Characters / The Amazing Race Australia v New Zealand

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 Australia almost did not happen. Following the widely loved second season, the Seven Network cancelled the show, replacing it with a revival of The Mole. However, The Mole tanked, and after a year off the air, the Seven Network brought the Race back, but this time with a new twist. As they had taken over production of the show from activeTV^note the company that produced The Amazing Race Asia, they expanded their casting choices to include New Zealanders as well, and re-branded the show as a battle between Australian teams and New Zealand teams. To make the two sides even, they cut the number of teams to ten, five from each country, and reduced the course to only ten legs as well. They announced the show for Summer 2014, taking place during the off season between The Amazing Race: All-Stars (2014) and The Amazing Race 25, and airing almost concurrently with The Amazing Race Canada 2.

The Kiwis dominated early, as they won the first five legs of the season. Not only were the first two eliminated teams Australian, but it took until leg five for an Australian team to finish as high as 2nd place. However, the New Zealand teams would never win another leg, as all five Kiwi teams proceeded to get eliminated in a row, leaving a Final 3 completely made up of Australians. While the season was not as well loved as its predecessor^note though not many seasons are, it was still a good season, featuring a wide variety of characters, ranging from likable, to wacky, to hammy, to villainous, and, unlike the simultaneously airing Canada Season 2, was very competitive, with over half the teams looking like they had a decent chance to win.

Daniel Little & Ryan Thomas (Australia)

Intensive Care Nurses, they came into the season focused more on having a good time than winning. They played a strong social game, relying on their alliances with the other teams and their ability to charm locals to carry them deep in the game. This was offset by their poor navigation skills, which nearly got them eliminated twice. In the finale, Ryan was able pass Sally in the final memory Roadblock, winning them the race, and proving to themselves that Nice Guys can sometimes finish first.

• Anything but That!: Daniel's reaction to finding out that he was going to have to shave of his hair to win the Fast Forward and stay in the Race.
• Cerebus Syndrome: They suffered this over the course of the season. They started out caring more about having a good time than winning. However, having to deal with Murray & John's aggressive play caused them to play more cutthroat. When they won the Salvage Pass in leg 6, they decided not to save Murray & John with it. In leg 7, after Sally & Tyson led them the wrong way in Portugal, they decided to no longer trust the couple, and later ditched them on the way to the Pit Stop. They ended the leg by saying it was now every man for himself.
• Chekhov's Hobby: Subverted at the horse preparation Roadblock in leg 9, when Daniel had to wrap bandages around the horses leg twice, despite having to wrap bandages all the time as a nurse.
• The Charmer: The show described them as this during the recap prior to the finale, saying they had charmed their way around the world.
• Comedic Sociopathy: How they described their Schadenfreude reaction to John & Murray showing up at the Coat Rack Detour to find all the table being used and all the teams there refusing to share.
• Delicious Distraction: Ryan got distracted at the beginning of the umbrella counting Detour when he spotted some Portuguese tarts.
• Drives Like Crazy: Their driver in Kostroma, Russia, who at one point darted between two trucks, spun out, and recovered before getting t-boned.
• Epic Fail: While breaking during the pool Detour in leg 2, Daniel just grazed the cue ball, causing it to travel a foot, not even coming into contact with the other balls.
• Failed a Spot Check:
  • They ran right by the clue outside the Battleship Aurora. However, they did not waste as much time looking for it as Carla & Hereni did, as the moms told them the location of the clue in exchange for working with them on the task.
  • All three Australian teams failed to notice the smallest doll during the Russian nesting doll task, forcing them to go back through all the dolls in the first room once Daniel noticed this.
  • After having a razor thin lead throughout the Melbourne portion of the finale, they fell behind Tyson & Sally right before the final Roadblock when they missed the sign for Loch Ard Gorge.
• First-World Problems: Daniel made a huge deal over cutting his hair off, talking about how much he was sacrificing by doing it, and tried to reason his way out of it.
• The Glomp: Daniel to the task judge after catching his sheep at the first Roadblock.
• Griefer: During the Russian nesting doll task, Ryan saw John point to the blue doll as the one he wanted, so he grabbed it out from under John.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: They rushed at the chance to take the Fast Forward in leg 8, even dissuading Tyson & Sally from taking it, because they wanted to make sure none of the trailing teams could take it. So, Daniel having to shave his head was his own fault.
• Honor Is Fair Play: They repeatedly said that it was more important for them to have fun and run the race with integrity than it was for them to win.
  • They didn't approve of how John & Murray played so aggressively and decided not to save them with the Salvage Pass.
• Humiliation Conga: The eighth leg for Daniel, who had to shave off his long hair to win the Fast Forward and kept them in the game, only to then not even win the leg, the two of them coming in 3rd. When Grant asked him if it was worth it, he said, "Hell no."
• In-Series Nickname: Team Jesus, which was coined first by Jesse, but was later widely used, and even themselves referring as so in a chat with fans.
• Moral Myopia: In leg 9, they complained about how Sally would not help them translate the soccer player's during the Tribute Detour, even though they had refused to help Carla & Hereni in a similar situation earlier in the leg, and they had deliberately ditched Sally & Tyson two legs previously on their way to the Pit Stop.
• Nice Guy: How both they and Grant described themselves during the finale.
• Nice Guys Finish Last: Referenced at the Finish Line, where they said the sometimes nice guys do win.
• No Sense of Direction:
  • They drove an hour out of their way to begin the fourth leg, driving to the main campus for the University of Namibia instead of the Neudamm campus. They even passed Tyson & Sally pulling a U-Turn to go down the correct road at one point and kept going. This put them so far behind that it took Jono suffering from dehydration to keep them in the Race.
  • Their struggles to both navigate Dubrovnik during the Fast Forward and while looking for the Pit Stop is one of the reasons they finished 3rd despite winning the Fast Forward.
  • They got lost again while trying to find Hollywood Boulevard in the finale, but the later flight to Melbourne negated this mistake.
• Nobody Touches the Hair: Teased during the Fast Forward in leg 8, when Daniel nearly quit the Fast Forward and cost them the race due to not wanting to lose the hair he had been growing for six years.
• Read the Freaking Clue: At the Poo Detour, Ryan continued to spit poo pellets after he had completed his two 8m spits.
• Reality Show Genre Blindness: Their decision to exchange their money immediately after arriving in Argentina, putting them in a ten minute hole to start the leg (that was immediately negated by bad cab drivers for Carla & Hereni and Jarrod & Ashleigh).
• The Reveal: During the eighth leg, they deliberately kept their hats on during their Confession Cams so he audience would not know whether or not Daniel went through with cutting of his hair, only pulling the hats off after he started the shaving process.
• Sore Loser: Daniel said the New Zealand teams should be proud of winning the tug of war, as it proved the could pull a rope.
• Stubborn Mule: They took ten minutes to corral their baboons during the task in Namibia. This was probably because they were the only team without a woman around, as the baboons all seemed to run to the women.
• This Is Gonna Suck: Daniel, during the Fast Forward when he saw they were delivering their prayer cards to a barber, as he knew what that meant.
• Wrongfully Attributed: They failed their first attempt at the celebrity look-a-like task in the finale when they thought Olivia Newton John was from Australia^note She was actually born in Great Britain before moving to Australia.

