'The Amazing Race' eliminates Amanda Blackledge and Kris Klicka

The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business eliminated returning fourteenth-season Racers Amanda Blackledge and Kris Klicka during Sunday night's broadcast of the CBS reality competition's all-stars edition.


The "Engaged Couple" team became the first team eliminated from the around-the-world competition after they arrived at the Race's second Pit Stop at Junction Mine in Broken Hill in last place.

"We're really fortunate to experience this two times. We basically won the lottery twice. We didn't win any money, but the experience of this -- It's the opportunity of a lifetime. I'd do it over again in a heartbeat," Kris said following his ouster.

The second episode of The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business' second all-stars edition began where last week's premiere left off, with the Race's 10 teams -- all of whom didn't win their original The Amazing Race editions -- leaving the course's first Pit Stop at Shelly Beach in Sydney, Australia after learning there would not be a mandatory rest period and they had to immediately begin the next leg instead.

While the 10 teams took off on the next leg of the Race, sixteenth-season "Cowboys" team of Jet McCoy and his brother Cord McCoy still had not checked into the first Pit Stop. They were still attempting to decode the nautical flags at Oceanworld, which was the Race's first Roadblock, but they finally managed to solve the puzzle, set sail on a 16-foot skiff, and then make their way to Shelly Beach to secure last place. 


Although the other 10 teams had a commanding lead on Jet and Cord, the cowboys would eventually have a chance to catch up. Seventeenth-season Father/Daughter" team of Gary Ervin and Mallory Ervin were the first team to leave the Race's first Pit Stop and were followed by Amanda and Kris in second place -- who had yet to face their first Detour U-Turn they had received in the Race's first leg for being the last team to complete the competition's initial task -- and fourteenth-season "Sisters" Jennifer Hoffman and LaKisha Hoffman and "Friends" Zev Glassenberg and Justin Kanew.

Following Zev and Justin were fifteenth-season "Harlem Globetrotters" Nathaniel "The Big Easy" Lofton and Herbert "Flight Time" Lang, fourteenth-season "Former NFL Cheerleaders" Cara Rosenthal and Jaime Edmondson, and "Mother and Son" Margie Adams and Luke Adams, twelfth-season "Father/Daughter" Ronald Hsu and Christina Hsu, fourteenth-season "Father and Son" Mel White and Mike White, twelfth-season "Dating Goths" Vyxsin Fiala and Kent Kaliber (who was known as Kynt Cothron during his initial Race edition), and finally Jet and Cord.

The teams learned they must make their way back to Sydney, Australia and get "sail to stop," leading them to an anchor statue in the city's town hall. The first six teams to arrive at the anchor would be able to get on the first charter flight departing Sydney at 6AM for Broken Hill, a small mining town about 675 miles from Sydney.

The five remaining teams to arrive at the anchor afterward would be left to travel on the second flight, which departed Sydney at 6:30AM.

Gary and Mallory were first and were followed by Amanda and Kris, Kisha and Jen, Zev and Justin, Flight Time and Big Easy, Jaime and Cara, Margie and Luke, Ron and Christina, Mel and Mike, Kent and Vyxsin, Jet and Cord.


All the teams scurried to find ways to discover what the answer to "sail to stop" to find their next location. Kisha and Jen and Zev and Justin went to a travel agent in attempt to solve the puzzle, while Flight Time and Big Easy and Kent and Vyxsin when to an information desk and had employees help them research the phrase on their computers.

Meanwhile, Mel grew very weak and tired as he began to have trouble walking and continuing on with the Race, and his son Mike was very concerned.

"It sure feels like the race is more difficult this time," Mike said, adding later in tears, "You pushed yourself so hard today and I just don't want to kill you for some joyride."

"I'll be responsible for my decision," Mel said as he was trying to regain his strength.

Margie and Luke then paired up with and Jaime and Cara to find the anchor, while Gary and Mallory, Ron and Christina, and Amanda and Kris were all lost and the three teams decided to help each other as well.  


Kisha and Jen were the first to find the anchor in town hall and were thrilled they would be able to travel on the 6AM flight to Broken Hill. They were then followed by Zev and Justin, Jaime and Cara, Margie and Luke, Mel and Mike, and Kent and Vyxsin.

The next team members to arrive at the anchor were Flight Time and Big Easy, followed by Christina and Ron, Gary and Mallory, Amanda and Kris, and Jet and Cord. After wandering the streets for what appeared to be hours, Jet and Cord eventually caught up when they found someone who knew exactly where the location was and how to get there in time to join the four earlier teams on the later 6:30AM flight.

Upon landing in Broken Hill, the teams on the first charter flight opened the clue that was waiting for them on their vehicles. Kisha and Jen were the first team to arrive at the clue and they followed by Kent and Vyxsin, Jaime and Cara, Margie and Luke, Mel and Mike, and Zev and Justin.

Gary and Mallory were the next team to receive their clue, which instructed them to drive to The Living Desert, which was a barren landscape in the Australian Outback where they would then find their next clue. They were followed by Amanda and Kris, Flight Time and Big Easy, Jet and Cord, and Ron and Christina.

Gary and Mallory claimed they knew exactly where to go based on a map they had, while Zev and Justin, Kisha and Jen, and Mel and Mike all pulled ahead in the Race as they all had maps as well. They drove to The Living Desert without a problem, but Margie and Luke, Jaime and Cara, and Kent and Vyxsin chose to stop at a gas station for directions.


Zev and Justin were then the first team to arrive at The Living Desert and were followed by Kisha and Jen, Mel and Mike, Jaime and Cara, Kent and Vyxsin, Margie and Luke, Gary and Mallory, Amanda and Kris, Jet and Cord, Flight Time and Big Easy, and Ron and Christina.

The teams then learned it was time for them to complete one of two Detour tasks: "Spirit World" or "Natural World."

"Spirit World" required the teams to use traditional materials to create an Aboriginal ground mosaic that matched an example given to them. Once the teams were able to properly complete the mosaic, they then had to perform a dance on top of it intended to raise the ancestral spirits.

"Natural World" required the teams to create a series of Aboriginal territory markers using a natural paint made from water and a clay-like pigment. The teams then had to put the paint into their mouths and spit the substance onto a stencil to create four images.

Zev and Justin, Kisha and Jen, Mel and Mike, Jaime and Cara, Kent and Vyxsin, Margie and Luke, Gary and Mallory, Amanda and Kris, Jet and Cord, Flight Time and Big Easy, and Ron and Christina all opted to do the "Spirit World" task.


Kent and Vyxsin completed their mosaic first, but they misread the clue of how to perform their dance. They danced around the mosaic rather than dancing on top of their work of art. Meanwhile, Ron and Christina had messed up the mosaic.

Zev and Justin completed their selected Detour task first and were followed by Margie and Luke, Mel and Mike, Kent and Vyxsin, Kisha and Jen, Jaime and Cara, Jet and Cord, Gary and Mallory, Flight Time and Big Easy, Amanda and Kris, and Ron and Christina. 

However, Amanda and Kris then had to also go accomplish the "Natural World" side of the Detour in order to complete their automatic U-Turn -- which dropped them into last place behind Ron and Christina.

After completing their Detour tasks, the teams were instructed to drive themselves back to Broken Hill and find the "Home of the Magpies." The teams then had to figure out the clue would lead them to the Central Football Club.

Zev and Justin were the first team to arrive at the Central Football Club and they were followed by Margie and Luke, Kent and Vyxsin, Mel and Mike, Jaime and Cara, Jet and Cord, Flight Time and Big Easy, Kisha and Jen, Gary and Mallory, Ron and Christina, and Amanda and Kris.

Upon arriving at the Central Football Club, the teams' next clue instructed them to dress up as kangaroos and figure out their next location by hopping on foot using only a Periodic Table of Elements as their guide. In Broken Hill, many streets are named after elements and only two of them, Mercury and Bismuth, intersect. The teams would have to recognize that highlighted "Hg" and "Bi" on their table would match up with those street names, marking the street intersection where their next clue marker was located.


Margie and Luke and Zev and Justin decided to team up and they strategically used a woman's smartphone to discover that "Hg" meant Mercury and "Bi" meant Bismuth. Justin then asked the woman if she knew where that would lead them, and she immediately came up with the answer and directed them to the corner they needed to find.

However, Margie lost one of her foot coverings from her kangaroo outfit and was forced to go back and find it with Luke by her side. Meanwhile, Gary and Mallory and Ron and Christina teamed up but realized they had run in the wrong direction.

The first team to find the clue at the corner of "Hg" and "Bi" was Zev and Justin, and they were followed by Flight Time and Big Easy, Kisha and Jen, Margie and Luke, Mel and Mike, Kent and Vyxsin, Jaime and Cara, Jet and Cord, Gary and Mallory, Ron and Christina, and finally Amanda and Kris.

The clue instructed the teams to drive themselves in their kangaroo suits to the Race's second Pit Stop at Junction Mine, a former silver mine built in the late 1800s.

Once Gary and Mallory got in a car after receiving the clue, Ron and Christina decided to separate from the pair and go their own way. They believed Gary and Mallory wouldn't know how to get to Junction Mine, but it turned out to be a poor decision. Ron and Christina turned down the wrong road, which appreared to give Amanda and Kris a chance to stay in the race. Ron and Christina then found a local to ask for directions.

Zev and Justin were the first team to find The Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan at Junction Mine, and Phil told them they won a trip for two to Cancun, Mexico.


Flight Time and Big Easy were the next team to arrive claiming second place, and Jet and Cord managed to make it to the Pit Stop in third place.

Kisha and Jen secured fourth place, while Margie and Luke came in fifth place. Following Margie and Luke, Mel and Mike, Kent and Vyxsin, Jaime and Cara, and Gary and Mallory arrived.

Ron and Christina ended up arriving at the Pit Stop in tenth place with Amanda and Kris behind them in eleventh and last place.

Phil then confirmed Amanda and Kris' elimination.

"Amanda and Kris, you are the last team to arrive. I'm very sorry to tell you that you have been eliminated from the Race," Phil told the team.

"I'm bummed man. I'm really bummed. I really wanted this shot. It's just a huge bummer. Better than the last time we got U-Turned, this was our own fault. We can't blame anyone but ourselves," Kris replied.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski