It’s episode one of Rush, Australia’s newest global adventure series, and twelve Australians began their journey on a thrilling race around the world.

With the help of international supermodel and TV star David Genat (DG), the travellers were put into three teams, ready to move across nine different countries with one mission. Be the first to get to the Escape Zone and move on to the next destination.

During the July 2 episode, we met our contestants whose sight and hearing were taken away, before finding themselves at one of the most iconic events on earth. Rio Carnival in Brazil!

The Teams

• Team Navy: Madi, Sofia, Tylen and Tommy.
• Team Gold: Lola, Priscilla, Saxon and CK.
• Team Scarlet: Najmah, Fiona, Adam and Hamish.

The First Drop Zone

The countdown was on as the teams were dropped into Rio de Janeiro. 3,2,1… taking off their headphones, they were met with a sensory overload – the electric atmosphere of Rio Carnival buzzing around them.

Joining in with the festivities, they dance and laugh, with Madi from Team Navy realising that “we’re in Rio for Carnival”!

While immersing themselves in the fun, their watches ping with a message from host DG with a cryptic clue.

“Atop a mountain you’ll see a light. Redemption awaits, it’s a mesmerising sight,” he wrote.

The teams embark on a mission to track down DG at the iconic Christ the Redeemer.

Leading the pack with their impeccable teamwork, Team Scarlet triumphantly reach the destination first, armed with a dossier with information about the missions they need to complete and a stash of local currency.

“Tomorrow you must complete one mission at Rocinha Valley – play a game of soccer against the locals and score one goal,” David tells them.

Meanwhile, Team Navy, after some initial squabbling, manage to find DG, only to realise they’re a step behind Team Scarlet.

As for Team Gold, well, let’s just say they get caught up in a sticky situation when a taxi driver demands more moolah than they anticipated. Eventually, they find our Golden God, albeit being the last team to do so, putting them at the tail end of the race.

Day Two — Rocinha

Day two kicks off with all three teams setting off to complete their next mission!

Team Scarlet takes the lead once again, closely followed by Team Navy and then Team Gold.

They needed to track down Rio’s biggest favela, Rocinha, (an urban slum of over 150,000 people crammed into just two square kilometres) and tackle the locals in a thrilling game of soccer.

“It’s a bit scarier than we first initially thought, so stress levels were high,” Team Navy’s Tylen says.

With the game reigning supreme as Brazil’s national sport — and the favela’s notoriety for being a tad unwelcoming — these brave adventurers needed all the wit and charm they could muster.

Team Scarlet score a goal after being first to find the soccer field and make their way to Paraty, a coastal playground for Brazil’s rich and famous. Once there, they’re confident they’re in the lead by at least an hour, so they stop for some food.  

Najmah doesn’t think they should be stopping, saying: “Right now everyone looks for food but the mission isn’t to look for food, the mission is to go and find the hotel to check in.”

But Teams Navy and Gold decided to catch a taxi, meaning they weren’t very far behind.

Hotel Check-In

Unfortunately, Najmah was right and Team Navy overtake Team Scarlet, being the first team to check in at the hotel. Team Gold — who were also starving — decided that food would set them back and they went straight to the hotel, with Team Scarlet finishing last.

“Being led by good old Hamish, I knew that something wasn’t right, my guts were telling me something bad was gonna happen and to fall from first to last place is devastating,” Najmah said in an on-camera interview. “That burger was not worth it.” 

Fiona also knew they had made an error in judgement.

“We’ve made a big mistake, we probably should’ve got a taxi but if my aunty had balls she’d be my uncle,” she said. LOL.

The First Elimination

After winning the first leg, Team Scarlet was now trailing behind with the final dash to the Escape Zone at Paca Beach.

While Team Navy race on foot to get there, Team Gold are coming up behind them, but were not close enough to reach DG first.

For Team Scarlet, the hike along the beach proved difficulty, particularly for Najmah.

“I’m gonna need to be carried out of here on a stretcher,” she said.

Reaching DG last, the group were forced to choose who among them was going to be sent home.

Najmah nominated Adam due to his travelling inexperience; however, Hamish and Adam turn the tables on her and say that she should be the one to fall. Since they couldn’t come up with a unanimous decision, Fiona had to make the final call and nominates Najmah.

Upon reaching DG, Hamish says: “We tried to take the emotion out of it and just go strategy wise and based on that we voted out Naj.”

Rush airs on Sunday at 7:00pm and continues Monday and Tuesday at 7:30pm on Channel 9 and 9Now.

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