Mike And Mel White Eliminated From "The Amazing Race"

Everyone I know who watches The Amazing Race was rooting for Mike and Mel White to win this season.

Sadly, though, the father and son, who are both gay, were eliminated during the show's Thailand leg last night because their clueless cab driver headed toward the beach in search of the gorilla statue that they needed to find instead of going to the zoo. By the time, Mike and Mel realized they were way off course and got back on track, they were playing catch up, and ultimately they were just too far behind the other teams.

Despite the fact that they knew they were likely fighting a losing battle during that last leg, Mel, who is 68, by the way, and Mike never gave up and, more impressively, continued to play the game with class. During the whole competition, they've taken the time to appreciate their surroundings and show some kindness to everyone they've encountered. Unlike some contestants on the show, they can leave with their heads held high.

Even host Phil Keoghan told them he was sorry to see them go after he informed them they'd been eliminated from the race.

In an interview with Newsweek, Mel said, "If our appearance on the show is boiled down to us being gay, I'm hoping that this myth that gay people can't parent will be burned up in some way. I think it's really sad that so many people are still worried about gay people adopting or having kids. So if we have to be a model of something, I hope we can model that gay parents can be great parents."

I think they succeeded. But, interestingly, while the Whites got a lot of press before the show began for being reality TV's first gay father/gay son team, in the end, they'll be remembered most for being amongst reality TV's classiest contestants.

What did you think of how Mike and Mel played the game?

Mel and Mike share their experience on The Amazing Race with PHil:

(Image courtesy of CBS)

Comments

[james_oxford]

I haven't watched 'Amazing Race' in years but it's nice that they had this 'gay' father and 'gay' son duo on the show.

Amazingly it's hard to believe that in this day and age there is still so much prejudice against gay parents and gay couples who want to adopt! I think it's ridiculous, especially considering how many kids who are out there who's lives have been totally fucked up by their straight parents and are sitting in the system waiting to be adopted by someone who can properly care for them!

And then to have some narrow minded straight people say that gay folks cannot be good parents! (Hello ... it was the straight couples bad parenting skills that ended up putting the kids into adoption / foster organizations in the first place)

I'm not saying that all gay people will make good parents (no more than all straight people are good parents). But I just don't believe there should be so much discrimination.

This is also why I believe so many guys end up living life in the closet or defining themselves as 'bi', so they can be a parent and have a sex life on the side.

Which is really sad.