Fort Lauderdale residents Erin Taylor and Javi Vintimilla are competing for a $1 million prize on the 39th season of “The Amazing Race,” which premiered Wednesday on CBS Miami.<\/p>\n
The South Florida natives and newlyweds set off on the competition nearly a year ago, keeping their participation secret until the official cast announcement.<\/p>\n
Auditioning for the show began as a birthday request from Taylor to Vintimilla.<\/p>\n
“I don’t want you to get me anything,” Taylor recalled telling her husband. “All I want is for you to sit in front of the phone and take an audition video. And I think even that took three months. But we got there.”<\/p>\n
Both Taylor and Vintimilla were born at Baptist Hospital and returned to South Florida after graduating from Florida State University. Both work in the travel industry.<\/p>\n
Running the race as newlyweds presented unique challenges.<\/p>\n
“It was definitely harder than I thought it would be,” Vintimilla said. “You totally just like forget what you’re doing or what you should do. Common sense is out the window, and you’re just tired\u2026 it’s a lot easier to judge from the comfort of your home.”<\/p>\n
Nearly two years into their marriage, the couple is preparing for their next adventure: parenthood. They are expecting a baby boy in two weeks.<\/p>\n
The couple says the high-stress experience on the show helped prepare them for raising a child together.<\/p>\n
“As we’ve been prepping, as we’ve been talking about life decisions, it’s had a big impact,” Vintimilla said.<\/p>\n
As the season airs, both are eager to watch the other contestants’ journeys unfold.<\/p>\n
“Sometimes you have no idea what somebody went through to get there,” Vintimilla said. “So I’m really excited to see what these people went through alongside us.”<\/p>\n
Taylor added, “That’ll be really exciting.”<\/p>\n