[whoosh] ♪ Dan: Back in 2015, an amazing concept was born: find biological families spread out all across the country and unite them in a suspenseful, powerful, and emotional way.

- You're so beautiful.

- I'm your mother.

- Hi.

Ray: This is something I dreamed about for so long, so long.

JD: And it was incredible.

- Yep, it's hard to believe.

But today, our tenth anniversary season of Relative Race begins, and we're doing it by celebrating the beauty of America.

♪ This is Chimney Rock, North Carolina, of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

This is where four new teams are about to begin their four new treks all across the country.

It's an all-new season, so buckle up for the tenth anniversary of Relative Race!

[powerful music] DNA tells us who we are and where we came from.

Following their own DNA, four teams are racing-- [honking] - Oh my gosh!

Dan: --to win $50,000-- - Fingers crossed.

Dan: --and to find their family.

[knocking] Singer: ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh-oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh-oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh-oh ♪ ♪ [dramatic music] ♪ Dan: Good morning, teams, and welcome to Chimney Rock, North Carolina, and the tenth anniversary of Relative Race.

This season is going to be filled with unexpected twists and emotional surprises, including the fact that for the first time ever, two of our teams are comprised of two people that had never met each other until just two weeks ago.

Let's go ahead and meet our teams now.

- I'm Curtis.

- And I'm Shawn.

- I'm from Sacramento, California.

- I'm from Nashville, Tennessee.

Both: We don't know each other.

We're Team Blue!

[upbeat music] Shawn: Hey!

Curtis: [laughing] Shawn: How's it goin'?

Curtis: Hey, what's goin' on, man?

Shawn: Just meeting, I think it's an advantage.

We have no grudges to hold us back.

- Right.

- And we're both dedicated to meeting each other's families.

Curtis: I mean, you put those two together, I don't see any way we can lose.

♪ I'm a part-time actor.

I like to work out, keep myself in shape.

- I like to do, uh, all kinds of things for the community.

I like to DJ whenever I have the opportunity.

Curtis: We're getting to know each other.

I don't see anything about him that'll get on my nerves or make me wanna kick, wanna kick him out the car.

Hopefully, uh, he feels the same way about me.

Both: [laughing] ♪ - I'm Jaime Laureano from Rochester, New York.

- And I'm Alex Gillett from Shepherdstown, West Virginia.

- We just met.

[record scratch] - Hey.

- Nice to meet ya.

And we're-- Both: Team Red!

[motors whirring] Alex: I'm 37 years old.

I'm into motorcycles.

I've been a lifelong musician.

I compose and write music, uh, I produce music.

- I'm 34 years old and live in Rochester, New York, with my beautiful wife, Stephanie, and our four-year-old daughter.

For the last ten years, I've been a digital data strategist.

♪ Meeting for the first time today, I think we have a clean slate; there's no history, we have nothing that we have to worry about.

Alex: I think some disadvantages are the same as the advantages, is that we don't know each other.

We don't know how each other tick, we don't know what's irking us, what's gonna frustrate us, or how we're gonna make our best selves perform.

Goin' on this show show is, honestly, sounds like fun to me.

♪ - I'm Jamie Cowart, and I'm 49 years old.

And I'm Jansen Cowart, and I'm 23 years old.

- We're from Glenwood, Arkansas-- Both: And we're Team Black!

[country music] Jamie: I grew up with a family of farmers.

Nowadays, I run the local nutrition store, J & J Nutrition, that I opened with my son.

Jansen: I'm a farm boy, construction worker, fitness trainer, and I have a passion for photography.

You could say I'm a jack of all trades.

Glenwood is a population of 2,228.

We're a real tight-knit community.

Jamie: I mean, Glenwood is tight.

I'm tellin' you, people will do anything for anybody.

♪ - I'm Scott Bradley.

I'm 46.

- I'm Hannah Bradley.

I'm 22.

We live in Knoxville, Tennessee-- Both: And we're Team Green!

♪ Scott: I'm married with two kids, and Hannah is my oldest.

I've worked in technology sales my entire life.

Hannah: I am a nurse tech.

I take care of patients and I watch over their hearts.

Scott: Yeah, we are short.

I mean, I'm 5' 3" on a good day.

- And I am 4' 11" on all days.

Yeah, we're definitely weird, I think so.

In like our own-- Scott: Quirky.

Hannah: Quirky.

Scott: Eccentric.

Hannah: Charming, Hannah: loving way.

Both: Look out for Team Green, 'cause we're gonna win!

Dan: All right, everybody, are you ready for this race?

All: Yeah!

Dan: Great, 'cause we're ready to go.

But before we get started, on a much more serious note, I need to tell you about a phone call that we received just last week.

It was from the biological family of Jamie Cowart.

They gave us a call and said that Jamie's biological father, which we had found, was rushed to the hospital, and unfortunately, he wasn't expected to make it, which meant obviously, if we waited for this race, Jamie and Jansen wouldn't have the opportunity, possibly, to meet their father and grandfather.

We sent them off to Indianapolis along with one of our film crews, and this is what happened.

[somber music] Jamie: I was preparing to go on Relative Race when I got the call from the show that my dad was in the hospital.

We had about three hours to go to the airport to get on a plane to go see my dad.

We're at the Lutheran Hospital here in Fort Wayne.

[sniffs] And, uh, we'll get to see my dad for the first time ever and know that it's my dad.

And it's not the best situation.

This is not how I expected this journey to begin.

Jansen: From what I understand, my grandfather has COPD and congestive heart failure, and, uh, he's been in declining health for the last ten years.

Jamie: He's not able to speak.

Uh, he may or may not know me.

He may not, he may or may not even know I'm there.

But...

I think with God's will, he'll know.

I do.

I think he'll know.

♪ ♪ Honestly, I thought, I've waited my whole life for a chance to find out who my dad was, and I was hopin' it would be more of a joyous occasion.

