The Amazing Race may be a race around the world of a million dollars, but it’s the experience that bonds two individuals that can be the real prize at the end. Having a close call during Leg 1, Courtney Ramsey and Jasmin Carey pushed through and found their footing. But when a game with a ball and foot set them back, it was race to try to make up time.
The dating nurses from North Carolina brought heart to The Amazing Race. Despite their early exit, they are proud of what they accomplished during their three legs on Season 37. As Courtney said, “The race really brings a lot of emotions out of you. As much as you’re giving, you get back as well. So, it truly is its name. It’s an amazing experience.”
Courtney and Jasmin Discuss If Being Nurses Prepared Them for ‘The Amazing Race’

Image via CBS

COLLIDER: They brought the heart to the race, it’s Courtney and Jasmine! How are you feeling?
COURTNEY RAMSEY: We’re feeling great and amazing, of course.
JASMIN CAREY: Yeah!
COURTNEY: It was tough, honestly, like reliving it, but you know, you say, “Wow, like we were there. We did that.”
JASMIN: And you feel very proud. Even with having a much earlier exit than what we anticipated. And seeing the areas where it’s like, “Oh man, had we done duh, duh, duh.” Whatever those things are, we’re still so, so, so proud of ourselves for what we accomplished and that we bet it on ourselves. We took a chance and just said, “Why not? We love The Amazing Race. You think we can do this? Let’s go.”
COLLIDER: Absolutely. I wore yellow in your honor.
COURTNEY and JASMINE: Awww! Thank you!
COLLIDER: If you could describe your experience on The Amazing Race in one single word, what would it be?
JASMIN: Life-changing.
COURTNEY: Yeah. I would say depth. I would say depth because I shared about the loss of my mom. The race really brings a lot of emotions out of you. As much as you’re giving, you get back as well. So, it truly is its name. It’s an amazing experience.
JASMIN: And it teaches you so much about yourself. Prior to the show, we had both traveled before. We never traveled together, though. And obviously, we never traveled under pressure on international TV. So, you know, we learned so much about ourselves, and we learned to do things, even if you’re afraid, even if you feel unsure. But to still believe in yourself, to still bet on yourself, to still try. And so for that reason, life-changing, because it’s like, now you know, yeah, try your best. And even if it doesn’t work out, how you anticipate, you still have gained something. And so, in that sense, your life has just changed.
COURTNEY: Just do it now.
COLLIDER: I got to know, are you willing to travel together again in the future?
COURTNEY: Oh, absolutely.
JASMIN: No. I’m just kidding. Of course!
COURTNEY: Traveling honestly is at the core of our hearts because when we were in nursing school, we got to do a cultural immersion program. The first place that I went to out of the country was Tanzania. and Jazzy went to Barbados. That was just like a life-changing to be able to step outside of your own backyard and immerse yourself into somebody else’s culture. So The Amazing Race was like that 3.0.
JASMIN: We both stepped so much out of our comfort zone because here in North Carolina, we’re in our own bubble, we’re in our little, sweet, cozy cocoon, but then you go into The Amazing Race, and it’s like massive.
COURTNEY: So much unknown.
JASMIN: I’m glad we stepped up to the challenge, and we tried our best.
COLLIDER: How did being nurses prepare you for the race? Are there any similarities?
JASMIN: So funny that you asked that. We felt very prepared as nurses to be on the race for the following reasons. Being a nurse, you have to work in high-intensity, high-pressure situations where you’re, you pay attention to detail. all the things you heard us say on the show. And then you get on the show, and you get all this new type of pressure where you don’t know where things are. Which is different from the hospital because you always know where everything is.
COURTNEY: You know what’s in your arsenal. Even if the situation is different, there’s something about it that you’ve experienced before.
JASMIN: You know exactly what to do. But on the show, it’s a little different. We definitely thought we would be able to pull from that, that pocket a little bit more, but it was just different. We weren’t in the hospital, we were out in the world.
Leg 3 Slowed Courtney and Jasmin Down

