With The Amazing Race season 32 kicking off this past Wednesday, many fans were excited to finally see the new teams, including boyfriends Will Jardell and James Wallington. The 11 new teams that were introduced on TAR 32 include former NFL players Gary Barnidge and DeAngelo Williams, college basketball coach Frank Eaves and his son Jerry, and Olympic hurdlers Kellie Wells-Brinkley and LaVonne Idlette.
This season of TAR also includes siblings Eswar and Aparna Dhinakaran, Kaylynn and Haley Williams, and Michelle and Victoria Newland. Furthermore, the season features the couples Hung Nguyen and Chee Lee and Leo Brown and Alana Folsom. Also competing this season are boyfriends Will Jardell and James Wallington. However, despite the fact that many fans are first getting to know them on The Race, this is not the first time reality TV viewers have seen either of them on television before.
Before competing on The Amazing Race, Will competed on America's Next Top Model cycle 21. This season aired in 2014, and it was only the second-ever cycle on the show to feature both male and female contestants. Will was only 23 years old when he competed on the show, but he was a fan-favorite who ultimately made it to the finale. In the end, Will finished as the runner-up behind Keith Carlos. Like his partner, The Amazing Race 32 is not James' first time on TV. During the summer of 2013, James competed on the reality show Capture, which aired on The CW. The series brought 12 teams of two to a 4,000-acre wilderness area to participate in a hunt where they had to eliminate other teams in a battle for $250,000. James competed on Capture with his younger sister, Rebecca. Together, the siblings were eliminated during the fifth episode of the show after being captured by a rival team.
According to Out Traveler, this new TAR couple first met in 2014 and have traveled a lot throughout their relationship. They even created a joint Instagram account to document their adventures. Now, they will be traveling competitively around the world on The Amazing Race. Overall, James applied to be on the show nine times. During the season 32 premiere, he stated that he never thought that the day would come when he was finally chosen to compete, let alone alongside the love of his life.
With Will and James now competing, this is not the first time viewers have seen reality TV crossovers on The Amazing Race, nor is it the first time that they saw a couple compete. On the first leg of the season, which took place in Trinidad and Tobago, Will and James finished in fourth place. The fans are now anxious to know how this pair will do during the rest of the season.
The Amazing Race airs Wednesdays at 9PM EST on CBS.
Source: Out Traveler, Will and James' Instagram