Russell-Mania! THE AMAZING RACE CANADA Hits the Prairies as Teams Grapple With Food, Footballs, and Footwork

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede Host Jon Montgomery got to show off his hometown of Russell, Man., for the first time in the history of CTV’s THE AMAZING RACE CANADA, as Season 10 continued with its fifth episode (available for catch-up on CTV.ca and the CTV app). But despite the welcoming presence of Jon’s mom Joan, home-cooked meals weren’t on the menu for most of the racers, in a leg that included some gastronomical challenges, to say the least. So which teams were able to keep their food down and survive? SPOILER ALERT: Details about the episode are going to be discussed. The action shifted to Regina where the teams were offered breakfast at a fancy hotel. The only problem: the options were pig brains, or bison testicles. Got a favourite? Following a football challenge with the Saskatchewan Roughriders at Mosaic Stadium, the racers travelled to Russell, Man., where they were met with a jigsaw puzzle. Three teams that had been among the earliest to arrive – Michael and Tyson, Michael and Amari, and Brad and Sam – really struggled putting the pieces together and fell to the back of the pack. Then it was onto a traditional Ukrainian dance challenge, which was painful news for Colin and Matt, because of Colin’s bad knees. But while Colin eventually found a way to get through it, Brad just couldn’t get the choreography straight, no matter how hard he tried. Thus, former NHL player Brad May, and his daughter Sam, an event planner, were the last to arrive at the mat, and were eliminated. Here’s what they had to say about their time on THE AMAZING RACE CANADA: Q: How would you sum it all up? SAM: “Oh, it was such a wonderful experience, especially getting to do it with my dad. I mean, the first question so many people ask is, ‘did you win THE AMAZING RACE CANADA?’ Well, I feel like I won, because I did it by my dad’s side.” BRAD: “Wow, I love that, Sam. The two of us had such a great time together. We got to know each other at a different level. It’s a game-changer for Samantha and me.” Q: What did you find out about each other that you didn’t know before? SAM: “If I never have to stay in a hotel room with my dad again, I’d be kind of happy. Oh my gosh, this man is more high-maintenance than anyone I know. He got on my nerves. But honestly, at the end of it, as frustrated as I would get, we would just laugh. We would turn everything into a joke. And I think that’s what made it so light and fun.” BRAD: “Sam is probably talking about some little habits I have, you know, little idiosyncrasies, and we all have ’em, right? And listen, you’re 25 years old and you’re in a hotel room with your old man for a month? Pretty crazy. What did I learn about Sam? I learned that she’s absolutely what I always thought she was, and that is stubborn. But it’s not always her way. She’s very pliable. She can go roll with the punches and go with the flow. But I really admire her intuition. I would get onto something and think it was the right thing, but when Samantha digs in, I have to listen to that intuition, because she’s brilliant. And she was right 99% of the time.” Q: Did the puzzle ruin your chances? BRAD: “The only thing is, I was left being puzzled.” SAM: “Oh my God, more ‘dad jokes.’ But yeah, the puzzle definitely was hard. I seriously thought we were going to be stuck there forever. Those back-to-back challenges – the Ukrainian dance coming right after the puzzle – we were already discouraged. We were with the first group coming into that puzzle, thinking we’d leave before the second group arrived. Then being there last, that was definitely discouraging. And then opening up the next clue to know that my dad had to do a dance? I was like, oh my gosh, we have to stay positive, but it was tough mentally, for sure. And I think it was overwhelming for my dad, but he can speak to that.” BRAD: “With the puzzle, we just didn’t really get it right away, eh Sam? We thought it was going to look different than what it ended up being. I still thought I was going to be okay when I got to the dancing, even though I’m terrible at dancing. But there was just so much. And yes, leaving the puzzle challenge last probably put more pressure on me. I feel terrible. It was on me, Sam, not you. I screwed up.” SAM: “We’re a team, we’ve got each other’s backs.” Q: What was unexpected? BRAD: “It’s not exactly the pace of the race, but once you get started and you read your clues, there was a lot of chaos. I had to sit in the backseat of every car, I had to sit in the middle seat of taxis, which is just the worst place for me to be, I don’t like that. It was never calm. We would have 50 or 60 kilometres to go between one place and another, and Samantha is a great driver, but I’m in the backseat, there was no comfort. You’re always looking at the clues and trying to re-read things, thinking that maybe I got it wrong, and we were being duped. And I kept having to reposition my backpack. How many times, Sam, 30 times a day? Like, I didn’t know I’m neurotic, but I was neurotic!” SAM: “Yeah, he would wake up at six in the morning, and repack his bag, twice, three times. I’d be like, ‘what is this man doing?’ It was a lot.” Q: Is there anything you could have done differently? SAM: “After every day, we’d sit down and think, what could we have done better? Why did we take that route, or make this mistake? But when you’re in the race, you just have ‘race brain,’ and it’s so real. Me and my dad, I think we’re very similar in that we get overstimulated easily.” Q: THE AMAZING RACE CANADA is not designed for you to be calm, is it? SAM: “No. And if you can, congratulations, because you’re different.” Q: What advice would you give to anyone thinking of applying for THE AMAZING RACE CANADA? Besides, you know, trying to arrange for separate hotel rooms? SAM: “Exactly! I would tell my friends, have a good time. Enjoy yourself. Take a look around where you are. It brings you to so many cool places in Canada, and sometimes you’re just so focused on getting to the next challenge, you have to remember to take in the experience. And also, remember that there are regular people everywhere you go, and that they all have cellular devices! And these things can be helpful to you! For some reason, there were legs when me and my dad would just be so caught up in the race, we would forget that.” BRAD: “I would say you have to put your application in, and if you’re lucky enough to be selected, it’s a trip you can never pay for. Actually, let’s highlight the word ‘amazing.’ THE AMAZING RACE CANADA was amazing. We had an amazing time. I know I’m being redundant. But it was absolutely amazing to spend this time with my daughter, Sam.” SAM: “Yeah, it was truly special to do this with my dad. These are memories that I’ll have forever.” Fans of THE AMAZING RACE CANADA should take note that there is no new episode next week. The show returns on Tuesday, Aug. 13 at 9 p.m. ET, on CTV, CTV.ca, and the CTV app. billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv