Interview ‘The Amazing Race Canada’ Filipe Masetti and Clara

Filipe and Clara took on Season 12 of The Amazing Race Canada as a couple who love adventure, pushing themselves outside their comfort zones and chasing big dreams together. After becoming Canadian citizens, applying for the race was one of the first things on their list, with Clara giving Filipe the extra push to go for it. In this exit interview, Filipe and Clara look back on an elimination where seemingly everything went wrong, the challenges that pushed them the hardest, and whether they wish they had held onto their Express Pass a little longer. They also open up about Clara taking on a memorization challenge while still learning English, why they kept smiling even as they ran to the mat in last place, and the dream that kept them going throughout the race. They may not have won The Amazing Race Canada, but they did accomplish one of their biggest goals: buying the ranch they had been racing for

TEM (The Extra Mile) : How do you guys feel looking back at your journey, especially last night’s episode?

Clara: Oh my goodness. We were talking about it yesterday, how much fun we have, how amazing it was. Like, see the country, meet amazing people, and be together doing, like, crazy stuff.

Filipe: Yeah, we love it. We love to, I think, step outside of our comfort zones, and we love adventure. We love to spend time together, and there’s a photo from yesterday’s episode that we just saw this morning. Although it was a very hard episode, like, it seems like everything fell apart for us in the East. It was just one of those things where it’s like, this is where we were meant to go because, like, nothing worked. There’s a photo of us in the rain running into the mat, and it’s, like, pouring. It’s absolutely pouring. The worst day ever. We’re full of concrete. We’re all dirty. We’re obviously last. We’re about to get kicked out, but we both have, like, huge smiles on our faces, and to me, that just, like, a picture is worth a thousand words, right? And I think that’s what I love about our relationship, about Clara, is that no matter what’s happening, the world can be falling apart around us. We still have a positive attitude. We’re still pushing each other. And just happy to be alive, you know, no matter what’s going on.

TEM: Whose kind of idea was it to do the Amazing Race? And did you have to kind of push one another? Like, how did that come about?

Clara: So it was my idea when first I came here to Canada, I saw the show, I’m like, yes, we need to do this. But we first, to apply, we need to became Canadians. So we did all the process. we came, it’s like, the first thing we’re going to do is apply to the Amazing Race. And I pushed a little Filipe. Filipe, like, really, like… I’ve done this before. Like, I know it’s going to be hard. But he came with this idea right away, and we did it together. It was so, so

Filipe: I bought her idea. Yeah, it was, I I love the show as well. And, yeah, it was an unbelievable experience. I’m glad she got me. Yeah, got me going.

TEM:  Clara, because I’m going to guess it’s you. Are you the more competitive one?

Clara: I think both are. We both are more competitive. I think I’m more competitive in Spanish. Because I need to translate everything, like the thing that goes away translates. So until I know it’s going to happen, I think my competitor is like, okay, what I need to do actually, what it is. So get concentrated in Spanish. I’m like, ah!

Filipe: But to answer your question, I think she is more competitive. I think you’re a little more feisty. I’m more chill. I’m like, let’s go.

TEM: Is there any challenges that you guys kind of rather prepped for or that you kind of wanted to that you didn’t get to do?

Filipe: I think we prepped for the memorization. Clarita got hit with it the hardest with that movie. Latte love. Oh, my God. I was supposed to do all the memorization right that we went in obviously you know just learning English so but you don’t know right when you see the first line and it’s like we saw latte love and you have a second to kind of look at each other and and we both thought oh it’s gonna be make a latte somewhere you can do it yeah this is all year and then you rip it open and it’s like memorize three pages of script it’s like oh dear lord.

Clara: Or is it I never hear my lie? Tell me how you pronounce this. I don’t know what those words are but I’m like at least I need to pronounce it. Maybe tomorrow we’ll figure it out.

Filipe: she killed it Clarita pulled through that was uh to me like one of the most special moments of the whole uh race was seeing her overcome that huge hurdle like I thought she was gonna because you can’t you have no contact with the person right while they’re doing this kind of challenges so I’m just like oh my god is she like crying right now?  If I put myself in her position, I would just quit, like I would cry, and she just motored through it, got her done, but to answer your question, think that was our biggest fear, and what we tried to prepare the most was memorization, we did a lot of math as well from past seasons, which we didn’t end up using, we tried to like brush up on high school math, dancing as well came in handy when I had to join the twins there for the disco dancing, we had done a little bit of practicing because that was totally outside my wheelhouse as well to learn, you know, choreographed dance, for sure, we did a little prepping before the race.

TEM: What was your guys’ favorite and least favorite challenge? I mean, I guess, Clara, you kind of already answered the least favorite, but…

Filipe: Yeah, I did not answer that one. My least favorite was definitely the boat. No, 13 Moves was hard, but I think the boat got us eliminated- that soldering challenge at the beginning. That was… The scallops one was tough. I was one scallop away, and I had to run back, but it didn’t matter because we all joined up again in the ferry, but the boat, that’s ultimately what got us kicked off the race. It took us so long to get this one little thing that we needed. We pushed the sail back, and we didn’t see it, so we kept getting to get check, check, check, check, and we changed everything around, and it wasn’t that, changed everything around. So that was my least favorite, because ultimately, That’s what got us kicked out. How about you? I guess the memorization was your least favorite. Oh, the diving, the diving was your least favorite.

Clara: That was so hard. It was like, I couldn’t get it together, and then it was the memorization. was the most terrible day.

