Characters / The Amazing Race Canada 3

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

The third season of The Amazing Race Canada. This season once again increased the number of teams, this time to 12, and upped the prizes, altogether calculating at worth of over 1 million dollars, as opposed to the previous seasons, which had prizes calculated at roughly half that.

There was immediate criticism from the fanbase when the teams were announced, as 9 of the 12 teams were either from Ontario (5 of them) or from the eastern portion of the country. The teams themselves, while competitive and more evenly matched, were largely congenial to each other, meaning that there was little opportunity for the editors to highlight any meaningful or negative interactions between any teams. The result was that, unlike the prior season, there was not a single team that could be considered as an outright villain on the race. However, despite the challenges being slightly easier than the previous season, teams took penalties for not completing tasks far more than any other season on the franchise, with a total of 8 such penalties taken^note two teams had two penalties apiece, while a third had three penalties, two in their final leg. The course itself proved to be very unusual, with teams visiting one province during one leg, and then revisiting the same province in a later leg. This resulted in teams constantly going through Rubber-Band A.I. as each team ended up on the same flight from one destination to another^note Even more blatant was the first leg, as there were two flights to the initial destination but an equalizing point was present even before the next task was made available. Overall, this resulted in a rather predictable season up until and including the finale with the three strongest teams in the race where the frontrunner in terms of total leg wins would ultimately win the race. As far as how this season stacks up, while it was not as enjoyable nor matched the intensity of the second race, it was still far better than the first one.

Gino Montani & Jesse Montani

Brothers and blue-collar workers. They were very intense and cutthroat racers intent on doing anything within their power in order to win (with such tactics as poaching the cabs of other teams, and the only team to take advantage of multiple U-Turn powers in the same race). While this drive would reward them with 4 leg wins before the finale, the most of any team, they also proved to be largely inconsistent, as there were times in the race where they would end up at the back of the pack and would struggle to stay alive. They would spend the entire final leg of the race neck-to-neck with Nick & Matt up until the final Roadblock where Jesse would edge out Nick in finding his matching ski, winning them the race.

• The Bad Guys Win: Possibly the closest team to be considered as a villain on the race as they would try to do anything in their power to put other people behind in order to get an advantage in the race.
• Chekhov's Hobby: They are experienced builders and renovators, this gave them the skills to breeze through the Teepee detour in Leg 7, and beat two other teams at the Plastic detour in Leg 11.
• Cutting the Knot: While Jesse ate his insects one at a time during the Fast Forward in Leg 6, Gino simply stuffed all of them in his mouth.
• Drives Like Crazy: Discussed during Leg 8 when they arrived in India and noted that people were driving with no discernible lanes. Gino then wanted to put on his seatbelt only to find there weren't any.
• Failed a Spot Check: They did not completely erase their answers on the whiteboard during the Route Distance Task in the Finale, allowing Brent & Sean to copy their answer. Fortunately for them, Brent & Sean were all but out of the race due to Brent struggling during the Cycling Roadblock.
• Failing a Taxi: A recurring problem for them in the international legs. They had trouble hailing taxis in Chile and Argentina, and the taxis leaving them despite asking the drivers to wait. Like Brian & Cynthia, they suffered from this twice in Leg 8, first while trying to find a cab to take them to the Detour, and later when they were trying to find a cab to take them from the Detour to the Pit Stop. The second failure would push them behind enough that they were only able to avoid elimination ahead of Brian & Cynthia.
  • To ensure that they would not be affected by this in Leg 11, they poached two cabs that were waiting for other racers, first from Nick & Matt, and the second from Simi & Ope.
• Freudian Excuse: They came from humble beginnings from a single mother who gave everything she had to them and were very poor. You can't help but feel some sympathy for them despite small hints of villain portrayal throughout the race.
• Genius Bruiser: Not to the level of Nick & Matt, but they proved to be much smarter than their muscles would suggest.
• Global Ignorance: They initially thought that Chile was in Europe only to be corrected by their cab driver.
• Language Barrier: They had struggles getting to Plaza Canada in Leg 3 as their cab driver thought to take them to the Canadian Embassy instead, dropping them to a tie for last place with Simi and Ope. They even lampshaded this by saying "this Language Barrier sucks".
• Reality Show Genre Blindness: A minor case in Leg 5, when they decided to use their U-Turn. They had narrowed their two choices down to a strong team in Nick & Matt, or a middle-of-the-pack team that had the Express Pass in Brent & Sean. But what they failed to realize is that most teams who use a U-turn are using them when elimination is a real threat (either to save themselves, or to target a strong team that may be having a bad leg). They were not in danger of elimination, and neither were Nick & Matt or Brett & Sean, especially since there were other teams struggling at the Sandcastle Roadblock or at the Face-Off. In the end, not only did they waste their U-turn power, but Brent & Sean were able to keep their Express Pass with a strong showing at the end of the leg.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Gino offered $40 bucks to the Nick & Matt's cab driver after the Detour in Leg 11 if they transported them instead. The cab driver ended up leaving Nick & Matt behind.
• Self-Deprecation: Gino stating after their Global Ignorance moment that their Geography skills were still good.
• Sibling Team
• Sitcom Archnemesis: With Nick & Matt, both being Alpha Male Competition Freaks.
• Squick: Their Reaction to finding out that they had to eat insects to win the Fast Forward in Leg 6.
• Tempting Fate:
  • While feeding live bugs to their turtle during the Fast Forward in Leg 6, Gino joked to Jesse about having the latter eat the insects.... right before their own plate of insects is placed right in front of them.
  • In Leg 11, they stated that they would be able to breeze through the Curling Face-Off, only to be beaten by both Brent & Sean and Nick & Matt.
• This Is A Race: Their general attitude when it came down to opportunities to get ahead while putting other people behind. Unapologetically, they U-Turned two different teams, and in Leg 11, they poached two cabs that were waiting for other teams.
• You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: During the Fast Forward in Leg 6 when the insects were placed in front of them to eat, Jesse asked "Are you serious?"