But, I mean, it's, it's an opportunity that I have to, to meet my dad.

In case anything happens, then at least I will be able to see him.

♪ Jansen: Amen.

♪ Dan: Jamie and Jansen, the very latest news is that he has almost miraculously come out of critical care, and we're hoping that he is still with us when you roll up to meet him on this race.

Jamie: We thank you, Dan, for everything y'all have done to help us in this situation.

Dan: All right, guys.

Good luck, and our prayers will be with you and with him.

♪ All right.

Last night, as you know, we got a jump on things, and we took all of your smartphones away.

Well, guess what?

We have replacement phones for you, and here they are.

Guys, go ahead and open 'em up and take a good look.

- [gasps] Alex: What?

Jaime: We got smartphones!

Hannah: Oh my goodness!

Scott: Wow.

Shawn: Hey, we can text on this.

[laughs] - I didn't expect that.

Jamie: [laughs] Shawn: When I found out that we were havin' smartphones for the first time, oh, so thrilled.

I am so thrilled to have a smartphone on the road.

Dan: Brand new smartphones.

Man: Yes.

Dan: Amazing, right?

Alex: This is awesome.

Dan: [laughingly] It is!

Wrong.

[record scratch] You see, we've disabled the ability to get the GPS, any Internet, or any apps whatsoever.

So sad.

Scott: We have a mobile device with no capabilities, which is fantastic.

- Yeah, I was a little let down when he told us.

It's gonna be old school again.

Dan: However, you wanna know the good news?

Curtis: Yes.

Dan: Those phones have really good cameras.

How many of you love to take really good photos?

Shawn: Oh, yeah.

Dan: Well, that's important.

You see, this season, it's not only about family, but we're also celebrating the beauty of America.

And over the next nine days, you will be documenting your journey by taking pictures with those smartphones.

And let me be clear: the photos you take may be the difference between staying in the race and being sent home.

Do I have your attention now?

All: Yes.

Dan: Good.

Let me explain.

This season, there are no more city selfies.

Shawn: What?

Dan: That's right.

Instead, each morning when I text you your destination, I'll also text you the subject of a photo that you must take throughout the day.

And then, you get to decide when you get 30 minutes, and here's the key, off the clock to take the best photo you can.

Once you do, you text it to me.

All: [mumbling in agreement] Dan: And then here's the kicker.

Every day, our Relative Race fans will vote on who they think took the best photo.

And why is this so important?

Because the winning photo each day will receive five minutes off your overall time.

All: [laughing] Jamie: Yeah, I like that, I like that.

- Five minutes is important, but to me, it's about personal pride, because I wanna win all of these pictures.

- This has just added a new, almost like a whole new level of stress.

- Well, guys, it gets real very quick, because the first subject for your first photo is right here: the state park that we're standing in, Chimney Rock.

- Wow.

- So, are you ready for Season 10?

All: Yeah!

Dan: Good, because your Relative Race starts... now!

Dan: Your Relative Race starts... now!

Jansen: Well, Dan says the magic words, "The race starts now."

- We get these little backpacks.

- And they were filled with all sorts of photography equipment, like lenses, tripods, lights.

We're ready for this challenge.

Hannah: We can go up this way, or we can go down that way.

- Ah, there's a map.

That's where we wanna go.

Curtis: The area we're gonna photograph is Lower Outcrop.

Shawn: And we know it's gonna be the perfect place to get the picture.

Alex: This state park is basically carved into the side of a mountain, and there are vistas and trails everywhere.

Jaime: We chose to walk to the waterfall so we wouldn't have to hike [laughingly] all of those stairs.

Jansen: I like this spot.

Jamie: Yeah, you can get the whole flag.

It's-- oh, it's flying, too.

Jansen: As we're going, we see this great view on the staircase.

I think this'll be the photo right here.

- Think so?

- Yeah.

[shutter clicks] Jamie: And you get the American flag in it.

I mean, it's awesome.

Curtis: I think we should go up higher.

Shawn: Yeah.

We realized the only way for us to go is up.

Curtis: These stairs and lower outcropping were brutal.

Shawn: Fun.

We'll just say they're fun, judging from our T-shirts.

Scott: Oh, these stairs and fat men are not a good thing.

Hannah: We see we can go up or down.

It being Chimney Rock, we first went up Chimney Rock.

The problem right now is the sun is in my face.

Scott: The Sun?

Hannah.

Hannah: I don't like that at all.

It was not a great place to take a photo.

- It was not a great place.

Jaime: The first thing I did is I'm trying to scope a shot.

[shutter click] Uh, I didn't get the shot.

Both: [laughing] [dramatic music] ♪ [shutter clicks] Hannah: We have 15 minutes left.

Scott: We have 15 minutes left.

We got five minutes to find our next shot and then that gives you ten minutes to edit what we have.

Curtis: Where you want it, right here?

Shawn: Uh, yeah, let's set it up there and then see... Jaime: That's it right-- yeah.

Come on, you've got it, bro.

♪ Alex: What you put in, you get out, so it's always get the best shot and then edit a little later.

Boom!

Dude, I got it.

Jaime: Let me see.

- I got it, one hundo.

- Show me.

- Look.

[shutter clicks] Jaime: That's gorgeous.

- In a desperate attempt to get as many photos as possible, I took one, and it ended up being a really pretty photo.

Yeah, we got it.

Scott: All right.

Hannah: We gotta edit.

I'm gonna go somewhere shady 'cause I can't see.

Scott: Get in the shade.

Alex: Let's see what else we can do to it.

Jaime: Alex gets it and does some editing magic.

Saturation, bring it down a little bit.

Jansen: My favorite ones are that one.

Jamie: I like that one.

- Flip it to black and white for me.

Look at that, how it pops.

Hannah: [groaning] Scott: Look at that!

Hannah: Ugh.

We started having a debate: color or black and white.

