Characters / The Amazing Race Australia 5

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 fifth season of The Amazing Race Australia, which due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the race is designed for the teams to travel only around Australia. While this reduces the culture shock and travel planning among the teams, other aspects are highlighted, especially with the increased amount of self driving and legs.

This season also introduced new twists. First, in some legs the 1st leg winner are given a First Class Pass, an immunity where that team won't compete and therefore not going to be eliminated in the next leg and an ability to decide which of the bottom 2 team be struck by a Salvage (which gives an advantage) or a Sabotage (which gives a disadvantage). Second, in some legs Stowaway teams are introduced to compete against the remaining teams.

With a massive amount of changes throughout the season, the season ended being seen as a mixed bag. The biggest mixed bag was the twists. Some were well received like the Salvage, Sabotage, and First Class Pass. Others however were panned due to being flat out unfair such as the Stowaways which gave teams a chance to come in with very little buffer to make up and far less exhaustion weighing on them. The only thing that fans saw worse than that was the outrageously small penalties given for offenses like quitting a Roadblock or hitchhiking, which were a small fraction of what they were previously. The cast overall was very well-received due to the fact that this time, the edit took an initiative to show them off more so than Beau Ryan. Very few teams were Out of Focus with fans feeling decisively on almost every single team, which was no mean feat given the sheer volume. The leg number was doubled to 24, which created pacing issues due to the difficulty of figuring out non-elimination leg placement. Despite that though, they were able to improve the tasks and create a lot of original and varied tasks that failed to be derivative, which is another impressive feat given many seasons half as long often fail in the facet. The massive amount of teams caused frequent fluctuations in leg placements causing close finishes and surprising eliminations of teams that made for a lot of suspense. Despite a likable final 3, the finale had the same team keep the lead the entire leg which killed the suspense in the finale. The end result was a season that showed room for improvement, but is regarded as a far better production of a season in COVID times than the next one would be.

Brendon & Jackson

The cowboys.

• The Alliance: Part of the four-team "Originals" alliance revealed in leg 14, who work together for a survival advantage over the remaining 4 teams.
• Born Unlucky:
  • In leg 1, finding a pair of tongs in a pile of bamboo shoots took them almost 2 hours and dropping them from the top to the bottom of the pack.
  • This is discussed during the similar leg 19 Needle in the Hay Stack Challenge, though subverted as they are last when they arrived and have finished the task faster than Jaskirat & Anurag.
• Failed a Spot Check: Took a while to find the flag at the Bev Detour. Missed an olive pith that dropped on the floor in leg 19.
• Honor Before Reason: When intersected with vegan team Chris & Aleisha during the oyster eating challenge, the latter proposes skipping the challenge since they're already the last two teams since it wouldn't impact the leg placements. Furthermore, they find that Brendon can only eat one oyster.
  • Despite this, they initially reject the offer, and Jackson attempts to eat all remaining 99 oysters by himself! It's only after eating 34 oysters, Jackson starts to feel nauseated and agrees to skip the challenge.
  • Having to skip the task works out in their favor: the penalty gets voided (since it cancels out from both teams), and they receive a salvage pass that propels them forward in the next leg. The outcome would be the same if Jackson didn't force himself to consume all those oysters.
• Picky Eater: Despite their build and their jobs, they have a weak appetite.
  • In Leg 5, they dropped to the bottom 2 for struggling to eat 20 dry Weet-Bix bars.
  • In Leg 11, they choose the Snag Detour where they have to eat a plate of German Wurstplatte (which include bratwurst, frankfurters and pretzels), they are the only initial team chosen this task that couldn't eat them all and had to switch to Slap, which they considered one of their favorite tasks.
  • In Leg 17, during the Tasmanian Oyster Intersection, with this and their partners Chris & Aleisha being vegans, they had to take a penalty after finishing 30 oysters.
• Wholesome Crossdresser: Brendon during the House of Cards challenge.

Ashleigh & Amanda

The Gold Coast girls.

• Action Girl: In the 22 legs they participated in, they won 8 legs and had the highest average placement of 2.77.
• The Alliance: Part of the four-team "Originals" alliance revealed in leg 14, who work together for a survival advantage over the remaining 4 teams.
• Born Lucky: They got the correct apple out of 100 rather quickly in leg 17. They also found the needle and the haystack the fastest, narrowly snatching the win from Chris & Aleisha in leg 19.
• Born Winner: They won 8 legs, the highest of any team this season.
• It's All About Me: One of the pairs of competitors that focus on winning the race over helping people.
  • In Leg 7 they ignored Jessica when she was struggling to climb up a podium.
  • In Leg 11 they found a photo of Jordan and Violetta first in Adelaide Oval stadium during the task and decide not to tell them in contrast to other teams.
  • Averted in Leg 14, where they help their alliance members Skye-Blue in the Ginger picking Roadblock and then worked with Jaskirat & Anurang in the Cuckoo Detour. Also averted when they hug Joebelle and Rani after choosing them for a salvage pass in leg 5.
• Moral Myopia: Amanda is portrayed as having this in their rivalry with Chris & Aleshia.
  • During leg 9 she says to follow the example Jordan and Violetta's example in the balloon folding challenge but later accuses Chris and Aleisha of acting shady for "copying" them when building skateboard ramps, they would latter copy Chris & Aleisha during the olive refining challenge in leg 19.
  • During leg 22, when convincing their fellow alliance members to work together and get ahead to leave Chris and Aleisha for elimination: they state that they'd rather be in the game with people who were "good sports and play by the rules". This was shortly after taking all the mirrors in the stealth challenge on Dubbo, unwittingly leaving the other teams with none.

Jaskirat & Anurag

The Super Sikhs.

• The Alliance: Part of the four-team "Originals" alliance revealed in leg 14, who work together for a survival advantage over the remaining 4 teams.
• Complexity Addiction: The reason they struggled on the wheel counting task is because they kept mistaking the windmill for a wheel.
• Failed a Spot Check: In Leg 8, they dropped to the bottom of the pack because they misread a step during the Lion Dance Detour.
• Good Samaritan: Would help teams that were at a disadvantage. One notable example is when they consoled Dwes & Katherine to reconcile after an argument in leg 8.
• Honor Before Reason: Repeatedly offered help to the teams and gave the Salvage to the fit Holly & Dolor and the Sabotage to the out of shape Jude & Shannon. Averted when they joined and limited help to their alliance formed in leg 9.
• The Load: Sabo and Tage, their large plush Sabotage kangaroos, were designed to be this.
• Religious Bruiser: Of the Sikh variety.

Chris & Aleisha

A theme park princess and her partner, who works in IT.

• All the Other Reindeer: By Leg 14, they are treated as this by the remaining original alliance racing teams except for Holly & Dolor, apparently starting from them being seen as shady by 3 member teams in the alliance. As the legs goes on and being the only team left not in the alliance, they are noticeably not given help from the other teams (with some alliance members attempting to hinder them).
• Always Second Best: While they did win a leg in Coober Pedy, they placed second more frequently than any other team in the season, often by a narrow margin (e.g., being ahead the entire time on leg 19 only to lose their lead in a needle in a haystack challenge at the end). Aleisha (slightly frustrated) comments on this trend with,

  "It's what we do...consistently losing first place."

• Born Unlucky: In Leg 14, they arrived at the Cuckoo detour in leg 14 just in time for Skye-Blue & Jake to direct their attention away from the correct area. Switched detours 2 minutes before Holly & Dolor found the correct clock (with the latter willing to share the answer). When they ended up placing 2nd last, it was a sabotage/salvage leg with them being chosen for the former (due to being perceived as a high performing team outside the alliance). This cost them the win in their home town in leg 15.
• Give Geeks a Chance: Their theme, Aleisha seems to genuinely love Chris without any Gold Digger intent.
• Honor Before Reason: They are vegans before the race started, and choose not to take any options that they would consume meat products (like choosing the lengthy Spirits Task in Leg 16 or not using taste to help in the food identification challenge in leg 20) unless the situation is very dire, like Leg 21 where when U-Turned, Chris choose to finish the Crack task to avoid a penalty for the next leg.
• Manipulative Editing: Done to them on leg 21. In a flashback for leg 17 Chris is quoted out of context as saying "Either you eat 100 oysters or we both take the penalty", incorrectly inferring that they pushed the cowboys to do the challenge. In actual fact, they were proposing to skip the challenge since both teams were in last place and the penalty would cancel out. Chris stated that he didn't want the cowboys to be sick (one of them could only stomach one, while C & A were vegans). Both teams eventually agreed to skip the challenge, working out in the cowboys favour when they received the salvage in the next episode.
• The Load: Their Sabotage in Leg 15 is to carry the backpacks of Stan & Wayne, where one is probably heavier than both their backpacks combined.
• No Sense of Direction: In Leg 11, they took a really long time to find the Adelaide Oval.
• Sickening Sweethearts: They realized that they couldn't hide their olive processing technique from their competitors in leg 19. So they decide to declare their love for each other before rushing through the task, drawing quizzical glances from their alliance rivals seated on either side of them:
  Aleisha: Chris! Olove you!
  Chris: Aw, olove you too!
• Weak, but Skilled: They excel in mental & skill (especially routine) based challenges then covers their deficit in some of the physical challenges, especially with Aleisha who noticeably struggles when she had to race on foot carrying a load.

Skye-Blue & Jake

Siblings, mostly characterised by Skye-Blue's lack of half an arm.

• Determinator: Skye-Blue didn't give up on her Leg 7 Roadblock attempt, despite taking 78 attempts to throw the knife into the target.
• Fanservice: Skye-Blue is completely butt naked when doing the nudie run. She's blurred out but viewers can still see the shape of her body.
• Good Samaritan: Skye-Blue noticed a struggling Jess during a Roadblock attempt, and got the throwing knife out for Jessica.
  Skye-Blue: At the end of the day, you want to be a good person.
• Hand-or-Object Underwear: Skye-Blue and Jake cover up their private parts with their hands and arms while doing the nudie run. Everything is blurred out except their butts.
• Inspirationally Disadvantaged: Skye-Blue, like Sticky, is missing half her arm.
• Naked People Are Funny: Both Skye-Blue and Jake had to swim to the pontoon naked for the Fast Forward challenge. Chris also made an Aside Glance regarding the Fast Forward.
  Chris: There's definitely going to be photos of Jake naked out there on the internet now.
• Out of Character: In a leg 14 confession discussing about alliances, Skye-Blue described Chris & Aleisha as fake.
• Reluctant Fanservice Girl: Skye-Blue yells, "Don't look!" as she's emerging from her changing tent in nothing but her birthday suit. She is trying to cover herself up with her arms, but the viewers can still see her body.
• The Alliance: The founders of the four team "Originals" alliance revealed in leg 14, who work together for a survival advantage over the remaining 4 teams. They were beaten to the pitstops by the last non alliance team: Chris & Aleisha in their final legs. However the remaining alliance members overtook the latter rivals (with some information sharing and a u-turn to make the finale). Jake even posts a "For The Alliance" meme on Twitter when it's revealed that all the other members survived to the final leg.

Holly & Dolor

The power couple.

• Born Lucky:
  • Leg 2: Despite performing marginally better than Jude & Shannon in the first 2 legs (as in 1 place higher in both legs), Jaskirat & Anurag chose to Salvage them because of it.
  • Leg 3: Said Salvage ends up being a great one in being able to jump the queue at any challenge, which they used for the Hours Of Operation in the Winton Truck Museum task, jumping them to the top.
  • Leg 6: The penalty of Jobelle & Rani during the Treasure Hunt task turn it to a last minute breather leg for them, as they are the 2nd last to check in.
  • Leg 9: They placed last in a Keep On Racing leg.
  • Leg 10: During the Roadblock, when they are last, Dwes (at 9th) painted their supposed spot (the 10th last letter), it took Dwes painted half the letter red to realized Dwes read the clue wrong. This helps Dolor to do half the work. Then Holly accidentally caught Dwes' ball allowing them to complete the task on a technicality.
  • Leg 12: The 1st day they placed last after struggling in the Roll Detour, but the second day, an Intersection task where they teamed up with Ashleigh & Amanda had them excel and placed them in the Top 2, even with Dolor having his dramatic fit.
• Collapsed Mid-Speech: Downplayed, while Dolor is talking during the Leg 5 Pole Hanging Roadblock after Shane fell first, Jessica interrupted him mid sentence as Holly fell later.
• Driving Stick: Dolor sucked at driving a manual car, even stalling traffic and receiving an angry horn blare at one point.
• Follow the Leader: Had an uncommon habit of copying a fellow team's work, including copying on MJ and Chelsea for the House of Cards challenge.
• Jerkass: Dolor.
• Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Both Holly & Dolor. While they do have a right to be annoyed over being U-Turned, the people who U-Turned them (Shane & Deb, who didn't do that out of spite) had no choice but to withdraw the following leg due to injury. Rather than saying goodbye and wishing the couple well, Dolor remained focused on braiding Holly’s hair as this was going on.
• The Load: Dolor. He has a mentality to react dramatically when things go wrong, which hampers his team in finishing tasks faster than they liked.
• The Masochism Tango: The season main fighting couple, especially when they don't do well in tasks where one don't listen to the other.

Jordan & Violeta

Dancing exes.

• Amicable Exes: Their relationship in a nutshell.
• Chekhov's Hobby: Violeta is a fan of hot air balloons due to her father being a hot air balloon pilot, so she used her knowledge to help her team to finish first in Leg 9's Intersection.
• Failed a Spot Check: In Leg 3, after finishing the Winton Truck Museum task, it took a while for them to realize that they forgotten to collect their bags, dropping them to the danger zone.
• Honor Before Reason / Good Samaritan: Jordan tells the other teams where the last treasure bottle is in leg 6, despite the risk of elimination at the bottom of the pack. When asked by Violeta why he did it, Jordan replies he didn't want to risk being perceived as "shady".
• One Degree of Separation: Violeta with host Beau Ryan. Beau Ryan competed in the 17th season of Dancing With The Stars Australia, with Violeta being the season's new professional (although they are not paired up).
• Working with the Ex: Part of their advertising.

Dwes & Katherine

An Aboriginal duo of cousins and initially the only team to represent a location not on the east coast of Australia (the Kimberley).

• Born Lucky: Not only were they let back in, but they constantly got extremely light penalties for things that were considered serious offenses in the American version.
• Camp Gay: Dwes.
• My Greatest Second Chance: Dwes & Katherine were initially eliminated from the race by coming last on Leg 1. However, due to Alex & Jack leaving the following leg, Dwes & Katherine agreed to return to the race on Leg 3.
• Read the Freaking Manual: In Leg 10, during the Coober Pedy Roadblock Dwes ignored the clue that said he had to paint the letter according to his placement (9th), choosing to paint the 10th spot because he thought it was easier and by the time he realized his mistake, he had painted half of the letter, making the work of the 10th team easier.

Sefa & Jessica

A team with Polynesian ancestry.

• Big Fun: Both had their moments, but particularly Jessica.
• Determinator: Jessica didn't give up on her Leg 7 Roadblock attempt, despite taking 81 attempts to throw the knife into the target.
• Trash Talk: One of their stated favorite things. They proved that right, often with their target being Dolor.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Crocodiles for Jessica, which she experienced in full force with holding one and traversing a pond full of crocodiles.

Jobelle & Rani

Father and daughter. Jobelle is a fan of the series, having watched the Race in the Philippines.

• Ascended Fan: Grew up watching the series, so being a part of the Race was a dream come true.
• Death by Genre Savviness: Their knowledge of the race, would sometimes cause them stress when things didn't go to plan (e.g. getting lost in leg 1). They went back to fetch the lantern in following the clue to the letter in leg 4, worrying that it would cause them to miss the first flight (averted as they made it back in time). Elected to abandon a bottle in the treasure hunt in leg 6 (when it turned out that Jobelle struggled with swimming), knowing they would incur a penalty but family safety was more critical.
• Genre Savvy: Particularly Rani, being well familiar with the show and its format, they knew the importance of navigation, getting along with other teams and reading clues to the letter (often citing past races in their strategy).

Deb & Shane

The mum and dad.

• Game-Breaking Injury: The main reason why Shane & Deb withdrew from the race was due to Shane's knee being too damaged from the Roadblock for him to continue the next day.
• Irony: In the race, Deb had a leg injury that hampered her mobility, but it was Shane whose leg injury caused them to depart from the race.
• Nice Guy: On good terms with pretty much anyone (besides Holly and Dolor who they were forced to U-turn but knew that they'd stay in the race). All the remaining teams gave them a teary farewell at their elimination.

Malaan & Tina

• Childhood Friends
• Out of Focus: You'd think a team that worked and travelled for the UN would get more screen time, not this time.

Jude & Shannon

Mothers.

• Elective Mute: Enforced by their Sabotage in Leg 3, where Shannon is forced to not speak for the leg.

Alex & Jack

Twin models.

• The Unreveal: It's never elaborated on what exactly caused them to leave aside from vaguely-alluded-to "mental health issues". Justified as it seemed like a very personal issue, with the duo agreeing that competing in this race isn't the right environment to deal with the issues.

Stowaway Teams (Spoilers Ahead)

Throughout the Race, there are teams that would join in as stowaways.

MJ and Chelsea

Footballers, introduced in Leg 7.

• Action Girl: For 10 legs they competed in, they won 3 of them.
• Bittersweet Ending: They ended up losing, but they ended up proving they were on even footing with the remaining teams and even hooked up after the race.
• Hide Your Lesbians: Justified, as they elected to hide their relationship because they wanted to focus on the race and didn't want the stress of the race to hamper their relationship.
• Lesbian Jock: Both of them.
• Relationship Upgrade: They started dating after the race.
• Sequence Breaking: Leg 13, lost in finding the Casa Pasta Restaurant (for their Lady & The Tramp Detour), they drove themselves to the Pit Stop. Naturally, they had to go back, dropping them to 7th.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: MJ's full first name is "Marijana". (Obviously, the Race staff didn't want anyone misspelling her name...)

Stan & Wayne

Bodybuilders, introduced in Leg 10.

• Dumb Muscle: To the point there was even a "Hulk smash!" joke.
• Gentle Giant: They're shown to be quite polite towards other teams, feeling bad when made to give their bags to Chris & Aleisha to carry during the sabotage of leg 15.
• Irony: The first 2 legs where they finished last are caused by their terrible sense of direction. The last leg they are eliminated has no self driving involved.
• No Sense of Direction: Mostly characterised by their terrible sense of direction, as well as their muscles. Lampshaded by Amanda in leg 13:

Amanda: Some van's down there parked in a freakin' bush!

• Rule of Three: On legs 13 to 15, they finished last. It took the third leg for them to finally be eliminated.