Season 11 of THE AMAZING RACE CANADA Hits The Heights With a Frenzied Finale

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede   From scaling silos and jet-surfing, to delivering cupcakes and bobbing for apples, the Season 11 finale of CTV’s THE AMAZING RACE CANADA put the four remaining teams through a daunting combination of physical and mental challenges before a worthy champion was crowned. Heading into the last episode, underdog married couple Skylene and Blair (a.k.a. Nipîy and Magoo) were in first place, followed by siblings Grace and Joe, best friends Jesse and Jonathon, and brothers EB and Blake. The entire finale took place in and around Collingwood, Ont., which provided a picturesque backdrop for one triumphant team.   SPOILER ALERT: Details about what happened are going to be discussed. Arguably the biggest turning point of the competition was a groundbreaking, worldwide franchise-first Double Roadblock, in which each team was forced to decide, “who will go up, and who will go down?” One team member had to descend into the dark depths at the abandoned Collingwood Grain Terminals, armed with a black light, looking for numbers and shapes written in invisible ink on the walls. Then, the second team member had to remember those numbers while climbing the massive silos, and retrieving the corresponding grain bags up top. Jonathon emerged from the shadows with the right combination quicker than anyone else, and Jesse did his part by deftly scooting up the silo, which propelled their team to the next challenge in first place. Jesse and Jonathon were still in first place when they arrived at the final challenge, which was a memory puzzle involving 50 giant road signs and 10 posts, each representing a leg of the race. Nipîy and Magoo had struggled at the Grain Terminals, which essentially took them out of the running. But even though Jesse and Jonathon got to the final challenge first, they were joined in short order by Grace and Joe, and then EB and Blake, making for some tense moments with all three teams simultaneously trying to figure out the visual puzzle. Finally, Jesse and Jonathon thought they had cracked it, and called for a check. “Let’s not look, let’s hope,” said a nervous Jesse, as he and Jonathon turned their heads. Then they heard the fateful words: “congratulations, guys. Here’s your next clue.” There was still some travelling to do, but Jesse and Jonathon stayed the course and maintained their lead on the way to the final mat at Osler Bluff Ski Club, where they were greeted with the news from host Jon Montgomery that they had been waiting for all season: Jesse and Jonathon were the winners of Season 11 of THE AMAZING RACE CANADA. Grace and Joe came in second, followed by EB and Blake in third, and Nipîy and Magoo in fourth. Here’s what Jesse Harink and Jonathon Braun had to say about their experience: Q: Can you still remember your specific numbers from the grain silos? JONATHON: “Oh gosh, was it 104, 87, and 35?”   Q: It was actually 103, 84, and 25. JESSE: “I literally forgot those numbers the second we left the grain terminal, because that was incredibly stressful and hard to do. So yes, as soon as Jonathon emerged from the murky below, and gave me those numbers, I blocked that from my memory, with excitement.”   Q: Maybe Jesse had the hardest job, remembering those numbers as he climbed the ladder? JESSE: “When I was climbing up there, I think the hardest part of remembering during that moment was it started to become clear that we could actually win that day. We were the first ones out. We were scaling that building. So it wasn’t a fear of heights that was getting me distracted, it was the overwhelming feeling that this could actually turn out okay.”   Q: As often is the case on THE AMAZING RACE CANADA, it came down to a memory challenge at the end. Even though you had arrived first, the three top teams wound up at the puzzle together. JONATHON: “Throughout the season, we had seen EB and Blake taking notes and being so studious of the game. When they showed up, I was just worried that they were going to blitz right through the puzzle.” JESSE: “As we saw in Season 10, the complete lineup can change in that last puzzle, so we were quite fearful that was going to happen. We did take notes at the end of each leg, and we’d often talk about what happened, but we weren’t as tied to our notebooks as some other teams were. We would see other teams taking notes, and me and Jonathon were just like, ‘I’m sure we can rely on our memory here.’ So we were really relying on our ‘lived experience’ rather than written notes.”   Q: After staring at that puzzle for so long, what did it feel like to finally unlock it? JONATHON: “The adrenaline was overwhelming. It was unreal. I think the only thing to match it was getting the granny square challenge in the leg before, because we were thinking we were going home! But yeah, it was one of the highlights of my life.” JESSE: “When we got that last clue and we ran out of there first, the tension in that car on the drive to Blue Mountain was so high. Me and Jonathon were not talking. It was just dead quiet. We knew that it could all go away just getting there. But there was incredible relief when we got out of the car, and we got there first. This has been Jonathon’s dream ever since he saw the first season of the American franchise. And so to be on this journey, watching your friend’s dream come true, it’s a dream come true in itself.”   Q: You were one of the top teams this season right from the start, which kind of put a target on your backs. It wasn’t an easy path. JONATHON: “While we came in with confidence, I don’t think we ever could have imagined how well we were going to do in the first half of the season. That was an amazing surprise. But I don’t think it was within either of us not to try as hard as we could. Even in those early legs, we were like, ‘this is our one chance to do this, and we’re going to go full tilt.’ It kind of destroyed our strategy of trying to maybe play it low-key, and make friends with people, and avoid the U-Turn votes, and avoid the Passes. The fact that we got both U-Turns, and both Passes, and still came out on top is something that I think we’re both really proud of, and it just makes the experience that much more cool and satisfying. We had to overcome so many obstacles to get there. It just feels really good. But yeah, the strategy of playing it low-key was out the window, you know, very fast.” JESSE: “We’ve never been the type to blend into the background. We’re not known as being the quietest people that hide in the corner. So, I think any dream of playing it cool was out the window when I screamed the first time. But whenever we got those U-Turns and Passes, we honestly thought, ‘I would have done the same thing if I were in anyone else’s position. I would have voted for us. I would have passed us. I would have tried to get us out any way I could.’ So it never really felt like, ‘oh, why are people targeting us?’ It was like, ‘this makes sense. They’re coming after us. Let’s just get through it.’ And honestly, when we were targeted, I feel like those were some of our best legs. Sometimes it was the fire we needed to really push through.”   Q: What are you going to do with the $250,000? JONATHON: “I’m going to take my parents on a trip, and then I’m going to put some money towards a place in Vancouver. Those are my two things.” JESSE: “Honestly, what’s so amazing about winning this amount of money is just having that opportunity to breathe for a moment. You can take your next adventure without the fear of failing, because you have a cushion there. I just turned 34, so I really just want to take a look and decide what I want to be doing for this next part of my life, whether that’s starting a business, or leaning into some other things. I can take a few more risks, because I feel a little bit more secure in taking them.”   Q: Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give to anyone thinking of applying for THE AMAZING RACE CANADA? JONATHON: “First, do it, apply. It’s so much fun. It’s so worth it. And second, read your clue. Read it carefully. You saw how we made some mistakes early on because we didn’t read the clue properly. Luckily, those mistakes weren’t fatal, but read your clue.” JESSE: “The application process was actually one of our favourite parts. You get to make a video, talking about why you love your race partner, and what you appreciate about them. The application process is so much fun. Then when it comes to the race, take a dance class. It will only benefit you in the long run. And maybe we are biased in this thinking, but do it with your friend, not with your romantic partner. For example, Jonathon is the biggest backseat driver in the world. He’s the most annoying backseat driver. I could accept that for the run of the race, because I’m like, ‘I don’t have to live with that when I get home.’ So when it comes to those pet peeves and wild behaviours, I think a friend is sometimes an easier person to run with than a romantic partner.”   THE AMAZING RACE CANADA is set to return in 2026 on CTV. The series has been renewed for Season 12 with casting details to be announced soon.   billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv