[rock music] Dan: It's an all-new season of Relative Race.

And all across the country, four new teams have submitted their DNA in hopes of finding family.

♪ And it all starts right here, right now, in Nashville, Tennessee.

[boom] ♪ When you think of Nashville, you gotta think of the Country Music Hall of Fame, certainly the Tennessee Titans, and of course, food.

And this season, we're serving up food and family to our four newest Relative Race teams.

Woman: C'mon, C'mon, C'mon!

Dan: They'll all come away with newfound family.

But only one team will win the $50,000 and become our new champions.

Welcome to an all-new season of Relative Race!

♪ DNA tells us who we are and where we came from.

Following their own DNA, four teams are racing... - Love you!

- Pedal to the medal.

Dan: ...to win $50,000... - Go, go!

Dan: ...and to find their family.

[knocking] Singer: ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh!

♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh!

♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh!

♪ ♪ [pump-up music] Air traffic controller: Cirrus traffic.

Cirrus 4-2 Tango is taxiing runway 2-0.

♪ Pilot: Copying, Helicopter 189er flight of two, left base final going to be clearing taxiway 2-0 to the east.

Controller 2: Relative Race is clear for takeoff.

Over.

♪ [blades whirring] Pilot: Helicopter 189er, flight of two.

We're about, uh, three miles to the east at 1,100, about to land.

♪ - Haha!

♪ Christine: I did not think we were gonna start this Relative Race journey in a helicopter.

- Nope.

- It was awesome!

- It was awesome.

- We came in like Rambo.

Look, there's downtown Nashville, darling.

♪ Steve: We got off the helicopter.

We're noticin' all this fruit.

And all the other teams are standing around and we're like, what is up with all this fruit?

♪ Susan: I'm looking at the other teams, kinda sizin' them up, and we were like, umm... - Okay.

- Here I g-- we're goin'!

Here we go!

- It was really epic.

Oh my gosh.

This is so cool.

Pam: I, I mean, I was ready to go.

I wanted to win.

♪ - Welcome, teams.

This morning, you had a unique bird's eye view as you came in to Nashville, but I wonder... did you work up an appetite?

Christine: Absolutely.

Amauni: Sure.

Steve: Yeah.

- That's good.

Because this season, we discovered unique ways to combine family and food.

And it all starts right now.

Christine: I saw all kinds of fruit, a mallet, stuff on the table.

I wasn't sure what was gonna happen.

I was thinking, like, ultimate eating fruit competition.

♪ - Before you can hit the road in an effort to find your family, you're gonna need two things: the keys to your cars and a freshly squeezed glass of juice.

And that's where your first challenge comes in.

♪ Your first challenge is to use these wooden mallets and this pile of fruits and vegetables to pound out two glasses of juice!

Consider it your morning smoothie.

[pouring] Once you drink the juice, come to me and I'll give you the keys to your car, and you can hit the road on a race unlike any other.

Amauni: We're going to be smashing the fruit.

Jarrell: With a mallet.

A big old Thor mallet, just... [grunt] [bang] - What have we gotten ourselves into?

What is this?

Dan: Oh, and one more thing.

The team that comes in first place today... gets to penalize one of the other teams in tomorrow's challenge.

Steve: Oh-oh-oh!

Dan: So I ask you, are you ready?

All: Yeah!

Dan: Good.

Because your Relative Race starts... right now!

♪ Susan: Scooch over, scooch over.

Kaleigh: Oh my gosh!

♪ Susan: Let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go!

Dan: And it's Team Green off first for fruits and vegetables.

Kaleigh: Come on, let's go, let's go, let's go!

- Here comes Team Blue.

♪ Susan: Our strategy right off the gate was he's gonna go grab watermelons and I'm gonna grab grapes.

Steve: Juicy stuff.

- Juicy stuff.

Kaleigh: Get the tomatoes.

JT: I got three, come on, whatever you get.

Yeah, whatever you get!

Kaleigh: We are definitely thinking watermelons.