Dad was really confident, so I decided to trust my dad.

- Bam, it was ready to go, and we send it off to Dan.

Alex: What can I say?

I'm good at what I do.

Jamie: You think got it edited?

Jansen: Yeah.

I'm gonna send it.

Jamie: Send it.

Jansen: All right.

Sent.

♪ Shawn: We got, what, five minutes left?

Curtis: Yeah.

But I think more like two.

Shawn: Oh, okay.

We cut it so close.

Hey, what do you think about that?

Curtis: I like that.

Shawn: Okay.

Curtis: Okay.

Yeah, let's do that.

Shawn: Sweet.

Curtis: Send it in.

Shawn: I think we got it.

We sent that picture right when we got the deadline, but it's gonna be the best shot you're gonna see this week.

Curtis: All right.

I'm drivin'.

Shawn: Cool, yeah.

Let's do it.

Jamie: You gotta slow down, though.

Jansen: You gotta speed up.

Shawn: Oh, yeah, dude, look!

What is this?

Curtis: Open that card, man.

Shawn: Whoa.

Your first destination is St. Petersburg, Florida?

Holy cow!

- Amity, Arkansas?

- We literally like-- - We're goin' home!

[laughs] - We flew all the way out here to open this envelope that sends us eight miles from home.

Jamie: Yeah, and we gotta drive back!

Jansen: That's crazy.

Alex: Richmond, Virginia!

Oh!

My hometown, baby, my hometown.

Jaime: You know how to navigate, then, you know how to get there.

Alex: Absolutely.

Hannah and Scott: St. Louis, Missouri!

Hannah: What did I say?

Scott: All right!

[whoosh] Dan: All four teams have submitted their photos and are now on the road, racing to discover new family.

We'll find out later which photo you, our viewers, have voted to be the winner.

Each day, each team will be given a different allotted time to navigate to their city and complete a common challenge in order to receive their relative's address.

Their clock stops once they find their family.

The team that goes over their allotted time the most each day will receive a strike.

Three strikes, and you're out of the race.

Are you ready?

This is the tenth anniversary of Relative Race.

♪ Scott: I'm gonna have to find a map here.

Jaime: So we are... [paper crinkling] There.

Jansen: What part of Arkansas do we wanna come in to?

Wanna go through Memphis?

Jamie: I don't know.

Shawn: I think our best shot, actually, is going to be from Asheville to Atlanta.

Dan: Team Blue, Shawn and Curtis, may have just met for the first time, but they're quickly getting to know each other on the long drive to St. Petersburg, Florida.

They have an allotted time of 9 hours and 56 minutes.

[mock Jeopardy theme] Jamie: Where do you think you're going today, Alex, for $400?

- I literally thought we were gonna go somewhere besides home.

- Ah, anywhere but Arkansas?

[buzzer] Dan: Oh!

Unfortunately, the correct answer was, Team Black is heading to Amity, Arkansas, with an allotted time of 11 hours and 51 minutes.

[phone alert chimes] Scott: Uh oh.

- Oh, there's that one?

Scott: We've got some messages.

- What are they?

Oh, that's so exciting!

Scott: Uh, Red Team says, "We're heading out of the Apalayshun Mountains!"

Spelled out Appalachian that it sounds.

- A-P-A-L-A-Y-S-H-U-N. - You butchered that one!

Both: [laughing] - And on purpose!

- I wanna make this loud and clear to the Red Team.

That is not how you say it.

[pronouncing] Appalachia.

Ae're gonna throw an apple at'cha.

- [laughs] I think Green Team disliked our message.

She goes, "I'm throwing an apple at y'all.

Boom!"

She threw six apples at us with an emoji face.

Dan: Team Green is leaving their Appalachia mountains on the way to St. Louis, Missouri, with an allotted time of 9 hours and 37 minutes.

And avoiding Appalachia is Team Red.

They're heading to Richmond, Virginia, with an allotted time of 6 hours and 6 minutes.

Jamie: We're fixin' to meet somebody that there's a good chance that we already know 'em.

Wow.

In three hours, I'm gonna meet my family.

When I was three years old, my mother, Renee Cowart, was killed in an automobile accident by two people that were drag racing.

I was young, I didn't know really what was goin' on, I couldn't understand why Momma was not comin' home.

I do remember that.

My grandma and grandpa took me in, and they raised me as their own because my mother never told anyone who my real dad was.

And by her not telling anyone, nobody ever knew.

It's come to that point in my life, I would like to know who my real dad is.

I wanna know if I've got brothers, I wanna know if I've got sisters.

I wanna know that side of my family.

If they're out there, I wanna know who they are.

♪ Jansen: It would be amazing to know who else is out there, I mean, obviously there's somebody out there that I've never met.

I just wanna know my lineage, I wanna know where I'm from.

- I want Jansen to be able to find out if he's got more cousins that he could spend time with, I mean aunts, uncles, would mean everything.

Complete my life.

♪ Curtis: I see God's hand in bringing Shawn and I together, because how else could this have happened?

Out of all the people that could go on this journey, we end up together.

There's a reason for that.

♪ I was adopted when I was eight months old.

There's no information about my birth father.

My birth mother, I do have some information about her.

Even though I had a great life, great adopted parents, that sense of not knowing exactly where you belong or where you came from has been something that has really tugged at me, so it has created barriers there because when it comes down to it, in the back of my mind I've always been alone.

I think this experience will give me those answers that have caused me to be distant in my relationships.

♪ Shawn: I'm looking to find any sort of relative that I might have.

I was born positive for HIV, and, you know, for that to happen, I can only assume that my mother was also positive for HIV.

I wanna know what happened with her and I wanna know about the rest of my family, if they are healthy and living great lives.

I grew up with my adopted family and seeing all their connections, and seeing how much they were loved and cared for and I always wondered, you know, is there anything like that for me?

