Montrealers Nic and Sabrina continue to thrive on Amazing Race Canada

Montreal couple Nic La Monaca, 22, of Anjou and Sabrina Mercuri, 32, of Lachine had another strong showing on  CTV's The Amazing Race Canada this week while Vancouver co-workers Susan Hayre and Sharnjit Gill became the second team eliminated.

Engaged couple Hamilton and Michaelia used their Express Pass to win the leg in Santiago, Chile, earning them premium economy tickets from Air Canada to Delhi, India, plus six months of free gas from Petro-Canada. Nic and Sabrina used their multilingual talents and ability to converse in Spanish to their advantage and came in fourth place.

For  Susan and Sharnjit, the most recent episode was an emotional one. The Vancouver-based correctional officers quickly found themselves in last place after losing their bearings during a mural road block in Santiago, Chile. They became the second team eliminated at the Pit Stop at one of the best views of the city, beautiful Cerro San Cristobal.

“This was the most amazing experience ever,” said Susan. “Today was just a day that we will take back home and never forget.” 

“I just hope we made our kids proud,” added Sharnjit. “I want our kids to look at this and say ‘yep, that’s my mom’ and ‘yep, that’s my aunt – and they did it.’” 

From the Pit Start in Toronto, 11 teams travelled more than 8,600 km to Santiago, Chile in hopes of winning two Express Passes. Once in Chile, teams travelled to the Geoaventura Parque for their first Road Block, a paragliding challenge. Teams then made their way to the San Miguel borough, where they took selfies in front of five murals spread throughout the neighbourhood. For the second part of the challenge, teams helped local children paint a mural. Hamilton and Michaelia successfully found a dancing couple in the Bellavista neighbourhood, earning them two Express Passes. Then, at the Detour, teams chose between learning a difficult dance routine or memorizing and reciting verses of a Spanish poem. Hamilton and Michaelia decided to use their Express Pass early, skipping the Detour, and ultimately winning the leg. Host Jon Montgomery greeted them at the Pit Stop in Cerro San Cristobal with their leg prize – premium economy tickets from Air Canada to Delhi, India, plus six months of free gas from Petro Canada™.

Next week teams race to Buenos Aires, Argentina, where racers begin at the Plaza Canada Totem Pole, before getting tripped up on the field in a game of blind soccer. That just happens to be Nic's sport. He has played professional in Italy and currently coaches an elite soccer club in Laval. Of course he does all this with his eyes wide open.

The episode will encore this Saturday, July 18 at 7 p.m. ET/PT and Sunday, July 19 at 5 p.m. ET/PT on CTV and CTV GO – and is also now available on demand at CTV GO. All-new episodes  air Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CTV and CTV GO. CraveTV™ subscribers can stream new Season 3 episodes a week after the broadcast premiere. Previous seasons are also currently streaming on CraveTV.
 

Nic and Sabrina in the heat of the action.

Besides Nic and Sabrina and Hamilton and Michaelia from Centreville, NS, the 10 remaining teams competing for the biggest grand prize in Canadian television history are:

• Brent and Sean – Brothers –       Musquodoboit Harbour, N.S.
• Brian and Cynthia – Married – Winnipeg
• Dana and Amanda – Co-workers – St. John’s, N.L.
• Dujean and Leilani – Exes – Toronto and Halifax, N.S.
• Gino and Jesse – Brothers – Hamilton  
• Neil and Kristin – Father and daughter – Burlington, Ont.
• Nick and Matt – Wrestling Teammates – Newmarket, Ont. and Stouffville, Ont. 
• Simi and Ope – Father and daughter – Burnaby, B.C. 

Nic and Sabrina survive week one in The Amazing Race Canada

Dating Couple Max and Elias were the first team eliminated in the Season 3 premiere of CTV’s  The Amazing Race Canada, seen by more than two million viewers.

It did not look good at the beginning for the only Montreal  team, couple  Nic La Monaca, 22, of Anjou and Sabrina Mercuri, 32, of Lachine. The 12 teams gathered at the foot of the historic Château Frontenac Hotel in Québec City. After heading to Quay 22 in Québec’s harbour for their first clue, teams had to search through hundreds of bikes to find the one that their combination unlocked, and take a ferry across the St. Lawrence River to the town of Lévis, before departing for Toronto.  Nic and Sabrina were virtually last in this competition. But they caught up with the rest of the gang as the teams headed towards Toronto on two separate flights.

Teams encountered a word scramble challenge inside the St. Lawrence Market, tested their broadcasting chops with TSN’s James Duthie on the set of Sports Centre , and then made their way to Ontario Place where they competed in a three-part water obstacle course.  Sabrina was a little hesitant on that one.

Brothers Gino and Jesse Montani arrived first at the Air Canada Centre, winning the first leg of Season three.  Nic and Sabrina ended up second. 

Host Jon Montgomery greeted them at the Pit Stop with their leg prize – two round-trip tickets from Air Canada to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and 2.5 million Petro-Points each from Petro-Canada, redeemable for six months of free gas.  Next Wednesday, July 15, teams break out their passports and race to exotic Santiago, Chile, where tensions run high and communication with the locals proves to be a challenge.

"It's as amazing as it looks!" Nic and Sabrina tweeted @Nic_SabrinaTARC. "And 1000x more stressful than 1 can imagine!"