We're gonna grab all the watermelons that we can.

We got it, we got it.

Christine: We see watermelons, pineapples, bananas, apples, oranges-- Pam: Grapes!

Christine: Grapes!

- Oh, my.

- [laughing] Oh, my.

Come on!

- Everything on the table.

Steve: I want them under this.

JT: All right, watch out.

[smash] ♪ [smash] Susan: Hurry, hurry.

Go, baby, go!

Go!

[smashing] ♪ [oozing] [smash] Steve: You had to smash your fruit as hard as you could so that it hit all the walls and then drain into your cups and fill it up.

Jarrell: Fruit's just flying all over the place.

Like, we're missing, it's rolling off the table.

Amauni: So we're losing a lot of the fruit.

- Losin' a lot of juice!

[whack] Aw, what?

Christine: Started smashing and didn't, didn't quite have a good enough swing in.

Pam: Put 'em-- get 'em back there!

[smacking] [whack] - I can't-- - Hit it harder!

Christine: So once we realized that you gotta get that full swing in, over your shoulder... Pam: Big swing!

[smashing] Christine: ...you get the maximum, uh, juice, fruit, pulp, everything out of that-- whatever fruit you're smashing.

Pam: Right.

Susan: Let's go, let's go, let's go.

Fine, grab-- Steve: You grab the same thing!

[smash] Come on, come on.

- All right, what do you got?

Okay, I got grapes, grapes, grapes, grapes, grapes.

Dan: Team Red is back for their second round.

Here comes Team Black.

Pam: Oranges, we need oranges.

Jarrell: I got a watermelon.

Kaleigh: Put it down, let's go.

Let's go!

Susan: We had to take turns swinging.

Hold on.

[splattering] [blowing raspberry] Gross.

[thud] - [yelp] Kaleigh: Watermelon.

[emphatic whack] [smash] We're gettin' our full servings of vegetables today.

JT: Our strategy going into this is, you know, hit hard.

All right, come on.

[hollow whack] - Oh, that didn't work at all.

[smashing] ♪ [whack] [splattering] [oozing] [emphatic whack] [smash] Susan: You got it, babe.

Steve: Come on.

I think we're good!

Susan: We're good.

Steve: The juice had to fill up all the way past the metal rings.

So, that's quite a bit of juice.

Pam: Come on.

Come on, come on!

Susan: Drink it, drink it, drink it, drink it, drink, drink, drink, drink!

Kaleigh: Come on, there's a team already drinkin'.

JT: I know.

Kaleigh: It's okay.

We're good, we're good.

I was expecting our juice to be a little more fruity and flavorful and juicy, but it was chunky and tomatoey.

I just got a, like a-- I got a grape stem.

- Mmm.

Christine: We're almost there, we're almost there.

Come on!

Get it to the window, get it to the window, keep goin'!

[whack] - Go, go, go.

Steve: We finished, we ran over to Dan.

And I thought he was just gonna give us the keys.

Dan: Congratulations, Team Green.

These are the keys to your car.

However... you're forgetting something.

I need your smartphones.

Steve: Oh, crap.

Susan: [groan] Dan: [chuckling] Steve: And then he's like, oh, you gotta give me your phones, and I was like, [groan].

Woo!

We got it, let's go!

Singer: ♪ Break time!

♪ Kaleigh: Let's go, let's go, let's go!

JT: I look over and I see Team Green, and they're done, so we gotta hurry this up.

Susan: Come on, come on, come on.

Come on, come on, come on.

Steve: Ah, okay!

JT: You got it, baby.

- There's a lot of chunks.

JT: Yeah.

♪ Pam: We're done!

We're there!

Drink.

Yeah, I turned around and, and drank our cup, and I'm-- I'm good at that kinda thing; I can chug.

Singer: ♪ One, two, three, break time.

♪ Amauni: Oh, the Black Team.

The Black Team are done.

JT: We're good?

Come on.

Dan: Team Black!

Congratulations-- wait!