Tyson Smith & Sally Yamamoto (Australia)

Dating bodybuilders who got engaged over the course of the season. After nearly getting eliminated in the first leg, the hovered around the middle of the pack for most of the season, with Tyson's massive bodybuilder physique being as much of a hindrance as it was a benefit to their team, and they provided many comic relief moments usually at their own expense. They persisted deep into the game thanks to their blindingly positive attitudes and their alliance with Daniel & Ryan, and finally found their stride by winning the 8th leg, even beating Daniel & Ryan, who won the Fast Forward. In the finale, they went into the final memory Roadblock in the lead, however Sally had trouble remembering what the 6th Pit Stop Greeter had been wearing, as she had been distracted by Tyson's proposal. This allowed Ryan to pass her, and they wound up in 2nd place.

• Affectionate Nickname/In-Series Nickname: "Puppy" for Tyson.
• Ascended to Carnivorism: Vegetarian Sally ate a hot dog for a task in the finale.
• Big Eater: They eat six meals a day to keep up their metabolism, and came into the race worried about when and what they would eat.
• Bribe Backfire: At the Dubrovnik airport, Tyson gave a Mars Bar to the woman out front of the Business Center so that she wouldn't allow any of the other teams in, just them. All of the other Australian teams naturally got in, which lead to Tyson wondering if he could get his candy bar back, as he'd been saving it.
  • In the finale, he tried bribing the desk clerks at Ray's Photo Lab to send Daniel & Ryan the long way to the next location, though we never got to see the results of this attempt.
• Broken Tears: Sally, after the final Roadblock. She was not sure whether she should be happy, as they were at the end of the Race, or sad, because she had just caused them to lose.
• Death by Irony: What was one of the happiest moments of her life also cost Sally the Race. She was understandably too distracted by Tyson's proposal to notice much of what else was going on. Fast Forward to the finale, she could not remember what the Pit Stop Greeter was wearing and holding, and his hand drill was the last of the nine items she figured out, contributing to their 2nd place finish.
• Dramatic Thunder: Used by the show to emphasize Sally finally completing the poo spitting Detour, as they showed a (rather fake looking) thunder strike behind her as she launched her successful last spit.
• Driving Stick: Tyson had trouble putting their car in reverse in Portugal.
• Failed a Spot Check: All three Australian teams failed to notice the smallest doll during the Russian nesting doll task, forcing them to go back through all the dolls in the first room once Daniel noticed this.

