Interview ‘The Amazing Race Canada’ Dana & Cordelia

Dana Martin-Kelly and her daughter Cordelia raced for Newfoundland and Labrador on Season 12 of Amazing Race Canada bucket-list goal three auditions in the making. Known for their fearless energy and near-identical instincts (they even narrate their own actions the same way), the mother-daughter duo burned their express pass early rather than risk carrying a penalty to the mat, a call they still stand by. In this exit interview, Dana and Cordelia look back on the moments that stuck with them most, from a joyfully chaotic run-in with kangaroo poop in Australia to a leg of sailing they’d rather forget, and share why staying true to themselves mattered more than any critique from the couch.

TEM (The Extra Mile): How does it feel looking back at the show now? Looking kind of back on your journey and, you know, representing Newfoundland & Labrador?

Dana: Oh, man, it’s incredible. Actually, it was just…I my write-up for my social media posts later on, I was crying when I was writing it, like, man, the support we got from Labrador, Newfoundland and Labrador, and, you know, in Canada, it’s hard to explain, even people writing now, like, I don’t know, Missy, if you’ve got many messages today, but the messages are coming in, and people, like, it’s unbelievable, and, like, they’re so proud of us, even though, like, you know, it wasn’t a long journey for us, but they’re still all proud of how we represented, so that’s really good to hear, because we were, you know, we’re nervous when you, when you’re one of the first teams to leave, you’re nervous about how you represent, but we represented them, you know, we were ourselves, so that was, it’s good to hear.

TEM: What kind of got you into The Amazing Race Canada? Who’s idea was it?

Cordelia: Mom’s been wanting to go on since season one. We used to watch it together before I moved and like every year she’s like, we should audition, we should audition. So we auditioned. This was our third time auditioning together. So I guess it was her idea, but like I was, I was down for it, obviously. And I knew like going into it this year, auditioning, I just had a really good feeling about it and felt ready personally. And I guess I just thought it was our time. So I know we’ve, we’re very competitive and we, we just, you know, it’s always something I know she’s wanted to do.

Dana : So we love the challenge. I can tell you that. Yeah. You know, we’re not afraid to put ourselves out there.

TEM:  Yes. We, well, actually speaking of that, which, who would you say is the most, more competitive one? Or would you say you guys are both kind of the same?

Dana : We’re the same. We’re the same person. Like I literally pooped her out.

Cordelia: Yeah. My, I don’t think my dad helped at all. Like my mom just clung me. Like we’re the same.

TEM: Is there actually well you know be being so similar is there anything that you guys learned about one another in the competition that maybe you didn’t know?

Cordelia:  You know we keep getting this question we seriously haven’t learned anything about each other we just know each other that well the only thing what mom keeps saying the only thing we’ve learned about each other is that we both narrate everything we do like every move we make we’re like oh I’m doing this now and then we got to a point where I pointed it out to her and I was like wait I do it too.

Dana: I was like I gotta use the washroom now she’d be like okay yeah we both do it it’s so weird

TEM:  is there any like do you guys have any regrets using it when you use it or was there a different challenge that you wish you used it for?

Dana:  well obviously it would have been nice to be able to use it later but at that time like I think we did the right thing we knew if we took we couldn’t take we couldn’t it in the 13 moons because it already used. So our best bet was to take that penalty and, and use it right away. I mean, everybody said it was the right move at that time. Of course, I mean, hindsight is 20-20. If you look back at it, we could have saved it for, I don’t the Rocky Mountain era.

Cordelia : You know. You can’t think, you, the one thing you don’t want to do on the Amazing Race Canada is get eliminated with an express pass in your backpack. So that was what we were thinking of is like, if we, if we don’t use this now and we took that penalty and we get to the mat and like, we have to sit out for two hours and just hope no, the other couple of teams don’t show up behind us. And we have an express pass in our pocket and then we get eliminated. We’re like, well, why didn’t we just use it?

TEM: Was there any challenge? Like, did you guys feel like you prepped for that you didn’t get to do like, or that you wish you got to do?

Cordelia:  Yeah. Well, I kind of, I like watching the irrigation, anything to do with like putting stuff together, any kind of puzzles like that, anything that’s like, like. Like, hands-on, stuff like that is stuff we excel in. It’s anything that’s verbal. Memorization is a struggle for both of us. So yeah, just any kind of puzzle. There was one season where they did a murder mystery thing, and I was like, oh man, that would be so cool to do. I don’t know if they did that on our season or anything like that, but that would have been really cool. So, like, something like that would have been really cool, too. Like, figuring something out, not just, like, having to hear something and put up on a puzzle board. Like, that was my nightmare.