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COLLIDER: The first two legs of the race, you were doing a pretty solid job. The Fork in the Road was almost a game-changer as it was a close call to the mat. What was it like knowing you just eeked out Mark Crawford and Larry Graham?
COURTNEY: Oh my goodness. I remember sweating bullets, but I’m honestly glad that when we were at the Fork in the Road, we took that moment to really like strategically decide. “Hey, this is a skill-based challenge. Let’s go with dancing.” Jazzy. Like dances, hands down. I’m like a one-two stepper. I can follow, but she’s gonna lead.
JASMIN: She was the tail. The best tail ever.
COURTNEY: But that was our chance to get ahead. So that’s some of the stuff that, you know, thinking fast, that’s what we do as nurses. And that part, we had a moment to think. So, that was a game-changer for us. We knew that Nick and Mike [Fiorito] were still there, Mark and Larry. And we just felt like, “Okay, I don’t really know if they got as much rhythm as us. So let’s go for it. Let’s choose this.”
COLLIDER: Leg three, you to get to Kyoto, you took a bullet train. How amazing was that?
JASMIN: That was awesome. Before going to Kyoto, I didn’t even know Shinkansen existed, first of all. So obviously, having that experience, yeah, it was amazing.
COURTNEY: You got there so fast.
JASMIN: So fast.
COURTNEY: And what would probably take, what, three hours? We got there in, like, 15 minutes.
JASMIN: We’ve been on subways in New York. Atlanta. So different.
COLLIDER: Alright, Courtney, let’s talk about the Roadblock. What was the hardest part about it?
COURTNEY: You know what? I think getting out of my head because sometimes, when you’ve never done something, you feel like you’re supposed to succeed at it the first time. No, allow yourself to fail. It’s okay. And once you know what it feels like to fail, then it’s like, “Okay, I know what this is. Let me calm down, take a moment, and just do it.” And so I did allow myself to do that, but it was like all of the things. I think the most challenging thing was the heat. The thing that we talked about is, so I’m from Mississippi, so I literally know what it’s like to be in heat, but that was like the devil’s heat. Okay? I had never felt anything like that before and having to cope with those elements that were different and also not knowing how to play soccer.
JASMIN: On top of the emotions that came with us falling behind again and then the exhaustion of the day.
COURTNEY: And I was really tunnel vision in that moment. I really was trying my hardest to get it there. Of course, you can see people come and go, but I really was so focused on just getting that thing.
COLLIDER: When Han and Holden Nguyen did arrive, did it add pressure?
COURTNEY: You know, honestly, I think seeing them leave was a little deflating because I knew that, we knew that they were last. It was encouraging that, Bernie [Gutierrez] and Carrigain [Scadden] was still there. I’m like, “Okay, there’s still a chance.” But even when they left, it was still just trying to encourage myself to, “You’re going to get it. You’re going to get it. Just keep going.” You’ve seen so many episodes where this has turned around. Just keep going. Who knows? This is the season of twists and surprises. Anything can happen. So yeah, we were still hopeful.
COLLIDER: So there were four teams left at the Fold It Detour. There was some hope left. What was the hardest part about that challenge?
JASMIN: Man. So, one, the paper was super huge, right? And origami is very intricate, right? So the cute little kids were folding their hearts out, right? And you’re trying to, you have to pay attention to the direction that they’re folding it, how many times they’re folding it, and then trying to memorize all those steps and then go back and do it on this super large paper and making sure that you’re doing it right so that you don’t put unnecessary creases in your paper that could also mess it up. And then staying focused, keeping our emotions as calm and cool as possible, paying attention to where everyone else is, while still focusing on our game.

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COLLIDER: How would you say your relationship has evolved since the race?
JASMIN: It’s brought us closer. We both learned things about ourselves individually. Anytime you learn something about yourself individually, it allows you to step into your relationship as a stronger version of yourself. So that’s one of the main things that we’ve learned.
COURTNEY and JASMIN: And our communication.
COURTNEY: One of the really important things, for me, when I’m needing assistance, you can be direct with me and like Jazzy…
JASMIN: I might need it a little more gentle.
COURTNEY: Gentle communication. But I really think we supported each other well because it was so unknown to be experiencing all of these challenges and detours, but I’m glad that we did it.
JASMIN: Yeah. Me too. Don’t regret it at all.
COLLIDER: Would you do it again?
JASMIN: Yes.
COURTNEY: She would be dragging me.
JASMIN: Yes, we would. Yes, we would. And you would see us come back–
COURTNEY: Honestly, when you’ve done something before,it gives you that leg up.
JASMIN: Watching it is so different.
COURTNEY: Watching it from the comfort of your home is very different. Yes, we paused, and we were engaged and trying to memorize things.
JASMIN: Doing things like Riverdance. That was season 35.
COURTNEY: Yeah.
JASMIN: We were doing all these things in our apartment, and yeah, really believing that we could. And we still believe that we can, now knowing what areas we would need to improve on. So yeah, absolutely. We would do it.
COLLIDER: Let’s end on a high. What was the best part of The Amazing Race that was not game-related?
COURTNEY: Here’s what I’ll say. When you finish like where, where you are, you get to really immerse yourself in the culture in so many different ways. I don’t think we can say too much about really what takes place, but I’m just going to say, imagine yourself being in America, going to your favorite restaurant and eating your favorite cuisine. The attire, the energy, the atmosphere.
JASMIN: Experiencing a new culture and being exposed to parts of the world that we only heard about or maybe seen pictures about. In being able to experience it, having it reignite that desire that we have to travel into experience culture. To show people that look like us or who just may relate to us, just show them what is possible if you bet on yourself, if you give yourself the opportunity to step outside of your comfort zone and just try.
COURTNEY: And I really appreciate the kindness of the people.
JASMIN: Yes. Yeah. Amazing hospitality.
COLLIDER: Well, congratulations on an amazing run, and it was so much fun watching you.
JASMIN: Thank you.
COURTNEY: Thank you so much, Michael.

The Amazing Race

Release Date

September 5, 2001

Network

CBS

Showrunner

Elise Doganieri, Bertram van Munster, Jonathan Littman