Country music power couple Brooke McClymont and Adam Eckersley admit they're a little nervous about the premiere of The Amazing Race Australia: Celebrity Edition. They had the times of their lives and met lifelong friends but they were unapologetically themselves in front of the camera - and that sets the alarm bells ringing.
"I know we're going to cringe when we see ourselves," says Adam.
"Oh we're gonna cringe so hard!," Brooke adds, laughing.
"But we've got to be kind to ourselves when we're watching the show because even though you put yourself out there doing this kind of thing, and set yourself up for criticism and judgement, you've just got to own it. And fingers crossed it comes across OK."
The Race
Brooke and Adam are one of 11 teams competing in the celebrity edition of the much-loved global race to win $100,000 for a chosen charity. This year's race kicks off in Argentina and travels to South Africa, Namibia and Thailand, where each team will have to decipher clues and tackle various challenges to progress to the next stage. And the contestants? They range from sporting legends, comedians and chart-topping musicians to television personalities and influencers.
The Contestants
Brooke is one third of the top-selling and multi-award-winning trio The McClymonts alongside her sisters Samantha and Mollie, and in 2022 finished runner up on I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! Adam is a five-time Golden Guitar Award winner and in 2015 won the APRA Award for Country Work of the Year.
As a duo, Brooke and Adam's ARIA-nominated second album, Up Down & Sideways, debuted at number one on the Australian all-genre ARIA charts and has provided the platform for nine Golden Guitar nominations across the 2023 and 2024 awards, with wins for Song of the Year, Apple Music Single of the Year and Country Music Capital News Group or Duo of the Year.
Out of Their Comfort Zone
The pair love a laugh, especially if it's at their own expense.
"The race kicked off in Buenos Aires and I felt right at home because I was born in April ... I was born as Aries," says Adam, pausing for effect.
"That's a good one, hun," replies Brooke, laughing.
"But seriously, it really was a trip of a lifetime and we'll be watching for the first time, just like everyone else. It's exciting. And the cast was amazing, we became friends with everybody."
The pair have travelled extensively on tour over the years but say they had no idea what to expect on The Amazing Race.
"When we've been to different parts of the world it's always been on a tour bus and you go and do a show and then you get on the move again," Adam says.
"You don't really get to see much or take much in or learn a lot, it's just one band room to the next, one motel room to the next, so we were certainly out of our comfort zone here.
"We had to shuffle some shows around to make it happen but in the end were were, like, when else do you get the opportunity to go and do something like this? The adventure side of it was really appealing."
Adds Brooke: "I don't think you can adjust your personalities in a situation like this, it's such a highly stressful situation. I mean, you're in a race, and I hope the show shares how full-on it really was."
Being Themselves
"You could potentially try to alter your personality for an hour or so but not all day, now way," says Adam, "And that's why were're nervous! We didn't go over there exactly in shape either, although round is a shape.
"We walked past a few windows on the first day in Buenos Aires and I caught a glimpse of myself with a backpack on and my beer gut was sticking out and it was, like, oh dear ... but who knows, it might motivate us to get in shape!"