I was born with HIV, but even still in my day-to-day life it gets taxing, you know, it's hard to open up with something so intimate.

I got to the point where I decided that if I can't hold on to the few relationships that I had had at that point, that I didn't want to continue holding on to the relationship I had with life, and I tried to commit suicide.

And it wasn't until the next day that I came to and realized I don't want to be unhappy like this.

My whole life I thought I was alone, I've always wanted to have a blood connection, especially because I've always felt that my blood wasn't quite enough.

♪ Scott: I've always known that I was adopted ever since I was a little kid, my mom and dad always told me, of all the kids in all the world they could have, they chose me.

Mom told me that my biological mother was, um, a young girl, like 16 years old.

Other than that, there wasn't much more information that was known that was given to them.

Recently, I was able to get my unaltered birth certificate, and I found for the first time the name of my biological mother, it was listed.

My biological mother's name is Patricia Ann Mersch.

♪ Hannah: I really wanna meet my biological grandmother.

When teen pregnancies are already kind of taboo, I feel like what she did took, like, so much strength.

I feel like getting to know our biological family is going to be like closing a chapter, like, and closing the book, and we don't have to wonder anymore.

♪ Alex: To go on this show with somebody who's in a similar situation with me, it's interesting.

Getting to understand where he's from and what he's looking for while at the same time being able to share mine I think helps us kind of come together.

Jaime: I grew up in New York City.

My father, I remember, was a pretty prominent leader of the Latin Kings in New York City, and my mother was struggling with his drug addiction and her own, and trying to raise, it was four kids.

I was five.

I remember my mother was running through the subway in the dead of winter and had to go do something, so left us unsupervised in the subway station.

We then got picked up by the police and we got put into the foster care system.

We went from having, you know, a mom and dad, even though they weren't the best, the very present, to being completely alone.

As a child, I knew how lucky I was we were all adopted by the same family.

There's two sides to every story, so I would like to know from my mother's mouth, in her own words, what her story is and who she is.

♪ Alex: I'm going on this journey because I have a certain flavor of weirdness that I've never met in anybody else.

I was adopted at 18 months old by Pam and Ted Gillette.

My adopted family, as much as I love them and am incredibly grateful for them giving me the life that I have, haven't quite been able to understand exactly who I am or how I feel, and it can be very frustrating.

I've always kind of been a mama's boy.

I would like to meet my biological mother, because in the first 18 months of my life, as I understand it, she was actively making visitations.

I wanna know everything.

I'm nosy, I'm curious, and I wanna know their story.

Dan: After a long day of driving... Alex: Oh, look!

There's Richmond.

- Richmond, Virginia, we've arrived!

- All right!

Dan: Our teams approach their destination cities... Jansen: Coming into Amity right now.

- This is crazy, we made it.

- Holy cow.

Dan: Eager to find out where their relatives live.

[phone dings] Jaime: We got a text from Dan.

- Oh yeah?

- Yeah.

- What's it say?

Shawn: Dan says, "Welcome to St. Petersburg, Florida."

- "Your relative is at--" - "1829--" - "Treemont Circle."

- You know where that is?

- No idea, no clue.

Being that I grew up here, I thought I knew where to go.

Turns out, I have no clue.

- So it's on Highway 70.

Didn't need a map, 'cause I mean, that's where I was born!

Jansen: Never thought we'd be on a scavenger hunt here at home.

- Literally!

I went to school five miles from here!

- Wow, yeah, this is uh...

This is crazy.

- Is there anybody outside?

Ooh!

There's a guy over there!

Scott: There's one right there, yep!

- Do you know where Grayland Ave is?

- We stopped and asked for directions, but nobody could finger or point exactly where it was.

- All right.

- Thank you!

- She said just up that way on the left.

- We need to see some mailboxes.

Jansen: Yeah.

Shawn: Al right, I think we should take a right.

- Do any of you know where Grayland Avenue is?

Scott: Treemont!

Hannah: Treemont Circle!

Scott: Treemont Circle, there it is.

Hannah: Okay.

- Perfect.

Both: Thank you.

Curtis: Oh, there's 28 Avenue right there.

- Oh, yeah okay.

- Right here?

Jamie: Yep.

- Why are we going to the school?

Jamie: The school is our location.

Jansen: What?

Scott: It's gotta be one of these around here.

Alex: 1839, we got... - 29 right there.

- 29.

Shawn: Right there.

- Yep, right there.

- 8010, right there.

- 8010, oh!

Scott: Here it is.

[suspenseful music] Jamie: This is, this is where we went to school!

This is where you went to school.

[sighs] - There's some-- what?

- We pulled up and it's the school and I'm like, who could it be?

- Is it one of the teachers?

Think about the people who teach here.

Well, we pull up to the front door, and from the car we actually can see the, uh, the sign on the door, and so we open the door and we're trying to remember where classroom number eight is.

We're almost to Miss Turner's classroom.

Jamie: Miss Turner as in-- Jansen: My third grade teacher, Miss Turner.

- Gwen Turner?

- Yeah, oh, it's gotta be, yeah, it was this classroom.

That was Gwen Turner's classroom.

- Are you serious?

- Yeah.

And as we're walking down this hallway I realize, this is my third grade teacher's room.

[both chuckle] [knocking] - Come in.

[door creaking] Hey... Jansen: I know you.

Miss Turner: How are you?

Jansen: You're my third grade teacher.

Gwen: That's right.

Hey Jamie, you remember me.

Hi, baby boy.

I love you, this is my baby.

- You had no clue?

How are we related?

- Well, Jamie, I'm your father's first cousin.

This is my baby.

Jamie: [crying] - It's good to see you.

I'm Gwen Turner, and I'm Jamie and Jansen Cowart's third grade teacher.

I was very anxious to let them know that we were family.

That we're cousins.

Good to see you.

Jansen, that's my other third grade baby.

Jansen: That's crazy.

My third grade teacher.

- You're my cousin too!