Nick Foti & Matt Giunta (The Wrestlers)

Wrestling Teammates. While the show initially portrayed them as a physically intimidating team, they were also shown to have Hidden Depths, with Nick being an elementary school teacher and Matt being a Real Estate agent for their day jobs. Not surprisingly, they proved to be very adept at mental tasks while breezing through the physical ones, allowing them to dominate the season despite only having one leg win. They would switch leads with Gino & Jesse in the final leg up to the final Roadblock where Jesse would ultimately edge out Nick for finding the matching pair of skis, leaving them in 2nd place.

• Always Second Best: Discussed throughout their race with consistent 3rd place finishes on four straight legs. Deconstructed after checking in at 2nd place during Leg 8 as they were now getting really tired of not being in first. They would finally finish in first place during the 9th leg.
• Chekhov's Hobby:
  • Matt, who knows CPR from taking Nick's class, was the one who decided to do the CPR Roadblock in Leg 6.
  • Given their wrestling backgrounds, they breezed through the Wrestling Detour in Leg 9.
  • Matt drove the forklift for the Brains Detour in Leg 10, having previous experience using one as a warehouse worker.
• Delicious Distraction: Nick was munching on some Mentos during the Roadblock in Leg 3 and wanted to take some Mentos with him after he was done.
• Failed a Spot Check:
  • They kept failing the Teepee detour in Leg 7 as their sticks were not in the right position. After 6 tries, they gave up and switched detours.
  • As discussed in the finale reunion episode, they did not see the taxi viewscreen that stated that the cab they stole from Simi & Ope was actually reserved by them.
• Foreshadowing: Lampshaded by Matt during the Teepee detour in Leg 7 when he stated that he had a dream the night before that had him building a Teepee.
• Genius Bruiser: Nick is an elementary school teacher who also teaches art. Both of them have been known to be rather adept at mental challenges as well, as they breezed through the Analyze Detour in Leg 6.
• Loophole Abuse:
  • In Leg 1, with Cynthia moving slowly across the cargo net during the Atlantis Obstacle roadblock, Nick passed her simply by going around her.
  • In Leg 3, after struggling with the Blind Soccer challenge, they came up with a technique where Nick tucked the ball between his legs and hopped around the course before lining up to kick the ball into the goal (they even nicknamed it "The Hop"). Several other teams followed their technique afterwards.
  • In Leg 4, Nick used his experience as a teacher to coach the teams at the Central Library to test selected ranges of numbers to see which number was the correct answer instead of trying to recount all the correct smartphone items in the painting.

• Read The Freaking Clue
  • They were the only team to botch the Petro Points Task in Leg 11 as most of their items they tried to purchase were expensive, non-food items, rather than the food items they needed to complete the challenge.
  • Again, in the final leg when Nick didn't realize his matching ski also needed to match in every way - including the boot setting, which Nick kept missing.
• Rock–Paper–Scissors: They did this for the paragliding Roadblock in Santiago. Matt won, which prompted Nick to consider rethinking doing this to decide who took what roadblock.
• Sitcom Archnemesis: With Gino & Jesse, both being Alpha Male Competition Freaks.
• Technology Marches On: Nick had no idea what a "selfie" was.
• Tempting Fate: They stated that since they were wrestlers who were used to showboating so they thought that the Motion detour would be good to them. It took them 7 attempts to complete the task.
• This Is A Race: They adopted this after Gino & Jesse took steps to put them behind not once, but twice (ironically using the same justification). As a result, they would end up U-Turning Dujean & Leilani in Leg 9, and stealing Simi & Ope's cab in Leg 11. Both of these teams would be eliminated from the race.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: They didn't just steal Ope and Simi's cab but aggressively bullied Ope out of the way when he tried to object (granted, this came after Gino & Jesse poached their cab first). This would culminate in their (Simi and Ope's) elimination.
• You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Said word-for-word by Nick during Leg 8 after they were beaten by Dujean & Leilani to the Pit Stop.

Brent Sweeney & Sean Sweeney

Brothers and design students. They proved to be the Plucky Comic Relief for this season of the race with Sean's Running Gag of vomiting during intense moments of stress. While they were doubtful of their abilities as first, they proved to be very consistent racers as, despite being non-eliminated in Leg 9^note not due to any true fault of their own other than being unlucky Failing a Taxi, they constantly finished at the top half of the standings with two leg wins under their belt. In the finale, Brent would continuously struggle at the Cycling Roadblock falling off the narrow beam. He would eventually complete the Roadblock after 20 attempts, but this pushed them so far behind that they ended up in 3rd place.

