The
Montreal presence on CTV’s The Amazing Race Canada is over after Nic La Monaca from Anjou and Lachine’s Sabrina Mercuri
became the fifth team eliminated.
The
Montreal-based couple were in “jeopardy” early in the leg, struggling at the
crime scene Detour, before their race took a turn for the worse when Nic was
last to complete the CPR Road Block. In the end, Nic and Sabrina were the last
team to reach the Pit Stop at Bell Park in Sudbury where they were greeted by
host Jon Montgomery and eliminated from the race.
“I’m
not disappointed…you always think of me before you think of you, and I love you
for that,” said Sabrina about her relationship with Nic.
“The
bond that we have is never going to be broken,” added a heartfelt Nic, a graduate of the English Montreal School Board's Lester B. Pearson High School Sports Études Program.
Despite
a 10 year age difference – Nick is 22 and Sabrina 32 – this looks like one rock
solid couple. If anything can test a relationship it is this type of experience.
I
spoke to Nic and Sabrina today. They joined me by telephone from Toronto where
they are doing the media rounds. “Testing our relationship was certainly not
the reason to do the show,” said Nic. “We know our boundaries. If anything this
validated our love for each other.”
Because
the show will still be airing for several weeks, there is a lot the couple did
not want to say. “Life will kind of get back to normal,” said Sabrina. “While
we cannot talk too much, this experience was very stressful and difficult.
Nobody can ever imagine. You cannot understand by just watching the show for
one hour.”
Having
interview Montreal physicians Brett and Holly, first year contestants, I know
all of the intimate details of what the contestants go through. For starters
they cannot tell anyone in their family where they are nor communicate with
them during the shoot. When they check
into hotels, the phones, TVs and radios are disconnected. No newspapers are permitted.
Just some magazines. A guard stands outside the room and they do not mingle
with their competitors when filming is not taking place.
Nic and Sabrina. |
Nic
is now busy coaching youth soccer for Les Étoiles de L’Est in Laval. He also
returns to class full-time in September at Concordia, where he is studying
political science. Sabrina works in human resources for an engineering company.
During
the show Nic actually had one challenge that involved soccer. Competitors had
to get the ball in the net while blindfolded. He was unable to complete the
task and the couple actually took a two hour penalty to skip the experience.
That choice almost got them eliminated two weeks earlier. “That was a tough
one,” said Nic. “The thing is that challenge ended up not being about skill,
but rather communications.”
One
of the interesting developments of course when you are on a show seen by
millions of Canadians each week is the recognition factor. “We do get
recognized,” said Sabrina. “It is quite flattering.”
The
most recent episode will encore this
Saturday, August 15 at 8 p.m. ET/PT and Sunday, August 16 at 5 p.m. ET/PT on
CTV and CTV GO – and is also now available on demand at CTV GO. All-new
episodes of THE AMAZING RACE CANADA air Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CTV and
CTV GO. Episodes 1–5 are also now streaming on CraveTV™, with new episodes
available a week after the broadcast premiere. Previous seasons are also now
streaming on CraveTV.
On
the next episode (Wednesday, August 19 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CTV and CTV GO),
teams race to Canada’s heartland, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where the Road Block
has some teams bouncing ahead of the pack, and others falling behind. Tensions
drive Brian and Cynthia to the edge, and at the Detour, some teams are spinning
in circles, while others jump through hoops to stay in the race.