The Amazing Race Australia: Celebrity Edition was certainly one for the books. While there was one team that arrived at the end first, there turned out to be three pairs of winners.
Established race leaders throughout the season, Darren McMullen and nephew Tristan Dougan, saw host Beau Ryan at the Pit Stop first but refused to step on the mat. Instead, they chose to wait the other two teams had arrived so they could jump together and share the $100,000 across three worthy charities.
On the first episode of The Amazing Race Australia: Celebrity Edition 11 teams embarked on an adventure of a lifetime across the world. The competitors were whittled down until three very strong teams were left to battle it out: Singer Alli Simpson and mum Angie, TV personality Darren McMullen and nephew Tristan, and former Wiggle Emma Watkins and sister Hayley.
The final leg of the race took place in the metropolis of Kuala Lumpur. Here, the contestants were tested on the skills that they’d perfected throughout the race.
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First, their communication skills were 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. No points for guessing what that was!
Hayley was terrified by the gigantic albino python which was summoned and wrapped around her neck. Angie was busy telling her daughter Alli to calm down because she was convinced that it was just a plastic snake. Meanwhile, 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 a huge library of literature. Darren and Tristan deciphered the map in clear view of Alli who overheard the information and passed it straight on to Angie. Darren and Tristan didn’t make the same mistake again and were sure to be discrete about their clues.
The next challenge involved dancing and Darren dove straight in, but his backup dancer nephew Tristan didn’t share the same enthusiasm. This challenge was made for Emma Wiggle and Hayley who nailed it on the first attempt, meanwhile, Angie took a while to loosen up.
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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 among the photos.
En route 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.
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Linked arm in arm, all three teams hit the mat at the same time, and it was an emotional ending to The Amazing Race Australia: Celebrity Edition.