“We had a social phone we used to record stuff to put out on TenPlay and social media before we do some of the challenges and I always did a farewell piece to camera for my wife and kids, like if something did happen to me and I didn’t survive the abseil or the cliff dive.“But I was doing these challenges every second day so there were about 50 farewell videos all up.“Lucky for me I didn’t have to use them.”Like so many reality television shows filmed during the pandemic in 2020 — including The Bachelor, Big Brother, I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! and The Masked Singer — filming for The Amazing Race Australia was drastically curtailed, and at times even threatened with cancellation.For a show that focuses on teams of two navigating their way around the world and completing difficult challenges along the way, it’s amazing (excuse the pun) that it went ahead at all.Producers for the show decided early on during the planning stages that they would go ahead with filming the third season, but limit it to within Australia.Yet even that brought a realm of challenges, with state borders opening and closing during filming, cast and crew subjected to dozens of COVID-19 swab tests, daily temperature checks and a two-week quarantine before filming even began.“Originally we were going to go overseas but then the whole world shut down and the dates definitely moved twice that I know of,” the 35-year-old father of two says.“Then it got to the point where I was concerned it wasn’t going to happen at all but the (producers) at Eureka and Channel 10 pulled it off — I don’t know how.“We went into quarantine before the Race started and I’m not going to lie, I’m not built for quarantine.“I just paced around and kept cleaning my shower.”
Even those strict filming measures didn’t guarantee a smooth run.Initially, the Race would see contestants compete throughout Victoria, but that had to be cancelled because of the state closing its border.Then the whole of Western Australia was closed to them.The situation concerning Tasmania was touch and go, with border closures rumoured around the time they were due to enter the Apple Isle.In the end, Australia proved more than a challenge for the contestants and gained the valuable prize of an entire season promoting the beauty of exploring in our own backyard.And with so much great content, this season will see a lot more episodes air than the eight that made up the last season.“The best part is that we were able to showcase some great places right here, some of which I had never even heard of,” Ryan says.“To go to some of those places and put some of them on the map — that’s going to be the most exciting thing.“I loved going into the middle of Australia.“You know how people from overseas think there are just emus and kangaroos strolling around the streets … well when you’re in the Alice and the Red Centre and even at the top of South Australia, there are literally animals everywhere.
“I have always loved Australia because I think we are the best country in the world because of how we live, but you realise Australia is such a big country when you travel around it.“We’d drive for three hours, then do a piece to camera, then drive another three hours and do a piece to camera — and then we would look at a map and realise we had barely moved!”Ryan may have successfully taken his career from the rugby league field to television and radio, and whether you consider him a loveable rogue or just a loud mouth, one thing is certain — his heart is definitely with his family in their Cronulla home on Sydney’s southern beaches.While he was able to host The Amazing Race Australia during 2020, a lot of his other work appearing on Ten’s live audience shows such as Hughesy We Have a Problem and Celeb Name Game dried up.He instead put out a cookbook, Beau’s Kitchen, and he continued to work on radio, predominantly filling in for Kyle Sandilands alongside Jackie O on KIIS FM.For the most part, he was happy to spend the extra downtime with his family, including wife Kara and his children, Remi, eight and Jesse, three.“I’m quite needy and really hands on with my family, my kids especially, so being away was hard,” Ryan says.“At first (while away filming), I was getting calls every day, but then it got to around five weeks and I was in the middle of Australia somewhere and I said to one of the production guys: ‘Look, I don’t think we’ve got service here, I’ve had no calls’ and they said, ‘No, we have full bars’.“So after it got to that five-week period, everybody literally forgot about me.“The problem is now that every time I say I’m going to work, my kids freak out.“I have to reassure them I’m only going for a few hours or a day, not two months.”
The Amazing Race Australia, February 1, 7.30pm, Ten
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