• Breaking the Fourth Wall: When Brent completed the Cycling Roadblock, Sean congratulated him while quipping that season 4 had likely started.
• Camp Gay: Probably the most camp of any team in the entire franchise
• Chekhov's Hobby:
  • Sean picked up some horse-riding skills while backpacking near Banff, which proved to be useful during the Ride It detour in Leg 5.
  • Sean also knew about flowers (being a gardener during his spare time) which allowed them to breeze through the Flower Garland Task in Leg 9.
• Don't Look Down: Sean yelled at Brent not to do this while Brent was struggling with the Cycling Roadblock in the final leg.^note This actually was good advice as any experienced driver would tell you that you need to look at where you want to go. The trick here was that the beam was painted to look thinner than it truly was in order to mess with this perception.
• Failing a Taxi: They suffered this multiple times in Leg 9, and were unable to catch up to the other teams, ending up in last place. Fortunately, it was a non-elimination leg.
• Genre Blindness: Apparently they are the only team who did not know what TSN was.^note A major sports broadcasting channel in Canada. Lampshaded in the final reunion episode where they told the host (TSN anchor James Duthie) that they finally knew what it was.
• Loophole Abuse: At the Route Distance task in the Finale, they noticed that Gino & Jesse did not completely erase their answers on the whiteboard, so they simply copied the answer and presented it to the judge, who deemed it correct and handed them their next clue.
• Mondegreen Gag: Due to their Genre Blindness, they gave confusing instructions to their cab driver about where to go during the first leg, stating that they needed to head to Channel Nine Court in Agincourt. The taxi driver interpreted it as needing to go to 9 Agincourt Drive instead, pushing them to last place.
• Plucky Comic Relief: Compared to the other finalists of the race.
• Read The Freaking Clue: During the Petro Points task in Leg 11, Brent wanted to buy sunglasses, but Sean stated that the clue said only food items could be purchased with the Petro Points.
• Running Gag: Sean's tendency to vomit wherever he was stressed or excited. He almost did this even at the Finish line and the host of the reunion episode lampshaded this by asking Sean if he was going to vomit at the studio.
  • Also lampshaded in the Plastic Detour in Leg 11, where Sean was wondering if there was a vomit bag he could use while sifting through awful-smelling trash.
• Secret-Keeper: To Hamilton being a transgender male.
• Sibling Team
• Strategy Versus Tactics: Their intent was to hold on to the Express Pass for as long as possible until they needed it to actually survive a leg. This would come in handy in Leg 7 (the last leg they needed to use the express pass), allowing them to skip the Airport Flight Plan Task, and eventually win the leg.
• Tempting Fate: While waiting for a team at the Curling Face-off in Leg 11, they were hoping that Gino & Jesse would not show up. Ultimately subverted when Brent & Sean beat Gino & Jesse at the Face-off.
• This Is Gonna Suck: Sean said "Not Another Tuk-Tuk" when they realized they need to get from the Roadblock to the Detour, in keeping with his Running Gag.
• Vomit Discretion Shot:
  • Sean threw up at the Ferry Terminal to Levis after "letting his emotions get the best of him".
  • Sean would make retching sounds (but no vomit) after checking in at the Pit Stop in Leg 7. Jon was amused; the pit stop greeter bemused.
  • In Leg 9, Sean vomited out of a window while in a tuk-tuk on the way to the Roadblock. It got so bad that the tuk-tuk driver had to stop in order to clean the vomit off the car.
  • At the finish line, Jon asked if Sean would vomit - Sean assured him he was fine, only to begin retching moments later before he settled down again.
• Vomit Indiscretion Shot:
  • Sean threw up during the Sandcastle Roadblock in Leg 5 due to the cold sand.
  • In Leg 10, Sean threw up again during the tire portion of the Brawn Detour. You could barely make out the chunks.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?:
  • Sean yelled "Pray For Us" as he was being carted off to do the Paragliding Roadblock in Chile.
  • Sean is also afraid of Fishes, especially moving ones. This caused him to struggle with the Fish task in Delhi.
  • Inverted in the Cycling Roadblock in the final leg, while Brent was not truly afraid of heights, his ability to keep his wheels straight would cause him to struggle throughout the task.

Simi Fagbongbe & Ope Fagbongbe

Father and daughter Nigerian immigrants. They saw the race as an opportunity to not only appreciate the world, but also the nation that they became citizens in. This allowed them to get one of the more positive edits throughout the Race despite suffering huge lapses resulting from Reality Show Genre Blindness more than any other team. Leaving the Plastic detour in Leg 11 in a tight three way race with Gino & Jesse and Nick & Matt, they were on the losing end of a cab fight with Nick & Matt. They were then beaten by Gino & Jesse at the Curling Face-off, resulting in their cab being poached a second time by Gino & Jesse. Although they would catch up to both teams at the Saloon Roadblock, Ope would be edged out by Jesse. They would ultimately finish in 4th place, but gained a new appreciation for Canada in doing so.