• Gentle Giant: Sally's nickname for Tyson was "Puppy," as he was as gentle as a puppy.
• Global Ignorance:
  • When told to fly to Portugal, they thought they were heading to South America.
  • When told to find a dramatic bookstore in Argentina, Sally asked if Shakespeare was Argentinian.
• Held Gaze: How most of their confessionals were done, with only brief glimpses towards the camera.
• Honor Before Reason: Sally had to drill it into Tyson's head at the beginning of the final leg that at this point in the game, "we don't help other people."
• Honor Is Fair Play: At the beginning of the third leg, they said it was important to them to race with integrity.
• Horrible Judge of Character: In general, they were far too trusting of the other teams:
  • After being U-Turned by Murray & John, Sally said she had not expected to be U-Turned, as she did not think anyone would want to hurt them like that. Also can double as Reality Show Genre Blindness, as they interpreted it as more of a personal move than a gameplay one.
  • They gave up their cab in St. Peterburg, a precious commodity there, to Jarrod & Ashleigh because Jarrod offered to give them a clue to the next task, and they promised to send the cab back to the battleship. The clue ended up being pointless and Jarrod & Ashleigh kept the cab for themselves.
• Language Barrier:
  • After leaving the Detour in 1st place in leg 7, they, along with Daniel & Ryan, hired a taxi to take them to Fisherman's Beach. What she did not know is that there was more than one Fisherman's Beach in Portugal, and their cab driver was taking them to the wrong one, dropping them behind the two New Zealand teams and causing Daniel & Ryan to stop trusting them.
  • During the Tribute Detour in leg 9, the soccer player who was supposed to give them their next clue spoke in Spanish, and the man they got to translate for them did not tell them they had to give the answer to the soccer player. After learning the first part of the question (which hospital was Maradona born in), they headed off to the hospital. Only when they were en route did Sally realize that they had not been directed to go there, and they turned around.
• Mighty Glacier: They basis for Murray & John's strategy to win the tug of war was that Tyson was all muscle and no speed, and he would quickly tire himself out if they they just sat on the ground and allowed him to tire himself out tugging.
• Mr. Fanservice/Ms. Fanservice: They are both competitive bodybuilders, and were both in tiny bikinis in their part of the opening credits.
• Muscles Are Meaningful:
  • When the teams saw the Starting Line Task would be tug of war, the Australian teams took one look at Tyson and started celebrating their win right away, only to be destroyed by the New Zealand teams who strategically allowed the Australian teams to tire themselves out tugging. Ashleigh even made a comment about how useless he was during the task, commenting that he must just be wearing a muscle suit.
    • The easiest explanation for this is that Tyson is a bodybuilder, and that his muscles are more for show than practical use, so guys like Murray & John, who don't look as fit but play rugby, can actually be as strong or stronger than Tyson depending on the situation.
  • In both the 8th and 9th legs, when Tyson's size caused him problems both while climbing Fort St. John in the second Roadblock in Croatia, and in balancing their boat whole rowing to the Pit Stop in Argentina.
• Never My Fault: After losing the tug of war challenge despite their celebrating before the challenge even started, Tyson said the other team won because of their weight advantage, as opposed to his own failure as the team's anchor.
• No Sense of Direction:
  • They got extremely lost looking for Rangitata Rafts in the first leg, even winding up at the office for the company instead of the river. This would have gotten them eliminated if not for Inga & Tiharna forgetting their ring.
  • They got lost looking for the Pit Stop in leg 7, dropping them from 1st place to 4th.
• One Head Taller
• Potty Emergency: Tyson claimed to have a nervous bladder, stress causing him to have to pee.
  • Tyson, much to Sally's consternation, in the middle of the Detour in St. Petersburg.
  • Tyson, once again, during the Detour in Kostroma, which caused them to switch from the fire wood stacking Detour to the russian bath one, thinking he would be able to relieve himself while in the "hot tub." Much to Sally's relief, he was unable to go in the cold water, and he waited until they reached the Roadblock.
  • Tyson's bladder failed him again in leg 7 when they arrived at the Pit Stop. With Sally in a panic thinking they were in last place, Tyson decided he could not wait until they climbed a steep hill and had checked in and relieved himself in a bush.
  • After collecting the Detour clue at the El Ateneo bookstore in leg 9, Tyson once again required a toilet break.
  • Tyson again had to pee in the finale during the Celebrity Look-A-Like task, forcing them to stop before turning in their pictures.
  • Tyson had a second one later in the finale after departing their helicopter for the first time.
• Relationship Upgrade: Tyson proposed to Sally at the Kostroma Pit Stop, on their 4th anniversary.
• Read the Freaking Clue:
  • Upon being the first team from the second flight to reach the Cardboard Cathedral in the first leg, Sally saw the departure time flags hanging in the church, but they left the cathedral without grabbing one of the two remaining 8:15 times, allowing Elizabeth & Todd to grab the spot that should have been theirs. Not only was this written in the clue, but it should have been common sense to grab one of the departure times to anyone who had seen the race before.
  • Later in the same leg, they went to the office for Rangitata Rafts instead of the Rangitata River location because Tyson misread the clue.
• Read the Freaking Manual:
  • Tyson refused to look at the example during the wood stacking Detour, as he had grown up on a farm, and said he knew how to stack wood. He was stacking the wood wrong, but they never finished the task, as they made the decision to switch to the Russian bath task before getting the stack judged.
• Reality Show Genre Blindness:
  • See Read the Freaking Clue.
  • At the semaphore Roadblock in leg 5, Sally and Cat were the last two doing the task. When Sally completed it first, she put down her chalkboard next to Cat without erasing the answer first. She regretted this later when Jesse & Cat passed them at the Detour.
  • Their decision to exchange their money immediately after arriving in Argentina, putting them in a ten minute hole to start the leg (that was immediately negated by bad cab drivers for Carla & Hereni and Jarrod & Ashleigh).
• Running Gag: Tyson's weak bladder.
• Tears of Joy: Sally, after being proposed to in leg 6.
• Tempting Fate: See Muscles Are Meaningful.
• This Is A Race: Why they decided to stop working with Daniel & Ryan in the penultimate leg, and especially why they would not help when Daniel & Ryan were struggling with the Tribute Detour.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Spiders for Sally.

Ashleigh Jende & Jarrod Jende (Australia)

Newlyweds, Jarrod's Hair-Trigger Temper made them the villains of the season after John & Murray's exit. Their otherwise strong performances were generally undercut by Jarrod, who would get easily flustered any time they struggled or he fell out of his comfort zone. In the finale, they fell behind during the Air portion of the Air, Land & Sea task, when Jarrod could not figure out how to work their binoculars, and their subsequent bickering dropped them behind. They continued to struggle to find their clue on the Land portion of the task, dropping them further behind, giving Jarrod and poor memory of the Pit Stop Greeters very little time to catch up on the final memory task, causing them to finish 3rd.

