TWIN TV

Texas State alums compete on 36th season of The Amazing Race

Competing together is a great way to strengthen a relationship. Persevering through challenges and cheering each other on can build upon an already strong brotherly bond, and the possibility of winning a sizable amount of money doesn’t hurt either. Two Texas State University alums are competing on the 36th season of CBS’ The Amazing Race. Twins Anthony and Bailey Smith, along with 12 other teams, were given a limited budget and sent on a journey to complete a race around the world for the chance to win $1 million.

Bailey said the brothers were always really close growing up.

“We wanted to do everything together. We had the same friend group [and] same interests. We played football. We played all of the same sports together. We were always very, very tight,” Bailey said. “Being twins you get compared a lot, and it’s not even supposed to be in an ugly way. Just people are always making statements and stuff, and I think we kind of took it upon ourselves to compare and compete. It kind of always caused tension between us growing up.”

Bailey said when they came to school at Texas State as roommates, they were worried they might “butt heads.” The two found that their college experience actually brought them closer, and the Amazing Race was a chance for the twins to really commit to becoming a team.

“We’ve been wanting to do a few things to just find a way to unite us,” Anthony said. “This opportunity just kind of fell in our lap to do the race, and we decided what an opportunity. We’ve never had anything like this in our lives that could bring us together like this. It’s just a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

Bailey said their relationship is even stronger now than it was before because they had a lot of fun together on the show. Anthony agreed.

“Obviously besides being away from home and the stress of competing [and] not knowing where you’re going next … that didn’t outweigh the experience itself,” Anthony said. “I don’t know if you could tell if you were watching it, we had a blast. We just had fun the whole time. … As stressful as it was, we were able to let loose a little bit and be ourselves.” Bailey said they had promised each other beforehand that they would make light of difficult situations and keep laughing. So when stressful situations arose, that’s what they did.

“We made a pact that even if we’re dead last we’re going to have a smile on our face,” Bailey said. “We were able to have fun with it, which is really cool.”

Anthony said before competing, they weren’t even sure they’d be able to complete the race. Now that it’s all said and done, it’s provided a huge confidence boost for them both.

Bailey said the farthest he had traveled was Hawaii, but he’d never left the country before this experience. Anthony had been to Paris once for a week, but they both agreed that they had never considered themselves world travelers. The first episode was set in Mexico, which presented some challenges such as the language barrier and the fact that there were not street signs on every street. It included a stint in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

“We were, like, really bad at Spanish,” Bailey said with a chuckle. “We were pronouncing it like ‘Puerto Vuh-lar-duh like complete idiots.”

Bailey said even just the simple act of getting in a car and driving around a country that they didn’t know was no easy task. He said the experience as a whole required a lot of thinking on the fly and took about a month and a week, including the race and initial interviews and promos.

“Obviously you’re not going to see and do everything you want because you’re on a mission,” Bailey said. “We tried to take in as much as we could throughout the experience.”

Anthony said he’d definitely like to go back to Puerto Vallarta, stay at a resort, “let loose” and “drink some tequila.”

Season 36 of “The Amazing Race” premiered March 13, at 6:30 p.m. CDT. There have been three episodes so far, and the show airs weekly on Wednesday. It can be watched on CBS or streamed on Paramount +.