Josh Ogilvie and Rick Liston are packing their bags and heading off for Shanghai permanently. 50293
By Mara Pattison-Sowden
HEALESVILLE’S Amazing Racers are home after five weeks of racing around China for a TV show.
Josh Ogilvie and Rick Liston took part in The Amazing Race in China, following clues through 12 cities and taking part in ridiculous activities against the other teams.
“It was a fascinating way to see a country, doors opened for us to scale the tallest buildings and to do it with a film crew – it’s utterly unique,” Josh said.
“It was a really lonely week when the race stopped and there were no cameramen around.”
Although their lips are sealed about how far they got in the competition – not even telling their own families the outcome – Josh revealed the boys are leaving their jobs to head back to Shanghai.
“The lure of Shanghai existed far before the trip,” he said.
“We had that much fun we’re going to move over there and try and get our own TV show.”
Josh said making it big in China is an “entirely conceivable” aim.
“Four of the contestants from last year’s show ended up on TV. Doors open and opportunities open,” he said.
The boys spent about 10 hours racing a day, Josh said, getting long-haul trains to one city, racing around for a day or two and then off again to the next city.
Although the boys didn’t come home with Bali-belly, the competitions were so extreme that Josh threw up on two occasions.
In an all-you-can-eat fried rice competition, Josh devoured 1.5 kilograms of rice and still got beaten by a woman who weighed only 40kgs.
On the second occasion in a competition involving a schezuan hot pot, he swallowed a handful of fresh hot red chillies with a predictable effect.
“I just swallowed them whole with water and, 10 minutes later, I had to stop mid-race and lie on the street while my body recovered.”
Josh said they spent six weeks travelling with the cast and crew and bonded closely.
“The reality behind the scenes is it’s a TV show first and a race second,” he said.
“We were at the mercy of our camera team. We’d run for the taxi and they’d film us taking off, then we’d yell at the taxi driver to stop so the cameraman could jump in.”
The show will premiere in China in August, with an expected viewing audience of 14 million, and the boys plan to watch it with several of their rival teams.
Because the boys and one other team member are the first three Australians to ever take part in The Amazing Race, they are hoping the series will air in Australia.