• All or Nothing: Discussed in the fourth leg, as they said they wanted to win a leg, as there was no prize for 2nd place.
• Cluster F-Bomb: Jarrod, during his breakdown over the binoculars in the finale.
• Damn You, Muscle Memory!: Leaving Pink's Hot Dogs in Los Angeles, Jarrod drove on the wrong side of the road.
• Driving Stick: Jarrod had issues with his clutch in Portugal, forgetting to take the hand brake off on two separate occasions, and struggling with the clutch.
• Epic Fail: Jarrod had two different task judges laugh at him in leg 7. First, the judge at the Portuguese Fado song laughed at his first attempt at singing. Later, the task judge at the Wet Detour laughed at his guess of 3,000 yellow umbrellas^note The correct answer was 297
• Failing a Taxi: Their issues hailing a cab in St. Petersburg leaving the Battleship Aurora caused them to run back to the battleship and steal Sally & Tyson's cab.
• Failed a Spot Check:
  • All three Australian teams failed to notice the smallest doll during the Russian nesting doll task, forcing them to go back through all the dolls in the first room once Daniel noticed this.
  • During the outdoor bath Detour in Russia, Jarrod could not find the kindling bucket despite Ashleigh repeatedly pointing it out to him, and even picking it up at one point.
• Global Ignorance: Jarrod asked their cab driver in St. Petersburg how many rupees he owed them instead of rubles.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Jarrod was easily flustered whenever anything went wrong, or he was put out of his comfort zone. The other teams knew this, with Tyson mentioning in the finale that the reason they passed Jarrod while driving in Los Angeles was that he did not handle being behind very well.
• Head Desk: After wasting a lot of time counting umbrellas at the Detour in leg 7, Ashleigh decided to reread the clue and discovered that they only had to count the yellow umbrellas, not all of them. Jarrod proceeded to pound his head on a nearby wall.
• High-Five Left Hanging: Daniel offers them a high-five after finding a clue just ahead of them first...Ashleigh seemingly elbows him instead.
• Jerkass: Jarrod got a promo clip before the season even started entitled, "Typical Bloody Jarrod," which showed what a Jerkass he was. This quickly became apparent this was not an exaggeration on the show's part, as he seemed to make Jerkass comments in response to everything on the course.
• Language Barrier: Jarrod was happy to see they would be flying to Los Angeles in the finale, as he had been complaining about the Language Barrier all season, and finally would have locals who spoke English.
• Leonine Contract: In leg 6 Jarrod offered Sally and Tyson a "Vital clue" in exchange for using their taxi which they said they'd return. Turns out the "clue" was useless to the latter (what the start sign of the coded signals were), as it was printed on the codes in front of the challenge (Jarrod simply missed it). Worse yet, Jarrod & Ashleigh didn't fulfil their promise with seemingly no apology in their confessionals.
• Malaproper: Jarrod could not pronounce "Namibia," repeatedly saying, "Nafibia."
• The Masochism Tango: This was generally instigated by Jarrod whenever he had to do something outside of his comfort zone.
• Motor Mouth: When describing Christy's Motor Mouth on the bus ride to Bangkok, Jarrod compared her to Ashleigh.
• Mythology Gag: At the beginning of the penultimate leg, Ashleigh quoted the U.S. version's most famous Share Phrase, "It's on like Donkey Kong."
• No Sense of Direction:
  • They got lost looking for Rangitata Rafts in New Zealand.
  • They went the wrong way while looking for the travel agency in Thailand, allowing two teams to pass them. This mistake was immediately negated as their clue told them to fly to Krabi.
• Picky Eater: Jarrod had very basic tastes in food, which caused him to fall apart during the task in the finale that asked him to eat a single hot dog, just because it had onions on it. They fell from first to last place, and Daniel called him a "pussy" after seeing how he was reacting over a single hot dog.
• Politeness Judo: At the Otway Ranges in the finale, Jarrod asked the locals near the clue to send the next team to come along climbing up a nearby tower instead of down the path to the clue. When Tyson & Sally did arrive, the locals did send them the wrong way, though very briefly.
• Rage Quit: During the Detour in leg 7, Jarrod first got upset while trying to find a single piece of laundry during the Dry side of the Detour, forcing Ashleigh to switch back to the Wet side. When umbrella counting proved to be just as frustrating, Jarrod sat down in a nearby chair, acting, as Ashleigh described, like a baby.
• Read the Freaking Clue: After already switching Detours twice in Lisbon, they started the Wet section by counting all the umbrellas, rather than just the yellow ones, giving such ridiculously high numbers as 888 and 3,000^note The number was 297. They wasted so much time they finished the leg long after all the teams, only to be saved by a non-elimination leg
• Sir Swears-a-Lot: Throughout the Race, Jarrod had a tendency to swear, but it got so bad in the finale during his breakdown over the binoculars that Ashleigh had to tell him to stop.
• This Is A Race:
  • Jarrod, when he refused to show Jono his clue during the lion feeding Roadblock.
  • Why Jarrod asked locals to send Tyson & Sally the wrong way at the Otway Ranges.
• Trash Talk: Almost everything and anything: from the other teams (ahead and behind), the locals and challenges.

Jarrod kept insulting Jono during the confessionals when the latter was suffering from bad dehydration in leg 4. Jarrod berated Daniel while he was attempting the horse preparation Roadblock in leg 9, saying he was very "feminine." When Daniel and Ryan won a challenge in front of them he said "Well done boys! You wa***".

• Villainous Breakdown: Jarrod had a multi-stage breakdown in the finale. First, over the hot dog he had to eat to finish the Los Angeles portion of the leg, his procrastination dropping them from first place to last. Later, in the skies over Port Campbell, he lost it due to his inability to use the binoculars. Being able to see the other two teams pull further and further ahead didn't help either.
• Wearing a Flag on Your Head: Ashleigh sported an Australian flag bandanna.

Carla Beazley & Hereni Fulton (New Zealand)

Fitness mums. They constantly found themselves falling to the back of the pack due to a combination of countless small mistakes, and always seeming to find bad cab drivers. While traveling through Buenos Aires, they were frequently frustrated by a combination of traffic and a taxi driver who refused to get directions, as well as losing a lot of time looking for a book at the Detour that had been provided for them. While they managed to complete the Detour on their first attempt and looked about to claim the third spot in the Final 3, they made the fatal decision to row the wrong way down the river to the Pit Stop. This allowed the trailing Daniel & Ryan to pull ahead, and eliminated them in 4th. With their elimination, the chance of a New Zealand team winning was shattered and it was guaranteed this season's winner would be an Australian team.

