Nuns take on Amazing Race
Two Aussie nuns believe their appearance on The Amazing Race Australia is something of a miracle.
‘‘It’s a risky thing to go on reality TV,’’ says Sister Judy Bowe, who teamed up with fellow nun Sister Therese Mills for the show.
‘‘It’s kind of designed to put all your flaws out there on television so we asked the other sisters and we prayed about it.
‘‘We asked every single sister because if it went badly we all would wear the cost and it was kind of miraculous that they all agreed.’’
Despite being a keen runner and swimmer, Sister Judy, 53 – who heads up the Australian Catholic Church’s Missionaries of God’s Love order – says she initially had no plans to compete herself.
‘‘I thought it would be a good thing for Therese to do. I thought she’s going on sabbatical and she’s crazy enough to do something like that and it would be a free trip overseas, all expenses paid.
‘‘I was quite reluctant because I’m an introvert and appearing in front of a camera is my idea of a nightmare, not a good holiday,’’ Sister Judy says, admitting her initial fears were quickly allayed.
‘‘I thought it might be terrible but it worked out great. It was a gift from God right from the beginning.
‘‘It was like a huge game someone had set up for us to play and it was really fun.’’
Sister Therese, 45, agrees, adding the nuns’ decision to take part was even more surprising given they knew nothing about The Amazing Race because they don’t have a television.
‘‘We had to jump on the internet to check it out; to see what it was like and how the game was played,’’ she says, adding they are all big fans now.
Like their fellow contestants, the pair were keen to win, planning to use the prize money for their work with young people, the poor and the marginalised. However, unlike others, they didn’t resort to dirty tricks.
‘‘There was a team that decided to play it that way, to play a tough game and in a mean way,’’ Sister Judy says, adding they were unaware of their competitors’ dirty tricks until filming wrapped.
‘‘I thought it was pretty funny when I saw it on TV. I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, that was going on and I didn’t know.’ I don’t think it’s the best way to play the game but it’s all part of it, isn’t it? We decided we would not compromise on who we were. We would play the game fully but we wouldn’t do anything against our values.’’
The nuns proved firm favourites with Australian viewers, receiving nothing but positive feedback on social media.
‘‘It captured the attention of the public,’’ says Sister Judy.
‘‘And that’s kind of why we did it. In the background we thought people have funny ideas about nuns and church people in general. We’ll just be ourselves and that will be good.’’
The Amazing Race Australia, TVNZ 2, Monday, April 13 and Tuesday, April 14.