You're forgetting something, Team Black.

I need your smartphones.

Christine: Ah!

Dan: Your backpack and your destination cities are in your cars.

Team Blue!

All right, Team Blue, there's your keys.

You're off!

Good luck finding your relatives!

Steve: Where we goin'?

- Where we goin', where we goin'?

Oh my gosh.

Steve: It's our car!

Chillin'!

- Okay.

Let's see.

Both: "Your first destination is Oklahoma City--" Steve: Oklahoma!

[clap] - "Douglasville, Georgia."

- Okay.

- [cheering] Susan: Bye, love y'all!

- Safe journeys!

- [chuckling] [honking] Steve: Team Green!

[cheering] [honk] Pam: "Your first destination is Loveland, Colorado!"

Christine: Okay, I can hear you!

Oh, my gosh.

Pam: Oh my gosh, we're flying.

Oh my gosh.

So when we opened the envelope, not only did it say Loveland, Colorado, which was super exciting to me.

But there's plane tickets in there, so we-- Christine: We're flying.

Pam: Yeah, hey, we're getting on a plane and we're going there.

We grew up there!

We grew up 30 minutes away!

Christine: Okay.

Kaleigh: Don't hit the red car.

- Honestly, when the other teams got finished before we did, I got frustrated.

I was like... [whack] "Why is this juice not going in the cup?"

Susan: Where am I-- what am I looking for?

- Looking for 65 South.

- What's the name of the airport?

♪ - Oh, I don't know.

Kaleigh: So, you said you know how to get to 65 from here?

[smashing] Dan: 'Kay, Red, you're good!

Jarrell: Good, good.

Amauni: We did it, we did it, we done.

We're done.

Drink.

Jarrell: We drink the juice, we run over to Dan real fast.

He tells us, here's your keys, and we take off to the car to find out where we're going.

Both: "Your first destination is Bowling Green, Kentucky."

- Whoo!

Hometown.

Kinda.

♪ Dan: That's it.

All of our teams have finished their first challenge, and are now off on the road to find their first relative.

- No mistakes.

Pam: All right, let's hurry.

- Woo!

Let's go.

Dan: Over the next nine days, they'll be racing all across the country in search of family using only paper maps, their own ingenuity, and old-fashioned flip phones with no GPS or Internet access.

Each day, each team is given a different allotted time because each team's headed to a different city.

Once they arrive, they'll need to take a city selfie and then overcome a challenge before receiving their relative's address.

When they arrive at their relative's home, their clock is stopped.

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

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

The teams that then make it to Day 10 will compete for the $50,000 grand prize.

This is Relative Race.

♪ - Go, go, go, go, go, go, go.

♪ Dan: The first challenge of Relative Race has been completed.

- That juice was nasty.

- I'll tell you what, it sure was fun gettin' to blow up those watermelons.

Dan: And all four teams are off to find their destination cities.

Jarrell: Bowling Green, Kentucky.

- Loveland, here we come!

Well, first of all, we gotta find the airport.

Jarrell: Oh, wow.

Big stack, all right.

Kaleigh: Uh... 64?

- Why don't you have your paper?

Where am I going?

- Just go straight.

Kaleigh: We're leaving Nashville, we get in our car, and I'm just goin' blindly.

So you're turning here?

- I'm turning here.

- Why?

Jarrell: And you see a whole bunch of lines, a whole bunch of numbers, and we're like, Which way does it go?

- 40 West Memphis is what we want.

Susan: Okay.

JT: Let's see, there's 65 right there.

- Oh yeah, that's 65; I read 45.

- Yeah!

[clapping] - International Airport.

Left lanes.

Steve: Just merge and don't kill us.

- What?

Baby.

Have I ever killed us?

- No, but you can only do it once.

- [laughing] [goofy music] Amauni: Oh, this is confusing.

This is just too big.

The map really didn't register for me.

It was just-- I didn't know how to get there.

I think we need to turn around.

So I'm thinking maybe we'd have to turn-- Looks like we need to turn around.