Filipe: The diving was like, it would mess your mind, because you have to grab your legs, and then you got to end up on your head, so your body thinks, just go in with your legs. If you’re going to grab your legs, why are you going to tilt over, right? So, Clara… I couldn’t turn that key and her entire body was purple the next day from head to toe because she would hit the water so hard every time with like her thighs or her stomach.

Clara: And I’m not like a water person, but I rattled that, the memorization, right?

Filipe: Yeah. And your favorite, was your favorite?

Clara: My favorite was the boat, the first place. Yeah, the Milana challenge. Yeah, the Moana challenge.  Moana. Moana challenge, it was my favorite challenge. I really enjoyed that. I used to do that when I was a kid, so that was fun.

Filipe: I don’t know what was my favorite, I think, was… Sidsky. Oh, Sidsky was fun, but what comes to mind for me is the metal detector, because we’re coming from last. We had just, it kept on racing the leg, we had almost gotten eliminated, and then we get a chance to continue. We’re last on the planes, but then we get to the beach and we move to second. So… So that was really awesome to leave everyone behind.

TEM:  Do you guys have any regrets on when you kind of used your Express Pass? Or was there a different time you kind of used it?

Filipe: Yeah, hindsight is 20-20. I think watching the show back, it was definitely like, why did I use it there? But then there was, like, it would have been us and Sebastian with the Express Pass and then the leg before the girls had it. Yeah, I think if I could have gone back, would have held on to it longer had I known that we were going have to wait until the train stopped to leave. Because you don’t know, right? When you’re in the moment, no one explains to you, like, hey, just so you know, we’re all going to sit here after. No one knew, and I got there so late to the challenge. And when I got there, Sebastian, I think it was Sebastian, or yeah, or Sasha, had just finished. So in my mind, I’m like, they’re already gone. I’m just picking up this. And it didn’t end up hurting us because then we finished okay the next two legs, but definitely watching it, was like, I should have held on to it now that I know that we’re all going to sit there for an hour after. Yeah, it’s crazy watching what you see on TV and what you live. A lot of those legs are like three days shooting, two days shooting, like, and it’s like on TV, it’s like bang, bang, bang. And yeah, it’s, you don’t have a lot of the information that you get when you’re watching the show that they explain everything, right? So you’re kind of going into a blind and it’s funny when you’re watching other people do it. You’re always like, you idiot. It’s right there. How do you not see it? You’re judging these people. But then when you’re on it, it just gives you like a newfound respect. You’re like, wow, it’s, it’s a lot harder than what it seems when you’re, when you’re sitting on your couch. Cause it’s right there. You know, even yesterday we were watching the Italian boys through that construction challenge. And they don’t see the last little thing and you’re like, it’s right there. How do you not see it? We had the same problem, but like when you’re there and you’re so focused and you’re like, it’s unbelievable. Our slogan was slow is smooth, smooth is fast, but it’s like, you you’re a chicken without your head. as soon as you rip that glue, I need to go. I don’t care. Now I’m speaking in Spanish.

TEM: is there anything that you guys would like to tell future contestants?

Clara: No matter where you’re coming from, go apply, have fun. You can do it. Go with the partner, your friend, your family member. It doesn’t matter.

Filipe: Yeah. Just go for it, you know, put that fear aside. It’s an amazing experience, you know, through this, through this show. We’ve met so many people in Canada that dream of being on the Amazing Race Canada. You know, you really get to see the magnitude, how big the show is, the exposure, how many people are watching. Because everyone we’ve met that say, oh, my God, you guys are in the Amazing Race. Like, we applied once. We want to apply. My cousin loves it. Like, do it. Just, like, put that fear aside because it’s a life-changing experience. You know, I think it brings you closer to your partner. You get to see this stunning country from a manner. Very few people will get the opportunity to see it. And I think you’ll have an adventure of a lifetime that you’ll never forget.

TEM: So we’re all about going the extra mile. So what does that mean to you guys? Or how do you go the extra mile?

Filipe: I think going the extra mile is, you know, finding that fire, that routine fuego, finding that fire within, you know, what’s going to keep you going when you think you’ve reached your limit, you know, from what I did crossing the Americas on horse. It was a daily struggle. Every day you have a problem or 10, and the amazing race is like that as well. And for us, you know, when I was doing the journey, it was about helping a cancer hospital in Brazil. So every time, you know, the wind was blowing at 120 kilometers an hour in Patagonia, or there was grizzly bears following me, or drug lords, or people shot dead, I would close my eyes and take myself to those kids. And, you know, what was my struggle compared to theirs? And that’s what ultimately kept me going. And on the race, it was the ranch, you know, we wanted to buy a ranch, and we wanted to use that money to buy it. So every time, you know, I needed one more scallop, and I needed to run back two kilometers to get that one scallop, 0.5 pounds, you know, I went with a smile on my face because it was this. And we didn’t win the race, but we bought the ranch. We’re in it right now. So, yeah, we just moved in yesterday here in Calgary, Alberta. would have been bigger if we had won the ranch. It will not be called the Amazing Ranch Canada, but, yeah, that’s what life’s all about. know, find your X on the map, your purpose. And that’s what keeps you going and makes you go the extra mile in the tough moments.

Clara: Have that X. You know, what is your purpose? Go for it. You know, they’re going to be tough very many times, but forget about it and keep going, keep going. Everything going to be fine. And yeah, life is meant to, you know, go with your dreams. So yeah, it was fun.

 

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