the Pit Stop after all the other teams checked in.
• Photographic Memory: Sunaina claimed to have one, which is why they chose the memorization Language Course Detour in leg 4 instead of the more physical Coconut Course.
• Revenge Before Reason: They Yielded Michelle & Claire in leg 3 in retaliation for telling ticket agents to lie to them about seat availability in the previous leg, which led to Manas & Sahil getting on the second flight over them. This was despite (a) being in 1st place at the time, and (b) it being early in the season. This would come back to haunt them later when they were U-Turned in leg 6, though as that Detour was a choice between two relatively short thrill tasks, it was not much of a hindrance.
• Unishment: Claire & Michelle hit them with the U-Turn in New Zealand (in retaliation for the earlier Yield) when the Detour was a choice between two relatively quick physical thrill tasks, and since neither woman was afraid of heights, and only dropped one spot, they thanked Claire & Michelle afterwards.
• Unkempt Beauty: Brought up in their intro when they said they were looking forward to not always having to be dressed up and in makeup, and it did not affect their beauty over the course of the season.

Tengku Hilda & Ivan Evetovics

Married couple, Hilda is from Malaysia, and Ivan is Hungarian. Hilda injured her leg on the very first task of the Race, and not being in the best shape to begin with, she spent a lot of time struggling to keep up with the other contestants. they started off surprisingly strong, even winning the second leg, but soon settled into the back of the pack. Hilda struggled during the log cutting task in leg 6, with her solo effort ultimately dropping them far behind the other teams, and they were eliminated in 7th place.

• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Their interactions in the last leg. While most of the season had been spent with Hilda complaining about her leg and other physical limitations, their last few scenes where rather sweet and showed what their relationship was really like.
• Disqualification-Induced Victory: They were actually the 2nd team to arrive at the Pit Stop in leg 2, but got 1st due to Alan & Wendy having to take a four-hour penalty for failing to complete the Roadblock in time.
• Dreadful Musician: Lampshaded on the first leg, when they called their rendition of the Amazing Grace clue as "the worst singing ever."
• Drill Sergeant Nasty: Ivan attempted to pull a lighter version on this trope to motivate Hilda in their final leg's detour, but opted out once it was clear she couldn't push through.
• Game-Breaking Injury: Hilda damaged her leg during the Batu Caves Roadblock in Malaysia, the very first task of the season, which would hamper her effectiveness from there on out.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Ivan was a huge specimen from Hungary, compared to his wife, a tiny Malaysian Woman.
• It's All My Fault: After being eliminated, Hilda took all the blame for their loss, but Ivan refused to let her.
• The Load: After her Game-Breaking Injury, Hilda stared complaining about being unable to run or carry her own bag. It was her struggles cutting her log that ultimately cost them the Race.
• Motor Mouth: Ethan & Khairie joked that the first time they heard Hilda go silent was on the Pukpok Palayok game in leg 5, when she was supposed to giving Ivan directions via tambourine.
• No Sense of Direction: They got lost driving in New Zealand due to getting distracted by the scenery, ultimately losing their two hour lead over Jess & Lani.
• Obi-Wan Moment: After refusing to bungee jump and switching to the giant swing Detour in their final leg, Hilda accepted their inevitable elimination and looked like she started enjoying herself for the first time in the season.
• Oh, Crap!: In the second leg they arrived at the Pit Stop only after the penalized Alan & Wendy. Hilda didn't want to run because her legs were sore from her Game-Breaking Injury, so the two walked romantically along the pier where the Pit Stop was located. Behind them, arriving almost a minute later, were Richard & Richard, who observed the married couple "strolling romantically down the pier" and bolted. Upon seeing the two behind them, Hilda said "damn it," and it turned into a footrace for 1st place.
• What, Exactly, Is Her Job?: Hilda is a dragon researcher.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Heights for Hilda. She refused to bungee jump in their final leg, but was able to do the giant swing thanks to it being a tandem task. After she and Ivan finished, she got super excited and even thanked the Race for the task.

Sahil Banga & Manas Katyal

Cousins from India. They spent a lot of time in the back of the pack due to a combination of their confusion with simple tasks, and suffering severe money problems throughout the season, several times running out of money mid-leg and being unable to pay their drivers. In leg 5, they got stuck in the back of the pack early, as they were one of only two teams to choose the safe option of waiting all night for the morning flight from Manila to Legazpi, Philippines, while all the other teams jumped on overnight buses that got them an hour lead. An Intersection kept them virtually tied with Natasha & Hussein right up until the leg's penultimate task, and when Natasha edged out Manas on the luck based kayak Roadblock, they were eliminated in 8th place.

• The Ditz: They were not respected by the other teams at all, with multiple teams commenting on their comedic level of ineptness in their final leg. Richard Herrera said he would take a four hour penalty just to watch them try the pig catching Detour.
• Failed a Spot Check: They failed the fish counting Detour in leg 3, switching to the ice hauling one instead, because they did not notice they had dropped one of their fish.
• Important Haircut: Averted. After two straight second-to-last place finishes in legs 3 and 4, Manas shaved his head in an attempt to invoke this trope and give them a fresh start, and threatened to do the same to Sahil if they had another bad leg. However, they would be eliminated at the end of the following leg.
• Read the Freaking Clue: Sahil had a tendency to just ignore the clue, or Manas telling him instructions from the clue. At the Pukpok Palayok^note basically, Filipino pinata task in their final leg, Sahil threw his stick at the clay pot instead of trying to hit it.
• Reality Show Genre Blindness: In leg 3, they didn't pay their tuk tuk driver the full amount they owed him before checking in, dropping them from 7th to 8th place.
• Strategy, Schmategy: They got confused while doing the extra task in leg 3 where they were supposed to find a Buddha amongst a number of screens cycling images. While Manas was rereading the clue to see what they were supposed to do, Sahil just pressed one of the eight options on the touch screen by mistake, getting it correct on the first try purely by luck.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Sahil said snakes were his phobia in leg 2.

Alan Luk & Wendy Lee

Dating couple from Hong Kong, they had a shaky relationship stemming from Alan's jealous nature. They entered the 4th leg with a Marked for Elimination penalty, having earned it after switching Detours in the previous leg due to their struggles with counting fish, but shook off that performance by jumping out to a large lead on all the other teams save Richard & Richard, who took the Fast Forward. Despite leaving the Needle in a Haystack phone challenge before any of the other teams had shown up, and looking like they had gained enough of a lead to overcome their Marked for Elimination penalty despite 1st place being unavailable to them, they jumped on a non-direct bus to Ambalangoda, while all the other teams got on express buses, dropping them to last place. Alan subsequently melted down at the Language Course Detour, causing them to switch to the first come, first serve Coconut Course Detour, where they inevitably were eliminated in 9th place.

• Crazy Jealous Guy: Wendy said they fought a lot due to Alan always thinking she was checking out other guys.
• Engrish: Alan's grasp on the English language... isn't the best. He can speak it well enough, but it's quite noticeable considering Wendy's more Western accent and use of English.
• Failed a Spot Check: At the extra task at the beginning of leg 3, they ran right by the row of screens they were supposed to be utilizing in their search for a golden Buddha.
• Manipulative Editing: Their Marked for Elimination penalty was never mentioned in episode 4, making it look like they had a chance to come back at the end, instead of being doomed due to their half hour penalty.
• The Masochism Tango: They would get hampered at times by their shaky relationship, in particular at the Language Course Detour in their final leg. Wendy even joked in their post-elimination Confession Cam that if she were to do it again, she'd try with a different partner.
• One-Steve Limit: Averted with the host Allan Wu.
• Reality Show Genre Blindness: To the travel portion of the Metagame, and made two crucial mistakes:
  • Already in last place in leg 3, they inexplicably decided to take a bus to the Pit Stop instead of a tuktuk, killing any chance they had of a comeback.
  • They took a normal bus instead of an express bus as everyone else did in their final leg, costing them their lead.
• Strategy, Schmategy: The Roadblock in leg 4 required teams to find out the year Sri Lanka became a sovereign state (1972) and use it to unlock a chest. Wendy was the first person to complete the task because she simply guessed the year on her first try. Other teams who asked locals for the year ended up getting several wrong answers, and ended up taking much longer.

Nadine Zamira & Yani Hidranto

Miss Indonesia Earth and her television host friend from Indonesia. They came in last in the first leg thanks to Nadine getting turned around on the cruise ship during the window washing Detour, receiving a Marked for Elimination penalty after not being eliminated. This would turn out to be their undoing in the following leg, as Yani would be one of the five contestants who were unable to solve the underwater rope puzzle within the time limit, giving them a further four hour penalty, and though they initially checked in in 7th place, their two penalties combined to knock them out of the Race in 10th place.

• Boyish Short Hair: Yani.
• Green Aesop: Nadine's "job" as Miss Indonesia Earth was to act as an ambassador for going green.
• No Sense of Direction: Despite having a lead on Natasha & Hussein heading into the first leg Detour due to the father and daughter mistakenly getting on a ferry, they blew that lead thanks to Nadine getting turned around on the cruise ship during the Rags Detour, forgetting which side of the ship Yani was cleaning windows on, then struggling to find her way back to the deck. This put them in last place, but they were saved by a non-elimination.
• Surprise Difficulty: In-Universe. Discussed upon their elimination.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Yani cried upon seeing the snake at the first route marker in leg 2.

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