In a thrilling and nail-biting race to the end, wrestlers Taylor McPherson and Katie Mulkay are the winners of CTV’s The Amazing Race Canada Season 10. In addition to the title, the 24-year-olds from Alberta received the two first-ever 2024 Chevrolet Equinox EV RS cars, round-the-world trip-of-a-lifetime for two courtesy of Expedia and a $250,000 cash prize.
“It just feels so good,” Mulkay told Yahoo Canada. “I can’t stop smiling.”
Since the finale of Amazing Race Canada aired last week, the response McPherson and Mulkay have received has proved that their goal to really motivate and inspired women has been achieved, being only the second female duo to win the show. Their motto is “strong is beautiful.”
“I think it’s been amazing to watch it all unfold and to see how much we are those role models,” Mulkay said. “And having people reach out to us and being like, ‘You two are inspirational.'”
“I never expected to be on TV. I could live my whole life without ever being on reality TV, and just seeing ourselves and watching ourselves up there, and being like, … we did make an impact on there. … People truly see us as these inspiring females. It’s unbelievable, especially as we want to promote our sport as well. Wrestling is very male-dominated sport, and to have that opportunity to show us as strong female wrestlers and be known as ‘the wrestlers’ was just an experience like no other.”
‘Slow and steady wins this race’
The last challenge of the race proved to be a particular stumper for all the final teams, but McPherson and Mulkay used the lessons they learned throughout the entire season to come out on top.
In the final challenge, which took place in McPherson and Mulkay’s home city of Edmonton, the teams made their way to the Royal Alberta Museum where they had to arrange a series of photos from the race in the appropriate order, based on the race timeline. With so many small details to remember, many of the teams started getting flustered and frustrated, but McPherson and Mulkay learned that trying to stay as calm as possible is best the way to go.
“When we were doing that challenge Katie and I were just like, ‘Slow and steady wins this race,'” McPherson recalled. “We realized that in past challenges when people have rushed or we rush it, it hasn’t gotten us very far.”
“We literally learned our lesson in the olive oil challenge. The amount of times [Katie] and I switched our olive oil taste around, it kept screwing us over, and we lost our first place lead because of that. And so I think even just throughout this race, we learned some very valuable lessons. I think the biggest one was to just take the time and slow down.”
‘I felt her at every moment’
While this is a team of two, throughout the race McPherson and Mulkay have had a third presence, and that’s Holly, Mulkay’s best friend who passed away last years.
“I remember there was one time we woke up and I was like, ‘Holly, Holly shut off your alarm,'” Mulkay shared. “It’s like Holly was there with us the whole time. … I felt her at every moment. I would say to Taylor, it feels like we’re running with … a third person.”
“Honestly, even watching it back, I was so proud of the race we ran, also knowing that she’s looking down on us and she’s supporting us along the way. Of course, people pass away all the time, when it’s not their time, and it’s a terrible thing and I know a lot of people go through that. But just knowing that, you know what, live the life that they would have wanted you to live. … Life’s too short and you’ve got to take advantage of those opportunities. I could have easily said, ‘I don’t want to be on TV,’ or I could have second guessed it, but when Taylor asked me … I didn’t hesitate. … And look at where we are.”
Plans for $250,000 cash prize
The big question after an Amazing Race Canada win is, of course, if the winners have any plans, particularly for the $250,000 cash prize.
“One thing we definitely want to do is go on all of our trips, but that’s got to wait a little bit because wrestling season just started,” McPherson said. “Katie’s competing, I’m coaching. So it’s definitely going to be a little while until we can actually take those trips, but that’s OK. We’ll plan them over the next year.”
In addition to wrestling, McPherson is an Indigenous sports program coordinator in Alberta and she hopes to continue to find ways to help Indigenous youth get involved in sports.
“I kind of want to start to focus on a program and potentially starting a non-profit that I’ve been working on over the last two years, under my organization,” she said. “To get more Indigenous youth into sport within rural communities. That’s kind of what I want to focus on over the next year.”
For Mulkay, she hasn’t nailed down exactly how she plans to use her winnings, but as a recent graduate she’s hoping to use this money to be more “independent” as she figures out what her next step is.
“I haven’t had time to think about it, to be honest,” she said. “I think the biggest thing was just, … it’s a kickstart to life.”
“It is a great amount of money to help me try to pursue other things. I am a recent graduate and trying to figure out that next part of life, this next step after graduation. I’m kind of interested to see where it goes, because I’m not entirely even sure. … We want to plan our trips and I want to be more independent in my life and things like that. So I think I’m just kind of along for the ride right now, and I’m excited to see where it takes me.”