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- Beau Ryan Opens Up About What The Amazing Race Australia Has Taught Him
Beau Ryan Opens Up About What The Amazing Race Australia Has Taught Him
Network Ten
The Amazing Race Australia is finally back and, this year, the racers are able to travel internationally at long last.
After filming across Northern Africa, Central and South America and Europe, Amazing Race Australia host Beau Ryan was left feeling immensely grateful.
“Look I know I’ve got a great job, one of the best jobs in the world,” Beau began, while chatting to POPSUGAR Australia over the phone, “but there were moments when we were on a little tiny boat out to the islands in the Caribbean where I was just like ‘this is not fair! It’s just unbelievable how lucky I am’.”
Of course, there are some downsides to a job that has you travelling internationally for weeks on end. Notably, time away from family and loved ones, but Beau said that the experience overall left him feeling “so grateful” for his life in Australia.
“As hard as it is being away from family — and everyone knows what that means to me — I love exploring places that I probably wouldn’t have been, in all honesty, unless we went there for Race,” he said.
The filming locations, Beau said, are “places that celebrate history and culture”, and that “you learn a lot along the way”.
Noting that “we’re so isolated in Australia”, Beau said the experience “really opened [his] eyes”.
“People are beautiful, people are so adaptive,” he said. “People over in Central America have nothing. Literally nothing, and they’re still grateful and happy, and it’s really good, it teaches me a lot of life lessons.”
While Beau usually considers himself “a coastal, island guy” who enjoys a good tropical paradise when it comes to his preferred holiday locations, since filming the show, he’s found that he’s more interested in “places that are rich in culture and history”.
“I think it’s important that people learn about their ancestry, where they’re from, and who they are, and I think it gives you a good picture of what it should be,” he said, adding: “Sorry to get deep but to see different cultures and places — everyone is focused on culture and family and I don’t think we do that in the west, in all honesty.”
He continued: “I don’t think we celebrate family as much as we should. And I think it’s super important.”
Noting that it “opened [his] eyes a lot”, Beau said that he would find that people were “talking about their ancestors being there”, which made him think about Australia.
“You know, a lot of people don’t know their grandparents well, or their grandparents parents,” he said. “Culture is very important to people, and I think we need to celebrate it more in Australia.”
Beau also said that travelling and filming the series has given him a newfound appreciation for “how lucky we are in Australia”.
“We live in a safe country, a beautiful country, there’s no war, not much poverty, it’s very safe, and I do appreciate it when I get back, how lucky we are, and how beautiful our country is,” he said. “I mean, the travel’s good. You go to the islands, everything’s good, but to see how people live, that’s the most rewarding.”
The Amazing Race Australia airs at 7.30pm on Sunday — Tuesdays, only on 10 and 10 Play on Demand.
