Alain and Audrey share their thoughts about being eliminated from The Amazing Race Canada

And then there were none!

The second and only remaining Montreal-based team on CTV’s TheAmazing Race Canada has been eliminated. Super couple Alain Chanoine and Audrey Tousignant-Maurice from the South Shore saw their dream of winning it all end with a last place finish  in picturesque Prince Edward Island.

It was a detour (a decision between two tasks, each with its own pros and cons) requiring them to strip a bin full of mussels that did them in. “Those mussels smelled pretty disgusting,” said Audrey, who joined me by telephone with Alain the morning after the telecast. Added  Alain: “The way we looked it is a good thing we did not need to race to a taxi.”

Alain and Audrey were  overtaken by Ryan and Rob, who also had to complete a Speed Bump which involved finding moonshine bottles buried in a steaming pile of horse manure. Ryan and Rob have survived being bounced twice already thanks to finding out they were part of non-elimination rounds when they arrived at the pit stop dead last.  This included the previous episode in Montreal. “We thought P.E.I. was going to be the non-elimination round,” said Alain. “We were not aware , of course, that this had occurred in Montreal.”

Alain (L) and Audrey (R) learn they are the seventh team eliminated when they join host Jon Montgomery at the mat in Rustico, Prince Edward Island.

Now that their adventure is over,  Alain and Audrey no longer have to keep their fate secret with friends, family and fans. Two episodes earlier, in Paris. Alain proposed marriage and Audrey accepted. “That was taped four months ago,” said Alain. “So for all of that time I had to still keep calling Audrey my girlfriend. Now I can call her my fiancée."

There is no question that any couple’s compatibility is tested in a competition like this whereby they are together 24/7 and according to show rules unable to communicate with anyone from the outside world,  including family. At the hotels radios, TVs and phones are removed. No newspapers are accessible. Guards are placed in front of each door to ensure you do not leave the premises. No contact is permitted between teams. “It is like being incarcerated,” Alain told me in an earlier talk. “We loved this entire experience. We’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

Alain the stuntman and Audrey the real estate agent will likely walk down the aisle next spring.  Just like last year's Montreal couple, physicians Brett Burstein and Holly Agostino, we clearly have a rock solid head over heals in love two some here. And yes, they have spent time with Brett and Holly.

 “I’m sad this experience is over,” said Audrey. “But we’re gonna start our life together and that’s absolutely wonderful.”  

The four remaining teams competing for the biggest grand prize in Canadian television history ($250,000, two Chevrolet Silverado trucks, free gasoline for life from Petro Canada and the ability to fly for free anywhere for a year with Air Canada in business class)  are Mickey and Pete, best friends from Muskoka, Ont; Sukhi and Jinder, siblings, from Terrace, B.C.;  Natalie and Meaghan,  Canadian Olympic women’s hockey team players from Scarborough, Ont. and Calgary; and Ryan and Rob, co-workers from Vancouver, B.C.

Twin brothers Pierre and Michel Forget from Terrebonne were eliminated a few weeks ago. There was no love lost between them and Alain and Audrey and they hardly became friends. The twins claim that they offered the couple a chance to work together early on in the show and never got a proper response. Audrey and Alain said they considered the twins to be quite unfamiliar with what the show is all about and for that reason they wanted them to succeed. “We were a strong team and they wanted us out,”  said Alain. “That was a compliment.”

 

Next week it is  semi-final time (Tuesday, Sept. 16 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CTV and CTV GO) as ther teams race to New Brunswick to fight for a spot in the finale. It’s an uphill battle as racers claw their way through a gruelling Roadblock. Teams face a blizzard of a time at an Acadian birthday party, but a complicated coastal Detour leaves them desperately waving a white flag.

Below is a link to episode 8 of the series, my personal favorite from Paris, France, when Alain proposed to Audrey near the end and the twins were eliminated.