The Amazing Race > The Racers

TAR 30: Dessie Mitcheson & Kayla Fitzgerald (Friends) #TheRingGirls

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georgiapeach:
And they're off! Two locals on board for seriously competitive season of CBS's 'The Amazing Race'


 Maria Sciullo

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


 
6:15 AM
 
Dec 29, 2017


 Growing up in Apollo, Dessie Mitcheson did a little of everything: gymnastics, track and field, diving, event golf. At Kiski Area High School, she was into the song-and-dance of musicals, too.

After cosmetology school, she got into modeling and competitive swimsuit competitions. Her bio notes she is an Instagram model.

Clearly, Ms. Mitcheson, 27, has energy to spare. As a contestant on CBS’s “The Amazing Race,” it looks as if she’ll need it because the 30th cycle of the Emmy Award-winning reality “race around the world” has brought its most A-personality teams yet.


There are Indy race car drivers, former NBA players, X-Game ski champions (that would be Uniontown native Kristi Leskinen and partner Jen Hudak), even professionals in the world of competitive eating.

The season begins 8 p.m. Wednesday with a leg that begins in New York City’s Washington Square. First stop: Iceland.

“We had no idea [it would be a season of ‘champions’]” said Ms. Mitcheson. “Right before the show started, we were eyeing up all these people. The only thing I knew was, there is normally an older person or two, and Kayla [Fitzgerald] and I noticed there were no older people.”

“This is, without a doubt,” the most competitive cast ever, and these people are used to winning in their chosen fields,” said Phil Keoghan, longtime host.



Ms. Mitcheson said she has watched the show for years. Although she previously tried out with her father, her brother and a cousin — “I guess no one wanted my family,” she said, laughing — she was finally cast with friend and fellow model Ms. Fitzgerald, who is from Clermont, Fla.

Strictly embargoed from discussing the unaired adventure, Ms. Mitcheson did allow that “that first leg of the Race was definitely more physically and psychologically challenging than I expected.”

Any tips gleaned from watching the show for years went out the window.

“We were doing a lot of planning on that first flight — what to do in the airport, looking up directions, trying to ask people and hoping they’d been to our destination. But as soon as we got there, it didn’t matter,” she said.



http://www.post-gazette.com/ae/tv-radio/2017/12/29/The-Amazing-Race-Pittsburgh-Mitcheson-Leskinen/stories/201712300006

georgiapeach:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/tv/tv-guy/os-et-amazing-race-thrills-clermont-contestant-20180101-story.html


By Hal Boedeker•Contact Reporter
Orlando Sentinel

January 1, 2018, 9:25 AM



--- Quote ---Kayla Fitzgerald of Clermont had never done reality television, but she had a long knowledge of “The Amazing Race” before becoming a contestant on season 30.

“I’ve been a fan of the show for as long as I can remember,” said Fitzgerald, 26, who now lives in Los Angeles. “My family is really big fans of the show. So I’ve probably watched it since I was 10.”


Fitzgerald and pal Dessie Mitcheson, 27, of Apollo, Pa., form one of the 11 teams competing for $1 million on the CBS reality contest. The season premiere, at 8 p.m. Wednesday, starts in Washington Square Park in New York City, then shifts to Iceland. Contestants visit 21 cities in 10 countries while traveling 29,000 miles.

“I think it’s just cool that you get to see different parts of the world,” Fitzgerald said. She spoke with awe about “anything that has to do with jumping off a building or doing things with exotic animals or eating weird food.”

--- End quote ---
Read more!

Dånooky:
Exit Interview with the Ring Girls by Parade.com


--- Quote ---Let’s talk about the rest of your race. When you left the Roadblock, you were in a comfortable position. But we see you get to the strong people in near-last place. What happened between those two tasks?
Kayla: Like Dessie said, we were the sixth team to do the traversing. We finished that before Team Well-Strung, and we got to the Roadblock right after them. So we were in between sixth and seventh place for a good majority of the [leg]. Dessie left the Roadblock after trying it three times, maybe four. We left from there and got straight to the Icelandic strong people. We had just seen the “Green Goblins,” who we call the competitive eaters [Joey Chestnut and Tim Janus], and we thought, “Here’s the Green Goblins. We’re here; we got this! Let’s find parking; we’re right where we need to be.” Well, everything in Iceland had the same colors as The Amazing Race, so everything looked like marked parking. We couldn’t find the actual marked parking, and we drove around in that circle for probably an hour and fifteen minutes. We couldn’t find parking for the life of us. It was all one-way streets, and every time we asked somebody for directions, they would say, “Oh, you can’t go there. We don’t know how to get there.” Essentially, that was the demise of [the Ring Girls]. (Laughs.)
--- End quote ---

TARUSAFan:
Bummed they went out by a mere size of a ruler or a fraction of a second. They were a bundle of fun, Dessie should have dropped her bags instead of carrying them to the Pit Stop. #TeamMitchFitz

Platrium:
(I forgot this board existed.)

Oh, so Dessie's bag was locked up. :o I didn't notice the socks falling off though.

They were an athletic duo, and I wish I saw more from them. :(

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