Hamilton twin sisters win The Amazing Race Canada

Liz Liao, a family doctor and obstetrician who lives in Waterdown, and Tina Liao, a corporate lawyer living in Oakville, applied for the hit show 11 times before being cast.

Tina and Liz Liao, 32-year-old twins born and raised in Hamilton, dominated this year’s edition of The Amazing Race Canada on their way to winning $250,000 and a trip around the world. 

They won five of the 10 legs of the race, which saw 10 teams travel 12,000 kilometres, visiting seven provinces and 20 cities on their way to the final leg in Calgary. 

The sisters completed challenges that included:

• walking across a slackline strung across the Squamish Canyon 100 feet above the Mamquam River in Whistler; 
• collecting kangaroo droppings to fill a bucket at Kangaroo Creek Farm in Kelowna;
• performing a scene for a Christmas romcom movie in Scarborough;
• sorting 600 worms into 50 containers and then count a box of worms at A1 Bait in Toronto;
• assembling a mold for a precast concrete wall panel and then pour in concrete at Strescon NB Office & Precast Plant in Saint John;
• memorizing 10 Icelandic words and their English translations and then competing in a spelling bee where they had to correctly spell one of the randomly chosen words in 
• memorizing the footwork for a drumline routine and then marching alongside the Calgary Stampede Showband while mock playing a snare drum.

They are the first sisters and the first Asian Canadians to win The Amazing Race Canada.

Liz, a family doctor and obstetrician who lives and practises in Waterdown, and Tina, a corporate lawyer who lives in Oakville, never finished further down than fourth in any of the legs.

But that’s not to say they didn’t face difficulties.

In fact, their biggest obstacle was getting cast on the CTV show in the first place. The sisters applied every year beginning with the show’s launch in 2013. Self-described show superfans, they relentlessly prepared for being chosen. That involved spreadsheets, studying the show’s physical and mental challenges, and practising skills, including memorization and dancing. 

“We really fell in love with the franchise,” Tina told HAMILTON CITY Magazine during a virtual call. “We were watching the American version when we were 10 years old with our parents, and we loved how it was a show about relationships. We've always been super close and always attached at the hip from when we were little, and we loved being able to experience something together and compete together. And then we also have always loved trying new things.”

When their persistence in applying for the show finally paid off, they expected to do well. But they also know that luck plays a big part. A slow taxi driver, a broken-down car, or taking too much time at a needle-in-a-haystack challenge have cost others their race.  

“We knew that we didn't have everything in our control, but we are very prepared people, so we made sure that whatever was in our control was prepared to the best of our ability,” says Liz.

Their greatest on-camera struggle came in the final leg, a challenge that required tossing a giant ring onto a barrel – twice – while ziplining many feet above to the top of the grandstand at the Calgary Stampede. A tearful Tina tried 18 times before landing her first ring. She got the second on her 21st attempt. 

They were last coming out of that challenge but made up time throughout the remainder of the leg, which included stacking cowboy hats and delivering them to five locations, firing a t-shirt cannon through a mini-goalpost, and finding clues from the race in a historical village and arranging them in order.

The sisters emerged ahead of married couple Eamon and Bec from Toronto and brothers Michele & Matteo, also from Toronto.

If there was a secret to their success, it was remaining positive, says Tina. When they struggled or made a mistake, the sisters were able to leave that behind, support each other, and keep moving forward. 

At the beginning of filming, which happened over about four weeks in the spring, racers gave up their phones and laptops and had to disconnect from anyone outside the race. The race is everything and the only thing. The sisters say having that intense amount of time together as adults was a special and unique experience that made them appreciate the talents of each other even more. 

But they are surprised by how well they got along throughout the race. 

“We were honestly a little bit surprised that we didn't fight at all during the race because we do bicker in real life quite often, even now,” says Liz. “But I think on the race we were just so in sync. We were just so focused on that end goal of winning the entire thing, and it just made us hyper-focused and working together so well.”

Only a small number of people, including their parents, their partners, and very close colleagues – who all had to sign non-disclosure agreements – were in on the fact they were off filming the race. Otherwise, they had to keep their participation a secret, until the network began promotion for the show.

Then when they won, Tina and Liz, who grew up in Kirkendall and then Dundas, had to keep that a secret from everyone for months, even as they both got married over the summer. 

“That was hard. But honestly, not as hard as we were expecting,” says Liz. “It was kind of nice to have a little secret to share just between the two of us.”

The sisters rented a venue in Oakville to host family and friends on Sept. 15, the night the finale aired. There was plenty of joy because the Liaos were trailing among the three teams competing for much of the episode. 

“I think that they were really shocked and surprised, and obviously so happy when we touched that final mat first,” says Tina. “And it was really nice to finally be able to tell everyone and to celebrate with them.”

Tina and Liz are the children of Chinese immigrants, who still live in Dundas. Their mother came to Canada on her own at 26 to take a job in the biochemical research department at McMaster University. Her husband joined her six months later.

“We talk about our parents a lot on the race because truly we owe everything to them,” says Liz. “The fact that they made that huge leap to come to Hamilton, leaving all of their family behind in China, we're just so grateful for the sacrifice that they made. And then we truly think the fact that we're so well-rounded and so interested in so many different activities is because of the way they raised us. Like really, just prioritizing our extracurricular activities, prioritizing our experiences. So we make them, you know, very proud on the race, and that makes our hearts very happy.”

They plan to gift travel to their parents from their winnings.

There is also a lot of travel in their futures. In addition to a trip around the world for winning the race, they won a trip on each of the four legs they won. But for now, they are excited to be home as newlyweds. They are both planning to start families soon and are already thinking about what it will be like to watch the show with their kids one day.

While they don’t see any more reality TV in their future, the sisters hope they’ve inspired young people, just as they were inspired watching the American version of the show as kids. 

Season 12 also included another racer from Hamilton, Chyana Marie Sage. The 32-year-old is a native of Edmonton who is now an author and digital content lead at Indspire. She and her sister Chayla Rain were eliminated in the fourth leg of the race. 

The Amazing Race Canada, which is hosted by Olympian Jon Montgomery, has given the sisters a deep appreciation for their country, its diversity, cultures, landscapes, and people. Highlights for the sisters include riding on the Rocky Mountaineer train through from Kamloops to Jasper and visiting New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

Getting to know the other racers and the crew, and meeting all kinds of people along the way was special, says Tina.  

“People that we just met on the streets or on the trains who helped us with directions and everything. They've been so, so nice to us. A lot of them have reached out to us on Instagram, saying it was nice to meet us when we were on the race, and they were cheering for us. So it's just been such an amazing experience, and it's really the people that make it.”