Television

Amazing Race Canada recap: Surprises in Winnipeg

The stopover didn’t match the thrills of the Yukon, but it did yield some stunning results

Rex and Bob arrive at the finish line.

Rex and Bob arrive at the finish line.

Canadian ballet icon Rex Harrington took a final bow on Tuesday night, eliminated at the Amazing Race Canada’s halfway mark with his fiancé, Bob.

The duo consistently shone in their on-camera commentary, but couldn’t make the cut when it came to actually performing. They fell into last place when Rex struggled to belt out a rock song word-for-word at a crowded bar. Viewers knew there was going to be trouble when Rex assembled an outfit that made him look less like a rock star and more like if Howard Stern ran a spin class in the 1980s.

This week’s action took place in Winnipeg, which host Jon Montgomery billed as being “smack-dab in the middle of our great country.” Because what else can you say about Winnipeg?

The seven remaining teams visited the city’s best-known spots: the Royal Canadian Mint, Portage and Main, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (still under construction, of course), and the MTS Centre, where the Winnipeg Jets play.

It was a lacklustre leg compared to the Yukon: At the Mint, racers had to match 10 international coins with their country’s flag, which is pretty much exactly as exciting as it sounds. But let’s give credit where credit is due: Sukhi and Jinder nailed this challenge, since one thing the high-strung siblings know how to do is globe-trot. To the countries they’ve visited, Canada can only say a trademark “sorry.”

The most interesting part of the Winnipeg leg was when a hockey challenge that seemed unfairly tailored to Natalie and Meaghan actually tripped them up.

The Olympic hockey gold medallists (fairly) assumed they could quickly score five goals at the MTS Centre, even forgoing the option of doing a Fast Forward, which probably would have led them to a first-place finish.

But scoring the fifth and final goal, between the goalie’s legs, proved as impossible as selling Robin Thicke’s latest album.

“It’s the stick, I’m blaming the stick!” said Natalie, repeatedly complaining: “This is embarrassing.”

Other teams leap-frogged ahead of them at the rink, with Mickey and Pete cheering, “Dude, we just beat Olympians! We ARE Olympians!”

Natalie finally scored on the team’s 57th try, but they couldn’t regain the lead and went on to their worst finish ever: fifth place.

Meanwhile, twin brothers Pierre and Michel used the Express Pass that the Olympians gave them last week to bypass the final rock star challenge and take first place. Alain and Audrey, who scooped up the Fast Forward, placed second.

We’re now midway through the competition, with six teams standing. That’s officially enough time to propose . . .

The Amazing Race Canada Drinking Game

Take a sip if:

  • Jon Montgomery makes a pun.
  • Racers specify they’d like to pay with their “Scotiabank Gold American Express card.”
  • The Olympians are leading.
  • Everyone else complains that the Olympians are leading.

Take a drink if:

  • Mickey and Pete hit on someone. Take two drinks if it’s someone on the show.
  • Pierre and Michel tell another team to go the wrong way.
  • Sukhi and Jinder go the wrong way.
  • You’re sure Sukhi and Jinder are out because they keep going the wrong way, but they somehow rally and finish in the top three.

Chug your drink if:

  • Audrey speaks at a normal volume.
  • Jon Montgomery looks natural on camera.
  • Mickey and Pete show any signs of stress.
  • The racers are given food or even a glass of water.

Drink everything in sight if:

  • The Olympians are U-turned and Jon Montgomery doesn’t make a penalty box analogy.
  • Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod return.
  • Nicole sprints across the finish line with her rifle.
  • Sukhi and Jinder win Amazing Race Canada.

In a surprise twist next week, the race returns overseas. The teams head to Normandy, France, where francophones Pierre and Michel and Alain and Audrey should enjoy a linguistic advantage over their competitors.

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