Interview ‘The Amazing Race Canada’ season 11 Winners Jesse and Jonathon
Jesse and Jonathon the winners of season 11 of “The Amazing Race Canada,” shared their winning moments and journey during an interview with “The Extra Mile”
TEM (The Extra Mile) : How hard was it to keep that a secret?
Jesse: It was, there was a lot of money on the line. So it was a pretty easy secret to keep, let me tell you. No, it was just, our family was not expecting it. I think a lot of them thought we were like getting them together because it was going to be emotional. So watching them start to realize that we have a chance of winning was just so cool. Yeah, it was worth keeping.
Jonathon: Yeah, so much fun to keep the secret. So much fun that it’s now out there. But it was a really fun secret to keep just to be able to watch them experience it.
TEM: I mean, now that it’s like out there, like do you guys, has it sunk in that you guys are the winners of Amazing Race Canada season 11?
Jesse: Like, it’s been, I think, what, 20 hours? No way. Not at all. Not at all. I feel like I’m like, we’ve just been talking about it in interviews all day, which has been so incredible. But I just don’t think I’ve realized myself. I’m like, oh, this is actually like a life changing moment.
Jonathon: And like, I have so many unread messages and people reaching out to say congratulations and all that stuff. And like, I’m going to have to work through those and respond to everybody and just thank them for their support because like the community has shown up for us in such an incredible way this season. But I think once that’s all done and like it’s kind of settled down a bit, I think there’ll be some sadness that it’s over and then we’ll slowly get back to real life and it will really like sink in that that just happened. And that’s wild. And then casting for season 12 will be starting and then it’s just going to kind of feel like it’s all starting again. I’ll probably have to reach out to Katie and Taylor, who won last season, and be like, how do you cope?
Jesse: Well, I mean, we might just put an application for season 12 and just see what happens, you know? If Sam came back, maybe we’d be getting a second try.
TEM: What was the first thing that you guys did after like Jon kind of announced you guys as the winners?
Jesse: So we have the mat. We have this moment. We go back to the hotel and we’re kind of getting our stuff back. And Jonathan’s partner, Kevin, had written us two letters that were sealed. And he said, just open them up at the end of the race as like a note for me. And when we opened up those letters, he said, congratulations to the winner of season 11. And he wrote that in there with no fear of us losing. And it was just that moment was really emotional because it just really emphasized that people believed in us more than I think we even believed in ourselves. That was a really, really cool moment right after after we won. It was like, oh, my gosh, this is crazy.
TEM: Is there something the cameras, let’s say, didn’t catch like during that final leg that you guys wish that people saw?
Jonathon: I think so. I feel like I mean, I feel like our journey was very like the whole season. I just feel like our journey was very fairly represented. So thank you to the team that puts it together so quickly and makes such a fun, entertaining show to watch. I think what’s always like I enjoy about watching the show, though, is because we only see we’re only part of our own experience. Right. And there’s so much that we don’t get to see when we’re actively doing it. And so watching the episode and seeing what the other teams are up to, what they’re saying, sometimes what they’re saying about us and just seeing their journeys is just such a because I’m a fan of reality TV. So like and these are the cast is like such an amazing group of people. And so and they were chosen for a reason and to get to hear their stories and see them compete in a way that we don’t get to when we’re actively racing is a really cool part of it. So, yeah, I would love to hear more of those conversations that were happening and all that stuff. But no, I feel like the last leg, I feel very grateful to to what was shown.
Jesse: Yeah, it was it was accurate to what happened. And it was just such a cool day.
Jonathon: Grace and Joe were on our tail.
Jesse: They’re so they’re so silent and so powerful. And like I think sometimes people take silence as like a weakness, but it’s such a strength of theirs and the way that they move so effectively. So we knew that with one mistake on our part, we could lose this easily to Grace and Joe. So the pressure was so high that day. It was it was wild.
Jonathon: When EB and Blake, they showed up at the final that final challenge. And like they they’re big studiers of the game. They were taking copious notes all season. And so when they showed up, it was like, oh, God, we got to get out of here.
TEM: Is there anything that you guys kind of learned about each other throughout being on The Amazing Race Canada that you didn’t previously know?
Jesse: I don’t think anything new, but just like a deeper gratitude for the person that Jonathan is like getting to see. I think anyone who has a privilege of seeing a friend’s dream come true and being a part of it is just absolutely incredible. But like falling more in love with John as a friend and just the person he is and how he operates. Just so much gratitude to have a person like Jonathan in my life. I said at the mat that anyone who anyone would be lucky to have somebody like Jonathan as a friend. And I just I feel that more and more.
Jonathon: I think like I wanted to do this race with Jesse because I knew that, first of all, love him and knew that we’d have so much fun together. And I also knew he’d be so good at the race. Like we’ve done a lot of like games around Vancouver together. And Jesse’s just so smart. So athletic. He brings so many skills. But to like actually see that happen. And I think I go to the challenge in Gander at the NavCam where we had to do the air traffic controller challenge. Like I was very in my head in that challenge. There was a clip of me just like giving the wrong like up and down or he’s like, why did you do that? I’m like, I don’t know. Like, but the stress was getting to me and Jesse just took over and I just like I supported him and I gave him the information he needed and to support him with the challenge. But that was his challenge. And I never felt worried. Like I was just like Jesse has this and I can just put my faith in him that he’s going to get us through this challenge. And I think like, again, I knew that he was super capable. I knew he was super strong as a competitor, but to get to like experience that and kind of have that valid, that assumption about or the knowledge of him validated was just really special. And to see your friend just do such a kick-ass job is really cool.
TEM: You guys mentioned last week on our previous interview you defined kind of going the extra mile as, you know, showing up without ego and just having fun. Like how much of it do you think that kind of helped you guys win?
Jesse: It just, I think it’s, it is what, how we won the race and not just won the race, but like enjoyed running the race is we just, there was never this expectation of the other person. If you do this, I’m going to be angry at you. The expectation was try your best. It was always try never like give it half, put it all in, but we just, we were a unit and we operated as a unit. As Jonathan was describing that moment, there were so many moments that without us saying anything, we just knew when the other person, when one person was struggling, the other person just stepped up and there was never a question. There was never. And like in that same episode, when we were in the Gander airport doing the mosaic thing inside, I was like freaking out. I was ready to start crying there, but I could feel that Jonathan was getting stressed. And I’m like, I need to keep really calm because it’s not going to help him. And I need to help him in this moment so that he can do better. And that kind of thing. When we got the car, that’s my first time. I was like, oh my gosh, that was so hard. But yeah, the going the extra mile without ego, we just were so eager to help the other person rather than looking at them failing. It’s hey, I can be here for you. Just made us go that extra mile and to the finish line.
TEM: So if let’s say through the competition, if you guys can choose one soundtrack to kind of describe your whole journey, what would that be for each of you guys?
Jonathon: So I think anytime we were feeling low, I mean, to get a pump up, we would listen to fight song. That was like, get us moving, get us going. And that’s, that was our like get revved up song. But we also have like a song that was like our song of the season.
Jesse: And that’s The Loneliest Time by Carly Rae Jepsen and Rufus Wainwright. Not at all about us, but we would just love singing like the hook and the bridge.
Jonathon: The thing that the part that’s famous on TikTok.
Jesse: Yeah. Those were kind of our two songs. Fight song. If we were like near tears and we were able to hear that song, we’d be like, okay, this is going to be okay. And then loneliest time where we’re just being silly and goofy.
TEM: What do you hope Canada or any future contestants kind of take away from your story?
Jesse: I will warn you might make us cry with this answer, but I think from my side, we want to represent queer joy. We want to show the beauty of our lives. I grew up in a small town, not accepting at all, went through a lot of trials and tribulations until I found my community and this life. And I think just getting the opportunity to like show maybe some queer youth that you can find your people, you can be exactly who you are. You can be loud, you can scream, and you can still win that none of those things are inhibitors to your success. So in just any idea that there is like some queer youth out there that were inspired or see themselves in us and see that things do get better, that that would just be amazing.
Jonathon: I mean, I just echo that answer. think it’s just like, and especially like, as the season’s been airing and, you know, maybe like we knew that there might be some people who are not fans of ours because of how we are. And like, but that didn’t stop us from being that on this while we were competing. Like we knew that people were going to take issue with us being flamboyant and out there and all that stuff. But it’s like, we still did it. Like we were still our authentic selves. And we hope that that resonates with a lot of people out there. And we hope that, you know, somebody is watching this and says, you know what? They were just themselves. They’re having so much fun. And kind of the best way to tackle hate is with joy. And yeah, it was just an honor to be able to, to be that representation.
TEM: What’s, what’s next for you guys?
Jesse: Honestly, it’s like, we both love our careers that we’ve had leading up and still are in. And so it’s finding that balance of how we mix this new accomplishment into our existing careers and help level up. I think it’s going to be that fun balance that is ahead of us now.
Jonathon: And go on some trips
Check out the rest of our interviews with The Amazing Race Canada season 11 contestants here