Amazing Race Asia 4 with Claire and Michelle

Amazing Race Asia 4 with Claire and Michelle

After 11 exciting episodes filmed over one month, The Amazing Race Asia 4 concluded last month, with a team from the Philippines clinching the winning title. We get up close and personal with Claire and Michelle from Team Singapore - who finished as the top all-girls team, and the second team overall - as they give us the low-down on what drives them off-camera.

OneShift Editorial Team
OneShift Editorial Team
08 Feb 2011

After 11 exciting episodes filmed over one month, The Amazing Race Asia 4 concluded last month, with a team from the Philippines clinching the winning title. We get up close and personal with Claire and Michelle from Team Singapore - who finished as the top all-girls team, and the second team overall – as they give us the low-down on what drives them off-camera.

The Amazing Race Asia 4 was not always a smooth ride for Claire Goh, 21 and Michelle Ng, 22. Being the youngest, smallest, all-female team, they were easily overlooked when put against the original 10 teams. According to Michelle, “viewers didn’t see us as a threat until the meatball challenge”. Unexpectedly, they had beaten Team Malaysia’s Ethan and Khairie in the second episode by eating 275 chicken balls – an astounding 71 more chicken balls than the boys had managed. 

The girls have known each other since they were 17. Claire attributes their driving force to passion and the relentless support they receive from family and friends which spurs them to try harder. Although different, they are motivated by the same goal. With her characteristic short, blonde-streaked crop, it’s easy to spot Claire as the aspiring rock star of the team. A member of local acoustic band, Zsa Zsa Scorpion, she hopes that her dedication to music will pay off one day and do her family proud.

Michelle, on the other hand, keeps longer brown locks and loves acting. During the demanding schedule of The Amazing Race Asia 4, acting was Michelle’s motivation to go up to 36 hours without sleep. The freelance actress said, “Time and again, I try to find things that make me happy. I realize that it is acting and my work that makes me happy.”

Entering The Amazing Race Asia 4 was a dream come true for both. Claire’s moment of revelation happened when she was only 11 years old and watched the first US episode of The Amazing Race on TV. After waiting for a decade, she was finally able to participate in The Amazing Race Asia when it arrived at our side of the globe.

As luck would have it, Michelle chanced upon the application for auditions to the show and Claire had just turned 21 in time. Without hesitation, they jumped at the opportunity to travel round the world, reality-TV style. Challenges like munching live worms or the daily routine of fighting over the bathroom in the mornings did little to dampen the competitive spirit of this fiery pair who described themselves as “being like sisters”.

Knowing years earlier that they wanted to join The Amazing Race, the girls had time to develop a race strategy. The bubbly pair revealed that they made a pact five years ago which has effectively kept them at the head of this season’s race: Michelle promised to eat anything squirming or dead, and Claire would take on any challenge that involved the ocean.

Surprisingly, driving proved to be their trickiest hurdle. At the time of the race, Claire had only recently taken her test, leaving Michelle as the only adept driver. Laughing now as they described their lowest point in the race during the second episode in Kota Kinabalu – “overwhelming adrenaline, stress and difficulty navigating the streets in a foreign country” – one can’t help but be impressed by their never-say-die attitude.

On the road, Michelle drives her pearl-white Mazda 3 SP. “I’m a driver so I am what I drive now, a white Mazda 3. People sometimes underestimate smaller cars, which can actually be very sturdy and agile... Likewise, people perceive me as flighty but I’m actually a high-energy person – I jump for joy all the time!”

Ironically, both young girls have a penchant for ‘old’ cars. Claire’s dream car would be a vintage Alfa Romeo, or a vintage Mercedes, because she feels that they sum up her personality. She enthused, “I’d be a quaint-looking vintage car, a little cranky, with an old soul but a work of art!” Michelle also confesses to having a soft spot for ‘big cars’ – like the Mercedes G55 in matte black, for its wide top and generous size. For the record, these two independent women would rather be in the driver’s seat than be driven around.

Amid all the excitement of having made it as the top all-girls team in the race, both members of Team Singapore say that they would do The Amazing Race again in a heartbeat. Despite beating the odds to emerge as first runner-up of The Amazing Race Asia’s fourth season, Michelle and Claire remain fun-loving Singaporean girls with a taste for adventure. The bumpier the ride, the better.

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