• Affectionate Nickname: Ope calls his daughter "Sunshine."
• Being Good Sucks: Rather than get involved in a fight with Nick & Matt, they allowed the wrestlers to take their cab that they themselves called. They would eventually be eliminated from the race.
• Bittersweet Ending: Although they finished in 4th place, they were very appreciative for their time in the race, and Canada itself.
• Disqualification-Induced Victory: They checked in last in Leg 7, but were saved as they checked in with mere minutes remaining on Neil & Kristin's penalty.
• Down to the Last Play: While heading to the Pit Stop in Leg 5, they took a wrong turn with Neil and Kristin behind them. Despite Kristen's Game-Breaking Injury, they were not able to catch up and ended in last place (both teams incurring the same penalty). Subverted as it was a non-elimination leg.
• Elimination Montage
• Honor Is Fair Play: They eventually gave up the cab they called to Nick & Matt when the latter team was in the process of stealing it from them. They discussed that they would try to play cleanly and fair, only to be eliminated that leg.
• Language Barrier: They had struggles getting to Plaza Canada in Leg 3 as their cab driver thought to take them to the Canadian Embassy instead, dropping them to a tie for last place with Gino and Jesse.
• Loners Are Freaks: They had made a decision to not rely on others during the race. This would come to bite them in the butt in Saskatoon as they would continuously struggle to complete the Flight Plan task with three other teams working with each other. Only Neil & Kristin's penalty for failing to complete that task saved them from elimination.
• Loophole Abuse: The monkey bars for the Brawn Detour required both teammates to move across them simultaneously, but didn't state they both had to swing across. Since her arms were exhausted from the Roadblock and the other components of the Detour, Simi climbed over and across the bars instead of swinging underneath.
• Reality Show Genre Blindness:
  • In the third leg, they decided to switch from the Dine to the Dance detour. Switching detours already has a risk of falling further behind but what makes it truly this is that they ignored the part of the detour clue that limited each option to six teams, meaning that there was a good chance the other side was already full (as not many teams had signed up to do the Dine part yet). They ended up having to switch back to the Dine detour thus wasting valuable time in the process.
  • They had not learned that lesson when Leg 6's detour came around, arriving at the Analyze Detour and finding it to be full. Rather than wait for one of the four available spots to open, they decided to check the other Detour option despite the clue clearly stating it involved swimming, which Ope could not do, forcing them to turn back. While they checked the Synchronize option, a spot opened in Analyze, which was promptly filled by Dujean & Leilani. This pushed them to last place and forced them to wait until a spot opened up. Luckily, they excelled at the Analyze Detour and Simi completed the Roadblock very quickly as well, allowing them to move from last to fifth place.
  • At Saskatoon's airport in Leg 7, despite 3 other teams deciding to work together, they decided to go at solving the task on their own, even though two teams decided to take a 2 hour penalty. While the three teams working together were able to finish and establish a buffer with the teams with the penalties, their struggles with the task put them so far behind that they only checked in that leg with minutes to spare in Neil & Kristin's penalty.
  • In leg 11, while they were enough to call a cab after witnessing Gino & Jesse and Nick & Matt fight over the latter team's cab, the fact that they did not instruct their initial cab driver to remain when they arrived at the Detour would cost them dearly, as having a cab ready at that point would have allowed them to bypass Nick & Matt instead.
• Read The Freaking Clue: At the Turban Roadblock, Ope tried to fashion three turbans with the same style whereas the clue clearly stated that they had to use the three different styles during the demonstration. Simi kept yelling at Ope to "Read Your Clue". It was only after a while (but before he had asked for a judge) that he realized that he was doing the Roadblock wrong.
• Rubber-Band A.I.: Despite taking a 4 hour penalty in Leg 5 and ending up in last place in a non-elimination leg, they were able to catch up to the other teams in Leg 6 at the once-a-day ferry to PEI.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?:
  • Ope was deathly terrified of water so naturally he did the Atlantis Obstacle Roadblock which required jumping into the water at a significant height.
  • Again during the Face-Off in Leg 5, and this time it cost them dearly as Ope could not perform the task and they were forced to take a 4 hour penalty.
  • In Leg 6, Simi and Ope were forced to wait until the Analyze Detour had an available station, since Ope could not swim for the Synchronize Detour.

Dujean Williams & Leilani Ross

Exes and Professional Dancers. Upon their casting announcement, many fans expected them to be the "fighting couple" of the season. But with the exception of a couple of legs, they were shown spending far less time fighting and more time trying to work together on the race. This resulted in them finishing in the middle of the pack for the most part, with two leg wins under their belt. Ultimately, Killer Fatigue would do them in, starting with Leilani struggling (and getting injured) during the Waterski Roadblock in Penticton. This would push them into last place, where they would spend the rest of the leg bickering with each other. They would never recover, and with Nick & Matt U-Turning them (along with taking penalties on both sides of the detour due to said Killer Fatigue), Dujean & Leilani would be left out in 5th place.

