A Utah couple competing on the current season of “The Amazing Race” shared part of their faith-based love story during Wednesday night’s episode.
Scott and Lori Thompson explained that they met at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah, and then stayed in touch while serving their missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“This was before emails. We were sending handwritten letters back and forth,” Lori Thompson said.
Scott Thompson added that messages from his future wife helped him face difficult moments during his mission.
“She was experiencing some of the same struggles, so being able to have somebody that was supporting you, writing to you, encouraging you, was just huge,” he said.
Scott and Lori on ‘The Amazing Race’
Scott Thompson and Lori Thompson comprise one of the 14 teams competing on Season 37 of “The Amazing Race.”
Scott Thompson is a physician assistant, while Lori Thompson is a stay-at-home mom to the couple’s eight sons, who range in age from 9 to 24.
“Scott works out of state, so I am often left with all these kids,” Lori Thompson said during the couple’s intro package, which aired during the premiere.
The Thompsons have been married for 25 years.
When they introduced themselves to their fellow competitors during the opening minutes of the premiere, the other teams were amazed by the size of their family.
During a drumming challenge in episode two, one racer joked that the Thompson kids probably regularly make as much noise.
How Scott and Lori are doing on ‘The Amazing Race’
Scott and Lori Thompson got off to a bumpy start in Wednesday’s episode.
They were one of two teams on the last flight from Hong Kong to Osaka, Japan, which meant they started the day’s set of challenges with a lot of time to make up.
But they did make it up, in large part due to Scott Thompson’s ability to memorize drum music. He and Bernie Gutierrez, the woman he was paired with from another team, only needed one try to pass the Japanese drumming challenge. At least one pair of competitors needed more than 15.
The Thompson team’s hot streak continued at the next challenge, where they had to learn how to wrap the mawashi loincloth worn by Sumo wrestlers.
They successfully mimicked the wrapping pattern much faster than other teams and made it to the final destination of the episode in second place.
“You are team number two, which is a huge achievement,” said Phil Keoghan, host of “The Amazing Race,” to the Thompsons when they arrived.
“Yea, ‘cause we were dead last, Phil!” Lori Thompson responded.
“The Amazing Race” Season 37 airs on Wednesday nights on CBS and streams on Paramount+.
The Thompsons are one of 11 teams remaining in the competition.