On July 8th, 7pm MST, the second season of Amazing Race Canada premiered on CTV. The season’s filming wrapped at the end of May and GayCalgary was happily granted interviews with the three LGBT teams that were selected for the challenge.

Ryan and Rob – the former 2011 Mr. Gay Canada – met in a bathtub full of milk and local gay celebrities at a photo project staged some six years ago. The pair then took bartending jobs together at a night club in Vancouver right as the Olympics were gearing to take place and have been amazing friends ever since.

They took a trip to Tokyo, making a stop in Brisbane, Australia to visit Ryan’s sister, and went on to Sidney. Rob put in for a student visa and stayed to study health and fitness. Though he planned to travel onwards to Bali, the opportunity to do the show rerouted him home to Canada to begin filming instead.

GC: Why did you decide to do the Amazing Race?

RG: We get along great together; we work great together; we’re people persons...  We’ve never had a fight in our relationship... You really want to have someone you have fun with... We’re always cracking jokes and having a good time and don’t argue about anything... He’s pretty much my best friend in Vancouver so I though why not let’s do it.

GC: What did your audition tape look like?

RG: We told a little bit about each other, how we met, how we work together, what we do, just some of the platforms that we have.

GC: What previous experience did you have on TV?

RG: I did a lot of interviews as Mr. Gay Canada but nothing TV show related, or reality...  Ryan has done a TV show before so he’s always in front of the camera – he’s a natural. (Ryan does sketch comedy on YouTube).

GC: Any injuries?

RG: Going into it I was worried about my knees...I brought my knee braces and everything but it didn’t bother me at all surprisingly. I think it’s the adrenaline going through your body... You don’t think about food; you don’t think about bathroom breaks... 24 hours into it you realize oh, I haven’t eaten all day.

GC: What do you think was your weakness in this challenge?

RG: Direction... Too nice can work against you too sometimes.

GC: Would you do it again?

RG: [With Ryan] in a heartbeat... You get through these challenges and it goes through your mind who else could I do this with...  The emotions that go through your head are insane – you just think the craziest things sometimes.

GC: What were your strengths in this competition?

RG: I can definitely stay calm in a very heated, very stressful situation... If ... my partner is losing his shit I’m still able to stay calm... I won’t let someone else’s emotions affect me.

Jack and Tak have been together over eight years and will celebrate their second wedding anniversary this August. The two upbeat ladies met 15 years ago as camp counselors at a day camp where they both worked every summer for a decade.

GC: Why did you decide to do the Amazing Race?

JS: We’ve just been really big fans of the show ever since we started living together.

It was one of those things, as soon as it came to Canada, we were like wow we absolutely have to try this... We love traveling; we love adventure; who wouldn’t want to be on the Amazing Race?

GC: What did your audition tape look like?

JS: We both went to school for video broadcasting and have done a lot of media stuff together... We have traveled so much over the last ten years and videotaped so much of it, stuff like getting tattoos and having parties... we edited all that footage together.

GC: What particular skills do you think you bring to the competition? What was your strategy?

JS: We were really good at the driving and navigating things. We do that all the time for our jobs and stuff; we are always navigating and driving...We road trip a lot together... we have driven across Canada... we drive to PEI every summer... we road tripped to Calgary actually.

GC: What do you think was your weakness in this challenge?

JS: The intensity of it.... basically just jumping into the unknown having completely no idea what was going to happen next... We always try to be super prepared but [that wasn’t possible in this race]... That was also the most exciting thing as well.

GC: Were there any injuries?

JS: Adrenaline takes over your body... you could do the race with a broken leg...

At the end of the day you start feeling yourself.

GC: Was doing the race rewarding as a couple?

JS: One hundred per cent for sure.  We had a blast... We’ve always had so much fun together but this threw it over the top... For us to do it together... it made the experience even better... There was no one else we could have done it with.... You see another side of each other and you get stronger and stronger.

Bob and Rex have a fairy tale story, befitting a TV series all on its own. In fact, the beginning of their courtship was caught on camera amid the filming of Rex’s spot on the CBC’s docu-series The Life and Times. Rex was a dancer with the National Ballet of Canada for 20 years. Bob would see him from time to time at events, and mentioning this to a friend, the friend coincidentally revealed that her mom was a secretary at the Ballet. A beautiful correspondence was begun.

Bob would send anonymous packages to Rex through the friend’s mom, a woman close to Rex, to whom he would send postcards when performing and touring abroad. Having ended a relationship of lengthy tenure Bob was slow and cautious, and took his time before disclosing his name and suggesting a dinner rendezvous in one of his packages of intrigue.

The first date took place on March 21st, the first day of spring. Bob states this without missing a beat. And it was only 28 days later that the new couple bought a home together. It was rowing season, the season of rowing widows Bob glibs, as the partner of a competitive rower rarely sees their mate during these months of 4:30am wake ups and 8pm bed times. They figured if they could make it through that, they could make it through anything.

They didn’t plan to buy straightaway, but they were shown a home they could not imagine not living in and took the plunge. That same zest for spontaneity and knowing what they want transferred to their candidacy for the Amazing Race.

Now, engaged for three years, the couple resides on a pretty 20-acre property that Bob says Rex is turning into his own green thumbed version of Versailles.

GC: Why did you decide to do the show?

BH: Just because we used to sit and watch it all the time and scream at the TV...

We thought if we won we’d be able to pay for the wedding! (laughter)

GC: What did your audition tape look like?

BH: We opened up the laptop and did a simple video [with a new Windows 8]...

We didn’t even know if it was working. The video had to be three minutes so we set a timer and we just did it... just sitting on the couch.

RH: We’re both very competitive I think that’s what drew us to the show.

BH: ...In 2007 we were in Italy... we were running through the airport with our backpacks on and saying OMG this is just like the Amazing Race!

GC: What particular skills do you think you brought to the competition?

RH: I did all the sort of artistic challenges and Bob did the numbers (Rex loves driving, Bob loves reading the maps).

BH: We both are quite different and we leveraged that as much as possible.

GC: What do you think was your weakness in this challenge?

RH: We balanced out very well I think.

BH: It tested our patience because-

RH: We don’t really have any.

(laughter)

BH: We’re very sort of high energy about everything... we laugh a lot and we argue a lot... We can’t wait to see how it all pans out.

GC: Do you think the experience made you grow as a couple?

RH: During the time you get so involved and you’re so stressed but we laughed it off as much as we argued .... It didn’t change anything.... We’ve worked through a lot of life challenges in general over ten years of being together... and took every opportunity as a gift.

BH: There weren’t really any enlightening moments... [The Amazing Race] just confirmed all the [ways] how we deal with things – that they work... It’s amazing how many people say, they’re really black and white about it... OMG I could never do that or OMG I have to do that. I would do it again in a second.