SCOTSBURN – What started as a ‘what if’ thought quickly became a reality for Marin MacLeod of Scotsburn and friend Bronwyn Corrigan, who recently applied for The Amazing Race Canada, scheduled to air in summer 2013.
One of their friends posted on Facebook saying they were going to audition for the show with their brother. Not knowing the show was coming to Canada, Corrigan quickly found out it was and sent MacLeod a message instantly saying they needed to get on the show.
“When we were at CIS rugby nationals in Nova Scotia in November we were shooting the breeze and talking about The Amazing Race and theoretically if we were ever to do it, who would you do it with and I immediately said Marin,” said Corrigan. “Someone even said ‘you travelled with her in Europe and didn’t get sick of her?’ I said that’s why I’d love to do it with her and weirdly enough when they opened auditions we realized how good of a chance it was to show the world how good of a team we are, so we just jumped at it.”
The pair are Queen’s University students, both in the health studies and global development programs and are also teammates from the Gaels women’s rugby team. Because they are in the same program and are teammates they spend a lot of time with each other, but have also travelled abroad together. This is something MacLeod thinks will be an advantage should they make it on the show.
“We pretty much spend all day, every day together and our personalities are really compatible,” she said. “We’re both really competitive, but we aren’t competitive with each other, which is a really good tell-tale sign of a good team.”
With MacLeod from Nova Scotia and Corrigan from Ontario they also believe they will help represent different parts of Canada well.
“I hope that will be an attractive aspect to us being a team, not only us having different personalities, but us growing up in completely different cultures still within Canada,” said MacLeod. “I think it really showcases what they’re trying to do with the show by trying to show the different parts of Canada. I think our team really has a sense of diversity because a lot of the audition tapes we’ve seen so far are brothers or friends from the same part of Canada, so I think representing two distinct parts of Canada would hopefully play to our advantage a little bit.”
Once they got past the initial excitement of the prospect of being on the show they looked at it realistically. Filming isn’t expected to begin until after their academic year and it ends prior to MacLeod’s international development internship, which begins in June. Completing the application process they are now waiting to see if they will be selected for an interview.
They aren’t sure of their chances, but they’re still thinking about what they could possibly see on the show, which is slightly different from the American version because it’s only within Canadian borders. Both have been to B.C. and Alberta for rugby. MacLeod has never been to Manitoba or Saskatchewan, while Corrigan has never been to P.E.I., Newfoundland or New Brunswick. Neither have been to the territories.
With challenges at each stop during the race being specific to the area both have thought about what it could be in their hometowns or areas. Should the event come to Pictou County, MacLeod said she believes the challenges here would definitely show what life is like within the county.
“I would say it would be something like setting a lobster trap or going out on a fishing boat, something along those lines,” said MacLeod. “A lot of Pictou County residents are involved in the fishing industry, so that would be a good representation of the east coast culture. I mean the show is all within one country, but when you look at Canada it’s so different across all the provinces that I’m really excited to see some of the stuff they do come up with.”
The deadline to apply for the show is Thursday night, with the interview process following in the coming weeks. To view their audition video visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddNNjjGFFDs
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christopher.cameron@ngnews.ca
On Twitter: @NGNewsChris
