'The Amazing Race' premiere recap: Art Velez and J.J. Carrell eliminated in Japan after taking time penalty

The Amazing Race debuted with 11 reality-star teams kicking off their race around the world and Art Velez and J.J. Carrell getting eliminated during Wednesday night's episode on CBS.


Former The Amazing Race racers Art and J.J., who are 49-year-old friends from California, arrived at the first Pit Stop of Season 31 in Tokyo, Japan in last place due to a four-hour time penalty and were therefore eliminated from the competition.

"I'll be thinking about [our loss] for a while. I still think about Season 20 and that was seven years ago," Art said following his team's ouster.

"But there's nobody out there I would rather do this with than [J.J.], because I love to let him down!"

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The Amazing Race broadcast, featuring a "Reality Clash" theme of former Survivor and Big Brother contestants as well as The Amazing Race veterans, began at the starting line in Hermosa Beach, CA.

All 11 of the teams met with The Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan for the start of a very unique race between "fierce competitors who all think they have what it takes to race more than 25,000 miles around the world and win $1 million," according to Phil.

Rachel Reilly, who is the only participant this season to have competed in the Big Brother house as well as ran The Amazing Race, admitted Big Brother alums would probably be surprised by how "physically demanding" the Race tends to be.

Rachel also pointed out they wouldn't be eating on the run, which is a comment Eliza Orlins and Corinne Kaplan scoffed at since they are coming from a Survivor background in which the castaways must survive for 39 days with little to no food.

Rachel, who previously ran with her husband Brendon Villegas, chose to race this time around with her sister Elissa Slater from Big Brother.


"Big Brother immensely, definitely, prepares you for strategy," Elissa pointed out.

Phil then asked the Racers to dig into a massive octopus sand sculpture to retrieve their first set of clues.

Rachel and Elissa found their clue in first place, followed by former Survivor castaways Rupert Boneham and wife Laura Boneham, and former Big Brother houseguests Nicole Franzel and fiance Victor Arroyo.

The teams were then instructed to fly to Tokyo, Japan.

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Former The Amazing Race racers Becca Droz and friend Floyd Pierce found their clue in the octopus in fourth place, and behind them were former Big Brother houseguests Janelle Pierzina and friend Britney Haynes.

Former The Amazing Race racers Leo Temory and friend Jamal Zadran found their clue in sixth place, followed by former Survivor castaways Chris Hammons and friend Bret LaBelle in seventh place.

Former The Amazing Race racers Colin Guinn and life partner Christie Woods found their clue next, with former The Amazing Race racers Tyler Oakley and friend Korey Kuhl on their heels.

Eliza and Corinne discovered their clue in the sand in tenth place, so that left Art and J.J. in eleventh -- and last -- place.

All of the teams hopped on the same flight to fly more than 5,000 miles west across the Pacific Ocean to Tokyo, where they must take a bus ride to Shibuya, home to the busiest pedestrian crossing.


Once at Shibuya, teams had to travel on foot to one of two locations -- ACB Lock & Security or Tokyo Tokyo Restaurant to find their next clue. There were a limited number of clues, however, at each location.

It was chaos, as the Racers had trouble finding people who spoke English, and the street names were in Japanese.

Rupert and Laura arrived at the restaurant in first place and were told to walk to the Edge of Shibuya Building and head up to the fifth floor. Chris and Bret received their clue in second place.

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Leo and Jamal found ACB Lock & Security in third place but pretended they were fighting so teams around them would stop following them.


The guys' plan worked, as both Tyler and Korey and Rachel and Elissa decided to head in a different direction.

Janelle and Britney found their clue in fourth place, followed by Colin and Christie, Becca and Floyd and Nicole and Victor.

Rachel and Elissa found the restaurant next, but there were no more clues, so they had to search for the lock and security place. This also happened to Tyler and Korey.

Rachel and Elissa quickly found the lock and security place, however, and they told Tyler and Korey about it.

Corinne and Eliza found their clue in tenth place, leaving Art and J.J. in eleventh place looking for ACB Lock & Security, which they eventually found.

Rupert and Laura got lost trying to find the next building.


Leo and Jamal therefore made it to the fifth floor and found their next clue before any of the other teams.

The guys were then followed by Colin and Christie, Janelle and Britney, Nicole and Victor, Rachel and Elissa in fifth place, Tyler and Korey, Becca and Floyd, Chris and Bret, Rupert and Laura in ninth place, Corinne and Eliza, and Art and J.J.

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It then became time for one member of each team to complete a Roadblock task called "Who Wants A Sweet New Pair Of Shoes?" inspired by game shows in Tokyo.

The participating Racers had to bite wooden flip flops to find one of only 12 shoes made of white chocolate.

The Racers who chose to take on the task were Jamal, Christie, Janelle, Victor, Elissa, Tyler, Floyd, Chris, Laura, Eliza, and J.J.


Leo and Jamal completed the Roadblock task in first place. They were then followed by Britney and Janelle -- who seemingly bit into the correct shoe on the first try -- and Colin and Christie after her twelfth attempt.

Victor finally bit into a chocolate shoe on his 43rd attempt. Tyler and Korey completed the Roadblock next, and they were then followed by Rachel and Elissa in sixth place, Becca and Floyd in seventh, and Chris and Bret in eighth place.

Rupert and Laura left the Roadblock in ninth place, and behind them were Corinne and Eliza and finally Art and J.J. in last place.

Teams were then instructed to travel to Onarimon Station and then proceed to Shiba Koen, where they must search for their next clue.

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Leo and Jamal stayed in the lead and began the next Roadblock task, which required one member from each team to climb a slippery 20-foot slide called "Mount Fiji" and retrieve one of the clues at the very top.


Once again, this Roadblock was modeled after a Japanese game show.

Janelle and Britney got lost on the way to the slide, as did Rupert and Laura.

Colin and Christie arrived at the second Roadblock task in second place, followed by Tyler and Korey, Nicole and Victor, Rachel and Elissa, Becca and Floyd, Chris and Bret, Janelle and Britney, and Corinne and Eliza.

Since Rupert and Laura got so lost -- for about two hours in the park -- Art and J.J. had a chance to catch up and attempt the Roadblock task in tenth place.

The Racers who did not attempt the first Roadblock task had to do this one, so Leo changed into a blue unitard with a wig and got climbing.

He was later joined by Colin, Korey, Nicole, Rachel, Becca, Bret, Britney, Corinne, Art, and Rupert.


Leo and Jamal, of course, got the job done in first place, and their next set of clues sent them to the Pit Stop at Atago Jinja, a shrine built on the highest hill in central Tokyo.

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Colin and Christie finished the slide Roadblock in second place, followed by Tyler and Korey, Nicole and Victor, Rachel and Elissa, Becca and Floyd, Chris and Bret, Janelle and Britney, and Corinne and Eliza in ninth place.

Art was in much better physical shape than he was seven years ago -- as he lost about 40 pounds -- so he didn't think anything was going to stop him.

However, he struggled to reach the top of the slide and appeared to get serious muscle cramps or a Charley horse in his leg that needed medical attention.

Things got so bad that J.J. suggested his team stop the task and accept a four-hour time penalty. Neither guy had hope Art was going to get the job done.


The guys therefore decided to wait it out, and then Rupert magically got the task done in one attempt. Art and J.J. were shocked Rupert was physically capable of doing so.

Rupert and Laura therefore left the second Roadblock task of the leg in tenth place, leaving Art and J.J. in the dust.

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Art and J.J. realized in that moment their time on The Amazing Race was "over" and it was such a horrible way to end their stint on the show.

Leo and Jamal completed the first leg of The Amazing Race's 31st season in first place. As a result, they won a seven-day cruise in Tahiti.

Colin and Christie arrived at the Pit Stop in second place, and Tyler and Korey finished in third place.


Rachel and Elissa claimed fourth place, and then Becca and Floyd made it to the Pit Stop in fifth place. On their heels were Nicole and Victor in sixth place.

Chris and Bret completed the leg in seventh place, and then Janelle and Britney met Phil in eighth place. Corinne and Eliza placed ninth.

Because Art and J.J. took a time penalty, Rupert and Laura arrived at the Pit Stop in tenth place, and then Art and J.J. were eliminated.

"It was very frustrating," J.J. told Phil.

"We were going to win it this time because we came so close last time," Art said.

"It just felt a little bit out of sync for us today," J.J. reasoned. "We just couldn't finish the last challenge."


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