• Action Girl: During the Suds detour in Halifax, Leilani decided to carry two beer kegs on her own with her bare hands (while Dujean was using the handcart) to save time after they had to backtrack after initially failing to read the part about picking up the beer kegs.
• Better as Friends: They stated as much in the intro. Though after their elimination they decided they shouldn't be friends for some time as well.
• Big "WHAT?!"/Jaw Drop/You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Their reactions courtesy of a first place finish in Leg 8 when they thought they were racing to avoid elimination. Dujean & Leilani actually didn't believe Jon, so Jon had to actually say that they were Team number 1 in Spanish.
• Bring My Brown Pants: Leilani stated that she was going to pee in her pants when she discovered that she had to paraglide during the roadblock in Santiago.
• Chekhov's Hobby:
  • Their experience as professional dancers allowed them to complete the Motion Detour in Leg 2, and breeze through the Dance detour in Leg 3. It also helped them a lot in the Tuck detour in Leg 8, as it was a yoga challenge and their skills as dancers allowed them to understand the body movement and positions required for it, giving them a huge jump in the standings and allowing them to finish in first place.
  • Leilani being from Halifax in Leg 4 allowed her to figure out where to go throughout the leg and allowed them to finish in 1st place.
  • Slightly Subverted in the Ride It Detour in Leg 5, Leilani had experience in horseback riding, but her horse was a little difficult to control, leading them to fail the challenge on their first attempt. They eventually finished the detour on their second try.
• Cutting the Knot: During the Suds detour in Halifax, after failing to read the part about picking up the beer kegs, they decided to save some time instead of making constant trips back to the staging point by collecting the beer kegs from the three restaurants, and carrying them all at once to the Staging Point to complete the task.
• Game-Breaking Injury: Leilani hurt her leg when she wiped out on a ramp during the Waterski Roadblock in Leg 10.
• Humiliation Conga: In their final leg.
  • First, Leilani struggles with the Waterski Roadblock and gets a Game-Breaking Injury when she wipes out on a ramp.
  • Second, they would struggle throughout the Brawn Detour with them not only getting into constant arguments, but rain would start falling, causing them not to be able to complete the Monkey Bars portion of the detour (as they ended up being wet and slippery). They would end up with a penalty.
  • Finally, Nick & Matt would U-Turn them (this after Nick & Matt were U-Turned themselves). They ended up taking a second penalty by not even attempting the Brains portion of the detour.
  • Throughout the leg, they would get into constant arguments about Dujean's insensitivity combined with their Killer Fatigue. It got so bad that at the Pit Stop they told Jon they needed time away from each other, even as friends.
• I'm a Doctor, Not a Placeholder: Dujean at the Turban Roadblock in Leg 9:
  Dujean: I'm a dancer, not a wrapper.
• Meaningful Name: Discussed by Leilani during the Flower Garland Task during Leg 8 as her name actually meant "Flower".
• No Sense of Direction: They got lost looking for both the Laurentian University and the Sudbury Outpatient Centre in Leg 6, putting them in last place.
• Read The Freaking Clue: During the Suds detour, they failed to read the part about picking up the beer kegs to return to the beer truck. Fortunately, they were at the third location after they did their delivery, so they picked up the two kegs there, then went back to the other two places with Leilani handling two beer kegs on her own.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: During their final leg with Leilani unable to hoist herself on the monkeybars due to exhaustion, they gave up and ended up with a penalty. They took a second penalty when they were U-Turned by Nick & Matt, knowing they were in last place and were going to be eliminated anyway.
• Tempting Fate: They said that with their two wins under the belt that they were strong contenders and would do well in Leg 10.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Dujean in Leg 10 gave Leilani No Sympathy when she hurt her leg during the Waterski Roadblock, yelling at her constantly. This would lead them to arguing with each other throughout the last leg. Contrast this to the man who supported Leilani and helped Brent and Sean some four legs back.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Leilani is afraid of heights, but she wound up doing the Paragliding Roadblock in Santiago.
• Working with the Ex

Brian Boyd & Cynthia Boyd

Married police officers with Cynthia also being a former paramedic ^note though it was apparent that they did not tell the racers their true backgrounds. Despite keeping to themselves, they were actually very intense racers who consistently raced at the top of their pack. Upon reaching Kolkata, they would find the environment very unsuitable for them as they were unable to maintain their concentration during the Flower Garland task. Later, after finishing the Roadblock, they were unable to find a taxi to take them to the detour. Finally, despite getting into a cab to the Pit Stop before Gino & Jesse, they got caught in a traffic jam that delayed them far enough that they finished in 6th place.

• As Long as It Sounds Foreign:
  • In Quebec City during the first leg, when Brian made a remark in French while driving to the airport, Cynthia responded with "Si". Brian then pointed out that it was Spanish she was speaking, not French.
  • Later during Leg 8 after finally being able to catch a cab after the Detour, Brian said "Mucho Rapido, amigo", knowing that they were racing to avoid last.
• Blatant Lies: During the Analyze Detour in Leg 6, Brian said to Neil and Kristin that they didn't know anything about policing... before giving an Aside Glance to the camera.
• Chekhov's Hobby: Subverted twice during Leg 6.
  • As police officers, Brian and Cynthia thought they could get through the Analyze Detour (analyzing a crime scene) quickly, but they needed three attempts to complete it.
  • Later, at the CPR Roadblock, Cynthia thought her experience as a former paramedic would let her complete the challenge with ease, but she still needed three attempts to complete the challenge.
• Elimination Montage
• Failing a Taxi: Like Gino & Jesse, they were unable to catch a taxi to take them to the detour, and from the Detour to the Pit Stop. They were able to grab a cab before Gino & Jesse, but they were hit with a traffic jam while heading to the Pit Stop. This would ultimately eliminate them from the race.
• Failure Montage: Cynthia received one for attempting and failing to cross the spinning log during the Atlantis Obstacle Roadblock.
• Groin Attack: Joked about during the Sandcastle Roadblock in Leg 5. Cynthia was shovelling dirt onto Brian's crotch area prompting him to ask her to be careful as he still loved "the boys".
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Brian stated that he was trying to keep this in check but as the race went on, frustration started to sink in which led to him snapping at Cynthia during their last two legs.
• Hates Being Touched: They are not used to the heavy traffic and huge amounts of people in India. This would affect their performance during the Flower Garland task as people kept bumping into them.
• History Repeats: A team from a law-enforcement background who lied about the true nature of their professions ends up in sixth place, similar to Nary & Jamie.
• The Load: Downplayed. Cynthia was far from useless but she was out of shape so she struggled with the physical aspects of the race such as kayak polo, rolling the hay bale, running across the spinning log, and diving to grab 2 lobsters.
• No Sense of Direction:
  • They lost first place in Leg 5 to Gino and Jesse by going in the wrong direction on the way to the Pit Stop.
  • They also got lost looking for the wildlife preserve where the detours were located in Leg 7.
• Once Done, Never Forgotten: After spending 3 attempts trying to complete the Analyze Detour in Leg 6 (something they would have known how to do as police officers), Brian noted that if the other teams found out what they truly did they would wonder what kind of cops Brian & Cynthia were.
• Sacrificed Basic Skill for Awesome Training: Being police officers, they did not have any idea how to operate a camera to get a "selfie" for both of them during the Murals task in Santiago.
• Sarcastic Clapping: They both did this when Brent & Sean gave the Business Class option during the flight to India to Dujean & Leilani.
  Brian: Act happy, honey.
  Cynthia: (clapping) Yaaaay.
• Self-Deprecation: Brian said that he would be terrible at the Flight Plan task at Saskatoon Airport as he needed to take off his shoes to count higher than 10.
• Why Didn't I Think of That?: Cynthia struggled with the Spinning Log during the Atlantis Obstacle Roadblock for quite some time and had several contestants pass her as a result. When she finally succeeded in the task, she looked behind to see Kristin crawling across the log, resulting in her having this reaction written all over her face.

Neil Lumsden & Kristin Lumsden

Canadian Football Hall of Famer and his daughter. Aside from a first place finish in Leg 3, they mostly finished in the latter half of the standings, never finishing higher than 6th in all other legs. Upon arrival at Saskatoon's airport, they immediately found themselves overwhelmed with the Airport Flight Plan task, prompting Neil to tell the judge that they had decided to take a penalty after seeing Dujean & Leilani do the same. But while Dujean was able to breeze through the Trampoline Roadblock, Neil ended up struggling to complete the task. While they initially checked in the leg's Pit Stop in 4th, the other 3 trailing teams managed to check in (including Simi & Ope, who had struggled during the entire leg), resulting in their elimination in 7th.

• Big "WHAT?!": Kristin said this as part of her Oh, Crap! moment.
• Chekhov's Hobby:
  • Subverted during the first leg. Neil thought that his experiences with sports broadcasters would allow him to breeze through the Sports Broadcasting Roadblock. He ended up struggling and was one of the last ones to complete the task.
  • Despite Kristen's Game-Breaking Injury in Leg 5, she was able to breeze through the Ride It detour option as she was an accomplished equestrian (and that she did not have to use her legs to guide her horse through the track). She even coached Neil through the task as well.
• Dartboard of Hate: Kristin started yelling "Ex-Boyfriend! Ex-Boyfriend!" as she was hitting a piece of nickel ore with a large mallet during the Nickel mining task in Leg 6. It got to the point where she actually broke the mallet head off the handle.
• Disqualification-Induced Victory:
  • They won Leg 3 after Nic and Sabrina checked in first but received a 2-hour penalty for quitting the Blind Soccer challenge. Though how much this actually helped them was minimized by the fact that six other teams also checked in before Nic and Sabrina were finally able to serve up the penalty.
  • Subverted in Leg 5, Simi and Ope had also been issued a 4 hour penalty for not completing the Face-Off, but it was a non-elimination leg.
• Down to the Last Play: At least according to Jon and Neil, as Simi & Ope checked in with minutes for Neil & Kristin to finish serving their penalty.
• Elimination Montage
• Game-Breaking Injury: Kristin's legs cramped up so badly during the Sandcastle Roadblock in Leg 5 that they needed to visit a hospital. She was unable to complete that leg's Face-Off and were issued a 4-hour penalty as a result.
• I Broke a Nail: Kristin said this while searching for beer caps in their final leg.
• Leeroy Jenkins: After seeing Brent & Sean use their express pass and Dujean & Leilani take a penalty at the Flight Plan task at Saskatoon's airport, Neil told the task judge that they were taking a penalty. Kristen would complain that they should have talked about it first.
• Loophole Abuse: Kristin was one of four women who crawled across the spinning log during the Atlantis Obstacle Roadblock. Most notably, she did this in front of Cynthia (who previously had just struggled with the log but completed the Roadblock just ahead of Kristin), causing Cynthia to have a Why Didn't I Think of That? moment.
  Neil: Now that's using your head!!
• Motor Mouth:
  • Brian and Cynthia at least thought Kristin was doing this with her constant chatter during the Analyze Detour in Leg 6.
  • Neil said this about Kristin while they were performing the Bottle Cap Task in Leg 7.
• Oh, Crap!: Notably subverted at the end of Leg 3 when Kristin had a moment of panic when Jon said they were the second team to check in followed by "However..." Jon then said that Nic and Sabrina were serving a penalty and that Neil and Kristin were in fact in first place.
• Patricide: Joked about by Kristin during the Analyze Detour in Leg 6 by claiming that she was creating a new crime scene by "killing" her father.
• Rubber-Band A.I.: Despite taking a 4 hour penalty in Leg 5 and ending up in second-to-last place, they were able to catch up to the other teams in Leg 6 at the once-a-day ferry to PEI. This is made even more blatant by the fact that they were one of the first teams to reach the Vale Mine in Sudbury.
• Tempting Fate: They said they wanted to do well in their final leg as they won a leg before and wanted to win another one.

Nic La Monaca & Sabrina Mercuri

Dating couple, with Sabrina 10 years older than Nic. From the very first task, they were portrayed as a very mistake-prone team as they would constantly blunder or struggle through many of the tasks of the race. Even though they finished in the top half of the standings in the first two legs, the next three saw them scraping the bottom of the rankings. They were ultimately done in by struggling through both the Detour and the Roadblock during the sixth leg and finished in 8th place.

• Chekhov's Hobby: Played Straight in Legs 2 and 3, as their knowledge of Spanish allowed them to breeze past the detours in both Chile and Argentina. Slightly subverted during the Mentos Roadblock as while Sabrina was able to get the answers for the Roadblock almost immediately, she Failed a Spot Check with one of the letters and took a while to finish.
• Disqualification-Induced Victory: A variant: because Simi & Ope and Neil & Kristen opted to take penalties at the Face-Off in Leg 5, Nic and Sabrina were not able to do the Face-Off themselves and thus did not have to take a penalty. They were even able to check in ahead of both teams at the pit stop, but that was ultimately subverted as it was a non-elimination leg.
• Elimination Montage
• Establishing Character Moment: Sabrina whining and complaining through the Atlantis Obstacle Roadblock in the first leg.
• Failed a Spot Check: Sabrina initially struggled during the Mentos Spelling Roadblock in the 3rd leg as she did not realize that some p's could have been switched upside down to become d's instead, the letter remaining required to complete the Roadblock.
• I Was Never Here: As part of their Let Us Never Speak of This Again moment.
• Let Us Never Speak of This Again: After Sabrina finished struggling with the Atlantis Obstacle Roadblock, she had this conversation with Nic:
  Sabrina: Do not talk to me about it!
  Nic: Never again.
  Sabrina: Don't.
  Nic: I don't even know what just happened.
  Sabrina: Exactly.
  Nic: Whatever.
  Sabrina: We never came here.
  Nic: We never came here, you're not even wet!
• Likes Older Women: Sabrina is 10 years older than Nic.
• Loophole Abuse:
  • Twice in the first leg.
    • Nic reading the script instead of the teleprompter at the Sports Broadcasting Roadblock.
    • Sabrina was one of four women to crawl across the spinning log during the Atlantis Obstacle Roadblock.
  • In the second leg, they decided to use their cab driver to look for the murals in the second leg. It really didn't help them as they did not improve their standing when they finally completed the task.
• No Sense of Direction: They got lost during the very first task of the race when they could not locate Quai 22 in Quebec City. It didn't help that they didn't know what Quai meant.^note French for 'Quay'
• Omniglot: They speak English, French, Italian, and Spanish, the last one allowing them to breeze through the Emotion detour in Santiago where they had to rehearse a Spanish verse.
• Potty Emergency: Nic wanted to pee while being buried in the sand during the Sandcastle Roadblock in Leg 5, but was unable to do so due to the immense pressure on his bladder.
• Rubber-Band A.I.: Despite taking the longest to complete the very first task to find a pair of bicycles (and being forced onto the second flight), they were caught up by an equalizing point at St. Lawrence Market in Toronto, and ultimately finishing the first leg in 2nd place.
• Spotlight-Stealing Squad: They have had the most airtime during the first four legs, with both of them providing commentary about the tasks throughout the race. The spotlight was then moved away from them during their last two legs, but did not stop them from getting a Elimination Montage.
• Tempting Fate: Due to Sabrina being from Buenos Aires, she thought that they should do well during that leg. Not only that, with Nic being a former professional soccer player, they thought doing the Blindfold Soccer challenge would be easy. They would end up struggling for 2 hours and take a further 2 hour penalty, thus dropping them to 8th place.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Nic was terrified of going underwater, and thus they had to switch from the Bubbles to the Suds detour in Halifax.

Hamilton Elliott & Michaelia Drever

Engaged couple, Hamilton is the show's first transgender contestant. They hovered around the middle of the pack, and even won the 2nd leg after winning the express passes and using their own in the subsequent detour. However, things started to unravel for them in Halifax as Hamilton would realize that he had misplaced his passport on the plane from Toronto to Halifax. Things got a lot worse when they not only switched from the Bubbles to the Suds detour, but they also failed to read the part about the Suds detour that required them to pick up beer kegs at each location. Although they finished the detour quickly enough, they had to go back to the airport to retrieve Hamilton's located passport. Unfortunately, the time taken was long enough that despite Sabrina and Nic having an equally worse leg, they were unable to make up the time lost and finished in 9th.