Dana : We’re really, we both are really good at putting things together, you know? So, like you said, the language was really hard for us, or that puzzle, but something I really wanted to do. And I’m terrified of heights. Oh, You know what I’m to say.  I wanted Cordelia to have to fly a plane and me to jump out of it.  That would have been friggin’ epic. That’s epic. That would so cool to do, right?  Because there was a season where they had to fly a plane, and then there were seasons where they jumped out of a plane, and we’re both so terrified. That would be so epic. Amazing Race Canada, you’ve got to put that in one of your seasons. and make us do that, so stop talking about it.

TEM:  Did you guys have, I mean, I would assume the least favorite challenges were probably the memorization ones. but what was your favorite challenge and least favorite?

Cordelia : Hmm. Favorite? It’s hard to say. I would say, honestly, God, I’ll tell you my least favorite challenge out of all three legs was the freaking sailing. Yeah, I hated sailing more than I hated 13 moons, and that’s saying something. The only reason I couldn’t use my express pass in sailing is because we were in the middle of the lake, so… My favorite challenge though, I don’t know, I think the, like, actually, you know what, I know. Picking up kangaroo poop. They were so cute. That was the highlight of my day out of that leg. That is all I did, that leg, was cry, get lost, and pick up kangaroo poop. And picking up kangaroo poop was my favorite part of that leg.

Dana: So, I really liked, I liked all of them, really, except for the ones we didn’t do well on, but, you know, like, decorating Whistler, that’s huge, huge. I’m there decorating, like, I’ll go crazy with decorating. That was exciting. Planting trees was exciting, because, you know, like, we were, we just experienced so much with forest fires and all that, to be able to do that. I mean, we, I love Jasper. I need to get back to Jasper and not have a camera crew with me. Yeah. Yeah. And then the height challenges, they were like, we’ve conquered our fear. So that was amazing. but yeah kangaroos were incredible um geez every like everything right and even even the rocky mountaineer as hard as that was for me that experience man so cool

TEM: Do guys have any like words for any like future contestants that are wanting to try out like what’s the one thing that you would tell them?

Dana: practice driving to destinations without GPS yes and that’s a big one

Cordelia  : what I would say is god it’s hard to say it’s it’s hard to say because you can prepare as much as you want but when you’re in it it’s so different it’s so different and if you’re not someone who works well under pressure like us um it’s it’s a really really really frustrating thing and also prepare yourself mentally for when the show airs and And reading comments about yourself on social media, because, honest to God, out of everything about The Amazing Race Canada, that’s been the hardest part, is everybody judging you and thinking, oh, you should have just did this and this and this, and it’s, like, it’s easy enough to sit on your couch and say that.  It is so much more, it’s so different when you’re in it, but also, try it as hard as it is, because you’re, you know, you’re racing, just, like, sit back and appreciate, like, the experience that you’re getting to do, because, like, only, like, 250-something people have been able to do this in Amazing Race Canada, and it’s, like, a huge blessing, like, it truly is, like, amazing.

Dana: Yeah. And one thing that we did, and we would hope that other people would do, is we became friends with, I don’t know if I’d say that, we came from, we’re all good friends, the whole crew. I mean, this season, the cast is unbelievable. They’re unbelievable. They’re Like, I’m so proud to be part of season 12 because of that.

TEM : Well, before we wrap up, I do have one last question. So we’re all about going the extra mile. So how do you guys go the extra mile?

Cordelia:  I guess for us, we care deeply and we’re not ashamed of how emotional we are. Like, I think it just goes to show that we do really care. And we like to remain kind. As hard and as frustrating as things can be, like, being kind goes a long way.

Dana : Yes. And look for the good in people and, you know, work hard and just be yourselves. The most important thing is be yourself.

Cordelia: Take chances. We’re going this way once. Take the chance. Yep.

Dana : Who cares what anyone else thinks, you know, when you’re going to get those comments, whatever. But they don’t matter to us. The people that matter to us still love us, know what we’re like, you know, and expect them to die. Probably the way we were on screen, like the messages we got were like, you truly were yourselves. And at the end of the day, that’s what we’re proud of. And we were.

Catch a new episode of The Amazing Race Canada Season 12 on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CTV and streams next day on Crave