‘I Dropped To The Ground And Passed Out’: Grant And Chezzi Denyer Eliminated From The Amazing Race Australia After Shock Medical Incident
(From 10play.com.au)
In an episode that broke the hearts of Australia, Grant and Chezzi Denyer were eliminated from The Amazing Race due to a medical incident.
Kicking the leg off in Agra, India’s city of love, was no easy feat. The celebrities faced extreme heat of 45 degrees and a monsoon event, adding another layer of hardship to the already difficult challenges ahead.
In an interview with 10 Play, Chezzi r
eflected on just how extreme the conditions were. “The heat is next level; you can’t imagine how suffocating it is. While the race is already very challenging, you have to have your wits about you. It's physically, emotionally, and mentally draining but by far, the heat was the hardest thing to contend with and everybody struggled.” “We went from living in a tiny country town and minus four degrees, to 35 million people in 45 degrees. You can't get anything more opposite or extreme,” Grant added. During the Intersection, the celebrities had to learn and perform a Bollywood dance routine. That was where it all began to unravel.
“I got severe heatstroke. I dropped to the ground, passed out and was having some convulsions,” Grant recalled. “It was a scary and dramatic moment for everyone that was there. Prior to fainting
, I was concentrating on my wife who was struggling, I was giving her my water and carrying her backpack. I neglected myself and it caught up with me.” Chezzi reflected on Grant’s selflessness. “I’ve always known that Grant is a real sweetheart; he carried my bag for me a lot towards the end of day one, so while all the attention is on me carrying him to the end on day two, on day one I really struggled with the heat and he gave me his water, probably to his demise.”
Chezzi and Grant have been together for 13 years and as evident in the episode, their love and support for each other is second to none.
“We’ve been through more than what the average relationship has been through; broken backs and a big car racing ac
cident, three beautiful children… this was supposed to be the highlight of our marriage together so far,” they said.
“It was disappointing to end that way, I'm a competitive person, and I really wanted the world to see how wonderful my wife was. But you know, it wasn't meant to be,” Grant added. “Chezzi is the backbone of our family and I'm so lucky to have her in my life. She’s been the rock when things are falling apart, she's the one that's putting them back together and she proved just how incredible she is in a crisis.”
Although they couldn’t progress further in the competition, Grant & Chezzi were proud of everything they acco
mplished during their time on The Amazing Race.
“I always knew that we have a unique synchronicity. We do work very well together, but we work even better under pressure and that was reinforced by the show which was really lovely,” Chezzi said. “We are thankful to have a small part in a show that we've always loved.” One thing they learnt while racing through India was how fortunate they are to live in a country like Australia.
“The people in India are beautiful and you're struck with how lucky we are living in Australia because the poverty, while hard to say, it grounds you and gives you great perspective that we do live in a very fortu
nate part of the world. The kids, no matter how poor they were, or how tough their living conditions, they were just the most joyous, happy, playful little souls. It was pretty powerful.”
During the hard times, the charity they are supporting, Lifeline Central West, remained at the forefront of their minds and helped them push through.
“During the drought several years ago, we worked quite closely with them to help farmers in need in our local area and we love the work that they do. We’ve had fire, we've had floods, we've had a serious quake in the last few years and lifeline have really helped our community a lot. They also have suc
h a broad area compared to other lifelines that we knew that $100,000 would make a huge difference to so many lives.”
But the underlying motivation that kept them going was, of course, their beautiful children. “I sold it to Chezzi as this dream holiday. I might have been fibbing about the holiday part. But it was a great opportunity for my girls to see how amazing and brave and courageous and funny and adventurous and beautiful mum is.”