• All of the Other Reindeer: During the Mentos Roadblock in Leg 3, Michaela noted that most of the other racers were working together^note Sabrina had already completed the Roadblock at that point, but no one wanted to work with Hamilton.
• Failed a Spot Check: Hamilton left his passport on the plane from Toronto to Halifax.
• Hypocrite: Hamilton refused to do the Motion detour in Santiago as it required him to change into a skimpy outfit, but was okay with changing into swimming trunks for the Bubbles detour in Halifax.
• The Load: Hamilton on their final leg. First he forgot his passport on the flight between Toronto to Halifax, then he had his struggles with the Bubbles detour, complaining about the cold water in the lobster tank. Finally, during the Suds detour, he insisted to Michaelia that they didn't have to do anything other than do beer deliveries despite the clue stating that they also had to pick up two beer kegs from each location. As the icing on the cake, he insisted on using the Express Pass on an earlier leg when it wasn't necessary. All four actions combined eventually led to their elimination.
• Older Than They Look: Discussed in the start of the second leg where they noted that people thought that they were 12.
• Read The Freaking Clue: They forgot to read the part about having to pick up 2 beer kegs from each of the three bars during the Suds detour and had to backtrack to pick them up. This ultimately cost them valuable time as they still had to go back to the Airport to retrieve Hamilton's misplaced passport.
• Reality Show Genre Blindness: See Strategy Versus Tactics. They also claimed to think that the second Express Pass that they had to give away was some form of advantage despite three other teams finding out the hard way that it wasn't.
• Strategy Versus Tactics: After winning the Dual Express passes in Santiago, they immediately burned theirs on the following Motion detour without checking out the Emotion detour. As a result, while they won the leg, they lost their only means of backup. Flash forward to Leg 4, and their struggles with the both sides of the Detour could have been mitigated with the use of said Express Pass and, with the team having to return to the airport for Hamilton's lost passport, would have potentially allowed them to beat the equally blundering Nic and Sabrina to the Pit Stop.

Dana Hayward & Amanda Johnston

Police Officers with the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary (RNC). After a pair of 7th place finishes, the 3rd leg saw them struggle with the Blind Soccer task much more than anyone else, despite being one of the first teams to arrive at the task. Despite finishing the task just ahead of Brent & Sean, Simi & Ope having to switch detours twice, and Nic & Sabrina being hit with a 2 hour penalty, they were passed up by the first 2 teams at the Dine detour, with Nic & Sabrina finally completing their penalty. They ultimately finished just behind Brian & Cynthia, eliminating them in 10th place.

• Chekhov's Hobby: Their experience with cheerleading enabled them to finish the Motion Detour in Chile faster than anyone else.
• Down to the Last Play: They finished just behind Brian & Cynthia in the third leg.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Despite being one of the early outs of the race while being badly Out of Focus, they were quite popular with the fanbase, second in voting for Favourite team of the race (with a prize of free gasoline from Petro Canada for a year). But because the actual winners with Gino and Jesse (who won free gas for life), Dana & Amanda ended up with the Favourite Team prize by default.
• Out of Focus
• Path of Most Resistance: Because their cab dropped them at the bottom of the hill near the Pit Stop in Santiago, they decided to run up the hill, not knowing that the cab could have driven them there instead. As a result, they dropped 3 places by the time they reached the Pit Stop.

Susan Hayre & Sharnjit Gill

Corrections officers. Due to a combination of bad cabs and struggling with the Murals task in Santiago, they fell far behind that despite Gino and Jesse switching detours, they were unable to catch up and finished 11th.

• Fatal Family Photo: Sharnjit talked about her daughter (with photos of the both of them) when she met the girl assisting them during the Painting Task during their last leg.
• Loophole Abuse: Sharnjit was one of four women who crawled across the spinning log during the Atlantis Obstacle Roadblock.
• No Sense of Direction: They got lost trying to find all of the murals in Santiago, which put them even further behind.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Susan was terrified of speaking in public, which led her to completely freeze during her first attempt at the Sports Broadcasting Roadblock. Despite being the second to arrive at the task she would continue to struggle and was the second-to-last to finish the Roadblock.

Max Altamuro & Elias Theodorou

Professional UFC fighter and his girlfriend. At the Sports Broadcasting Roadblock, Elias's dyslexia caused him to have difficulty pronouncing the words throughout the challenge. This put them so far behind that despite a good performance by Max at the Atlantis Obstacle Roadblock, they were ultimately eliminated in 12th.

• Delicious Distraction: Lampshaded by (a possibly very hungry) Max who thought he saw the word "dessert" in the Word Scramble clue at the St. Lawrence Market. Elias pointed out that the jumble didn't even include the letter D.
• Failure Montage: Got one of these during the sports broadcasting task, though it was relatively short compared to others
• Gender-Blender Name: Max.
• "L" Is for "Dyslexia": Elias has this, and it caused him to struggle with reading and speaking during the Sports Broadcasting Roadblock.
• Loophole Abuse: Max was one of four women who crawled across the spinning log during the Atlantis Obstacle Roadblock. It didn't help as they were eliminated anyway.
• Reality Show Genre Blindness: A minor case: given his sports background, Max wanted Elias to take the first Roadblock solely based on the description of the clue ("Who's Feeling Sporty Now?"). But because of its location in a television studio, they did not realize it likely involved something that was not physical. As a result, his dyslexia caused him to struggle during the Roadblock which ultimately caused their elimination.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Their only significant characterization was when Elias was struggling with the Sports Broadcasting Roadblock when they mentioned his dyslexia.