Interview ‘The Amazing Race Canada’ contestants Osas & Esosa

July 27, 2025July 27, 2025 thextramile 0 Comments

TEM (The Extra Mile) : What got you into the Amazing Race Canada? And whose idea was it?

Esosa: It was my idea to go on the race because I always enjoyed just doing some sort of race around Calgary every summer. And around December last year, I was starting to think about doing something different. So I was like, I want to do something different. And I was watching season eight. I mean, I’ve always watched the show, but I didn’t feel like I could be on the show to begin with. So I was watching season eight last winter time. And I was, you know, my spin bike, they were also doing like a biking challenge, Team Franella. And then I had this random thought like, well, I could do this. So that was like the first initial idea that made me to pick up my phone to look up what it takes to be on the show. And then from there, it was about finding the right person or whoever was available to want to do the show. And that’s where Osas came along

Osas: I was the last choice.

Esosa: And that’s where Osas came in the picture. So, you know, fast forward five months later, we’ve had the opportunity to experience such an incredible journey. And yeah, we’re here to talk about it today. So that was my idea.

TEM: Did he have a hard time convincing you or were you just like, OK, let’s do it?

Osas: I would say because he didn’t want me to be there in the first place. So I had to play hard to get a little bit. But I wanted to do it. But I had to, you know, make him work for it.

Esosa: Well, I didn’t think he would want to do it. So it’s not like I was just like, OK, I went to a list, you know, like a few people first. And then it was towards the deadline. And I was like, oh, we just have to send in a video. You know, so like I came over to his place. I was like, it’s not going to cost you anything. Let’s just send a video. And let’s just, you know, get it done. So we send a video. We said if something comes out, it would be great. (2:47) If not, we just sent a three minute video. And, you know, it was the worst that could happen. And thankfully, you know, we got chosen. And here we are.

TEM: Did you like what did you do to prepare for it? Or did you do anything in particular to prepare for the show?

Osas: OK, don’t laugh. But we practiced a lot of navigation lost in leg two. We did lots of navigation, learning how to use maps. We learned a lot about the country in terms of what the flags look like. I mean, we were already running like we already stayed active. So we don’t really have to do much in terms of physical activity. There’s really not much you can really read.

Esosa: I knew there’s always like a swimming or like a water challenge. I took swimming class.

Osas: And I took swimming class because I was never going to let him do this.

Esosa: I was going to do this, but I didn’t trust him. So I just, you know, wanted to make myself the best I could be for the show. So I signed up for like swimming classes before going on the show. But yeah, there’s pretty much nothing that you could prepare for exactly because the show itself is there’s such a variety of challenges. The only thing I feel like you can prepare for is just prepare your mindset, knowing that there’s going to be some challenges that you might struggle with. And there might be some challenges that might just come natural and easy for you. So regardless of which one you face, you just have to just embrace them all. So I think that was the one part of the preparation that we did.

TEM: So what would you say it meant to you then to like represent a story like yours on a national stage like this?

Esosa: It meant a lot to us, you know, like initially when we applied, we were just like, let’s just apply so we can go on a free trip. You know, we’re like, we’ve done it before, but it’s something different when someone else is paying for the trip. You know, so, but then as the stories started coming together, then it became a quick realization to us that this is bigger than we actually, you know, anticipate, you know, because then we realized, oh my goodness, there’s going to be lots of people watching it. And there’s also going to be people that could relate to us too. We’re going to be like, oh, look at these guys. If they can do it, then we can do it. So initially we were just there for the whole experience. And then now when it got announced that we’re on the show, and like just the reaction we got from people that we know, people that we don’t know, we just realized that this is bigger. And it’s, the show allowed us to put ourselves in the platform so that people can say, because of those, if those guys can do it, we can do it. And I hope that’s something that people cherish.

TEM: What was your most favorite challenge and least favorite challenge?

Osas: Oh, the least favorite challenge was the Specsavers one, the puzzle.

Esosa: The puzzle one, yeah I think I can get one. Yeah, also never liked puzzles. So it was just a bit of a tricky one. Navigate that one together.

Osas: I think my favorite challenge was dancing. The line dancing.

Esosa: I think my favorite challenge was the singing with the mariachi band.

Osas: Oh yeah, that was my favorite challenge, singing with the mariachi band.

Esosa: Yeah, like it was, you know, it was fun. It was like, you know, playful and, you know, music makes everything better too. So it was, I think that was my favorite challenge too.

TEM: Was this your guys’ first time being able to kind of explore more of Canada?

Esosa: It was together. Together exclusively. Like we traveled with our other brother and like friends together, but it was the first time we actually got to travel exclusively for like a month. So, you know, it was a lot of learning about each other before the trip, after the trip, during the trip as well. So it was, you know, it was a nice experience and yeah, we’re glad that we got to do it.

TEM: So what’s one thing that you learned about your brother that surprised you guys during the race?

Esosa: Osas eats a lot of salad. I don’t know if it was because of during the race, but he was literally eating salad all through. And I was like, this is, you can eat whatever you want. I was eating steaks, you know, eating like ribs every day. Osas was eating salad.

Osas: I learned that Esosa eats a lot of curly fries. That was all he was eating.

Esosa: You know, and I think, I mean, during the race, you know, like we kind of talked about ( our strategies on how we’re going to motivate each other before going on the show. Because, you know, we know ourselves because we play soccer together almost every week. And I was like, Osas, if I’m stuck in a challenge, I will need you telling me you believe in me. Like, I already know you believe in me. Just, you know, find a different way to motivate me. So we kind of like figured that out before going into the whole race. So we learned about how to motivate each other, which would be more effective. And we just kind of learned that let’s just kind of have fun too. Because we didn’t want to put the whole pressure of, you know, let’s just go out and just try and win this. And obviously we wanted to win it. But we just said, if we just enjoy the whole experience, then at the end of the day, we can always look back on it and we can always cherish the moments.

TEM: Is there anything from that, what you just said, like anything else that you want to tell future contestants that are hopeful to try out for the next season of Amazing Race Canada?

Osas: Oh, you know, it’s one thing to watch the show and, you know, give a commentary and say they should have done this or done this. But it’s another thing to actually be in the show. And there’s a thing called Race Brain. And when you’re actually racing, the things that make sense to you outside of the race don’t make sense when you’re actually racing. So, you know, for anyone who’s thinking of applying, just apply. Go see the actual race for yourself and know that it’s good. It’s going to be the best month of your life, basically. It’s going to be so much fun. And you’re going to learn a lot about yourself and your partner. So I think everyone should apply for the show. (

TEM: So how do you guys go the extra mile, whether that be in your personal life?

Esosa: You know, like I feel for us right now, like what the show has given to us, the platform has given to us, I feel like for now, for us now, it’s all about letting people know who watch the show, who may not have felt inspired to be on the show. Maybe now they’ll feel like, okay, we could relate to these guys. You know, because there’s always going to be one or two people that could be like, hey, because of you, I applied for the show. I can honestly say it was the moment when I saw them team Franella when they were like biking, doing a challenge, that made me want to apply to the show. Like I watched the show, but I also didn’t think I was a TV person. You know, like I don’t know if I could be on the show. I don’t know how they like selected people to be on the show. But at the same time, if I was also doubtful of the whole process, I just said, hey, let me just put myself out there and see what comes out of it. And luckily, we were able to go on the show. I feel like right now, we would just want to use the platform that we’ve been given to inspire other people to say, hey, because those guys can do it, we can also do it. Or at least we could try, if that makes sense.

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