They may be gay, they may have only recently married after two and a half years together and they may be one of the first gay married couples to appear on an Australian television reality show since the same-sex marriage plebiscite and Marriage Act law change in 2017, but for Tim and Rod, they just want to be known as The Newlyweds on Ten’s The Amazing Race Australia which begins this week.
These two infectiously loveable guys from Newcastle, on the NSW Central Coast, are maybe not what you would expect to see or hear when you first meet them and that’s exactly how they want it as they attempt to win over the Australian public and in turn win themselves $250,000 in a race around the world.
Speaking with Gay Nation Tim, 29 and Rod 28 said they don’t want people to think just because they are gay and newlyweds that they must fit a certain stereotype for a show such as this.
“We are reality tv show junkies but we’ve never really ever seen anyone like us on tv, so we thought this is such an amazing opportunity for us to get our butts on this show and show Australia and hopefully the world that you don’t have to fit a certain stereotype for a gay person or any person, its whoever you want to be, as long as you’re having fun that’s all that matters.,” Tim explained.
“I’m so proud to be one of the first LGBT married couples on the show, our love is really genuine and you’ll see that just with the way we are with each other, and I genuinely think we are going to change peoples perceptions,” Rod added.
“For us to have this kind of platform to show we’re two dudes that genuinely love each other is a real positive outcome for Australians watching.”
The Amazing Race Australia returns to our screens for the first series in five years with 11 new diverse couples and a new host, ex-rugby league footballer and now media performer Beau Ryan taking over the reins from Grant Bowler.
The couples include farmers, nurses, nuns, siblings, footy mates and influencers tackling trains, planes and camels as they ping-pong across the world in pursuit of the $250,000 cash prize.
As promotions for the show have been leaked over the past couple of weeks it was clear the show had included a gay couple, but many had suggested it was another male couple Tom and Tyler and not the boys from Newcastle.
“There’s another team in The Amazing Race and they are wearing the orange shirts [Tom and Tyler] and all of our friends were like ‘Is there two gay teams in this race’, and then an article came out and said we were the footy mates,” laughed Rod.
But there’s no denying the personal trainers will have their work cut out for them when the race begins on Monday night at 7.30 pm.
“We thought we were prepared for the show, we’ve watched so many American seasons and watched all of the Australian ones, but once you get your butt on the race and the pressure is kicking in, basic things that you would normally be able to do you just can’t,” Rod explained
“We thought because we are both in the fittest state of our lives that would be a great advantage but its probably more of a mental game than a physical game so you can’t prepare for it.”
“One thing I had to learn to do was to slow things down, take a deep breath and actually read what was going on, my navigation is absolutely atrocious so I relied on Rod a fair bit,” Tim said.
“But we sort of balance each other out, if there was something Rod was good at I would lean on him, if there was something I was better at he would lean on me, so we were perfect at balancing each other out.”
As such big fans of the show, it was a starting line that gave them the biggest thrill, the nervousness and anticipation of what they were about to tackle.
“We are such super fans of the show so to be standing there with all the teams lined up at the start and Beau was there ready to count us down to kick off the race,” Tim said.
“I remember looking around at one point being like, Oh My God this is actually happening, we are actually on this crazy and insane race, we are about to race around the world, for me I will take that memory to the grave,it was one of the greatest moments of my life.”
And meeting Beau Ryan?
“He’s a pretty good sort,” Rod laughed.
“He’s an absolute legend,” said Tim
“We weren’t sure what to expect with Beau but he was so kind and genuine, you know sometimes with those people on tv that you think they are only being nice because they have a camera in their face but even when they put the camera down, beau just kept chatting to us, he was interested in our back story and getting to know us, we don’t have one bad word to say about Beau he was a really nice guy.”
Newlyweds Tim and Rod want to inspire others who may be struggling with their own identity ????
The #AmazingRaceAU | Premieres 7.30 Monday on 10 pic.twitter.com/vNnNy03DOM
— Amazing Race AU (@amazingrace_au) October 26, 2019
Without giving away the results of the show, which was filmed a few months ago, Tim and Rod hope they can make their friends, family and the gay family proud of their efforts.
“I reckon in that first episode all of our gay family will be like ‘calm down boys take your time’,” said Rod.
“That was the extra pressure on us because we wanted to make our gay family proud and I didn’t want to stuff up or lose and I didn’t want anything to go wrong and at the end of the day we tried our best and we hope we can go out of this with people proud of us no matter where we come in the race.”
“We really hope people sitting at home will be cheering for us and that we can give them the courage that if they are struggling with their own identity or coming out of the closet or if there’s issues in their life that they are facing because they are gay, we hope we can give them the courage to look and think of these two mates who are in love and if they can do it maybe we can as well, Tim said.
“We hope we can make them proud, we’re sure we will.”
If they win The Amazing Race Australia, the boys plan on putting the money towards Rod’s business and then take off to Disneyland. We wish them all the best and expect everyone to be tuning in on Monday and Tuesday nights at 7.30 pm to cheer The Newlyweds on.
Last Updated on Oct 27, 2019
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