The Amazing Race Australia Two Tribes

With an eye on the prize, Grant Bowler explains the ongoing addictiveness of The Amazing Race Australia to Guy Davis.

"The Amazing Race Australia is kinda like crack. “You get addicted to it very quickly and it leaves you stupid and sleep-deprived,”

That’s right, the globe-trotting, award-winning Channel Seven game show is back for a second season, and this time it’s adding a new ingredient: a bit of trans-Tasman rivalry. This year five teams from Australia and five from New Zealand will be pitted against each other.

So where does Bowler stand? After all, the actor – who has the likes of Lost, True Blood and the sci-fi drama Defiance to his name – may have been raised in Australia but he was born in New Zealand. Bowler wisely keeps mum when it comes to preferences, but he claims that “I’ve been in the middle of this dispute since I was baptised, so if there’s any qualified to remain impartial it’s me.”

He does admit the Aussie-Kiwi contest gives this new season a nifty hook. “This rivalry has been going since the year dot and will probably continue until both nations slide into the sea. It’s a really pertinent cultural angle that’s going to entertain the audience. Covering 90,000 kilometres is tough enough, but they also have the pride of the green and gold or the black riding on their backs, so they’re even more determined.

“I think some things are universal but Aussies and Kiwis do have their own unique strengths. Kiwis will take pretty much any form of discomfort – they almost expect discomfort. Actually, they’re probably happier if things are really hard! The Aussies, they just want to get it done and have a beer – they’re brash and aggressive, which can work both for and against them.”

In terms of where the Racers are going this time around and what they’ll be subjected to in the name of good, clean fun, the show has upped the ante, although Bowler feels it’s hard for the contest to get much bigger. “Australia’s first season was bigger than any American Amazing Race that has ever been run, so I think you eventually end up at a brick wall just in terms of what you can actually do. I know when we were putting a crane up next to the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem that the Israeli security forces thought we’d gone about as far as we could. You know you’re pushing the envelope when a lot of guns start coming out.”

In the end, he admits, the appeal comes down to the people playing the game. “With Australia and New Zealand, we love the idea of racing for money, but I think we’re very much into the story. I notice the audience is more interested in the character of the contestants.”

premieres 4 Aug, 8.45pm, Channel Seven