Pardon us while we continue to wipe away the river of tears racing down our faces. Tonight, The Amazing Race Australia: Celebrity Edition ended in an emotional and historic final Pit Stop. Unbeatable race leaders, Darren McMullen and nephew Tristan stopped short of the mat, choosing instead to wait until all three teams had arrived so they could jump together and share the $100,000 across three worthy charities. Oh the tears, they just kept coming.
When the Race began, 11 teams embarked on an adventure of a lifetime across the world. They were pushed to their limits, faced their greatest fears and ate some questionable animal appendages for the sake of our entertainment. Along the way we said goodbye to beloved favourites, leaving three very strong teams to battle it out: Singer Alli Simpson and mum Angie, TV personality Darren McMullen and nephew Tristan, and former Wiggle Emma Watson and sister Hayley.
For the final leg of the Race, in Kuala Lumpur, they were tested on skills perfected in the race.
It was their communication skills that was first put to the test. One teammate had to recreate an intricate dessert that they had never seen, while following their teammate’s instructions. And to up the ante, there was a rather large and hissing slippery distraction.
Tears a plenty, Hayley was clearly terrified at the gigantic albino python (think Britney Spears I’m A Slave 4 You vibes) which was summoned and wrapped around her neck. Angie was busy telling her daughter Alli to calm down because it was surely just a plastic snake – yeah nah, it was definitely not plastic, Mum – while poor Tristan was visibly distraught as he faced his very real phobia of snakes.
Next, their map skills were tested as they navigated their way around a maze-like bookstore, hunting for a solitary book amongst the labyrinth of literature. Darren and Tristan deciphered the map in clear view of Alli who quickly alley-ooped that information straight to Angie. Darren and Tristan didn’t make the same mistake again, discreetly finding the clue before skedaddling.
Dance break. Darren was living out his hip hop boy dreams while learning a dance routine, but it seems his backup dancer nephew Tristan, didn’t share those same dreams. This challenge was made for Emma Wiggle and Hayley who nailed it on the first attempt, meanwhile Angie was like a drunk giraffe on stilts.
Finally, teams had to rely on their memory to recall and organise some obscure photographs from the past 11 destinations. Emma and Hayley arrived first, but Darren and Tristan managed to overtake them after Darren spotted a sneaky red herring amongst the photos.
Enroute to the final Pit Stop, and in a bid not to get lost, Darren used his Scottish charm to befriend a local father and his six children, who were more than happy to join two strangers and a camera crew on a train.
Darren and Tristan arrived first, but before jumping on the mat, Darren took a moment to tell Beau that they had decided to wait for the other two teams so all three charities could have a share of the prize. Linked arm in arm, all three teams hit the mat at the same time, which saw all three teams win, and the flood gate of tears open.
