- The eight teams stay in Istanbul, Turkey, where among the challenges they face are soapy baths, oil wrestling and shoe shining. Will some teams be pushed to breaking point by the pressure as the competition heats up?
- As the first team to arrive at the end of the last leg, workmates Paul & Steve are the first to depart at 9:59am. They open up their clue and find out that they must make their way on foot to the Ayasofya Hürrem Sultan Hamami, a traditional Turkish bath that was built in the 16th century. Here, the teams have to wash and scrub each other with a bar of soap until it revealed their next clue. The teams have A$90 for this leg of the race. Paul is excited about coming first at the end of the previous leg, which he felt was a long time coming, especially after being U-Turned for two legs in a row. It has fired him up, but if anything, the threat on his team has increased. When they reach the bath, they find scrubbing each other to be a little awkward, especially doing the other person's armpits.
Cheerleading twins Michelle & Jo are the second team to depart at 10:32am. They set off for the bath determined to beat Paul & Steve, as they are the only team they have a grudge against because Paul has rubbed nearly everybody in the competition up the wrong way. Paul & Steve then try to look for ways to dissolve the soap quicker, with Steve deciding that if they lay down, there would be less travel time for the soap between the water and the body. Steve decides that brother and sister Joseph & Grace would find this task the most uncomfortable. Steve then notices a clue drop out of the soap into the water bucket, so he fishes it out and finds a single word - DETOUR. The workmates then receive the clue and are presented with a choice between two forms of commerce found on the streets of Istanbul - Shine or Design. Teams choosing Shine must locate a set of shoe shine stalls and then convince ten paying customers to have their shoes shined for no less than 4 Turkish Lira each, with each person having to shine five pairs of shoes. Shining the shoes can be done quickly, but the competition for customers is fierce. Teams choosing Design must make their way to the nearby Egyptian Bazaar and find a marked carpet stall, then choose a photo of an exotic Turkish pattern and search among hundreds of carpets until they find a perfect match. However, before they perform the task that they choose, the teams will face a Yield, which allows one team to force another team to stop racing for a fixed amount of time. If a team is Yielded, they must turn over an hourglass and wait for the sand in it to run out before they move on.
Paul & Steve choose Shine and then set off for the Yield box, strategising along the way about whether they should Yield, and which team if so, as Michelle & Jo arrive at the bath and enjoy scrubbing each other. Flatmates Sticky & Sam and Joseph & Grace are the next teams to depart at 10:51am. Having seen a few teams crack under the stress, Sticky & Sam feel that their laid-back personalities are helping them. While Joseph has been spending time with Grace, he has learnt things about her that he didn't even know, and is learning new things about her every leg, and as he does so, she is improving in his eyes. The brother and sister find the scrubbing relaxing, even though Joseph drops the soap at one point. When Paul and Steve arrive at the Yield box, they decide to Yield Michelle & Jo in order to increase their lead over the other teams. They arrive at the shoe shine stalls, and it quickly becomes apparent that the most difficult part of the challenge is to convince the people to become their customers and pay 4 lira to have their shoes shined, with Paul getting an "I don't trust you" look from many of the people he approaches.
Police officers Shane & Andrew are the fifth team to depart at 11:01am, followed by sisters Lucy & Emilia at 11:24am. Family is the most important thing to both Shane & Andrew as they are both married with two children. To avoid getting upset, they avoid talking about home much, although they do use it as an inspiration. Steve finally attracts a customer to the shoe shine stall as Michelle & Jo find the "DETOUR" in their bar of soap, but as they leave, they have a bad feeling that are going to be Yielded. Lucy & Emilia arrive at the bath, and later reveal that the race is different for them when they are not on their own at the back, and that they have improved enough to be confident. Shane & Andrew and Joseph & Grace are among the other teams still scrubbing, and Joseph refuses Grace's repeated requests to do between her toes. Paul shines his team's third pair of shoes, and the price of 4 lira that he has to charge is the same as what the local professional stalls were offering. One old person gets his shoes shined by Paul & Steve, but then only pays them 2 lira before he leaves. Sticky & Sam, Joseph & Grace and Shane & Andrew are the next three teams to find the "DETOUR" in their soap. Joseph & Grace choose Shine, while Sticky & Sam and Shane & Andrew go for Design. Michelle & Jo arrive at the Yield box and find that they have been Yielded by their "favourite friends". They find watching the grains of sand falling through the hourglass to be excruciating, and become worried that other teams will catch up, while Paul & Steve are getting further and further away from them. It puts a bad taste in their mouths about Paul altogether, because nobody likes someone who plays dirty.
Sticky & Sam and Shane & Andrew arrive at the Egyptian Bazaar, where they each choose a carpet pattern and start to search through seven stacks of carpets, with each stack being about two metres high. Sam shows Sticky a carpet he thinks matches the pattern in their photo, but Sticky knocks it back. Shane & Andrew think that they have bitten off more than they can chew, comparing the search to trying to find a needle in a haystack. Shane finds a stack with several lighter colours, and it becomes the first pile the policemen search through. Lucy & Emilia find the clue to the Detour in their soap as Paul & Andrew finish shining their tenth pair of shoes. They receive their next clue and must now travel by taxi to the 15th century fortress that is Rumeli Castle and search for their next clue. When they find it, they will discover an Intersection, where all of the teams have to mutually agree to work together with another team to complete the next challenge. As they head for the castle, the sand runs out in the hourglass, allowing Michelle & Jo to continue racing. They set off for the shoe shine stalls seriously determined to beat the alpha males because they are always one step ahead of them. They don't have as much trouble attracting customers to them against the professional men. Paul & Steve arrive at the Rumeli Castle, reach the Intersection and realise that they have pushed away the closest team that they could do it with. Those people, Michelle & Jo, find that customers are coming to them and are more than half-way through the task as Joseph & Grace arrive at the stalls. Grace becomes flirtatious with some of the passing males to try to attract their custom, but all of the men who see her just ignore her.
Andrew finds a carpet that he thinks looks like that one that Sticky & Sam are looking for. He shows it to the flatmates, who take it to the shop owner, who passes it and gives them their next clue. They decide to return the favour by offering to help Shane & Andrew to search for their carpet. Shane & Andrew acknowledge that the flatmates can't stay forever, but they show them the pattern they are looking for and are grateful for their help. Michelle & Jo shine their tenth pair of shoes and receive the clue to take a taxi to Rumeli Castle. Lucy & Emilia arrive at the shoe shine stalls and convince someone to become their first customer, revealing later that they think one of their fortes is mixing with people and convincing them to do something even if they don't want to do it. Sticky & Sam spend around 30 to 45 minutes being good Samaritans to the policemen, and feel that Shane & Andrew picked one of the more complex pieces of carpet to find. They find ten carpets that look a little bit like the one Shane & Andrew are searching for but are not quite it. Eventually, the police officers find one carpet that they present to the store owner, but when he tells them that it is not the correct one, they decide to switch tasks and allow Sticky & Sam to continue on their way.
As Joseph & Grace make it half-way through shining shoes, Lucy & Emilia find people coming to them wanting to be customers. They see it as a good opportunity to take a look at some of the Turkish men, with Lucy treating their sixth customer almost like a relationship - they don't communicate well, and she's sure that she would be dating him if she lived in Istanbul, and would have asked for his number if she had a phone to call him. Having had the balance of their time penalties for failing to complete the Road Block in the previous leg added to their departure times, dating couple James & Sarah finally depart at 1:13pm, followed by father and daughter Ross & Tarryn at 1:30pm. James sees this leg as being about him and Sarah against Ross & Tarryn, while Ross feels that he was the one who didn't come through, no matter what Tarryn says, and he would rather compete against James & Sarah than Paul & Steve because he feels that Sarah doesn't have the same physical abilities that Tarryn carries. Sarah has a lot of fun sliding around at the bath.
Paul & Steve are still playing the waiting game at the Intersection when Michelle & Jo arrive. The twins decide not to mention the Yield in case it gives other teams an opportunity not to choose them, and ask the workmates to join them, which they accept, considering it too risky for the cheerleaders not to do so. They open up the clue and learn that they must enter the fortress and break through a line of Turkish oil wrestlers, playing what has been Turkey's national sport for more than 700 years. One of the four people in each team pair has to make it past their opponent and reach an antique oil lamp on a table in order for the team pair to receive their next clue. They dress up and lather each other up with oil, then they see their big-looking opponents arrive. The biggest wrestler looked straight at Paul, making it clear that he was his. The team pair devise a strategy where three of them would work really hard wrestling while the fourth person tried to snake their way through to the lamp. One of the wrestlers does a belly-flop that lands on Paul, and the other wrestlers knock the team pair around like toys. After around twenty seconds, Jo ends up on the floor with someone's body on top of her, and she calls for a stop. In the second round, the twins are more cautious about getting involved, and after a couple of attempts, Jo makes it through to grab the lamp, only to find Michelle on the ground in pain after she had received an uppercut to her neck from one of the wrestlers. She effectively holds up Paul & Steve while she recovers, but knows that she has to make it quick because other teams could arrive any minute. The team pair eventually receive their next clue, a Road Block. The clue tells the teams that they have been released from their Intersection, and directs them to Istanbul's Old City to find the Whirling Dervishes. Members of this Sufi group perform a meditational dance as a form of spiritual devotion. The people who choose to perform the task must spin continuously for five minutes before the Master Dervish will hand them their next clue. Steve and Jo decide to perform the task and set off in taxis, with Paul & Steve realising that it is game on again and every team for themself, while Michelle & Jo try not to let the workmates' taxi out of their sight, with Michelle feeling bad that she cannot help Jo while she does another Road Block.
Sticky & Sam arrive at Rumeli Castle, find the Intersection and realise that they have to wait for the next team to arrive. Shane & Andrew arrive at the shoe shine stalls just as Lucy & Emilia and Joseph & Grace complete the Detour. With the lunch hour crowd mostly disappeared, the area becomes like a ghost town to Shane & Andrew, who find that some people fob them off while others who see them coming run the other way. Back at the bath house, Ross & Tarryn make up some time by finding the "DETOUR" in their soap before James & Sarah. They choose Shine, and as they set off, Shane finally attracts some people to become customers for himself and Andrew. James & Sarah also choose Shine after they find the clue to the Detour. Joseph & Grace arrive at Rumeli Castle and agree to work with Sticky & Sam at the wrestling task. Lucy & Emilia arrive at the Intersection and hope that the policemen can shine shoes quick smart. Back at the shoe shine stalls, Shane finds his final customer with a son, and decides to give the baby a present from Australia in the form of a little toy kangaroo. The look on the child's face and his smile made him feel to Shane like his own son. As they make their way in a taxi to Rumeli Castle, Andrew regrets not having done the shoe shine task first.
At the castle, Sticky & Sam and Joseph & Grace meet their opponents, and Grace has her eyes set on one particular wrestler. Joseph uses his jujitsu skills to push a wrestler out of the way and grab the antique lamp. When the team pair receive the Road Block clue, Sticky and Joseph choose to perform it. Paul & Steve and Michelle & Jo remain neck and neck as they find the Whirling Dervishes in Istanbul's Old City. Steve realises that he can't afford to make any mistakes as he thinks the cheerleaders will breeze through the task. Steve and Jo get dressed up in the robe and have to kiss their clothing before they put it on as a sign of respect. Jo remarks that the way the dervishes were twirling looked so peaceful. Next, they learn the dance, having to make sure that they get every part of it right because of its religious significance. As they twirl around, they have to put their arms into a special position and tilt their head. To get their robes above their ground, they have to maintain a particular speed and keep their balance. Jo thinks that one minute would be enough to get her dizzy, while the instructor tells her and Steve that they can join the other dervishes when they are ready.
Ross & Tarryn and James & Sarah arrive at the shoe shine stalls and Ross is put to work shining shoes, a task he is familiar with from doing it with his children. Sarah tries to add some value to her team's shoe shining by throwing in a free back massage, a tactic that doesn't go unnoticed by Tarryn. In the Old City, Jo and Steve both start twirling. Paul realises that Steve has to get the task right the first time even though he started twirling first, because Jo would probably do so if Steve didn't. Steve has to keep his eyes in a set position and not look around in order to avoid getting dizzy, a predicament that falls upon Jo around 20 seconds into her twirl when she ends up on her back. Shane & Andrew arrive at Rumeli Castle to Lucy & Emilia's excitement, with the two teams pairing up for the oil wrestling task. Lucy locks one of the wrestlers into a bear cuddle while the long arm of the law plays its part in the completion of the task, with Andrew trying to barrel through two wrestlers and stretching his arm out enough to knock the lamp off the table, within arm's reach of Shane. Shane and Emilia decide to give the Road Block task a whirl.
The pressure of shining shoes gets to Ross & Tarryn, with the daughter pointing out that they have to shine five shoes each, meaning that Ross has wasted two of the seven shoes that he had shined. In the Old City, Steve gains a little confidence from Jo's earlier fall, knowing that if he can keep up his twirling, he and Paul will be first away. Jo concentrates on staying standing up and makes it past the half-way mark, but Steve completes the task and is given the next clue by the Master Dervish. He and Paul now have to travel on foot to the next Pit Stop in historic Beyazit Square, which is in the Old City district and surrounded by Istanbul's biggest mosque and oldest university. After she is told by the Master Dervish that she has done good, Jo has trouble remaining standing and is just about dragged out by Michelle, who is prepared for a run to the Pit Stop. Both teams search for Beyazit Square with Paul & Steve mindful that they cannot afford to make any wrong turns. They find the square, descend some steps and see the mat, and next to it host Grant Bowler, who tells the workmates that they are team number one, and that as the winners of this leg of the race, they have won a state-of-the-art computer package from Bing Lee electrical stores worth A$5,000, which they can enjoy after the race. As they reflect on their second victory, they point out that most other teams have tried to stop them already, but it hasn't quite worked. Now, the only people who can stop them are them. Michelle & Jo are checked in second.
Sarah chats with a sock-maker as she and James make it half-way through shining shoes, while Tarryn completes shining her fifth pair of shoes, allowing her and Ross to receive the clue directing them to Rumeli Castle. Joseph & Grace find the Whirling Dervishes ahead of Sticky & Sam. Joseph has to focus on keeping his balance after a minute of his twirl. Sticky looks like a china doll as he twirls around, with Grace remarking later that she liked the way he twirled because he was doing it so gracefully, and feeling really bad for Joseph because he looked more like a lunatic with his twirls. Ross & Tarryn find that the lead they had built over James & Sarah evaporates when they reach the Intersection. James gives Sarah's final customer a back message and they then receive the clue sending them to the castle. The Master Dervish hands clues to both Joseph and Sticky. Shane & Andrew get lost in the Old City, finding that the Number 6 their taxi driver sent them to doesn't have a marker. Their misfortune allows Lucy & Emilia to find the Whirling Dervishes before them. The sisters are both impressed by the magic of the room in which the dervishes are twirling. As Emilia joins them, she tries to think of anything other than the fact that she is spinning. She later expresses how nice it was that the dance was actually a prayer to say thanks for everything, and she spends a lot of her dancing time chanting to herself when she realises that she has so much to be grateful for. In Beyazit Square, Joseph & Grace and Sticky & Sam are the third and fourth teams to check in.
Shane has to ask the locals for directions, but he and Andrew eventually find the Whirling Dervishes. Shane sees Emilia dancing as he begins, with his twirling leading Andrew to describe him later as being like a broken teapot. James & Sarah are relieved to find Ross & Tarryn at the Intersection, knowing that now it is back to being a level playing field. Ross breaks free of one of the oil wrestlers and picks up the antique lamp from the table. He later describe the wrestlers as being all show and no go, and tries to flex a muscle that used to be there as a sign of his victory. When the team pair receive the Road Block clue, James and Ross decide to perform the task. Back in the Old City, Emilia starts to feel her legs giving way and Lucy cannot watch. Emilia tries to zone out, and when the Master Dervish approaches her and hands her the clue, she becomes emotional in a good sort of way. Shane also starts getting dizzy, and feels like he is only a minute away from being gone when the Master Dervish gives him the clue. Ross & Tarryn are pretty pleased when their taxi leaves Rumeli Castle ahead of James & Sarah's. Lucy & Emilia and Shane & Andrew are the fifth and sixth teams to reach Beyazit Square and find the Pit Stop.
James & Sarah pass Ross & Tarryn in their taxi without the father and daughter realising it. They only become disappointed when they find the Whirling Dervishes and see James already dancing with them. James is nervous as he dances, aware that if he screws up, he and Sarah would lose the lead that they had, while Ross grits his teeth knowing that he too has to get it done in one go for Tarryn. James tells himself to put up with the sickness and the pain once for just five minutes, no matter what it is, and it will all be done. The Master Dervish hands him the clue to the Pit Stop. After he and Sarah leave, Tarryn tells Ross that he has thirty seconds remaining, while the five minutes of twirling seems like an eternity to Ross, but he too receives the next clue from the Master Dervish. They both search for Beyazit Square, but it is James & Sarah who get there first of the two and are safely checked in seventh. Though they were marked for elimination at the end of the previous leg, there is no need for Ross & Tarryn to serve a penalty as they are already the last team to arrive. Grant delivers them the bad news that they are out of the race. Ross kisses Tarryn and tells her he is so proud of her, then rhetorically asks how many people get to do the things and go to the places he has done with their daughter, and tells Grant that he has had an absolute ball all the way, to which Grant replies that it has been a privilege watching them race together, and tells them to take care. Afterwards, Tarryn remarks that she came in to the race hoping to prove to her father that she is strong and can do things on her own, even though Ross will probably always see her as his little girl, and still wants him to be proud of her like he always is. Ross adds that when you set high standards, at some stage you are prone to fail, but he and Tarryn will leave the race knowing full well that they have tried their best and worked their hardest, and they are very strong as they have always been, which is something that they are very proud of.
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