“PREVIOUSLY ON… The Amazing Race Canada”:
Teams travelled from Sydney, Nova Scotia to Saint John, New Brunswick and teams were caught in a sticky situation, and it wasn’t at Crosby’s Molasses! Team Fire and Ice struggled on the final Roadblock and after a scheming lie by Ashley, Frankie and Amy were last to arrive at the Pit Stop and were sent packing.
PRIZE: $250k, a round-the-world trip, a brand new Chevy, and the title of TAR Canada.
LEG 11
The final three remaining teams race from Saint John, New Brunswick to Montreal, Quebec where the final Pit Stop and winners mat resides.
Kristen/Steph are first to leave at 12:22am (love all the midnight starts! I would die). Joel/Ashley leave second, and Jill/Emmett in third.
We see Kristen talking about how they not only want to win the money, but the title of Amazing Race Canada. They want to bring it home for the ladies. They also show photos of Steph and Kristen’s family, and I’m thinking, HELLO WINNERS CLIP! The hubby is thinking, LOSER’S EDIT! So rude.
In the cab to the airport Jill mentions how highly strung she is and Emmett just stands there looking pretty. He’s had to deal with a lot on this race; cue Jill’s screaming.
Joel and Ashley are proud to be First Nation Canadians and talk about how incredible it would be to win this race.
All teams are on the same flight to Montreal and their next clue brings them to Cirque du Soleil!
At the Circus each team is required to complete 3 challenges: 1. Bungee trapeze, 2. Balance ball walk from one end to the other, and 3. Climb a Chinese pole to grab your next clue.
Each team gets into their obligatory costumes (TARCAN loves costumes), and Joel looks hilarious in his tight Beetlejuice outfit, with complimentary hat!
Oh Joel! Funny and not even trying. [Image credit: CTV Television Network]
Emmett, Kristen and Ashley start off on the bungee trapeze, and it does not look easy. I would be exhausted after a couple of bounces. Emmett completes this task pretty quickly, while Kristen struggles and Ashley swaps out with Joel who absolutely smashes it in no time.
Jill starts crawling on the balance ball. You would think walking would be easier, but what do I know?! Ashley, who has done ballet, makes it look like a walk in the park. Emmett then takes over for Jill and WHO KNEW he was a champion hay bale runner? WOW! I am so impressed I want to see it again.
Emmett is a pro! [Image credit: CTV Television Network]
With Emmett completing the first two circus acts, Jill is left to finish off the Chinese pole exercise. And she does it with ease. Go Jill! Meanwhile, Kristen and Steph are trailing everyone completing the bungee and balance ball walk *cries*.
CRACK THE CODE CHALLENGE
Teams travel to Canada’s oldest bank in Montreal and are required to decipher a message using the banks code book. It’s a whole lot of gibberish and I love these kind of challenges. Decoding is my forte. Once cracked, teams are given a key to a safety deposit box, giving them their next clue.
Jill and Emmett rush to their cab and realise, IT’S GONE. Bad cab driver luck plays such an important role in the race and I feel bad for them. The time wasted on them calling another cab allows Ashley/Joel and Kristen/Steph to jump ahead and leave the circus before them. Crazy!
Joel and Ashley arrive at the bank first and realise the code book itself doesn’t make sense. Kristen and Steph arrive second, with Jill and Emmett trailing. Kristen and Steph quickly decipher some message, but not the correct one, while Joel and Ashley take a little longer, but get it first time. They rush to their safety deposit box and Ashley mentions something about how she’s doing something illegal… Not quite Ocean’s Eleven! They get the next clue.
Decoding hard. [Image credit: CTV Television Network]
DOME ROADBLOCK
Teams make their way to Ile Saint Helene (woah) museum to Rappel the Biosphere. One team member is to pull themselves up to a platform, traverse across the inside of the dome, then rappel down the exterior. Amazing! This challenge would probably take me 2 hours to do, cue my partner please!
Superman takes on the Dome. [Image credit: CTV Television Network]
Joel starts to rappel up the dome; this guy is so inspiring. Kristen and Steph get their coding on and make their way to the dome and Steph takes on the challenge. It’s Joel versus Steph for the most part and she tries to catch up to the Olympic beach volleyball medallist.
Back at the bank, Emmett cleverly places his shoe in the lift door so it doesn’t run away like their cabbie did. Also the woman running the lift looked pretty happy to see him 😉 Emmett takes on the dome.
Joel beats Steph to grabbing the rappelling clue, and teams are off to a bagel party!
Kristen and Steph leave the dome just as Jill and Emmett arrive, and wow you can hear Jill’s voice echo through the dome.
BAGEL ROADBLOCK
Teams need to find St Viateur Bagels. Jill, I do not blame you for not remembering these names on the race, I am too and I’m only recapping these episodes. One team member needs to use bagel stick to fill correct bagel orders for 3 different locations in the area. Delicious, and potentially sweaty.
The Big Board of Bagels. [Image credit: CTV Television Network]
Ashley and Kristen take on the bagel beluga. Also, I see Mentos!
Emmett absolutely smashes through the dome challenge make up plenty of time. In the cab Jill tells Emmett they can’t get mad or upset for being in last place… Yep, we’ll see about that.
Kristen piles on the bagels and she speaks some French and my heart skips a beat. I don’t know any French for shit, but I’m not French, or Canadian, or a hybrid! Ashley is outta there first looking for that store that begins with B and ends with Vito. Kristen isn’t too far behind and while Ashley gets lost, finds the Vito store. Ashley ends up lost, right outside the store and finds Kristen inside. Kristen bolts out for her next run.
Race is ON like Donkey Kong. [Image credit: CTV Television Network]
Jill arrives and gets stuck into the dough, unfortunately incorrectly as she hasn’t read the stacking order on the board. She ends up asking a stranger for help, but can’t remember the name and ends up back at the original bagel store. More panic ensues.
This leaves the battle between Kristen and Ashley, and Miss Professional-Lesbian-Since-14 races ahead to her next delivery. Ashley is not too far behind. Kristen/Steph grab their next clue, which is to head to the Entertainment studio, Moment Factory. This race is SO CLOSE!
Back at the bagels, Jill makes it to Jeans, Jeans, Jeans, and her order is incorrect. On the streets she tries to fix it on the spot without going back to the store. Bad idea.
A new meaning for street bagels. [Image credit: CTV Television Network]
MOMENTS FROM THE RACE – FINAL CHALLENGE
Teams are required to match phrases and moments they’ve heard along the race to the correct destination. Surely all teams should study this along the way, but phrases?! I hardly remember half of them and I’ve watched the episodes a couple times each.
Kristen and Steph arrive at the Moment Factory first and seem to be on top the phrases to begin with. Joel and Ashley arrive not too far behind. Jill finally finishes her bagel deliveries and in the cab she blames herself for them not winning the race.
Who’s fancier? Monty or the interactive screens? 😉 [Image credit: CTV]
Kristen and Steph get their matching plaques checked and ACCESS DENIED, they are stuck on a few plaques. Same goes for Joel and Ashley. Jill and Emmett arrive at the factory and Emmett asks their cabbie to wait for them, while Jill yells at him to hurry up. It’s OK Jill, the other teams are still there! They realise this and figure they have a red hot shot at winning this game. Jill seems to be a gun at memory puzzles.
Kristen and Steph are only 2 matches away *SCREAMS*. Joel and Ashley are struggling with this memory test and can only seem to get a few right each time. Jill and Emmett are getting closer… The tension is real guys!
Steph makes some swaps and with one last change, DING DING DING. Access Granted!!
WINNING. [Image credit: CTV Television Network]
The next clue tells them to make their way to Mont-Royal (please say this is Jon Monty’s castle!) and search for Jon at the Finish Line. I don’t even care what Mont-Royal is at this point, I’m just so excited my favourite team is about to win the race.. or will they?!
We see Jill and Emmett finish the challenge and they’re on the way to the finish line. Kristen and Steph are stuck in traffic with a crappy cab driver! I can’t even imagine how they felt in that moment.
Then the cameras pan to the finish line with all the previously eliminated teams waiting for the winners to run in. Lowell, I heart you!!
What a lovely bunch of Canadians. [Image credit: CTV Television Network]
The cameras await the first team, and BAM it’s Kristen and Steph! I jump up and down (well my excited brain is) and they run to Monty like a kid running to sweet, sweet candy. I am so ecstatic a team who I’ve rooted for since the cast was announced has won The Amazing Race. Never thought this day would happen. Congratulations ladies!!
Second place goes to Jill and Emmett. Brilliant work coming back from last place, guys! They were Kristen and Steph’s toughest competition and were always up there every leg. Congrats to the exes, they came first in 4 of the legs, including the first 2. Emmett is a beautiful man who was patient and kind to Jill no matter what she threw at him, and Jill is a strong, passionate lady, who maybe shouldn’t apply for any other reality shows that cause stress! 🙂
And last, but not least, Joel and Ashley arrive at the mat in third place and I really do believe this team raced their hearts out the whole time. They were always middle of the road with glimpses of coming out on top. Joel and Ashley came first once in leg 3. So it’s nice to see the top 3 teams all came first at some point in the race.
Runner-ups: Be proud, guys. [Image credit: CTV Television Network]
Back to the winners, Kristen and Steph are the first female team to win The Amazing Race Canada and I love that production never focussed on the fact they are a ‘gay’ couple, which is something they would totally do in Australia (not many gay/lesbians cast in reality shows here), so well done Canada. They are a couple who worked so well supporting each other on the race and were able to overcome some heated and bloody moments. They did however promote the girl power thing and were inspiring to many females watching. Never underestimate a woman’s strength. These chicks are #BADASS. They were the most consistently placed team coming first in 5 legs (most for the season) and had an average placing of 2.00; the 2nd Express Leg brought this down, but really, who cares now!
CONGRATULATIONS KRISTEN AND STEPH! Enjoy your holidays and TWO Chevy’s. Also, Silverado trucks? Don’t mean to be stereotypical, but such a lesbian choice 😉
Our Season 4 Amazing Race Canada winners. [Image credit: CTV Television Network]
ALL IMAGES USED IN THIS ARTICLE ARE COPYRIGHT CTV TELEVISION NETWORK. THIS IS A PERSONAL BLOG AND ALL VIEWS ARE MY OWN.