• Action Mom
• Chekhov's Hobby: Carla taught dance to kids, which allowed them to learn the choreography to the tango Detour in leg 9 on their first try, almost getting them into the Final 3.
• Failed a Spot Check:
  • They ran right by the clue outside the Battleship Aurora, wasting at least 20 minutes, and much of the lead they had gotten by getting the first flight, searching for the clue on the ship before thinking to go back down the gangplank.
  • They failed to notice the books lying next to the Detour clues at the El Ateneo bookstore, which led them to waste a lot of time searching the book store itself.
• Failing a Taxi: Though all the teams had trouble hailing a cab in St. Petersburg, they had the hardest time of any team leaving the Battleship Aurora, dropping them from 4th to last, and likely would have been the biggest factor in their elimination had it been an elimination leg, or had there not been an Intersection ahead.
• Follow That Car: They decided to follow Murray & John to Rangitata Rafts in the first leg, and then later to Rata Peaks Station.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Their decision to give John & Murray flight information in leg 5 in exchange for having given them the Express Pass. They quickly realized this mistake at the Roadblock, as John & Murray would not help them find the clue.
• Last of His Kind: They talked about being the last New Zealand team standing during the penultimate leg.
• No Sense of Direction:
  • They got lost looking for the rear entrance to the Angkor Wat temple in leg 2, ending up at the wrong entrance, and dropping last place.
  • Rowing the wrong way towards the Pit Stop in their final leg allowed Daniel & Ryan to pass them and got them eliminated.
• Out of Focus: They got almost zero airtime through the first three legs, only to be thrust into the spotlight when they used the Express Pass in Namibia. Though they got airtime after that, they were not given any real storyline.
• Read the Freaking Clue: They initially did not use all the space provided for them at the wood stacking Detour in leg 6, instead just copying the example as it was, leading to their pile collapsing twice.
• Reality Show Genre Blindness:
  • Their decision to use the Express Pass on the lion feeding Roadblock in leg 4 when, (a) they still had another leg to use it, and (b) Daniel & Ryan still hadn't shown up at the task. This could have ended up hurting them, as they fell behind due to Failing a Taxi in the next leg, and would have gotten eliminated if not for the combination of an Intersection and a Virtual Pit Stop.
  • When they were having trouble finding their clue on the Battleship Aurora, they did not think to run back down the gangplank to check outside the ship, as clues are usually located in front of such places. It even took them a minute to think of it after seeing Jarrod & Ashleigh running up the gangplank with the clue.
• Tempting Fate: They decided to do the wood stacking Detour in leg 6 because, as Carla said, "How hard could it be?" Their wood pile ended up collapsing twice.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Heights for Hereni.

Cat O'Brien & Jesse O'Brien (New Zealand)

Foster parents, Jesse finished 4th on NZ Idol. Though they constantly raced at the back of the pack, never finishing higher than 3rd, their "never quit" philosophy served them well and secured them a place as fan favourites, as well as allowed them to hang on a lot longer than anyone thought they would. In Dubrovnik, Croatia, their biggest weakness, their lack of physical strength, meant they were unable to keep up with the other teams in the physically intense leg. They fell to last place after failing to count the steps up Watchman's Tower on the first climb, and received the last departure slot the following day. They were unable to climb out of last place, and finished 5th.

• Accidental Innuendo: In-Universe. Lampshaded by Jesse, who during the poo spitting Detour told Cat this:
  Jesse: Spit it like you love it... I don't know what that means.
• Comedic Sociopathy: How they described their Schadenfreude reaction to John & Murray showing up at the Coat Rack Detour to find all the tables being used and all the teams there refusing to share.
• Deadpan Snarker: While always snarky, it hit it's peak in leg 6 regarding John & Murray's constant mistakes.
• Don't Ask: When Jesse asked what kind of spiders they were eating at the additional task in the second leg, Cat yelled at him not to ask.
• Easily Forgiven: After declaring their intent to never trust Carla & Hereni again (after the moms made a deal with Daniel & Ryan to help each other through the semaphore Roadblock in leg 5, and then did not give Cat the answer despite their New Zealand alliance), they almost immediately forgave the moms later in the leg when Carla dragged Cat through the jewelry heist Intersection.
• Elimination Houdini: In-Universe. Lampshaded by Jesse after finishing the wood stacking Detour in front of both John & Murray and Carla & Hereni, as he said that it might be the only time for the rest of the race that they had a lead on someone.
• Elimination Montage: Not a traditional one, where shots of them from previous episodes are shown, but instead they received a notably and unusually long and moving Elimination Statement, which also showed all four remaining teams seeing them off after they had been eliminated, which is unusual as teams are not normally informed as to who is eliminated prior to the start of the next leg.
• Epic Fail: Though his performance on NZ Idol is proof of his musical ability, Jesse's micromanaging on the Portuguese song task caused them to be the last team to finish the task. Jesse was upset at himself, saying it was like a slap in the face.
• Fatal Family Photo: They started talking about their kids and what the money would mean to them at the beginning of their final leg.
• Felony Misdemeanor: They tended to quickly decry any of their allies who did not share all their information, such as Jono at the monk counting Roadblock, or Hereni at the semaphore Roadblock, both of whom ran off after completing the task without giving them the answer first.
• Happily Married
• Honor Before Reason: At the semaphore Roadblock in leg 5, Sally and Cat were the last two doing the task. When Sally completed it first, she put down her chalkboard next to Cat without erasing the answer first. Cat, instead of copying the answer straight away, asked Sally if she was sure she wanted to do that.
• Instant Soprano: Jesse, when the safety harness gave him a wedgie while using the ascender in leg 8.
• Leitmotif:
• Paranoia Fuel: In-Universe Discussed by Cat, as she said that the red Roadblock envelopes scare her when they pull one out.
• Reality Show Genre Blindness: They missed out on the first departure time at the Cardboard Cathedral in Christchurch, as they spent time haggling with their cab driver, allowing the other three teams on the first flight to grab the three spots in the first departure time.
• Shoo Out the Clowns
• Tastes Like Chicken: Their assessment of what spiders tasted like in leg 2 compares them to fish and chips.
• Victoria's Secret Compartment: Upon finding her pearl at the clam diving Roadblock in the third leg, Cat tucked the pearl into her cleavage... only for it to fall through her suit and sink to the bottom of the ocean, where she struggled to dive down to retrieve it again.
• Weak, but Skilled: They went into the wood stacking Detour in leg 6 with all three New Zealand teams thinking they were doomed to finish the task last, as both John & Murray and Carla & Hereni were fitter than them. However, they studied the structure of the example, and were the only team to think to use the whole space provided to build their stack at first, which allowed them to be the first team to complete the task, and the only team not to have their stack collapse.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Spiders, mostly for Jesse, though slightly for Cat.

John Gbenda-Charles & Murray "Muzza" Roeske (New Zealand)

Best mates, they dominated the first half of the season. They won 3 of the first 5 legs, and only their forgetting to pay their tuk tuk driver in Cambodia, and Carla & Hereni's Express Pass usage on leg 4, kept them from winning all five of those legs. However, they did tend to make a number of mistakes, most of them due to their lack of genre savviness. Though they were able to power through those mistakes thanks to a little luck in the first five legs, those mistakes piled up and cost them dearly in Kostroma, Russia.

First, they refused to work with the other New Zealand teams during the Russian nesting doll task, and as all three teams had to complete their sets of dolls before any of them could move on, this dropped them to the back of the pack. While they still looked like the favorites to finish in front of the other two New Zealand teams, their wood pile collapsed when they were almost done with the Detour, dropping them to last place. They still had one more chance to survive, as Daniel & Ryan had been given the Salvage Pass for winning the leg, but the nurses ultimately decided not to save John & Murray, and they were eliminated in 6th place.

• Big Eater: They blazed through the spider eating task, gulping down their spiders in minutes.
• Call It Karma: After watching their wood pile collapse in their last leg, Murray said it was karma for John not listening to him all day.
• Competition Freak: John, in particular. During the Russian nesting doll task, Jesse commented on about how John is always at maximum intensity.
• Dumb Muscle: Jarrod called Murray a "simple guy," while assessing them in leg 5.
• Enemy Mine: The other teams became so incensed with their attitudes, that they agreed not to work with them if there was an Intersection, even if they were the only two teams there. However, when the time came, they bulldozed Jarrod & Ashleigh into working with them before the couple even realized out what was going on.
• Failed a Spot Check: They went to the wrong ticket counter at the bus station on the Cambodia/Thailand border, and in the time it took them to find the marked ticket counter, the first bus left. Like most of their mistakes, this was immediately negated, as they got on the first flight to Krabi anyway.
• Fatal Flaw: Pride, most glaringly their unwillingness to admit they made a mistake. It was first shown in Leg 2 when they made the dubious claim oversleeping was on purpose despite being risky even if it was on purpose. They would continue to taunt other teams throughout the race, not thinking this would backfire on them if they ever struggled. On leg 6, this all came crashing down on them, both literally and figuratively, when they insisted on doing the Russian nesting doll task alone despite the rules clearly stating all the teams from either country had to complete it before they could leave. This put them at a deficit when their wall collapsed at the Detour at the worst possible moment putting them behind even the other New Zealand teams. Their previous taunting comes back to bite them when the usually friendly Daniel & Ryan decided to sink to their level and refuse to save them, which they might've considered doing even in spite of the threat they posed had they not acted how they did.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: John, especially when it came to Jono & Emily. In particular, John's confrontation with Jono during the clam diving Roadblock in the third leg, where Jono laughed at the suggestion that his sister was pushing around Murray in the water, was met with an angry retort where John told him he had just lost the Express Pass. Then in the next leg, when Emily had baboons clambering all over her, John made a comment about how it didn't take any skill to carry "monkeys." When Jono told him to shut up, John tried picking a fight.
• Heavy Sleeper: They lost their lead in at the start of the second leg after they overslept an hour, dropping from 1st to 5th, though they claimed this was a deliberate strategy to get more sleep.
• His Own Worst Enemy: Murray said this about their team upon their elimination, as their failure to work together got them eliminated.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Their cutthroat gameplay came back to hurt them when Daniel & Ryan decided to play cutthroat in response, and not use the Express Pass on them.
• I'm Not Here to Make Friends: At the beginning of the fourth leg, John said that they didn't like to spend time with the other teams, and only did to give them "weapons."
• In-Series Nickname: "Muzza" for Murray.
• Jerkass: They annoyed the other teams with their oftentimes unnecessarily confrontational gameplay, and their "psychological warfare" which usually did less to throw the other teams off their game than to make them look like a pair of Trolls. John's weirdly aggressive behavior towards Jono and somewhat sexist attitude towards Emily especially stood out.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Their cutthroat gameplay was their ultimate undoing when Daniel & Ryan, a team who had come into the Race just looking to have fun, decided to play more cutthroat in reaction to John & Murray's own actions, and not save them with the Salvage Pass.
• Leeroy Jenkins: They ran off on their own during the Russian nesting doll task despite the other two New Zealand team saying they should work together.
• Loners Are Freaks: Their almost aggressive aversion to socializing or working with other teams, did isolate them on several occasions. One notably example is when the other New Zealand teams, were irritated that they would not search alongside them to share comparative information during the babushka doll nation vs nation challenge (slowing the group effort). Leading to a group facepalm moment when John & Murray finally realized that:
  John: A lot better to work together hey?
  Hereni: Uh, ya think?!
• The Millstone: John's refusal to listen to Murray in their final leg caused their elimination. First when he ignored Murray's suggestion that they work with the other teams on the Russian nesting doll task, then again when he ignored Murray telling him to use their entire area for the wood stacking Detour.
• Motor Mouth: Murray during the massage task in Thailand, doing it deliberately as a "strategy" to annoy the other teams and throw them off their game.
• No Sense of Direction:
  • In the first leg, when their completed ring told them to head west, they both decided that the sun rose in the west and set in the east, and tried to figure out directions based on which way the sun was traveling. Fortunately, they did end up going the right way, either because they realized their mistake, or got so confused they ended up going the right direction by mistake.
  • John got lost on his way back to the task start during the lion feeding Roadblock, dropping from 2nd to 5th.
• Rage Quit: Murray forced John to quit the Cossack Dance Detour after they failed a few attempts, only for them to switch back after discovering there was no table space for them to do the Coat Rack Detour on.
• Read the Freaking Clue: They initially did not use all the space provided for them at the wood stacking Detour in leg 6, as John insisted on building it exactly like the example. Their first submission was rejected by the judge, as though it was the same height and length as the example, they did not use all their logs. As they continued to build up higher instead of wider, their pile collapsed as they were almost done, leading to their elimination.
• Reality Show Genre Blindness:
  • They repeatedly showed their ignorance of the show in the second leg, calling their moves "psychological warfare" on the other teams:
    • First by "choosing" to sleep in an hour to start the second leg, if they were telling the truth, as they felt safe with their Express Pass. This could have backfired on them both if there had not been an airport equalizer, or if there had only been four, or less, sets of seats available on the first flight.
    • Second, their Troll on Elizabeth & Todd at the Angkor Wat ticket office only served to (a) let the other teams know they were untrustworthy in the second leg, and (b) could have inspired Elizabeth & Todd to find some way to purchase their tickets then, as as happened to other teams before in similar situations.
    • Third, they used their Express Pass immediately upon reading the monk counting Roadblock clue, blowing it the first time they saw a task they might have trouble with instead of saving it for when they knew they were in trouble.
    • Finally, they did not pay their tuk tuk driver before checking in at the Pit Stop, costing them the leg win when Emily & Jono checked in while they went back to pay their driver.
  • In the third leg:
    • They were the only team to fail to research that they would need to purchase tickets to get a taxi in Krabi, resulting in them getting turned away from the taxi line outside the airport and dropping to last place amongst the teams on the first flight.
    • They gave the Express Pass to Carla & Hereni based on the reasoning that the women were a potentially strong team, and they wanted to give them a boost.
  • Ryan called them on their decision to run off on their own during the Russian nesting doll task instead of working with the other New Zealand teams.
• Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: With Emily & Jono, thanks to them repeatedly fighting for 1st place with each other through the first four legs, and the butting heads that resulted due to Murray & John's overly competitive natures.
• Smug Snake: John, in particular, who always called their needlessly aggressive gameplay "psychologaical warfare." Upon their elimination, he seemingly brushed off all the mistakes he had made over the course of the leg.
• Spotlight-Stealing Squad: The combination of always being in the front of the pack, their cutthroat gameplay, and aggressively isolating themselves from all the other teams lead to them stealing a lot of airtime.
• Strategy Versus Tactics: Many of their "psychological warfare" moves under Reality Show Genre Blindness show their short sighted thinking that let them be the first team to hit the mat in the first three legs, and only being an unpaid cab driver away from winning all three, but also turned all of the other teams against them. In particular, they U-Turned Sally & Tyson in order to win the third leg. Not only did they use their U-Turn against a team that had almost no chance of getting eliminated in order to win a leg, something that has come back to hurt nearly every team who has made the same move, as it creates unnecessary enemies, but they also wasted their U-Turn in the third leg, leaving them unprotected if they were trailing behind or they were hit with the first slot of a possible Double U-Turn down the line.
• Trash Talk: John, as part of his "psychological warfare." It was not very effective, as he tended to blow up at anyone who returned his comments in kind, such as during the clam diving Roadblock in the third leg, when Jono laughed at the suggestion that his sister was pushing around Murray in the water, and John blew up.
• Troll:
  • When they were the first team to arrive at the Angkor Wat ticket office to find that it was already closed, they ran back to their tuk tuk, pretending to have gotten the next clue to freak out the other teams. Though Todd briefly fell for the ruse, Daniel & Ryan immediately pointed out that John & Murray couldn't have gotten the clue, as they arrived after the office had already closed.
  • Also see Motor Mouth.
• Ungrateful Bastard: They would not tell Carla & Hereni where the clue at the Battleship Aurora was, even though they were in 1st place because the moms had gotten them on the first flight, which had put them an hour ahead of half the teams. Though in fairness, they did give Carla & Hereni the express pass earlier, so the latter seemingly forgave the slight.
• Unskilled, but Strong: They made a number of mental and strategic mistakes (see Reality Show Genre Blindness), but were able to power though most of those by making up time on physical tasks.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Heights for John.

Emily Trenberth & Jono Trenberth (New Zealand)

Siblings, they spent the first three legs in the front of the pack, contending for 1st place, and butting heads with fellow front runners John & Murray. However, despite jumping out to a lead during the Roadblock in leg 4, Jono had not had any water all day, and became dehydrated in the hot, African sun. He suffered fainting spells and cramps, and though they managed to stay with the pack up through the Detour, Jono Rage Quit the Poo Detour when they did not get it right away, switching to the longer fire building Detour. Even though they still managed to finish the Detour in 6th, Jono cramped up on their run to the Pit Stop, allowing the long trailing Daniel & Ryan to pass them, and they were eliminated in 7th place.

• A Storm Is Coming: During the fire building Detour, Jono commented how it was going to be hard to get their fire going, as a storm was coming. This was the first indication that they weren't as safe as they had seemed after Daniel & Ryan's navigation mistake.
• Bad Liar: During the lion feeding Roadblock, Jono destroyed his clue, and in an effort to see Jarrod's or Tyson's, he told them to check their clue, as he was sure that John had done something wrong, and he was just trying to help them. He kept up this lie even as Jarrod and Tyson passed him later while he was laying dehydrated on the side of the road.
• Broken Tears: Emily, upon their elimination.
• Brother–Sister Team
• Disqualification-Induced Victory: They won the second leg because John & Murray failed to pay their taxi before checking in. Subverted in that they would have easily won the leg anyway had John & Murray not used their Express Pass to skip the Roadblock.
• Face Palm: Emily's reaction to Jono giving Christie the answer at the monk counting Roadblock in leg 2. His plan was to use them as Unwitting Pawns.
• Fainting: Jono, during the lion feeding Roadblock, due to dehydration.
• Finishing Each Other's Sentences: They talked about how they do this in their intro, only to have Jono get upset when Emily didn't subvert the trope by saying "sandwiches" instead.
• Friend to All Living Things: During the baboon walking task, Emily had no less than four baboons clambering to climb on her. Jono attributed this to her "baboons."
• Game-Breaking Injury: Jono's dehydration during the lion feeding Roadblock came back to haunt them at the end of the leg, when cramping in his legs allowed Daniel & Ryan to pass them on the way to the Pit Stop.
• Hide Your Gays: Jono.
• Paranoia Fuel: In-Universe. During the lion feeding Roadblock, Jono freaked out when her found out he had destroyed his clue by soaking it in blood, and went scrambling to Jarrod and Tyson to read their clue to make sure he had done everything right.
• Precision F-Strike: During the baboon task in their final leg, Emily had baboons clambering all over her, and John made a comment about how it didn't take any skill to carry "monkeys." Jono told him to shut the fuck up, and not talk about his family that way.
• Rage Quit: Jono, most likely due to his exhaustion and dehydration, drug Emily away from the Poo Detour after only a few attempts, switching to the fire building Detour. This would prove to be the key to their elimination.
• Read the Freaking Clue:
  • In the second leg, instead of going to the ticket office to purchase entry tickets to Angkor Wat, they proceeded straight to the temple. It did not end up costing them, as everyone hit an overnight equalizer at the ticket office.
  • Later in the same leg, they did not keep track of their tickets to Angkor Wat, which they were supposed to keep on them all day. When the officials asked them for their tickets, they were forced to go buy new ones. Though they would still end up winning the leg when John & Murray did not pay their tuk tuk driver before checking in.
• Reality Show Genre Blindness: Failing to keep oneself hydrated while on the African savannah is a pretty big mental gaffe.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Jono had this reaction when their donkey cart crashed in Namibia, as he fled from the cart until the donkeys had been righted.
• Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: With Murray & John, thanks to them repeatedly fighting for 1st place with each other through the first four legs, and the butting heads that resulted due to Murray & John's overly competitive natures.
• Straight Gay: Jono.
• Ungrateful Bastard: Desite their fighting, John stopped to help Jono when he was suffering through dehydration. Jono was not appreciative of this, and said in a Confession Cam that John did not care about his health. Undersut by the show, as editing then played clips of John making fun of Jono.

