Amazing Race’s Courtney Explains How ‘Brutal Heat’ Affected Roadblock

The Amazing Race’s Courtney Ramsey didn’t just have difficulty with kicking the kemari during the roadblock challenge.

“I did have to switch teams because where I was initially, I was, like, smack-dab in the sun, and it was brutal heat that day,” Ramsey, 33, exclusively told Us Weekly on Thursday, March 20, following her and girlfriend Jasmin Carey’s elimination. “It was so important that we stay hydrated. I had never felt heat like that. ”

She continued: “Honest to God, it was like the devil’s heat.”

Ramsey and Carey, who are both nurses, volunteered to complete the challenge when they arrived in Kyoto. The task at hand was to get five consecutive kicks in the Japanese hacky sack–like game alongside a group of local players. Ramsey, who shared in the episode that she is not athletic, volunteered for the challenge despite Carey having some previous experience.

“We both said it at the same time … then I said it again,” Ramsey recalled. “But then there was this look on my face, so we’re reliving it [while we’re watching ourselves go through this]. I’m like, that look on my face shows that I’m unsure.”

Carey, for her part, was “shocked” her partner wanted to step up, especially because they were trading off doing roadblocks.

“I just knew that it was going to be my turn. So when she volunteered, she [wanted] to give me relief because I had done the physical challenge in Hong Kong,” she explained. “It was a moment of maybe just needing to slow down for a little bit longer and having her ask herself, ‘Why am I volunteering for this?’”

While Carey would have gladly done the challenge, she proudly cheered her girlfriend on from the sidelines.

“You didn’t give up even when all the teams were gone and it was just us, we kept going,” Carey said to Ramsey in their joint interview with Us. “I was so proud of her, because as I was watching — we’ve shared that between the two of us, I’m probably the more sporty one — and so as I was watching her, to see someone that you love trying their hardest and to be struggling and you can’t jump in, I couldn’t do [anything] other than just be on the side and encourage her.”

When Ramsey did get the job done after numerous attempts, a weight was lifted off her shoulders.

“You probably know by now I’m a big crier, so whether I’m happy, sad, the tears are going to come, but I felt instant relief,” she reflected. “I wanted to hug them because they were with me the same way Jazzy was with me. They were with me the entire time.”

That wasn’t the only instance where the heat played a factor in Ramsey and Carey’s race. Before the pair got to the roadblock, they faced an issue with their omikuji clue. Teams had to wet the paper to reveal the location of the kemari task. While navigating the streets of Kyoto, Ramsey and Carey’s paper dried up and removed the name of their destination, which was the Shiramine Shrine. The duo noticed the clue did not have the location anymore while in the middle of asking a local bus driver for directions.

“From the time that we wet the clue to the time that you all saw us looking to talk to the bus driver, that was probably some time that had passed from there,” Carey said. “That was one of the small things that we definitely could have done [differently by] immediately writing it down.”

Carey explained that she and Ramsey were leaning on their “natural tendency of memorizing things” and didn’t account for the language barrier. Luckily, the twosome had a water bottle on hand to wet the clue, but the bus driver drove away before they could ask for advice. Ramsey and Carey then had to persevere and regroup.

“We still need to get where we’re going. Let’s wet this paper, let’s find this temple,” Carey said of the moment. “That was something that we definitely had told ourselves we were going to do [differently].”

Despite falling behind, Carey and Ramsey caught up to others who were struggling during the detour challenges. When arriving at the origami-themed detour, the medical professionals saw they had an opportunity to get out of last place.

“When you have challenging moments and you get to a spot and it’s like, ‘Oh, there’s still hope.’ We could possibly actually complete this,” Carey told Us. “We got so close, and that was a challenging thing to experience and watch again, to see just how close we were to making it through that leg and moving on to the next because the pit stop was right there.”

Following their valiant efforts, Carey and Ramsey ultimately came in last place and were eliminated on the mat. While they didn’t take home the million-dollar prize, the adventure together was enough.

“It really does teach you to just embrace the moment fully, because you never know when your time is going to run out,” Carey told Us. “So don’t just fret over the little stuff. Just have all the fun, have the silly moments. If you’re going to have an emotional moment, have your emotional moment.’”

The Amazing Race airs on CBS Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m. ET and is available to stream on Paramount+ the next day.