The Amazing Race 5 contestants (Courtesy Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

The following are short biographies of contestants on The Amazing Race 5.

Contestants

Alison & Donny

Alison Irwin & Donny Patrick were known as the Dating Couple. After finishing the first episode in first place, Alison and Donny were eliminated the very next episode, which was good for a 10th place finish. The cause of their elimination was taking a slower bus, while other teams took taxis or faster buses. Irwin was a reality television veteran who had competed on Big Brother 4, and later returned for the Allstars edition of the show. She also competed in the Miss Pennsylvania pageant for two years, holding the Miss Crawford County and Miss Steel Valley titles. In the Miss Pennsylvania 2001 pageant, she competed against fellow racer Erika Shay.

Bob & Joyce

Bob Barron and Joyce Nicolo were known as the Internet Dating Couple. They came in 8th place. Both are widowers from Mount Laurel, New Jersey who lost their partners to cancer. They met on an Internet dating website prior to competing in the race. Bob was going to apply to compete on the race with his brother-in-law but decided instead to team up with Joyce.

The couple began living together in May 2006 and were to be married on January 14, 2007.

Brandon & Nicole

Brandon Davidson & Nicole O'Brian were known as the Dating Models. They came in 3rd place. Brandon is a male model, Christian, and currently living in Houston. Nicole is a beauty queen who held the titles Miss Texas Teen USA 2000 and Miss Texas USA 2003. She competed alongside Christie Lee Woods, another Amazing Race 5 contestant in the Miss Texas USA 2002 and 2003 pageants. Nicole placed first runner-up at Miss Teen USA 2000 and second runner-up at Miss USA 2003, making her one of the most successful women to compete in the two pageants.

Charla & Mirna

See Charla and Mirna for more information Charla Baklayan Faddoul & Mirna Hindoyan were known as the Cousins . They came in 6th place, due to a delayed flight. Both are able to speak Turkish, French, Spanish and Armenian. This team was brought back for the All Stars series of the Amazing Race.

Charla, the manager and co-owner of ten sportswear stores, is from Phoenix, Maryland and was born in Syria. She has a form of dwarfism. On the All Stars edition of the Amazing Race, she hopes to gain an advantage by wearing a pair of "healies", running shoes with wheels in the bottom as she admits that her short stature was a disadvantage in the Amazing Race 5.

Mirna was born in the same hospital a month after her cousin. She works as a lawyer in Towson, Maryland and in preparation for the Race had to conclude over fifty cases in the six weeks. Participating in the Race lead to her being invited to participate in speaking engagements an even an invitation to the Emmy Awards. Her first speaking engagement was at Towson University, of which she and her cousin are both alumni.

The first cousins played to their strengths by allowing Charla to participate in tasks that involved eating where possible, and leaving Mirna to particpate in the more physical challenges.

Chip & Kim

Chip and Kim McAllister were known as the Married Parents and were the winners of this series. Both are from Coto de Caza, California. Chip is the owner of a web technology company, and a former actor who portrayed a young Muhammad Ali in the 1977 film The Greatest. Kim is the owner of an information technology recruiting company. The couple have been married for more than 25 years and have three children. After the Race the couple started doing motivational speaking tours and were also brought in to promote RTVStar.com, a website offering to link those wishing to participate in reality television with casting directors. Chip claims he felt "insulted" that he was not asked to participate on All-stars and said "Kim and I never got a phone call from anyone, not from [the producers], not from CBS, not from anyone".

Colin & Christie

Colin Guinn & Christie Lee Woods from Corpus Christi, Texas were known as the Dating couple. They finished the race in second place, following which Colin proposed to Christie on air. Colin owns a cell phone store and Christie is the managing partner of a longevity & wellness center. Colin later claimed that the pair were maligned by the editing of the program, and stated that a number of incidents on the show were "taken out of context, transposed, and manipulated."

Woods was one of four former beauty queens on the series. She held the Miss Texas Teen USA 1996 title and became the first Texan to win the Miss Teen USA title. She later competed for the Miss Texas USA title, including participating alongside fellow racer Nicole O'Brian. She placed as either a runner-up and semi-finalist on a number of occasions but never won. She was the first former Miss Teen USA who did not win a Miss USA state pageant on her first attempt.

They were expected to be in All-Stars edition, but unfortunately, could not participate as Christie was pregnant with the couple's first child at the time of production.

Dennis & Erika

Dennis Frentsos and Erika Shay were known as the Once Engaged couple. They came in last place. Dennis is mortgage broker from West Nyack, New York and Erika is a wedding planner from Piermont, New York.

Erika held the Miss Pennsylvania Teen USA 1995 title and competed in the Miss Teen USA 1995 pageant. She also held the Miss Greater Juanita Valley 2001 title and competed in the Miss Pennsylvania 2001 pageant against fellow racer Alison Irwin. Erika has also worked as a Casting Associate on Survivor and judged the Miss South Carolina USA 2006 pageant won by Lacie Lybrand.

Jim & Marsha

Jim and Marsha McCoy were known as the Military Dad & Daughter. A father and daughter from Florida, they came in 9th place. Jim is a helicopter pilot. Marsha, was an NFL Jacksonville Jaguars cheerleader and has attended the University of Florida College of Law

At the start of the race, Jim was injured when he fell onto a nail at Los Angeles Airport and required stitches. Despite the injury he was able to continue with the race.

Kami & Karli

Kami and Karli French were known as the Twins. They came in 5th place. Identical twin sisters from Eugene, Oregon, Kami is a café manager and Karli is a student at the University of Oregon.

Linda & Karen

Linda Ruiz and Karen Heins were known as the Bowling Moms. They came in 4th place, becoming the first all-female team to make the Final 4. Best friends from Palmdale, California, Linda is a mother and tennis teacher, and Karen is a mother and homemaker. The two women, who won the California State Women's Doubles Championship in 1999, chose New Zealand as the most amazing place they visited on the Race. The hardest thing they had to endure was separation from their families.

Marshall & Lance

Marshall and Lance Hudes were known as the Brothers. They came in 7th place. They quit due to Marshall's knee injury.

After working as a pizza-parlour apprentice in New York, Lance moved to Dallas, Texas in 2002 where he operates New York-style pizza restaurant owned by his brother Marshall named Cafe Nostra. This cafe was one of a number of business destroyed by a fire in June 2006.

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