Jamie: Family the whole time!

- The whole time.

- It was amazing, I mean, I'm happy!

I am very excited because now I have someone that I can relate to on my dad's side of the family, and it just-- it meant the world to me.

How long have you known?

- I really didn't until tests were run, and then it was confirmed, but um, no Jamie, I haven't known.

It felt miraculous, it's just amazing to be able to realize that your family finally is coming together.

- I mean, we've always been-- Gwen: We grew up together, yeah, yeah.

Do y'all wanna have a seat?

Jansen: Yeah, sure.

♪ - Bro, I love you!

[patting] ♪ Alex: As I was walking up to the doorstep, I see a gentleman standing up there waiting for us.

I was, uh, I didn't know what to think, honestly.

I looked at Jaime, he looked at me, but seeing as how we're where I grew up, I had a feeling that he was gonna be related to me.

Hello!

Man: How are you doin'?

I'm Mick Lockhart.

- I'm Alex Gillette!

- I'm Jaime Mariano.

- Nice to meet you.

- Which one of us are you related to?

Me!

All right.

- You're my dad?

- Oh, what!

Alex: No way!

Oh, man, that's so crazy.

Oh.

♪ Mick: Today I met the son I didn't know I had for the first time, and it was amazing.

Alex: It's so good to meet you.

Mick: Same here.

[sighs] All: [chuckles] Oh, man, oh, wow.

I was not expecting to meet you.

- On the first day, that's nuts!

That's insane!

- That's crazy.

- Well, trust me, I didn't know anything about you.

- Really?

- 'Til about a month ago.

- Really?

- Yeah.

- No idea, huh?

- Nope.

- Oh, well, I hope I'm not too disappointing.

[laughing] - No, trust me, you're not.

- Today I met my biological father.

It's--i's a big shock to the system, something that I feel like there is a little bit of a weight off of my shoulders as far as the wondering of who I am and where I come from.

Like I said, I've got more of that puzzle piece to put together, and uh, it was kind of a sigh of relief, honestly.

- Well, since I found out, found out you was put up for adoption at eighteen months... - Yes, sir.

- If I'd have knew, I'd have raised you.

- All right, well, I had a great life, I was put in a great place, so.

- Well, that's good.

- Yes, sir, absolutely.

But I appreciate that thought.

- Absolutely ecstatic for my buddy Alex, my real dog.

To on the first day, to meet his biological father.

- Yeah.

- So, that's pretty amazing.

- That is pretty amazing.

I can't wait to hear all about your life, I can't wait to tell you about mine.

- Absolutely, it's good to meet you.

♪ - I've been fine this whole time until we pulled up to somebody's house.

Because it's somebody, it's not just like a, something in like, in my head.

Like, it's somebody.

Scott: It's somebody, that we are related to.

- It sure is.

I immediately got emotional when I pulled up to the house, these are real people with real lives, and it was really emotional.

Ugh, all right, I'm ready.

[sniffling] Oh, my goodness gracious.

♪ Woman 1: Hi, how are you?

Hannah: Good!

- Hey!

- I'm Scott Bradley, this is my daughter Hannah.

- Scott.

- I'm Chris.

- I'm Joe.

- Hi Joe, how are you related to us?

- I am your great uncle.

- And I'm your cousin on your mom's side.

Both: Wow!

Chris: So nice to meet you!

Joe: Nice seeing ya.

Hannah, how you doin', honey?

Hannah: Good, how are you?

Joe: Nice seeing ya!

- Nice to see you!

Scott: When I saw Joe, he had his daughter with him in the same way that Hannah supports me.

I just about lost it.

Joe: I got emotional seeing them for the first time and knowing what it meant for them.

Just was wonderful.

- That was a little nervous, I'm sure.

Hannah: Oh, yeah, I was so fine, and then he, aww.

Chris: It's okay.

Joe: You're all right.

- Oh.

Oh, it's really good to meet you guys.

Chris: You, too.

We can't wait to hear more about ya'.

Hannah: It made me emotional because they cared as much as we did, and that's all I could ever have asked for.

Scott: This is awesome, so it's like, a-- Joe: That's good.

- Exciting.

Scott: Like I said, when I walked up and saw y'all's noses, I'm like... Oh, gah, that's where they come from!

Joe: [laughs] Chris: Um, yeah.

The noses are definitely a thing in our family.

All: [laugh] Joe: Yeah, yeah.

Scott: Joe and Chris are the first biological family members I've ever met, so it's just, um... it was mind-blowing.

It was very mind-blowing.

Chris: Do you guys wanna go inside?

Hannah: Yeah, sure.

Scott: Absolutely.

Hannah: Of course, yeah.

Joe: Thank you.

Come on inside.

Welcome.

♪ Shawn: Okay.

When we pulled up, [sighs] It was like a wave of emotions hit me.

Like, all these thoughts were going through my mind, like, that woman on the porch, who could she be?

Um, but I, I saw her smile, and I, I recognized that.

It was the first time I've actually seen something that I felt like I have, and... it was, it was so comforting to just see that smile.

- Hello.

Shawn: Hi.

Curtis: Hello.

- Hi.

Shawn: Uh, my name's Shawn.

Woman 2: Hi.

- And this is Curtis.

- Heidi.

Curtis: Nice to meet you, Heidi.

Shawn: Hi, Heidi.

- Hi, nice to meet you.

Shawn: Um, so, would it be safe to assume that we're related.

Heidi: Yes, we are.

- Oh, really?

Heidi: Yes.

- Um, how are we related?

- You mother was my sister, so I'm your aunt.

- [shuddering sigh] Can I hug you?

Heidi: Yes, of course.

Shawn: It's so nice to meet you.

- Nice to meet you, too.

Shawn: Hi.

I... hi.

[chuckles] Hi, ho-- Heidi: My name is Heidi Hall, and I am Shawn's aunt.

Seeing Shawn's face for the first time, I was excited for him.

I was excited that he actually found family.

It was important to him.

Heidi: How was your trip?

Shawn: It was, it was good.

It was long, yeah, it was, it was, it was really long, but it was, we made really good time.

- Good.

Shawn: And, and it was, it was so worth it.

Curtis: It was good.

Shawn: Yeah.

- Yeah, it was really good.

Shawn: I just... never, never-never thought that the day would come that I would meet anybody that knew who my mom was, and, uh, that was, i-it just, it was such a blessing.

- I didn't even know you existed.

Shawn: I, I, I didn't even know you existed.

I, I only knew about, um, my mother, Wanda, and, uh...

Uh, I think her grandma.

For decades, I've, I've just felt so alone, um, just really, just... so isolated, but meeting my Aunt Heidi today... [sighs] It felt so good.

Heidi: So you guys would like to come on inside?

Shawn: Uh, yeah, yeah.

Curtis: That would be great.

[tender piano music] ♪ Dan: For Team Red, the race has taken a back seat as Alex sits down with his father for the very first time.

Alex: So, been a long time comin'.

Mick: Yep.

- Thirty-seven years.

I've been waitin', and, uh, apparently, you knew nothing about me, huh?

- Nope.

Alex: Really?

- Not a thing.

Alex: It's a big shock, wasn't it.

Mick: Uh, yeah, say the least.

Alex: Uh, say the least.

Well, when I heard that, uh, Mick had never known about me, th-that's sad to me, honestly, but I'm, you know, definitely looking forward to a relationship in the future, absolutely.

I'm excited to, I'm excited to find more, find out more about ya and see where, uh, where you and I intersect on our interests and, and lives and things like that.

Mick: Course.

In my earlier days I, I liked motorcycles.

I had a '76 Sportster.

- [laughs] That's actually funny you say that 'cause I had an '84 Sportster that I had bought, uh, in Nashville, and it's something I like a lot.

It's been a part of my life, uh, I've always been drawn to.

My dad had a motorcycle.

Riding motorcycles is, is, uh, something that's not easily described to people.

So, it's, there's a connection.

There's a reason why motorcyclists wave at each other when they're riding down the road, so, pretty cool, but, the fact that he and I are very similar is even cooler.

Yeah, I've, I've been nervous, uh, this whole ride here, I mean, uh, Jaime here, like, he, he knows, or you know, he did some growing up with the people that he's trying to find, and, my entire life, I've never, I've never known anything but just what I've been told.

Mick: Right.

- So, what do you know, what can you, what can you tell me about my mom?

- I honestly don't remember anything about her.

I wish I could tell you more.

I can't.

Alex: Yeah.

No, I get it.

I understand.

- I do hope you get a chance to meet her some day.

- I hope so, too.

Mick: Yeah.

- Yeah.

Mick: Who's younger than you.

- Younger than me?

- Yeah.

- Okay.

I got a little brother, bro.

I got a little brother!

That's crazy.

So do you have any pictures of him?

Anything I can see?

Oh, wow.

Oh, wow!

That is so cool.

Look at that bike.

That's rad.

And that's you and him?

Mick: Mm-hm.

- Oh, wow, that's so-- Mick: I pretty much raised him, but I, you know, I had a little help here and there.

Alex: Mm-hm.

Mick: But I pretty much raised him.

Alex: It was cool to see my dad as a young man because we look very much alike, but what really got me the most was seeing that... he was being a dad to Michael, um, and, uh, that means, that means a lot to me.

If I had been kept in his life, he would've taken really good care of me.

Thank you, Mick.

It's really good to know you.

Mick: Same here.

♪ - So, Heidi, uh...

I never knew I had an aunt.

Heidi: Yeah.

- This is, this is so wild.

I sat down my aunt Heidi, and I'm nervous.

Uh, I'm also excited because she's gonna be able to tell me everything about my mother.

So, do you have any, any pictures-- Heidi: I do.

- Of the family?

Heidi: I do.

So, I have a couple.

This is her.

Um, your mother.

Shawn: [sniffs] Heidi: She woulda been about 18 in that picture.

Mm-hm.

She's not wearing her glasses, but that woulda been her.

Around that time.

♪ Shawn: [sobs] [shuddering breathing] I for-- Heidi: Oh.

[chuckles] - So this is, like, really... - Mm-hm.

Shawn: Thank you.

- Mm-hm.

Shawn: [sighs] It's so nice to be able to see her face again.

Heidi: [chuckles] - [sighs] My Aunt Heidi, um, was talkin' to me, and...

I, I had all these ideas about my mother, but, you know, when I was talkin' to my aunt, that changed my whole narrative.

- Your mother was my half-sister.

So there were only two of us, and, um, I grew up with, um, your mother, up north until I was 11 and she was 10.

After the age of 11, your mother was given to the state.

My mother gave her up for adoption.

- Wow.

Heidi: Your mother had some, uh, behavior problems, some aggressive tendencies.

I don't know 'cause I was a child, so I don't know exactly the situation, but I do know that my mother just had a very difficult time, and, at one point, they decided to give her to the state.

Shawn: It, it really put things into perspective for me.

Um, I, I was diagnosed with depression, um, at a young age, and when that happened, I couldn't understand why it was harder for me to, to be normal, and, and hearing, hearing my, my aunt talk about my mom really shared some light about the struggles that I have endured.

I see a lot of similarities between the story that you're telling me about her and, and myself, too, um... [sniffs] [sobs] I was so alone for so long.

Heidi: Mm-hm.

- And I definitely, I can relate to what you're, just your perspective of, you know, what you figured that Wanda was going through, like, I... Heidi: Mm-hm.

- Just hearing it, like, just makes me feel like, well, I guess that's where all of this... Heidi: Just kinda puts some of those puzzle pieces together.

- Yeah.

Heidi: Yeah.

My first impression of Shawn is, um, he's been through a lot.

And I think that, um, he's still going through a lot, and I think it's just gonna take him some time to heal and get to know more family and get to know us, and I think, it, it's just, he's still going through a lot.

I think it's just gonna be time.

Shawn: When I grew up, I just, I kind of internalized it and, and thought it was my fault, you know?

My fault that she gave me up, and, maybe I was bad, er, or-- Heidi: No.

No, no, no, no, no.

Shawn: She just didn't like me, or-- - She was, she was sick.

Shawn: Yeah.

- She was very sick.

Um, she had AIDS.

Shawn: Yeah.

Heidi: I don't know how she got it, and, and, 'cause this was a long time ago, I don't know if she's still alive.

Shawn: Yeah.

Heidi: Because of that.

- Yeah.

Heidi: So, um... Yeah, so it wasn't your fault.

I feel like it was probably more her being sick and wanting a safe place for you.

Shawn: Yeah.

Heidi: And then, then she was gone.

- Wow.

I mean, I would be heartbroken, you know, if my mother, if she was a Jane Doe, but... if she has passed, um, I would hope that there was some reprieve from... the battle that she had to fight every day.

[somber piano in ritardando] [hopeful acoustic guitar and piano] Chris: So, I'm sure you guys have lots of questions about family, or-- Scott: I, I— I found out Patricia Mersch's name as my biological mother... Joe: Mm-hm.

Chris: Mm-hm.

- Just on kind of an accident.

I already knew my biological mother's name before starting this journey, but there's so much about my biological mother, Patricia, that I don't know, and I'm hoping that Chris and Joe have some answers.

Joe: Patricia Mersch.

- Yeah.

Joe: My niece.

- Wow.

Joe: We don't call her Patricia, though.

- Really?

- What do y'all call her?

- We call her Ladybug.

- Ladybug!

That's super cute.

Joe: Ladybug.

And she's little, like a Ladybug.

Scott: Really?

Hannah: Is she?

How tall is she?

Joe: She's... Chris: Not much taller than you.

Joe: Not much taller than you.

Hannah: I'm 4-- I'm 4'11".

Chris: Oh, she might be less.

- Really?

Joe: Yeah, she's small.

Chris: She's a tiny thing.

Joe: Tiny, petite, yeah.

Chris: Yeah, she's petite.

- Is, uh, is she alive?

Chris: Yes, your mom's alive.

Joe: She's alive and well.

Very healthy.

Chris: Very, very good.

- Hearing that my biological mother is alive, it gives me hope that we'll get to meet her on this journey.

Has she ever wondered what happened to me?

- Yeah, has, has there ever been-- Joe: Yes, yes she has, she, she was... t-tryin' to do some research and stuff, and she always ran into dead ends.

- Wow.

Many of the questions I have about my biological mother, I was getting answers that I had been wondering about.

Chris: Would you like to see some pictures of... - Yes.

- Absolutely.

- Baby Pat.

This is, this is your mom when she was a baby.

This is Patricia, Ladybug.

Scott: Oh, I, I definitely see the resemblance.

It's incredible.

Seeing my biological mother's baby pictures, it was, it was just a lot to process, it really was.

I saw so much of my baby pictures in her baby pictures.

I can't thank you guys enough for what you all have done today.

Joe: It's our pleasure, Scott.

[soft piano chord] ♪ Jamie: We sat down with Gwen in her old classroom.

I mean, it was just one of those things that, all that time that she was my teacher, I had no clue that we were that closely related.

Gwen: When we talked together, it was very special, and so glad that Jamie's finally finding the answers that he's been looking for.

We've had a lot of family pass through these doors over the years, and I'd like to show you some pictures down the hall.

Jamie: Sounds great.

Gwen: All righty.

Jamie: Let's go!

So we, we take a little stroll down memory lane, uh, but then we get to an area where they have all the graduating classes from Kirby.

Gwen: Got a few pictures to show you.

Jamie: Okay.

Gwen: And look who we have here.

Jamie: There's Momma.

Gwen: There's your Momma.

- And look at that, Jansen.

Gwen: Look how beautiful.

Jamie: There's Momma.

Gwen: She had beautiful, dark eyes, just like you.

Beautiful.

Jamie: Lookin' at that picture hangin' in the school is, to me is, is amazing.

Um, because... her graduation picture is the only picture that I have, and, I mean, it just, it means the world to me.

Gwen: Well, that's a good picture.

That's a great one to have.

Jamie: It is.

Gwen: I have one other picture I'd like to show you.

Jamie: Okay.

Gwen: Then I flipped to the last picture I showed him, and Jamie and Jansen, they were just in awe.

This picture is your dad, right there.

♪ Billy J. Billy Jack Foshee.

♪ So you... - Wow.

- ...you have Foshee blood in you.

Jansen: I had F-Foshees in my class.

Gwen: Yes, you probably did.

- One in your cl-- Jansen: Well, I learned today that my grandfather's last name is Foshee.

I-I've known people my whole life with that last name, so I know people that are probably related to me that I've never known were related to me all around me.

- I don't know if you know.

He's sick.

- I know.

I have to tell you that he's better, he really is, and he's home.

- He is home?

Gwen: He's home.

- Good.

Gwen: Yes.

- I mean, they called last week and got us up there, and, uh, he was unconscious.

He couldn't talk to us.

I think he knew we was there because he would squeeze our hand, and... Gwen: Exactly.

Jamie: ...and, I don't know.

I don't know, I've got so many questions I've got I want answered, and, maybe we'll get some of them answered the next few weeks.

Jansen: Mm-hm.

- Billy Jack Foshee.

Gwen: I think Jansen and Jamie will be very surprised with the familiar faces that they're gonna meet on this journey.

Jamie: I've always had that burden wantin' to know.

I mean, I've wanted to know, and today, knowin' that my dad, my mom, and me, we all graduated from here, I got the answer.

It's forever changed my life.

[emotional ending chord] ♪ Dan: After an emotional day full of new relatives, our teams nervously wait for the results.

Alex: [sighs] I am very nervous about the call tonight.

Scott: I just, I don't feel like we were fast enough.

Jansen: There's a possibility we're not gonna be first.

- Right.

Jansen: But, I don't believe we're gonna be last.

Curtis: Uh, I thought your navigation was great.

I'm feelin' pretty confident for the call tonight.

♪ [click] Dan: So fun to see four new teams on this tenth anniversary of Relative Race, and here we are, wrapping up Day 1.

Curtis and Shawn, how was it being cooped up in a little car for hours on end?

- Well, for me, it was fine 'cause I love driving, so, it was good for me.

- Oh, yeah, no, I definitely enjoyed it, and, uh, I wouldn't have wanted to go on this trip with anybody else.

Dan: That's quite the compliment.

We'll see how you feel five days from now.

Curtis: That is true.

Scott and Jaime: [laugh] Dan: Team Black, you finished your photo, you hop in the car, you tear open the envelope, and I want you to tell the other teams where you were headed and what your reaction was.

- When we got in the car and opened our envelope, we found out we was headed home, right back to where we had just flown from.

Alex: Oh, wow.

- Wow.

Hannah: I'm starting to wonder since they went back to their hometown if they're just gonna meet, like, people that they've known their whole life and just find out that they've been related this whole time!

- I mean, how funny is that gonna be?

Dan: Team Green, you were headed back to the place that you were born, Scott.

Who did you meet?

Scott: I got a chance to meet my great-uncle and my cousin.

Joe and his daughter, Chris.

Um, I mean, for myself, I just, it's hard to put into words what I was feeling, but the first thing I noticed was the Schnurbusch nose, and I finally saw the nose I see when I look in the mirror on someone else's face.

- Team Blue.

Whose relative was it, and what was your reaction?

Shawn: Well, guys, uh, I was blessed to have met my aunt, Heidi!

And, uh, she's my, my birth mother's sister, um, and so, yeah, I got to meet my aunt for the very first time.

Um, and it's just so amazing to see her.

Dan: Let's turn our attention to Team Black, Jamie and Jansen.

- Well, today, Dan, we got the opportunity to meet... my third grade teacher and Jansen's third grade teacher, who we found out is our cousin.

- What?

Jansen: Yeah.

Jamie: Yes.

Yes.

- She is your cousin?

Jamie: Neither one of us knew this until this.

Until Relative Race.

Alex: Gettin' to meet their third grade teacher, that was crazy.

The fact that they both had the same teacher, and it turned out to be their cousin?!

- How serendipitous, like, the world is so small.

- It was crazy, crazy how that worked out.

- Were they good students?

- They were awesome.

Both of 'em were really good kids.

- Well, guys, again, what a great surprise, but I think the best surprise might be sitting here with Team Red, Alex and Jaime.

- Uh...

I, today, got to meet my biological father.

- All right.

- That's amazing.

Alex: Yeah.

Ladies and gents, this is Mick.

Say hello, Mick.

Mick: Hello, guys.

Jamie: Hey!

Alex: So, turns out, Mick knew nothing about me.

He had no idea I existed until about a month ago, and so, we got a chance to chat, and it turns out, I also have a little brother.

- It's only Day 1, guys, and it's only gonna get better.

Well, now it gets incredibly real because now, we find out what your times were for the day.

Who finishes in first, and who picks up the first strike of this race?

[dramatic music] Finishing 15 minutes over their allotted time and finishing in first place, for the time being, Shawn and Curtis, congratulations Team Blue.

Shawn: Ho ho!

Curtis: Told you.

Both: [laugh] Jaime: Congratulations.

- Wow.

Jaime: Great job, guys.

Jamie: Congratulations.

Shawn: Thank you, thank you.

Dan: Finishing 19 minutes over their allotted time, just 4 minutes behind Team Blue...

Team Red, you had a really good day, overall.

Congratulations.

Jaime: Oh, great!

I knew it, I knew it.

Alex: All right.

- Fantastic.

- Thanks, Mick.

Jansen: Good job, guys.

- Oh, thank you.

Dan: Team Green, Team Black.

You were headed to familiar territory, but you also had your struggles.

One of you finished 32 minutes over your allotted time; the other one finished 56 minutes over their allotted time.

[driving drum beat] Finishing in third place, 32 minutes over their allotted time and safe on this day... [techno descending slide] ...are the cowboys.

Congratulations to the Cowarts.

- Yes.

Jamie: Whew!

Dan: That means Team Green, finishing 56 minutes over your allotted time, you'll need to be better tomorrow because you have picked up your first strike of the race.

However, there's a daily photo contest that the fans vote on.

Remember what's at stake?

5 minutes off your allotted time.

It's now time to take a look at the photos.

The first subject for your first photo?

Chimney Rock.

These are the photos that you submitted that the fans have reviewed and voted on.

Jansen: No, no, yeah, that's a good photo.

- It's awesome.

♪ Dan: This is Team Green's.

Curtis: Ooo, wow.

Scott: Oh, wow.

Dan: Team Blue.

Alex: That's beautiful.

Dan: Team Black.

Talk about the quintessential look at chimney rock.

Finally, Team Red.

Jansen: Wow.

Dan: Beautiful photos by all, but it's really not what we think.

It matters who the fans voted for, and on this day, it was the difference.

The fans voted Team Red as the winning photograph; that means, Team Red, you move from second place to first.

Team Green, you still have that strike.

And so, Team Red, with that win, you also pick up the first-place benefit, which is to penalize the other three teams in tomorrow's challenge.

♪ What a great way to start.

Guys, get some good rest.

I'm excited to see you tomorrow night on Day 2 of Relative Race.

Jamie: See y'all.

- All right, see you guys, see you tomorrow!

♪