Are you a fan of both Amazing Race and Who Do You Think You Are? Well imagine if they were combined into one show. Tonight at 9p EST on BYU TV, that is exactly what the third season of Relative Race is all about.
Four teams travel the United States to meet family members they never knew they had. Each team, two couples, one father and son, and two sisters, is given a flip phone, a paper map and told to go on their way. Why are they taking it back to 1999? Each team has to turn in their smart phones before they begin their challenge. No technology for them.
The race starts off in DC tonight and immediately two of the competitors on different teams find out they related. Once they hug it out, it is not time to battle it out. The four teams are taken to airport and off they go to different cities to meet their new relatives. Some of the teams never knew any of their families because they are adopted. One team member lost her mom when she was a baby and then her dad killed his new wife when she was a few years old. She never knew her mom’s family and she wants to know if they ever wanted to meet her. That is just one of the stories that will tug at your heart, but there are many more.
Since it is a competition show, it is not only about meeting their families. They also partake in challenges that help them find their new relatives that are scattered all over the US. Imagine getting off a plane, getting into a car with just a flip phone and paper map to find their way to places we have never heard about. That’s what they do every episode.
Is it worth it? Not only do they get $50,000 if they win the thing. After day 10, they now have 10X the family they had before they started Relative Race, and that is worth more than the money. However, do not tell the producers I said that.
What you can tell the producers is how much I adore this show that caused me to tear up a few times. I enjoyed the competitions, but I really loved the family meetings even more than that. What better way to spend your Sundays than with a show that is the perfect mix of tugging at your heart and also getting it to pump faster. It’s a great way to start off your work week, you know by watching a feel good show before you go to sleep.
Earlier this week, I spoke to one of the teams and they told me what it was like to be part of this one-of-a-kind competition show. Troy and Nicolle Hitt are from Humble, Texas, the parents to 4 kids and 6 animals, and together they own a CrossFit Haste.
How did the couple, who have been married for 13 years, find out about Relative Race? They have a son, who wants to be an actor and a model; and when they were going through the castings for him, Nicole saw this show listed on there. Since Troy is adopted, they thought that this would be the perfect show for them to audition to be on.
They sent in a quick 10-second audition tape of them riding around with their dogs. That quick video was sent it in for season 2, but they did not get picked for that one. Troy explained why he thinks that happened, “We apparently suck at audition tapes.” In that short video, they did not share their story about why they would be good contestants for the show. Obviously, what they did send out left an impression on the producers because they casted them for season 3.
Nicole says that this season the show added some new twists and turns. After watching the first two seasons of the show, they thought they knew what to expect, but “everyday was something new.”
One of those new things for them was not using GPS, so they practiced going around Houston with just a paper map. Only problem is that was almost as hard to find as finding their way around town with old school directions.
There was another change for the couple when they are in the car. Troy told me he is used to driving around everywhere, but for Relative Race he sat in the passenger’s seat. He did that so he could read the maps and navigate their way to the challenges. What happens when they got home? Troy was back to being in the driver’s seat and Nicole prefers it that way.
While this couple is used to working together, raising their 10 children (two and four legged) and running their business, how well did they do on the road? Troy proudly said, “We really do work well together. We butt heads in the beginning, most times, but we really do work well together.” Then he added, “It is refreshing to spend all of that time together with my spouse. It was great to see how well we work together.”
Therefore, do they feel it strengthened their marriage? Without hesitation Nicole said, “I think so.”
For tonight’s premiere, they are traveling to Utah to meet up with the other teams. Have they kept in touch with them? They all keep up on each other with Facebook and Instagram. Troy then elaborated, “That is another cool part about it. You got this new family, but then you got an extended family that understands the journey that you went through. It is cool that you get to share that with them.”
What helped the teams bond is that Troy shared with me that were able to text the other teams from their “dynamic flip phones.” Some of those texts included friendly banter and trying to find out where the other team went.
Even though at the end of the day, aka each episode, they would get updates from each of the teams how their days went. Since they all had this special bond, everyone wanted to know how the other teams made out for the day. Whom they met? What type of news they got? And so on.
They got so close that Nicole let us in on a secret. She says that at one point, the four teams discussed about ending the game as a tie, but then they came up with another plan. She detailed their plan as, “We came up with the idea that winner would buy everyone else dinner.” Did that happen? It did! Sadly though, we won’t see that because happened off camera.
What we will see are the beautiful places they went to that they never heard of before this competition. Places and family that left such an impact on Troy and Nicole that they plan on retracing their path on a road trip and spending time with their new family. One that they are still catching up since the show ended.
That is a true gift that no other competition show can give their contestants. How many of us wish we could get to know family members we do not know about? Now add in, it being part of a competition show that takes you around the country to meet them. It is a thrill ride that makes you cry happy tears. In addition, it has contestants you want to root for because they are all great people who want to expand their lives with more family. Family is a beautiful thing and it is even more beautiful as you get new ones to complete your life. Therefore, tune in to BYU TV every Sunday at 9p EST to watch Relative Race.
