Having lay dormant for a few years, Channel TEN has revived The Amazing Race Australia, and true to show’s format, the teams are diverse as ever. There are best friend nuns, young footballers, indigenous parents, Vietnamese siblings and a Muslim mother and daughter. To sweeten the pot the new host is ex-rugby star and DNA Straight Mate Beau Ryan. But it’s Tim and Rob in their trademark red and black flannel shirts, who are proudly representing the gay community.
“We’re super fans of the show, and watch every season,” says Tim.
“Being part of it has been absolutely fantastic. There was a point at the start line when Beau was counting us down, and we looked at each other and said “Is this actually happening?” We were about to race around the world together and the fact that we were newlyweds and representing the gay community made us proud to be standing there.”
Tim and Rod, who work as personal trainers, originally met through mutual Facebook friends and tied the knot last March at One Mile Beach, Port Stephens. With a large social media following, including 50K Instagram followers, it was on Facebook where they saw the contestant callout for a ‘travel adventure show’. Reading between the lines they knew their chance at reality TV had arrived. But it wasn’t a case of diving straight in. Once green lit, the boys set out to prepare.
Tim and Rod during The Amazing Race Australia
“We’re both personal trainers, so we’re at the fittest stage of our lives,” says Rod.
“But what we also did was binge watch as much of the show as possible. We’re not really ‘handy’ dudes, so we did a few little manly tasks with the family to prep. My brother taught me how to reverse a car with a trailer, and my dad showed us how to change a tyre. We’d seen episodes where contestants had flat tyres or were reversing big semitrailers. We thought we’d end up eliminated if we had to change a tyre. How embarrassing would that have been!”
Competing on the show means travelling to unknown destinations, including some, which may or may not be welcoming to our community. So what was the response to Tim and Rod?
“We got a mixed bag of reactions,” says Tim.
Tim and Rod making decisions during a leg of The Amazing Race Australia
“When you’re in these different countries, pretty much everything including the people around you, goes out the widow, because you’re too focused on the challenge. We were still running around, holding hands and such, but I think when people first met us, they thought we were just best mates. We didn’t let anything deter us from showing emotion to each other, but there were some places where it was literally dangerous for us to show affection. When we went to Africa the producers gave us the heads up because they didn’t want us getting into trouble. It was a bit hard for us not to be able to show affection, but it was for our own safety.”
As for the other teams, they had no idea of Tim and Rod’s relationship, until the race got underway. For 2019 there were understandably no objections, as Rod explains.
Tim and Rod have over 50K followers on Instagram
“The first time we got to speak to the other teams, we discovered most of them thought we were either mates or brothers. They’d be like “What’s your relationship?” and I’d say, “Tim’s my husband”. They thought that could have been the case, but still assumed we were brothers. But when you’re racing you really don’t see the other teams that much. You pretty much run your own race from the get go. We got on really well with The Influences Sid and Ash.”
Somewhat notorious, The Influences became the show’s antagonists, deliberately sending other teams in wrong directions and even stealing a dumpling from the nuns during a food-making challenge.
“We’ve seen a lot of shady things they’ve done on the show,” says Tim. “But to be honest, we didn’t see a lot of that during the race. We saw the nice side of them. That’s probably not what people want to hear, but they were really nice and it surprised us to see the negative stuff. We also loved the nuns and they loved us back. They loved everyone, and were so funny. Judy was that hilarious, she could do stand up. They would say “We’ll pray for you guys” and at first we wondered if it was because we were gay, but they said that to everyone. They were so genuine. Amani the Muslim daughter was also super-nice to us. We loved her too.”
“We didn’t let anything deter us from showing emotion to each other”, says Tim
But the race is not without its tough competitors, with the Melbourne footballers giving the boys, and other teams, a run for their money.
“Tommy and Tyler had a really good streak, always coming first at the different legs,” says Tim.
“They absolutely killed it. It was tough watching that happen, and took me back to the schoolyard where you could never beat those sporty guys, and didn’t feel good enough. They were also a little bit cocky here and there, but I think for them, a lot of it came down to luck. They were really nice dudes, but it was hard seeing a team that just continued to slay.”
“It was frustrating,” agrees Rod. “We’d run around for twenty minutes looking for a cab, and one would just pull up right in front of them!”
There was however, one person on the race, or rather hosting it, whom Tim and Rod have nothing but kind words. The handsome and charismatic Beau Ryan.
The Amazing Race host Beau Ryan
“We think Beau’s a legend,” says Rod.
“Prior to the race, I didn’t know he’d been involved in Mardi Gras and such, and we thought of him as a typical footballer. When we met him he was so down to earth and he made us feel so comfortable. He’s a big hugger too, and we loved that!”
