Some ‘Well Played’ Strategy Leaves One Team Feeling The Weight of The Wait on THE AMAZING RACE CANADA

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede   Only on THE AMAZING RACE CANADA could one episode encompass sand, sea, kelp, trees, tarot cards, tacos, and a bonfire! As Season 9 continued tonight on CTV, CTV.ca, and the CTV app, with an episode intriguingly titled “This is Just Not a Hot Girl Moment,” there was some massive movement on the leaderboard. The leg began with seven remaining teams, and nothing was guaranteed, as one racer was reduced to tears, others danced to new heights, and a noticeably enhanced sense of gamesmanship began to infiltrate the competition. SPOILER ALERT: Details about what happened follow. There started to be some separation among the teams at a water challenge, in which racers had to dive into an icy inlet of the Pacific Ocean and find three flags tethered to the bottom. It wasn’t super deep, but it was super cold, and both Gracie (teamed with Lily) and Justin (teamed with Jermaine) struggled. But while Gracie fought her fears and ultimately triumphed, Justin tapped out. A frustrated and emotional Jermaine had to take Justin’s place in the water. Gracie and Lily were still in the middle of the pack when they missed the turn on their way to a taco break. When they finally arrived, they found out that someone had placed their pictures on the “pass board,” which meant they had to sit and wait until the next team arrived. Gracie later called it an “act of sabotage,” but at the time she didn’t know which team had committed it. So when Jermaine and Justin got to the taco stand, thus releasing Gracie and Lily, viewers knew it was shaping up to be a battle between those two teams to avoid last place. Jermaine and Justin got through a sandcastle treasure-hunt quite quickly, and while Gracie later bravely battled through a treetop dancing challenge, there had just been too many missteps. So THE AMAZING RACE CANADA said goodbye to best buddies Gracie Lowes and Lily Bateman. Here’s how they evaluated what happened:   Q: The strength of your friendship really shone through, as you were endlessly supportive of each other. What is the basis of that bond? GRACIE: “I really appreciate that. Probably the most important thing to us going on this show was strengthening our friendship, and also showing people how important positive female friendship is. And I feel like the basis of our friendship is just unconditional support – and humour! We laugh so much together, and we are also each other’s biggest hype women.”   Q: You began this episode in second place, but wound up crossing the finish line last. LILY: “I think it’s such a good example of how exciting THE AMAZING RACE CANADA can be. You know, it’s hard that we got eliminated, but I think it makes for great TV.”   Q: Is there anything you could have done differently? GRACIE: “I can honestly look back and say it was just a perfect storm of bad luck. When we were doing the challenges, we didn’t do poorly on any of them. I overcame some fear with the scuba diving, but I think we only dropped one spot. But then we just sat at that taco truck forever! So I don’t have any regrets, because I don’t think we could have done much differently.”   Q: You were kind of anticipating it, but what was the moment like when you saw your pictures on the board? GRACIE: “Yeah, it did confirm our worst fears. We were so hyped on adrenaline that when we saw there was still a car driving out, oh, we were ready to fight!” LILY: “I think the worst moment was when we realized it was Amanda and Deven who were driving away, because then we realized that we were going to have to let the team that was in last place pass us, which would put us last. So that was the moment it felt real for me.” GRACIE: “We still thought there were two teams behind us. So we were like, ‘it’s going to be fine, we can make up the time.’ But when we saw it was Amanda and Deven, our hearts just dropped. I still think it was an exciting leg, a super fun leg, a well-designed leg. I honestly feel like the challenges were really good. It just wasn’t our day. The stars weren’t aligned.”   Q: So now that you know it was Ben and Anwar who put your pics on the board, what do you think about them? Gracie, in the episode you called it an “act of sabotage.” GRACIE: “So dramatic! But I think Lily says it best. Lily had two words that she said when we saw them for the first time afterward.” LILY: “I just said, ‘well played.’ Because they’re lucky they got us out of that competition. I totally support the use of strategy. I think it makes the show more interesting. From the get-go, Gracie and I loved the rivalries. It’s fun. But it is a game. And so when people use strategy, I respect it.” GRACIE: “It was an act of sabotage, but it’s one that you have to respect.”   Q: Do you have any advice for future competitors on THE AMAZING RACE CANADA? LILY: “I think it’s all about choosing who you’re going to run the race with. We enjoy spending time together, even in times of hardship. So I would just say, choose a partner whose company you really enjoy. You don’t know what you’re going to face on the race, but if you’re with someone you really trust and respect, you can tackle anything together, and still enjoy waiting at a taco truck.” GRACIE: “I completely agree. I am so grateful for this opportunity, I have nothing but gratitude for this experience, and the reason that I leave it with so much positivity is because I just feel so blessed to have spent this time with Lily. I would highly endorse running the race with your best friend, I think it’s a really good move.” LILY: “You’re sad to go home, but I think it was kind of bittersweet, too, because we just have so much respect for all the other teams. How can you be disappointed when you know one of those incredible teams is going to win?” GRACIE: “Lily and I went on the race for fun, but there were a lot of other teams that went on the race not only for fun, but also to share a really important message, or to tell a really important story. Even though we were so sad for our journey to end, we both felt a lot of peace, knowing that the people who are continuing to race have really important messages, representing things that we weren’t necessarily bringing to the table as competitors, if you know what I mean. So that was something we definitely reflected on afterwards, that we were happy to see so many important stories being told by the other teams.”   THE AMAZING RACE CANADA returns with a new episode on Aug. 15 at 9 p.m. ET on CTV, CTV.ca, and the CTV app. billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv