'The Amazing Race' eliminates Allison "Ally" Mello and Ashley Covert leaving only four teams

The Amazing Race eliminated Allison "Ally" Mello and Ashley Covert during Sunday night's ninth broadcast of the CBS reality competition's 23rd season.


The "LA Kings Ice Crew Girls" became the seventh team eliminated from the around-the-world competition after they arrived at the Race's ninth Pit Stop at the Bosscha Observatory, home to Indonesia's oldest astronomical telescope located more than 4,300 feet above sea level, in last place.

"I'm sad, I don't want to wake up from this dream," Ashley said following her team's ouster. "But we kind of set the bar pretty high, I think, for Ice Crews all over the NHL. We showed that we're really tough and we made lifelong friends with [Leo Temory and Jamal Zadran]."

"Yes we have," Ally added.

"We had a blast and we did what we wanted to do. We wanted to make Top 5 and have fun, and we accomplished that," Ashley noted.


The ninth episode of The Amazing Race's 23rd edition began with the Race's five remaining teams leaving the eighth Pit Stop at the top of Jebel Hafeet in Abu Dhabi of the United Arab Emirates.

"Married ER Doctors" Nicole Jasper and Travis Jasper departed in first place at 12:38AM. Following Nicole and Travis were "Dating Couple" Jason Case and Amy Diaz at 12:52AM and then "Exes" Timothy Sweeney and Marie "Reebs" Mazzocchi at 1:15AM.

"Cousins" Leo and Jamal ended up sleeping in a little bit and chose to wait to leave the eighth Pit Stop with their "Race wives" Ally and Ashley, who were set to leave six minutes after them. Therefore, Leo and Jamal and Ally and Ashley took off at the same time at 2:06AM.

The teams' first set of clues instructed them to fly more than 4,000 miles to Bandung, Indonesia, and then after touching down, find the Ram Arena in a local village to receive their next clue.

All the teams got on the same flight at 8:40AM the next morning. Leo and Jamal wondered why Travis and Nicole had U-Turned them in the previous leg, so when the guys had some down time in the airport, they decided to confront the couple about they move they had made.


Nicole and Travis explained it was because Leo and Jamal had lied to them about U-Turning Brandon Squyres and Adam Switzer in an earlier leg of the Race. Leo and Jamal didn't really care one way or another and said they expected the pressure would eventually get to the married pair.

Nicole and Travis were the first team to arrive at the Ram Arena, and they were soon followed by Ally and Ashley, Leo and Jamal, Tim and Marie, and Jason and Amy.

The teams then learned they must pick up two rams and take them to a traditional festival. Once the two rams butted heads with each other, the Racers must load the animals back on the truck in order to receive their next clue.

Nicole and Travis, keeping their lead on the other teams, finished with their pair of rams before anyone else. They were then followed by Ally and Ashley, Leo and Jamal, Tim and Marie, and Jason and Amy.

Tim and Marie finished the rams task before Jason and Amy but then their taxi broke down, so they fell into last place.


The teams' next set of clues required them to make their way to Rancaekek Station and then travel by train back to Bandung. Upon arrival in Bandung, they must grab their next clue on the platform at the station.

Nicole and Travis, Ally and Ashley, and Leo and Jamal got on the first available train out of Rancaekek Station. Nicole and Travis wanted to see any other team on their train other than "the Afghanimals."

Leo and Jamal pushed the train conductor to depart the station so they could leave the other two teams -- Tim and Marie and Jason and Amy -- behind. Jason and Amy missed the train by what seemed to be only one minute. They watched the train take off and soon discovered they, with Tim and Marie, must wait an hour for the next train.

Amy was worried about potentially getting eliminated from the Race, but Jason felt they could beat Tim and Marie. Jason and Amy did, however, admit they felt "demoralized" after missing that train.

Nicole and Travis arrived at the platform first and were quickly followed by Leo and Jamal and Ally and Ashley. Jason and Amy hit the platform about an hour later, as did Tim and Marie right behind them.


The teams then had to complete one of two possible Detour tasks: "For the Elephants" or "For the Birds."

"For the Elephants" required the teams to visit a market and pick up eight watermelons, two bunches of bananas, one dozen sweet potatoes, and a bunch of sugarcane before heading to the zoo. At the zoo, they must transport all that food on a hand trolley and then feed the elephants themselves to receive their next clue.

"For the Birds" required the teams to pick out a pair of matching love birds at the market and then deliver them to a competition arena, where they must encourage their birds to sing. Once the teams had been scored, a judge would hand them their next clue.

Ally and Ashley, Leo and Jamal, Jason and Amy, and Tim and Marie all decided to attempt the "For the Elephants" task. Nicole and Travis were the only team to try "For the Birds."

Ally and Ashley went straight to the zoo before picking up their list of food items at the market. They lost a lot of time because of their mistake and even more time when they failed to find a taxi who would accept them taking the large poles of sugar cane with them for the ride.


Ashley wanted to switch tasks but Ally argued that might not be the smart decision to make. In the end, the girls bickered but finally agreed to stick with the elephant task.

Leo and Jamal ran into their "Race wives" at the market but barely stopped to help them. Jason and Amy eventually ran into Ally and Ashley at the zoo, which was the second time the "Ice Crew Girls" had stopped there. However, Ally and Ashley still had to return to the market for their sugarcane, making another round trip.

Nicole and Travis finished the Detour before any of the other teams. They were then followed by Leo and Jamal, Jason and Amy, Tim and Marie, and finally Ally and Ashley.

The teams then discovered they must make their way to Saung Angklung Udjo and search for their next clue.

Nicole and Travis got to their next location first and were followed by Leo and Jamal, Jason and Amy, Tim and Marie, and eventually Ally and Ashley.

It then became time for one member of each team to complete a Roadblock task.


For the Roadblock, the team members were instructed to properly assemble a traditional Indonesian instrument made with tubes of bamboo called an Angklung. Once the instrument was assembled with eight notes in the correct order and the octave played correctly, a young student would hand them their next clue.

Nicole, Leo, Amy, Tim, and Ashley all opted to take on the Roadblock task on behalf of their teams. Marie convinced Tim to try the task even though it was her turn because she had a feeling Tim, who said he plays a variety of instruments as a hobby, would fare better in a task associated with music.

Similar to Marie's strategy, Travis felt he was "the music guy" instead of his wife. He therefore worried about Nicole's ability to handle the task and he was right. Nicole really struggled putting together her octave and got it wrong on her first two attempts. Leo got it right before her, and so Leo and Jamal finished the Roadblock in first place. 

Once Leo finished, Nicole chased him down to try to copy what he did. Leo refused to help her, ran away and destroyed his instrument so no one could see it. Nicole and Travis had been proud of how they were running the Race up to that point, saying they wanted to set a good example for their children. In this leg, Travis admitted he was "absolutely embarrassed."

Tim and Marie completed the task in second place followed by Jason and Amy in third. But before Jason and Amy took off, they decided to help Nicole out. Amy told Nicole exactly what to do, so after 40 minutes of plugging away, Nicole and Travis finished the task in fourth place. Travis called it a "weird miserable" day, but the pair kept praying they could get through the Race.

Meanwhile, Ally and Ashley were still in last place, and they were well aware of the fact. Ally was very disappointed in how things played out. Ashley seemed to get her octave instrument done quickly, but it clearly didn't matter at that point since they were so far behind the other teams.


The teams' next set of clues required them to make their way to the Bosscha Observatory.

Leo and Jamal met The Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan in first place, and they each won $7,500 each as a reward.

Tim and Marie then arrived at the Pit Stop in second place, and Jason and Amy were so close behind them, ultimately securing third place. Nicole and Travis then touched the mat in fourth place.

Ally and Ashley subsequently arrived at the Pit Stop in fifth -- and last -- place.

"We've been to seven countries, so it's just like a dream come true for us," Ally told Phil in tears.

"I would have never guessed we'd make it to seven countries. It's amazing," Ashley added. "It's just so much fun... I don't want it to be done. I don't want it to be over!"






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski