'The Amazing Race' eliminates Racers Hoskote Venkatesh and Naina Venkatesh in premiere

The Amazing Race eliminated Hoskote Venkatesh and Naina Venkatesh during Sunday night's premiere broadcast of the CBS reality competition's 23rd season.


The "Father and Daughter" became the first team eliminated from the around-the-world competition after they arrived at the Race's first Pit Stop at the Teatro Municipal De Iquique in Iquique, Chile in last place.

"It ended for us," Hoskote began once his team was declared the last-place finishers.

"Premature," Naina interjected.

"Way too soon," Hoskote said.


"It wasn't supposed to happen like this," Naina explained. "I'm feeling very devastated finishing last on the first leg and what I wanted to show my Dad was cut short. He actually hasn't seen me in action. I think he has a ways to go as far as kind of lightening that grip that he has on me and his expectations."

When The Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan asked the pair if Hoskote would continue to have a hand in selecting a man for her daughter to marry, Hoskote replied, "Well, father knows best."

The first episode of The Amazing Race's 23rd edition began with the Race's 11 teams arriving at an old western movie ranch, where they met Phil and learned the team that wins the first leg of the Race would receive an Express Pass for themselves and an additional Express Pass to give to another team. The winning team would have the power to determine who gets ahead, but the pair must make the decision before the end of the fifth leg.

The Express Pass will allow both teams to skip any task they want if it proves to be too challenging or taxing, allowing them to automatically move on to the next task.

The 11 The Amazing Race teams this season are Hoskote and Naina, "Dating Couple" Jason Case and Amy Diaz, "Cousins" Leo Temory and Jamal Zadran, "Best Friends" Tim Wiyninger and Daniel "Danny" Merkey, "Theater Performers" Rowan Joseph and Shane Partlow, "Childhood Friends and Beard Lovers" Brandon Squyres and Adam Switzer, "LA Kings Ice Crew Girls" Allison "Ally" Mello and Ashley Covert, "Married ER Doctors" Nicole Jasper and Travis Jasper, "Baseball Wives" Nicole "Nicky" Getz and Kim DeJesus, "Exes" Timothy Sweeney and Marie "Reebs" Mazzocchi, and "Former NFL Teammates" Chester Pitts II and Ephraim Salaam.


Phil then explained to the teams in order to receive their first set of clues, they had to each hop in a vehicle and drive themselves to the airport.

Once inside the cars, the teams discovered via video they must drive themselves to Los Angeles International airport and get on one of two available flights leaving for Iquique that night. Upon landing, they had to find a man named Javier.

Leo and Jamal, Chester and Ephraim, Rowan and Shane, Timothy and Marie, Ally and Ashley, Nicky and Kim, and Travis and Nicole all booked seats on the first available, and earliest, flight. 

Brandon and Adam, Jason and Amy, Hoskote and Naina, and Tim and Danny got stuck on the second flight into Iquique. Tim and Danny had gotten a little lost on their way to the airport. The flights were two-and-a-half hours apart, so all the Racers on the first flight would have a drastic time-advantage on the first leg.

Once the teams landed, they got their first set of clues and were instructed to travel by taxi to Alto Hospicio and search for the zona de parapentes and ultimately for Javier, who would hand them their next clue. Nicole and Travis were the first team to grab a taxi right out of the airport.


Nicole and Travis arrived at the clue first and they were soon followed by Chester and Ephraim, Ally and Ashley, Leo and Jamal, Kim and Nicky, Rowan and Shane, Marie and Timothy, Brandon and Adam, Jason and Amy, Hoskote and Naina, and finally Tim and Danny.

Once at the zona de parapentes, the teams had to complete a Roadblock task, which required one member from each team to, via taxi, follow their partner who's paragliding above. The paragliding Racers took off from atop the Alto Hospicio cliffs. The pair had to meet up once the paragliding Racer landed to receive their next clue.

The team members who opted to paraglide were Travis, Chester, Leo, Rowan, Kim, Ally, Timothy, Hoskote, Brandon, Jason, and Tim.

Leo and Jamal told their taxi to go when they stopped at the destination for paragliding, but Jamal realized he had to hop in it once again to follow Leo in the air. The pair also told Ally and Ashley's cab to go as well, as the two teams had formed a little bit of an alliance. Once Jamal called two new cabs, Ashley got one and Marie stole the other one from him, which really angered him.

Meanwhile, Naina had trouble finding the location in which her father was landing after his trip in the air, putting them into last place. Naina assumed her cab driver had taken a longer route than he could have.


Rowan and Shane were the first team to complete the Roadblock task, and they were followed by Travis and Nicole, Chester and Ephraim, Marie and Timothy, Leo and Jamal, Kim and Nicky, Ally and Ashley, Jason and Amy, Danny and Tim, Brandon and Adam, and Hoskote and Naina.

The team's next set of clues instructed them to make their way to Muelle Prat and search for their next clue.

Travis and Nicole were the first team to arrive at Muelle Prat. They were then followed by Leo and Jamal, Rowan and Shane, Marie and Timothy, Chester and Ephraim, Kim and Nicky, Ally and Ashley, Danny and Tim, Brandon and Adam, Jason and Amy, and finally Hoskote and Naina.

Travis and Nicole first learned they must complete an additional Roadblock task in the first leg of the Race.

For the Roadblock, the member of each team who had paraglided earlier on was to attempt the task. That person was required to choose a rowboat in the harbor and row it among hundreds of ships to find one of three ships in particular that contained an unlimited amount of fish. The Racers had to collect a total of five fish from any of those three ships and then bring it to someone to receive their next clue.


Everyone read the clue correctly except for Jamal and Leo and Hoskote and Naina, who had the wrong team members participate in the challenge. Leo and Hoskote were supposed to complete the task since they both paraglided, but instead, Jamal and Naina initially attempted the task. Therefore, both teams lost a lot of time.

Still in the lead, Nicole and Travis finished the second Roadblock task in first place. They were soon followed by Timothy and Marie, Rowan and Shane, Chester and Ephraim, Nicky and Kim, Ally and Ashley, Leo and Jamal, Jason and Amy, Tim and Danny, Brandon and Adam, and finally Hoskote and Naina.

The teams then learned they must make their way on foot to the Teatro Municipal De Iquique, which would serve as the Race's first Pit Stop of the season.

Nicole and Travis arrived at the Pit Stop in first place. However, the pair made it to the Pit Stop via taxi when they were supposed to run on foot. Therefore, they incurred a 30-minute time penalty and had to wait it out until they could officially check-in. 

Timothy and Marie greeted Phil before Nicole and Travis' time penalty was up, so they checked-in in first place. The couple was thrilled to receive the two Express Passes.

Nicole and Travis then officially secured second place. Rowan and Shane finished in third place, Chester and Ephraim secured fourth, and Nicky and Kim met Phil on the Pit Stop mat in fifth place.


Following Nicky and Kim were Ally and Ashley in sixth, Leo and Jamal in seventh, Jason and Amy in eighth, Tim and Danny in ninth, and Brandon and Adam in tenth.

Hoskote and Naina were greeted by Phil in eleventh -- and last place -- so they were eliminated.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski