Where the Boca sisters stand in The Amazing Race
Morgan and Lena Franklin, sisters born and raised west of Boca Raton, are in the top half of the pack as Season 35 of “The Amazing Race” crosses the halfway mark.
The CBS reality competition TV show commences with 13 two-person teams. They’re tasked with decoding clues, navigating foreign countries and interacting with locals to complete their given challenges.
This year, the teams started off in Los Angeles before trekking through Thailand, Vietnam, India, Germany, Slovenia, Sweden, Ireland and, finally, Washington state. If they’re the first to arrive at the final destination, the Franklin sisters could win what everyone’s vying for — $1 million.
Though the sisters now live on opposite coasts, both attended grade school and high school in Palm Beach County, where their parents still reside. Both now marketing executives, Morgan, 31, lives in Brooklyn and Lena, 29, in Los Angeles.
‘The Amazing Race’ recap: What happened on episode 6?
The sixth leg of the race kicked off in Jaipur, India, where each team voted on one of the pairs to “U-turn,” forcing that team to perform both sides of the leg’s detour. Steve Cargile, 54, and Anna Leigh Wilson, 28 — the father-daughter duo who’d been in the lead up until then — were selected.
The teams started off searching for clues in the windows of the Instagramworthy Hawa Mahal.
Those clues led them to a lot, where they had to navigate their way out of a rickshaw puzzle by hand. They headed to a spice shop, where they learned what the detours are.
“Morgan and I have been super supportive of each other,” Lena Franklin said, as the two made their way to the sixth leg. “Our goal is to have fun and to treat each other with love and respect and I think so far it’s been working really well for us.”
The sisters were the last to depart for the day’s challenges, leaving around 10:40 a.m. “The underdogs are not out yet,” Lena said.
The contestants were faced with one the following detours: “Bundles,” in which teams must bundle up local flowers and transport them to two different temples, or “Bricks,” in which teams pick up bricks, sand and gravel and bike them to a local construction site.
The Franklins went with “Bundles.” “Man, it was heavy,” Lena Franklin said after the detour. “I felt like the Hulk for a second.”
Her sister didn’t agree. Morgan Franklin carried her bundles effortlessly. But, Lena insisted, Morgan’s were lighter.
The teams then had to finish the leg with a textile printing challenge. Greg Franklin, 25, and John Franklin, 27, brothers from New York and California, secured their first win of the season. The Franklin sisters finished fourth. “We’re back in,” Morgan Franklin said.
The sisters had finished last during the previous leg of the race.
“We do have this tendency to like be like oil and water,” Lena Franklin said.
“We just have to keep proving to ourselves we can get things done and this last leg is so reflective of that.”
And despite having to complete both “Bundles” and “Bricks,” Cargile and Wilson remained in the race, this time in seventh place.
Who are the remaining contestants left on ‘The Amazing Race?’
● Greg, 25, and John Franklin, 27: Brothers from New York City and Mountain View, California. Greg is a software developer and John is a product manager.
● Rob, 48, and Corey McArthur, 25: A father-and-son duo from Riverside, California, and New York City. Rob is a teaching assistant and assistant football coach. Corey is a senior manager of client strategy and analytics.
● Joel Strasser, 42, and Garrett Smith, 43: Best Friends from Kuna, Idaho, and Meridian, Idaho. Joel is an auto claims training specialist and Garrett is a delivery driver.
● Morgan, 31, and Lena Franklin, 29: Boca Raton sisters, now living in New York City and Los Angeles. Both are marketing executives.
● Todd and Ashlie Martin, both 38: A married couple from Chino, California. Todd is a special education teacher, and Ashlie is a hospitality account manager.
● Andrea Simpson, 44, and Malaina Hatcher, 45: Best friends from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Malaina is a tax examiner technician and Andrea is a director of credit management.
● Steve Cargile, 54, and Anna Leigh Wilson, 28: A father-daughter duo from Petty, Texas, and Royse City, Texas. Cargile is a paint contractor and Wilson is a speech pathologist, private flight attendant and influencer.
● Robbin Tomich and Chelsea Day, both 41: Best friends from Kirkland, Washington, and Shoreline, Washington. Both are stay-at-home moms.
How to watch the next episode of ‘The Amazing Race’
Episode 7 will air at 9:30 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 8 on CBS.
It can be streamed for free on FuboTV, DirecTV Stream and Paramount+.
Jasmine Fernández is a journalist covering Delray Beach and Boca Raton for The Palm Beach Post.
You can reach her at jfernandez@pbpost.com and follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @jasminefernandz. Help support our work. Subscribe today.