Rex has defended himself online by saying the editing didn't show the whole story and that we viewers shouldn't criticize because haven't been in the same situation. To that I say this is reality TV; part of being a viewer is criticizing something you don't like or an action by someone on the show. If you don't want to be criticized in that way, don't apply for the show. And since Rex was the lead Dancer in the National Ballet of Canada for years and is now artist-in-residence at same, he must have dealt with criticism before. You don't become the lead dancer in one of the world's most prestigious dance companies without dealing with harsh criticism from reviewers, choreographers, directors and instructors.
But here at Gord and Wayne HQ, we do know someone who has been on the race: Cory Mitic, who along with his brother, Jodi, made it all the way to the final leg. So let's see what Cory thinks.
G & W - Let’s jump into this, we have to know what you thought about Rex and Bob quitting two tasks in a row?
Cory - (Long pause). It’s almost comical to me, it’s almost like a joke. It made me think about, not to pick on Brett and Holly, it made me think of them when they showed up and said ‘we’re not strong, but we’re going to use our brains to get through this.’ If you’re going to show up to this kind of competition with that kind of mentality, you’re not smart enough to even be in the race, in my opinion. I’m not saying that they did it, but I would bet a considerable amount of money that Rex and Bob didn’t go through a rigorous work out or training prior to the race. Clearly they didn’t it.
G & W - I think if you’re chosen to be on the race, even if you’re out of shape, you should try to get into shape in the time before it starts?
Cory - Hire a personal trainer. I mean you’re talking about a half of million dollars worth of prizes, this isn’t a charity race when you can do whatever you want and take as much time as you want. You’re racing against other teams that are hungry, that want to win the whole shebang, and if you show up like some schlub that can’t perform physically, you’re just setting yourself for failure.
G & W - Even the chair task they were doing wasn’t physical, but they seemed to just give up and quit.
Cory - I agree. I’m sure you and me and everyone in their lives has decided to quit something. The first time you do it is usually the hardest and then it just becomes easier. I would be very surprised if Rex and Bob get past the next round, especially since they’re going to Hong Kong. Now they are dealing with the language barrier so I don’t see them getting past the next round. If they do, I’ll be very surprised. Or there will be some kind of medical emergency or some catastrophic mistake by another team that saves them again.
G & W - Rex has said the editing didn’t tell the whole story.
Cory - Facts are facts, they quit two tasks in one episode. In the second episode. I don’t know what they showed up to do, but if they showed up to kind of walk through a breeze, they showed up to the wrong race. Not that I know them personally or want to make this personal, but I think they showed up to the wrong race, expecting that they could quit tasks here and there. Because if Shawn and Jen hadn’t been taken out of the race, Rex and Bob would have been gone.
G & W - I don’t recall any time last season when you and Jodi said ‘this is too hard, we’re going to quit’.
Cory - Never quit was the motto we adopted from the Never Quit Foundation and from my brother’s mantra from when he was injured (Jodi lost both his legs below the knee while serving in Afghanistan). The only time I considered quitting, and I’ll say I since Jodi wasn’t doing the task, was the flower and province task. It wasn’t a matter of if I applied myself more, I thought I couldn’t do it. And the mathematics around it, matching 10 flags with 10 flowers for me to get it right would have been one in a million. It was a good thing I knew some of them and that was just from just knowing them. But we weren’t paying attention at the mat and that was obviously a mistake Jodi and I made, not watching enough episodes before being on the show.
G & W - Did you feel for Shawn for dislocating his shoulder?
Cory - I sent him a message on FB. I commended him and his wife for the class they showed on that episode. I said I hope he was doing well and that his shoulder was doing well. It’s a shitty way to go out. I’ve popped my shoulders out playing rugby and all so I know that once your shoulder is toast, it’s pretty hard to do anything else. It was a tough break no question. But when I saw them going to the hospital, I had a thought that they might come back. Because essentially, it was surf then the chair and it was over. If Jen could have pulled off the surf, she could have taken her time on the chair because they had a six hour penalty. That’s something you learn doing the race, it’s never over until it’s over. Until you step on that mat and Jon says ‘You’ve been eliminated’ it’s not over. However, since I’ve popped my shoulder out and even if a doctor told me not to go on, there is no way I would stopped. I would have found some way to go on. Although, I don’t know the severity of Shawn’s situation.
G & W - They did show class when they were eliminated?
Cory - They showed 100 percent class, both of them. It’s interesting to see how people react to being eliminated. Obviously I watched a lot of people be eliminated on the show and not all of them were as classy as those two.
G & W - On to other teams, the Olympians are being strong, Alain and Audrey are doing good…
Cory - They are my pick to win it, Alain and Audrey. And I think the Twin brothers are a team to look out for. And though I would be more than happy if two Canadian women, two gold medal winning hockey players would win it, what I learned from my time on the race, the team out in front doesn’t mean shit. It doesn’t mean a goddamn thing and we won’t know how they’ll react to other situations. They’ve been fortunate that most of the challenges have been physical and they are physical individuals so we’ll have to see what else happens. But another advantage they do have is they are well-travelled. So language barriers could be something they are used to dealing with.
G & W - The Hong Kong trip should make things harder.
Cory - I’m surprised they are going to Hong Kong. It makes me think about the logistics. For every place we went during Season 1, there were 20-30 people that the viewers didn’t see, dealing with logistics. You don’t see the person behind the person making sure everything is there, texting and walkie-talkieing to all the people there. So going to another country, especially with language barriers and the laws being different, it’s gotta be something. I’m excited to see the next episode.
G & W - Anything else you want to add?
Cory - (Laughs) I can tell you that I was laughing for about a half an hour watching Jinder trying to get three seconds on that surfboard.
G & W - They were quite funny that episode with the fish in the pants, charging the electrical car…
Cory - They aren’t going anywhere. They’ll be eliminated in the next three episodes is my prediction. Charging an electric car with 450 kilometres left on it, was funny. (Laughs) But in the race sometimes your head gets ahead of your brain.