“He’s the nicest guy,” concurs Tim.
“At the end of the day, getting a hug from Beau was like getting a hug from your mum, and it’s exactly what we needed. Even when the cameras were off, he’d keep chatting to us. He also knew our back-stories, which made us feel good. All through the race he said how much he missed his family, and when we got home here was Beau’s wife and kids standing at the terminal with these cute signs saying, “Welcome home dad, we missed you!” Seeing that was just magical, and we were all sobbing.”
As for Beau, the feelings are certainly reciprocated.
“Oh, I love them to death!” he says.
“They were fantastic. Always arm in arm and so proud. Both of them have come through hardships in their lives, yet they love each other and they hold their heads high. I know a lot of gay people and I’ve also got gay family, and I think that two people, whether a guy and guy or girl and girl, sharing their love, and especially in this show…well, you’ve got to remember that they are relying on each other and this race brings out the best or worst. For these two guys…man, I can’t speak highly enough of them.”
Tim and Rod hamming it up for Instagram
In the 2003 season of the US version, married couple Chip and Reichen competed and won, but it was still and era where gay contestants faced controversy and boycotts from sponsors.
“That’s bullshit,” says Beau.
”Mate if that happened now and sponsors wanted to pull out, I’d pull out of the show! We’ve come a long way especially in this country, but we’re still a little bit behind in my opinion. You know, this race was a real test and it really tested the relationship of those guys, especially as newlyweds. They came out the other side and I reckon it made them even stronger. Whether you win or lose, it doesn’t really matter. Just to go through it and come out the other side with your partner, that makes you a winner!”
For the boys, racing through countries such as South Korea, Mongolia and Zimbabwe, was definitely a test. While in Africa Rod found difficulty with a sewing challenge using old school peddle machines, and in Mongolia it took Tim several attempts to memorize a local song before a panel of wrestlers gave him the thumbs up. But for Tim and Rod, it was the stunning landscapes and people that left an indelible mark.
“In Zambia we were surrounded by the most amazing scenery,” says Rod.
“In one particular spot there was a crocodile in the river and a herd of elephants only ten metres away. It was mind blowing. We even had to stop for a zebra crossing the road. The stripes were perfect, like painted on!”
“And there was the Love Bridge at the pit stop in Hang Mua, Vietnam,” says Tim.
“That was one of the most beautiful places I’ve been to in my life. It felt like being in a different world, like Pandora in Avatar. It’s an image that I will take to the grave. But I’ll also remember the villages in Africa, where all these little kids were running around with us. They were all so happy, and we thought about how the issues we had back home were nothing compared to theirs. It gave us a touch of reality.”
“They held our hands and ran to the next challenge with us,” adds Rod.
“I spent six weeks volunteering in Uganda a few years ago, and it brought back all those memories and emotions. You see some pretty hectic stuff, and even though they have nothing, they have such huge smiles on their faces.”
Tim and Rod have also received positive messages, especially from the LGBTIQ community, whom they hoped to inspire from participating in the race.
“We’ve had some really inspirational messages on Instagram,” says Tim.
“We get so much love and positive comments. We know that in the social media world that with as much love you can get equally as much hate, but we don’t really see that at all. They’re just happy to see two best mates in love. People say we’ve inspired them and made them feel comfortable with who they are. The first line we had in the whole show was me telling Rod his butt looked good, and I’m glad they left that in! Growing up we never saw people like us on television that we could relate to. We wanted to show you don’t have to pigeon hole yourself into any type of person. We wanted to break down some walls and show we’re just two mates in love. It’s as simple as that.”
“We also get messages like “I hope I find what you guys have””, says Rod.
“We went onto the show obviously with the goal of winning, but we also went in as two proud gay men. If we could just change a handful of people’s perceptions of what a gay relationship can be, then we’re already winners. We thought we knew each other pretty well going into it, but in those intense situations there were times I thought I’d have a mental breakdown, and visa versa. We really had to learn to encourage and pick each other up from our worst spots. I feel like Tim and I have become even closer and we now know each other on a deeper level.”
“I honestly feel this race has changed out lives,” says Tim.
“I’m a completely different person to what I was beforehand. It’s really given me a different perspective on life, relationships and on trust. Whenever we talk about it, I get so emotional because it was the greatest thing we’ve ever done in our lives.”
The Amazing Race Australia screens Mondays and Tuesdays on Channel Ten
Follow Tim and Rod @timandrod
Follow Beau @therealbeauryan
Matthew Myers with Tim and Rod Sattler-Jones
