RP team unbeatable in Amazing Race Asia

By Leah C. Salterio

Marc Nelson and Rovilson Fernandez

After eight legs in the current season of The Amazing Race Asia, Philippine team Marc Nelson and Rovilson Fernandez consistenly fares superbly and remains at the forefront of the race.

Ending up first in the pit stop in seven out of eight legs, the buddies are undoubtedly the strongest and the most competitive team, if not the unbeatable one, in the second season.

Starting in Singapore with the pilot airing last November 22, The Amazing Race Asia 2 has taken the teams, so far, to the Philippines, China, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Germany and the Czech Republic. While the first leg that ended with a pit stop at the Fort Santiago in Intramuros, Manila was won by sisters Pamela and Vanessa Chong from Malaysia, Marc and Rovilson won the succeeding legs consistently – and they never looked back.

Their latest conquest was Prague, the picturesque capital of the Czech Republic where they edged out anew their staunchest competitor, gym buddies Collin Low and Adrian Yap from Singapore, who often trailed them, ending in second place finish in the ninth pit stop at Vrtbovska Gardens.

Meanwhile, the other team from the Philippines, married couple Henry and Terry Reed, managed to stay as one of the six teams until the eighth leg, despite being nearly booted out twice, only saved by pre-determined non-elimination rounds. They were eliminated in the last episode. "This is a huge set of memories," Henry said as he walked off with his wife. "Nobody has done anything like this."

Henry is a retired US navy senior chief petty officer, while Terry is his domineering housewife. They have been married for 13 years now. They were perhaps the best "characters" in the race, what with their unceasing spats, constant bickerings and seemingly endless shouting matches in the midst of doing the road blocks, detours, other challenges and tasks in every leg.

Last season, the two teams from the Philippines fared poorly. Couple Ernie and Jeena Lopez were the first ones to be booted out. Sexy best friends Aubrey Miles and Jacqueline Yu, meanwhile, merely finished only up to the fourth leg of the race. Their early exit dashed hopes of Filipinos to continue rooting for them to win and perhaps curtailed interest to stay glued to the race.

Fan favorites Zabrina and Joe Jer became the first all-female team to win any version of The Amazing Race. But Marc and Rovilson are perhaps the only team who have done first place finish for seven consecutive times.

So far, the undefeated champions have amassed several prizes, including Sony Handi-Cam, trips and a total money bonanza of US,000 through Standard Chartered credit card. A few more legs and if luck remains on their side through the end, they will be fortunate enough to win 0,000.

Following the formula of the highly successful The Amazing Race in the US, The Amazing Race Asia has 10 teams of two who prove that the new season poses more cutthroat competition. The current season also yielded twice as many applicants as the last one.

Among the five remaining teams are moms Ann Tan and Diane Douglas from Malaysia (who have been interestingly tagged "Desperate Housewives" or "Malaysian Mums"), childhood friends Paula Taylor and Natasha Monks from Thailand. They will continue racing with Marc and Rovilson, Adrian and Collin, Pamela and Vanessa in the succeeding episodes.

For this season, the race added a team from Japan for the first time, with siblings Sawaka and Daichi. Other teams who were eliminated were dating couples Brett Money and Kinaryosi from Indonesia; Monica and Edwin Lo from Hong Kong; exhousemates Aurelia Chenat and Sophie Teng from Hong Kong.

Marc is a familiar face in Philippine showbiz. As most everyone knows, he is a celebrity model and TV host, the partner of Diane Castillejo in the weekly late-night show, Sports Unlimited. Rovilson also hosts the sports show, Game Plan, and is the executive editor of Maxim Magazine.

Marc and Rovilson do the country proud. While their hunk factor is a big edge, they work well together and display teamwork to the hilt. Theirs is a potent combination, making their sharp wit and strong, sporty physique work to their advantage. They are also the perfect foil to each other, punctuating their tasks with their distinct sense of humor and always with a good laugh.

Amusingly enough, while waiting for the next available train to Prague from Frankfurt during the seventh leg, Rovilson decided to while away the time by gamely heading out to a nearby strip club and doing some impromptu pole dancing to get some spare cash.

In The Amazing Race Asia 2 website, Marc and Rovilson have been described as "one team with two flamboyant individuals who dish out a mixture of comedy and ego with a ton of sass." They are apparently enjoying what they do, which they spice up with their constant ribbing but all in the name of friendship.

They never argued throughout the race and never fought with the other teams, too. In the South Korean leg, even when the hearing-impaired Adrian and his partner Collin (who provide stiff competition) tried to steal a cab that Marc and Rovilson had called, the latter merely gave way. Rovilson was simply heard saying, "You stole our cab. We'll remember that. There's karma..." Despite that incident, Marc and Rovilson won the said leg, while Adrian and Collin trailed them for second place.

The recent legs have been dominated by the two males teams who upped the competitive factor against each other. But Marc and Rovilson turn out to be the much envied team when it comes to strength, stamina, sports knowhow, even skills and strategy. In the rowing task in Prague, Rovilson, being part of the Philippine rowing team, displayed his skills, prompting Collin to comment, "Rovilson is so good." In that same episode, the Philippine team was forced to team up with the Singaporean buddies in the Intersection leg, but did everything in fair play.

Of course, not everyone who follows The Amazing Race Asia 2 would favor Marc and Rovilson even if they are consistently ahead of the pack. In the race's online forum, the two have been called "Arrogant Assholes." Regardless of the negative tag, however, the two hunks have been unbelievably blessed with tremendous luck, virtually without any mistakes in the challenges and ending up first in every pit stop.

You can catch Amazing Race Asia 2 every Thursday night, 9 p.m. on AXN, with a replay at midnight of the same day.