Aston Garratt & Christie Orr (New Zealand)

Feisty friends, most saw them as a not so subtle attempt to create another Lucy & Emilia, and while they shared Lucy & Emilia's penchant for being at the back of the pack, they lacked a lot of the good natured personalities that had made the sister so fun to watch. After struggling at the back of the pack for two legs, they got on the second flight to Krabi, Thailand, after which struggling with both sides of the Detour, and switching twice, caused them finish in 8th place, and were the first New Zealand team to be eliminated.

• Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Aston, who Christie described as a crazy lady who believes in crazy things. During her intro she even said she believed she was slightly telepathic. In the second leg Monk Counting Roadblock, Aston attempted to aid Christie by meditating to find and telepathically give Christie the answer. It didn't work.
• Minor Injury Overreaction: In the first leg, Christie didn't paddle at the river rafting challenge because she had to pee too badly, and somehow gravely injured her leg during the Roadblock... a Roadblock Aston was doing.
• Motor Mouth: Christie, much to the annoyance of the teams sharing the bus ride to Bangkok with them.
• No Indoor Voice: Christie, to go along with her Motor Mouth, which Jesse commented on during the coconut Detour after he heard her yell all their strategies.
• No Sense of Direction: They got lost looking for Pub Street Market in Cambodia, and they got to the spider eating task after all the other teams had already left. They were able to catch up at the ticket office for Angkor Wat, which ended up being an overnight equalizer.
• Reality Show Genre Blindness: They were the only team to check their bags on the flight in the first leg, guaranteeing they would be the last team to the Cardboard Cathedral, and the last to leave in the morning.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: How their last leg played out. It started with them getting in an argument over their wake up call to head for the Bangkok airport, and though they made up at the airport in Krabi, they spent much of the leg bickering.
• Unwitting Pawn: Jono gave Christie the answer at the monk counting Roadblock in leg 2 as he planned to use them as this, as he saw them as a weak team who they could easily defeat later.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: In this case spiders. With both claiming to be arachnophobic, a spider eating challenge was not suited for them. At one point Aston dropped a deep fried spider, only to pick up a live one off the ground.

Elizabeth Grant & Todd Grant (Australia)

Elizabeth: Old age and treachery win every time.

Mother and Son, Elizabeth had no idea why her son wanted to Race with her instead of someone else who might give him a better chance to win, and decided to just enjoy herself by messing with the other teams. Despite pulling ahead at the start of the second leg, they initially chose the shrimping side of the Detour before capsizing their boat, during which Elizabeth tore a gash in her arm. The time it took her to get medical attention caused them to drop to last place, and they were eliminated in 9th place.

• Affably Evil: Elizabeth, who messed with the other teams for her own amusement, and took few of her acts seriously.
• Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Todd was embarrassed by the way his mom bodily blocked Asleigh from passing her on the stairs during the monk counting Roadblock, and apologized to Jarrod for her behavior.
• Evil Laugh: Elizabeth had one.
• Face Plant: As pointed out by Emily, Elizabeth did a spectacular one into the mud during the tug of war challenge.
• Follow That Car: They decided to follow New Zealanders Cat & Jesse in Christchurch, first to Rangitata Rafts, and then later to Rata Peaks Station.
• Miles Gloriosus: Deliberately invoked by Elizabeth for her own amusement, who told the other teams she was one of the first women to go into space and had been to the moon.
• Read the Freaking Clue: After successfully completing the hay stacking portion of the first Roadblock, Todd drove his tractor back onto the course to collect another bale, despite his mom yelling at him that he was done. He was finally stopped by a task judge, who told him he had completed the task.
• Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!: Elizabeth was not a senior, as she was only 50, but she definitely brought this attitude to her gameplay.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Spiders for Todd.

Inga Lederhaus & Tiharna McGregor (Australia)

Pageant models. Despite starting off the first leg in a poor position, getting stuck in the final group leaving the Cardboard Cathedral to start the second day, they were were safely positioned in the second group at the river rafting challenge until they made a fatal mistake. They drove off without their half-ring, the item that had been the goal of the rafting task, not realizing they were supposed to take it with them until they had completed the forty minute drive to Rata Peaks Station. Going back to retrieve the clue allowed the lost and trailing Tyson & Sally to pass them, eliminating them in 10th place.

• Brainy Brunette: Their nickname for themselves were the "Brainy Buxom Brunettes" This was an Informed Ability, as they never got to prove it.
• Ms. Fanservice: Intended, as evidenced by them being shown in bikinis during the opening credits, but they did not last long enough to provide much fanservice.
• Oh, Crap!: Upon realizing that they need their ring for the next clue.
• Read the Freaking Manual: They left their ring behind at the end of the river rafting task. Not only did the clue tell them to take their ring with them, but any knowledge of the Race or how it worked should have at least suggested that when an entire task is based around finding half of an item, you will be completing said item later in the leg for a clue.

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