And just like that… the playing field has been totally leveled on Race To Survive: New Zealand. After 8 gripping episodes in which they dominated the courses, two of the top contending teams are out of the competition. The first team to leave in Episode 8—due to injury—was Ryan Stewart and Bronson Iverson, the hunting father and son-in-law. While the dynamic duo placed in the top three consistently, Ryan’s knee and wrist injuries proved too much to overcome. “Yesterday, we hit that beach; I could feel my leg a lot worse on that sand than I could feel it anywhere,” confessed Ryan to the cameras. “I’m a hunting guide back at home. I use my arms; I use my legs guiding and hiking.” Noting that he’s “self-employed,” Ryan continues: “You gotta work for your family, so don’t blow something out that will mean you can’t make a living.”
As the production helicopter comes to extract them from the beach, Race To Survive: New Zealand EP Jeff Conroy and Race Director Philippe Gautier step up and greet Ryan and Bronson. “We wanna tap out and go heal our bodies,” Ryan tells the crew. “Medic’s on stand-by,” says Jeff. “Sorry to see you go; you are real competitors.” After competing over 100 miles of the race and never placing below third in any leg of the course, Ryan and Bronson know that their time in the New Zealand wilderness is over. “We’ve been humbled out here. We’ve been tried and tested and put through brutal circumstances,” explains Bronson in a voiceover as the two men are airlifted from the beach. “He uses his body to provide for his family; he can’t be pushing it any further than this.”
Given Ryan’s injuries, Ryan’s and Bronson’s self-elimination seemed inevitable, but it was still tough to watch these two battle-tested, good-natured Utahns go. However, the episode’s second exit—and the circumstances surrounding it— by frontrunners and river guides Corry Jones and Oliver Dev was totally unexpected. After placing first in the first 3 legs of the course, Corry and Olivier began to falter in Race 4. Due to a navigational errors and hunger, the two fell behind smokejumpers Ethan Greenberg and Tyrie Mann Merrill for the first time. Demoralized and starving, the two set up camp for the night with divorced couple, Creighton Baird and Paulina Peña, who were hot on their heels for second place.
Instead of competing against each other, the two teams navigated the remaining leg of the race together and tied for second place. Almost immediately after reaching the finishing crate, producers—including EP Jeff Conroy— approached Corry and Oliver. “Listen, I don’t have the greatest news. We were made aware of a rules violation,” declares Jeff to the racers as Corry’s face begins to fall. “It was a serious one and we have to act.” Diabolically, the show cuts to commercial.
The cameras pick up as Canadian roughnecks Nik Milutinovic and Kennedy Taylor reach the finish crate—after killing a freaking wild sheep for food—and celebrate with their fellow competitors. Out of the group, only Corry and Oliver have their packs on. Jeff gathers the group up to deliver the crushing news. “It’s been brought to our attention that there was a rule violation, and because a rule was broken, we have to act on it,” Jeff tells the stunned contestants. “The result is that we have disqualified Corry and Oliver from the competition.”
We then go to a confessional with a dejected Corry and Oliver. “I made a mistake,” begins Corry. “It was shortsighted and it was foolish.” Oliver nods supportively as Oliver continues. “The competition’s very real.The difficulty of this is real, and survival in the bush in New Zealand is not easy.” “We did have strategies in place for the racing, but we didn’t prepare for hunger. As we flash back to all the times Corry and Oliver missed out on food, Oliver keeps going. “At survival camp, it is difficult to be so desperate and hungry when there are creatures running around camp that we were not allowed to eat.”
“You get into that mindset of starvation mode and this slowing down of your cognition,” continues Corry. “There’s this very deep need to eat, and there was this idea of ‘just break the rule.’” Taking a breath, Corry admits: “Yeah, I knew it was breaking a rule, but that’s not important when you’re hungry.” After Corry’s explanation to the cameras, we cut back to Jeff and the racers at the end of course. Graciously, Jeff allows Corry to speak his peace to his fellow competitors. “Obviously, you know what happened,” begins Corry. “I apologize, and it does not sit lightly with me.”
The group forgives Corry as Creighton goes in to give him a hug. “What I did disrespected New Zealand, and I’m sorry,” Corry says in his confessional. “To go out in this way is super heart-wrenching. It does not feel like we’re ready to be done with it.” As we cut back to Corry and Oliver boarding the helicopter, Oliver finally speaks: “We did so well for so long that people probably thought, ‘This is going to be a story with a happy ending.’” With a sigh, Oliver continues: “We did not get that happy ending.” “However, I don’t harbor a single ounce of ill-will towards Corry; this doesn’t change anything about our friendship.”
While it is never specifically stated, it’s clear Corry hunted, killed and ate a protected animal to stop from starving. While he won’t take home half of the $500K prize pot, at least he still has his friendship with Corry and the experience of a lifetime to look back on.
The post ‘Race To Survive’ Front Runners Corry Jones And Oliver Dev Get Disqualified After Breaking A Rule: “I Disrespected New Zealand” appeared first on Decider.