♪ [long exhale] I hope I'm lookin' at this right.

So, we ask for directions eventually, after getting turned around a little bit.

Can you tell me how to get to 65?

And bam.

Stopped traffic.

Just stopped.

Both: [groaning] Susan: Ope, I see brake lights.

Steve: Mm-hm, oh.

- Unacceptable brake lights.

- Bam, traffic.

Nothing we could do.

Did everything right.

And then completely out of our hands.

Jarrell: ♪ Traffic, traffic, looking for my chapstick.

♪ ♪ Feeling kinda carsick.

♪ ♪ That's a Ford Maverick.

♪ Susan: We're not movin'.

- I know!

- Maybe we should get out and dance.

[snap] - Yeah.

- Screw it.

- [laughing] [fiddle music] Steve: So nothin' will distract her more than twirling her on the dance floor, so I figured I better calm her down and make her forget a little bit of this stress.

♪ - I thought it was really sweet, and it really did distract me.

- Aw, good.

Amauni: And eventually, the traffic went ahead and let up.

Steve: We were able to get goin' again.

Dan: Nashville is finally in the rear-view mirror as all of our teams hit the open road and race to reach their destination cities.

[jazzy saxophone] - Come on, Bessie, you got it.

- Oh.

Come on, girl.

Dan: Team Blue, JT and Kaleigh, are headed towards their relative's city of Douglasville, Georgia.

Their allotted time to complete the challenge and find their relative is 4 hours and 13 minutes.

♪ I'm pumped, you're really-- [grunt] You're really nailing this driving thing.

- Thank you.

You're really nailing this navigating thing.

- Nice.

Dan: Stephen and Susan on Team Green are headed to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

They have an allotted time of 10 hours and 14 minutes.

- Look, there's cows.

Amauni: What do cows say?

- Oink.

[laughing] - You about to get kicked out the car.

- You can't kick me out the car.

I'm the driver.

I'm the driver!

- Driver gotta go.

Dan: Team Red, Jarrell and Amauni, are on their way to Bowling Green, Kentucky, with the shortest allotted time of the day: 1 hour and 14 minutes.

Christine: Oh my goodness.

I haven't seen one of these in ages.

- What is that?

- I don't even know, a paperweight?

- A paperweight.

- [laughing] Dan: And Team Black has arrived at the Nashville Airport, where their clock is on pause until they find their car in Denver, Colorado.

Once their clock resumes, they'll have to find the city of Loveland.

And they'll have an allotted time of 1 hour and 4 minutes.

Christine: Sixty degrees in Nashville.

Pam: Now it-- 30?

Christine: Like 30 degrees.

Pam: Okay, all right.

- Got off the airplane and we didn't find our car.

It was buried in snow.

Pam: You gon' clean the windshield?

- Yes, I'm doing it!

Did it fit?

So we had to clean it all off and get ready and get on the road and find our destination.

All right!

On the road, high five.

- Let's do this!

[ticking] - I'm Christine Scheuermann, I'm 39 years old, and I live in Stockton, California!

- And I'm Pamela Scheuermann, I'm 39 years old, and I'm from Saucier, Mississippi.

- We're twin sisters, and we're Team Black!

Singer: ♪ I know where you go.

♪ [upbeat music] Christine: I'm a single mom of six kids.

I have a baby that's 17 months old and a college student who's 23 years old.

I spend a lot of time with my kids helping them with schoolwork, getting through life, and generally just spending time with them.

I am a licensed psychiatric technician.

I work in a residential care facility for disabled adults with mental health disorders and medical needs.

- I've been married three years.

My husband and I have a blended family.

[muffled clattering] Husband: You got a one.

You better keep the hundred.

- We have six kids between us.

The oldest one is 21 and the youngest one is eight.

I am a registered respiratory therapist.

I currently work at three different hospitals.

We work side by side with the nurses and with the doctors.

♪ We literally have spent our entire lives explaining why we look so different ad nauseum.

- With the best of our knowledge.

- Right, with the best of our knowledge.

- We don't know why we look different.

- Right.

[reflective piano music] Christine: Pam and I were born in Houma, Louisiana in Terrebonne Parrish.

What we were told is that they left us with a neighbor... Pam: ...and were supposed to come back for us.

Christine: The welfare department was called in.

We were removed from the home, and um, very, very, very ill. Pam: Once they nursed us back to health, they put us in a home for, um-- as a crisis home for abused and neglected kids run by, um, a Catholic nun and her colleagues.

For lack of a better term, they abandoned us.

Christine: Well, from what we heard, they fell on hard times and they weren't able to provide for, you know, a one-year-old and these newborns who weren't in the best of health.

Pam: Our parents came along and, um, started fostering us.

♪ We were raised by Wanda and Jared Scheuermann.

♪ [laughing] Woman: Matching outfits.

♪ Christine: From my perspective, we had a amazing and great childhood, and we were always together.

Everything, we did together.

Pam: But there are questions.

Why didn't they look for us?

I want the raw story, like tell me all of it.

I don't wanna get my hopes up, but I do hope that there is a biological mother or father that wanted to be involved.

I just hope that there is a definitive, uh, truth, you know, for us to know and learn.

♪ I cannot believe that people know about us.

That was what really kind of started sparking my excitement was to hear that somebody else was excited to meet us, and I was like, oh, really?

You know.

♪ I couldn't be more ready.

This is gonna be life-changing.

[seagull cries] - I'm Amauni Scott.

- I'm Jarrell Scott.

- I'm a nurse.

- I'm a delivery driver.

- We're from Cincinnati, Ohio.

- And we're Team Red.

♪ Amauni: I'm a home care nurse and I take care of children at their home.

Jarrell: I've been in the military since I was 18.

I'm in the army reserves.

Um, 88 Mike, which is a motor transportation specialist.

Basically anything from 4 to 32 wheels I'm driving.

Anything driving-wise, I love doing.

- You never know where you're going.

- What?

I'mma drive.

She's gonna navigate 'cause she can't drive.

- I can drive.

- She has really bad road rage.

- I do.

We make a good team!

We feed off of each other; we bounce off of each other.

Jarrell: Me and Amauni have known each other for about four years.

- That's a lie.

- [sharp laugh] That is a li-- No, no, no, so, so-- - Jarrell and I have known each other for about ten years, and we've been married for four years, and we have three kids together.

[cymbal fade] He doesn't know anything.

I know my family.

He doesn't know anything, so I'm really, really, really excited.

Jarrell: I decided to be on the show because I am adopted.

I was adopted since I was 15 months old.

So the only thing I know is that my biological mom's name is Victoria.

♪ My mom was a single parent, um, ever since I was in, like, the 4th or 5th grade.

- And look at this.

And all this was taken at the hospital.

You were one-and-a-half years old.

There you are.

Jarrell: Being a single parent, um, I know it was hard for her, but she did everything to make my life great.

Margret: I'm glad you can really take this journey.

It's a wonderful journey.

You need to have closure.

You need to find out what you can.

Even if it's your mother, relatives, somebody that's related to you.

Jarrell: I'll have closure and I will have the truth: the actual story of what really happened.

- I love you so much.

And whatever the outcome might be, it's gonna be beautiful and I love you so much.

- I love you, too.

♪ - I'm JT.

- I'm Kaleigh.

- We're from Brandon, Mississippi and we're Team Blue.

[rock music] Kaleigh: We are both extremely competitive.

We both grew up playing sports.

Uh, we still work out together.

We go for runs.

You know, we do whatever we can to keep in shape.

We are going to go all the way.

Blue Team, Season 8, bringing home the W. JT and I met when I was in 9th grade and he was in 11th grade.

JT: The thing I love about Kaleigh is she's always been there for me whenever I needed it the most.

Kaleigh: Raising a family with two rambunctious boys is definitely exciting.

JT: Two little me's running around.

