The Tone Begins to Change From Collaboration to Calculation as Two Teams Say Goodbye on THE AMAZING RACE CANADA

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede It was literally double trouble on tonight’s new episode of CTV’s THE AMAZING RACE CANADA, as two teams were eliminated and the field was slashed from eight to six. SPOILER ALERT: Details of what happened follow. It was revealed right away that two teams were on the chopping block, which quickly ratcheted up the tension, fear, and frustration. That’s what made it particularly difficult when the leg ended with a sign-language challenge, which required calm concentration at a time when it was intensely difficult to summon. In the end, the father-son team of Cedric Newman and Tychon Carter-Newman made it to the mat in second-last place, followed by engaged couple Cassie Day and Jahmeek Murray, and both duos were sent home. Here’s what they had to say: CEDRIC AND TYCHON Q: What’s your overall takeaway from your experience on the show? TYCHON: “The general experience was, it was a really special time that my dad and I got to spend together. I think just having that ability to challenge ourselves and push ourselves to that limit together, it really made for a once-in-a-lifetime kind of experience. And we learned so much about ourselves, and each other, on the journey.” CEDRIC: “For me it was more about the time we spent together when we weren’t actually racing. We did puzzles in the hotel room, we played chess – in everyday life, when he comes and hangs out at my house, or I’m at his house, we might sit down and really talk for only two minutes, because we never really get that much dead time, if you know what I mean. But we got to experience some of those things that sometimes people take for granted. And the way we treat each other off the show is the same way we treated each other on the show. We never really argue, we just kind of talk things out. It was a beautiful experience.” Q: When you heard the term “double elimination” did it make your blood run cold? TYCHON: “You know, there were times when we were second-last, and I know my dad and I always talked about it – we always said, ‘we will never come last.’ And we never did! But knowing there was a double elimination, that definitely put an additional twist onto the game, because that’s something that has never been done before.” CEDRIC: “And we also knew there were express passes at play, so it was really stressful. We were in the bottom half for most of the Race, so we were always coming from behind. But one question we have is, why did Brendan and Connor give their express passes to teams that were up there with them near the lead? That’s not a strategic move. If we had the express passes, we would have given them to teams at the bottom. Why are you bringing along people that are in the top three with you every week? I know you can say, ‘well, they helped us here, or they did this or that.’ But don’t you want the stronger teams out? I’m going to ask them about that when I speak with them.” Q: What advice would you give to a friend who is competing on THE AMAZING RACE CANADA? CEDRIC: “First of all, we never came last, so we’re trying to get back on! But thinking of advice for someone else, don’t just work on your physical, work on your mental. Puzzles, reading, anything that exercises the brain. This show is about balance, so take dancing lessons, take singing lessons, everything. Be as well-rounded as you can.” TYCHON: “And always get directions before you go anywhere! Don’t try to guess, don’t try to ask anybody, don’t trust anybody. Get your own directions, and then go.” JAHMEEK AND CASSIE Q: What’s your overall takeaway from your experience on the show? CASSIE: “I have said at least once a week, and probably five times this week, that I miss the Race every single day. And I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting, and trying to figure out what exactly it was specifically about the Race that I loved so much. I journaled the entire time, and it’s cool to look back on all of my emotions on certain legs. And my happiest days on the Race were always the days when we were struggling. I found that super interesting, because people usually love to win, they love to be the best. But my biggest takeaway is realizing that, as a couple, we want to keep putting ourselves in situations where we’re not necessarily the experts, and giving ourselves those spaces to grow. The Race allows you to learn so much about yourself in such a short amount of time. I’ve remembered how fulfilling it is to be challenged.” JAHMEEK: “And I can add to that, we came in last in a couple of episodes, right? So we were at the back of the pack for a lot of it. And that really taught us not to give up. There were a couple of times when we were like, ‘man, I want to do this, but we’re so far behind.’ It’s a different ball game trying to stay motivated when you’re racing and you know there’s no one behind you. But we didn’t stop. We kept going. We fought through it.” Q: When you heard the term “double elimination” did it make your blood run cold? JAHMEEK: “When we were in the hotel room, thinking about how many teams were left, we started wondering if something like this might happen. And then when we actually found out, it was just time to remind ourselves, we cannot make any mistakes. All these racers are fantastic. They don’t make mistakes. But we wound up making a couple of mistakes that cost us.” CASSIE: “Up until that point, almost all the teams – even if they hadn’t really formed an alliance – were working together and helping each other. But I’ll never forget the birdhouse challenge, because that was where we first saw the pressure of the double elimination. Suddenly at that point, no one really wanted to work together anymore.” Q: What advice would you give to a friend who is competing on THE AMAZING RACE CANADA? JAHMEEK: “Ask for directions right away. Pack light. And smell the roses while you’re racing, because the time goes by so quickly.” CASSIE: “One, pack an alarm clock, because no one tells you to pack an alarm clock. There were multiple teams that showed up without one, and they got very lucky in the first few rounds. Second, I’d say one of our actual faults was watching all of the episodes from previous seasons and trying to predict certain challenges based on that. It didn’t work well for us. You might think you can predict something, but you can’t. And third, probably don’t ask 12-year-olds for directions, because they don’t have data on their smartphones, and you just waste a lot of time. That happened to us more than once, I don’t know how we fell for it again.” Season 8 of THE AMAZING RACE CANADA continues with another new episode next Tuesday, Aug. 30, at 9 p.m. ET on CTV, CTV.ca, and the CTV app. billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv