Huntsville High School grad embarks on 'The Amazing Race'
By Tori Brock/Staff writer
In 1996, Christie Woods graduated from Huntsville High School. Next week, she'll graduate to the television screen, making her on-air debut in CBS' reality series "The Amazing Race."
Woods and her boyfriend Colin Guinn both live in Corpus Christi now. The two entered the race together, which premiers Tuesday at 8:30 p.m.
Jackie Woods, Christie's mother, said although the race is already over, she doesn't even know the outcome yet.
"We don't know any more than anyone else, but I hope she wins," she said. "It was an awesome opportunity for her to be able to travel around the world. I'm really excited for both of them."
In the July 4-10 edition of TV Guide, Woods and Guinn are featured along with the rest of "The Amazing Race" cast. Las Vegas professional oddsmaker Benjamin Eckstein rated each two-person group on their ability to win the contest, and Woods and Guinn got 2-1 odds.
Of the pair, he said they are smart, supportive and beautiful.
"He's just as pretty," Eckstein said of Guinn. "They are great for this race."
Woods, 26, is in pharmaceutical sales, and Guinn, 24, is a cell-phone store owner. Naming their team "Texas Extreme," the two told TV Guide they aren't the underdogs.
"People like the underdog, and we won't have that going for us," Guinn said. "We're not the gutsy grandmas."
Woods is a former Miss Teen USA, the only one ever from Texas. She and Colin met in a class at the University of Texas at Austin and have been dating for more than a year.
On the CBS Web site,
www.cbs.com, Colin claims he will ask Christie to marry him if they can get through the race together. Christie said that was one of their reasons for doing the race, to test if they had marriage potential.
"I know we can win, and if we do, we're getting married right after the show," she said in an interview with CBS.
The show begins Tuesday with 11 teams of two people, each with a prior relationship. Couples aren't the sole makeup of teams on this year's race, which is in its fifth season. Also featured are a father/daughter team, a team of twin sisters and a team of best friends.
Contestants travel the globe on a limited budget performing stunts, all in the hopes of winning the final prize of $1 million.
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