After an intense 10-day race across the country, Team Red's Anthony and Brooke Brown of Las Vegas won BYUtv’s first season of "Relative Race" and the $25,000 prize.
As a surprise, the second-place winners, Team Blue's Margo and Doug Enberg of Seattle, were awarded $5,000 during Sunday's finale.
Four couples started the race in San Francisco with a goal to reach New York City in 10 days while spending each night with relatives they’d just met.
Personal cellphones and GPS devices were left behind. Equipped with a camera-mounted rental car, a paper map, a flip phone and $25 per day, couples navigated the nation to each of their assigned cities. Once they arrived, they had to complete a challenge before being given the address of an unknown family member found through Ancestry.com's DNA testing.
Each morning, the couples received instructions to find a new city. If they went over the designated time, they received a strike. After three strikes, they were out of the race.
But the game plan changed on the final night. The three remaining couples each had two strikes and were on the verge of being sent home before finishing the race. But instead of receiving marching orders, the couples were told to meet in Central Park the next day.
After frantic drives to New York, the couples met up with Dan J. Debenham, host of "Relative Race" and executive producer of video production company Lenzworks. They were given challenges to complete, which involved an ancestor who immigrated to the United States, before coming back to Central Park.
The Browns were the first to return, but they didn’t know if they’d struck out or won because each couple had different allotted times.
“By then, we were exhausted," Anthony Brown said. "We barely slept the night before because we were nervous that we’d already struck out, and then Brooke had to navigate aggressively. We sprinted everywhere to make good time and had to drive around New York City, avoiding lots of blocked roads because President Obama was speaking at the United Nations General Assembly.
“But the most challenging thing was to sit there and wait to see who won,” he said.
According to Brooke Brown, they made good time because Anthony Brown, originally from Brooklyn and a former police officer, is an expert at driving in traffic. He knew that following a taxi would get them through the congestion.
Married seven years, the couple has been trying to start a family, Brooke Brown said, but after extensive testing, they discovered they will need fertility treatments. Their winnings will help pay for the procedures.
They agreed before the race that it was going to be about family and working together; Brooke Brown would navigate, and Anthony Brown would drive.
“We weren’t going to argue and fight,” Anthony Brown said. “I had to rely on what she was telling me. We saved a lot of time by my listening to her, and we didn’t blame each other if something went wrong. It helped our relationship. We travel a lot, and we never fight now — we work together well as a team.”
For Brooke Brown, one of the most shocking moments was at their first stop. Her mother was adopted through a closed adoption and knew nothing about her biological family. But through Ancestry.com's DNA testing, her lines could be traced. Brooke Brown was stunned when the first relatives she met were members of her mother’s family. To add to the surprise, Brooke Brown’s mom showed up to meet her half-brother.
“We met family members we can keep in touch with,” Brooke Brown said. “It just shows that you never realize who’s who — you don’t know who is your family. It made the world a lot smaller.”
“We have a better appreciation and connection with people now,” Anthony Brown added.
Debenham recalled one of the most memorable moments in the series happened when Anthony and Brooke Brown traveled to Denver and met Marlon Anderson, a former Major League Baseball player.
“They didn’t know they were related before that moment, but here were two strong men breaking down and sobbing because they knew they had the same blood running through their veins,” he said.
“It was really touching that he was my first cousin," Anthony Brown said. "I hadn’t met any of my relatives at that point, but when I met him he looked like my family. The roller-coaster ride of meeting people and to have them be so nice was so overwhelming. His mom had been trying to find out who her father was her whole life. Since we met, his mom has actually visited the family she’d been looking for."
Shortly after the series began in February, it built a following around the world, according to Debenham. He said the general consensus was that people who don’t usually watch TV love the show. The show received email, tweets and letters from not only adults but also children who followed closely and even had favorite couples.
“Nothing is more satisfying in our world of production than to create something that resonates all over the world,” Debenham said. “It is a humbling and exciting experience. We can’t wait to see what the future holds.”
Production has begun for a second season, which is expected to air next year.
For more about the show, see relativerace.com.
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Four couples compete to find family in BYUtv's 'Relative Race'; premiering Feb. 28