♪ Kaleigh: Run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run!

[reflective music] JT: I work as a fireman, and I absolutely love it.

It's the best job in the world.

One of the advantages we got coming into this race is... [engine roaring] ...we use paper maps.

So I have to learn maps, streets, learn how to read 'em.

When you get that call, there's a bunch of emotions running through your head.

But I think, you know, one of the biggest ones is, hey, you're gonna make a difference in somebody's life today.

♪ I've always known that I was adopted.

My adopted parents, they couldn't have children of their own.

The only information that I've ever heard of was that my biological mom was tall, had blonde hair and tattoos.

So I don't know anything about my biological dad.

I don't know if he even knows that I exist.

I love my adopted family.

Unfortunately, you know, my Mom, she passed away when I was 21.

And my father, he passed away when I was 26.

I don't have anybody to, you know, call, talk to if I need advice, or anything.

And I guess, you know, this race just means I might get to find that person to call, or talk to, hopefully, you know.

And answer a lot of questions.

Kaleigh: You know, I-- I have a family that has always been there and I know my biological roots.

And I want him to be able to have that, too.

JT: I grew up as an only child.

I could have some brothers or siblings out there that-- that I could be close to, and have that connection that I've never had.

But mainly I really wanna meet my parents.

Both: Howdy, y'all!

- I'm Steve Dimmitt and I'm 40.

This is my wife.

- I'm Susan Dimmitt, I'm 39.

- We're from Arlington, Texas.

Both: And we're Team Green!

♪ Susan: I'm a bulk courier at a shipping company, which I think will actually give me an edge because I have to navigate routes.

Steve: I'm a project manager for a commercial door company.

We do projects such as private airports and schools.

We met 25 years ago, uh, mutual friends.

Susan: We've been together six years, married for four.

Steve: We have lots of kids.

We have, uh, one together: Isabella, she's three.

And then we have, uh, four other kids from a previous relationship.

As a family, we like to go fishin', play baseball, football, basketball, anything outside.

Once we found out we were gonna be on the show... ♪ Trainer: Drive it out.

Steve: ...I was like, I gotta get back in shape.

So I got a personal trainer.

My personal trainer's got me doing weightlifting, some cardio, and he's got me on a meal plan.

I'm coming on the show to meet family and win money!

[clap] [reflective music] Susan: My mom was one of ten kids, so a huge family, um, and I know all of them.

But Steve's childhood was a little bit different.

♪ Steve: My adopted parents always told me I was adopted.

They didn't really have a whole lot of information, um.

They gave me my birth mom's name.

It is Charlene Philbrook.

And that was about all they knew.

Nobody knew who my biological dad was.

We've looked on social media and everything's always come up at a dead end.

I was born in Phoenix, Arizona.

So I was adopted at two-and-a-half by Kathy and Keith Dimmitt.

So I have, really haven't gotten a lot of answers as to, like, how, you know, the whole adoption thing happened, or how I came into the family.

Uh, they just never really knew or gave me the answers that I had asked for.

And then, um, I think they got a divorce probably a year and a half later when I was about four.

Kinda set a tone that everybody in your life kinda goes away, so.

♪ [nervous chuckling] - [whispered] It's okay.

- [whispered] Sorry.

Um.

♪ [clearing throat] ♪ I got some questions, you know.

Um, why?

You know, what was she going through that she had to give me up?

And that's what this whole thing's about is fixing the child Steve.

You know, I mean, I'm 40 years old sitting over here thinking I'm fine, and then I start thinkin' about meetin' famliy that I haven't met my whole life and then I start cryin' like a little kid, so.

To be able to meet somebody and know that that's where you come from.

♪ That'd be super cool.

♪ This is amazing, like.

I could potentially meet my biological father.

Susan: Aw.

♪ You all right?

- Yeah.

♪ Dan: After spending countless hours on the road, teams are on the lookout... - Okay, start looking.

- We're in city limits, let's find us a sign!

Christine: Okay.

Dan: ...for a city selfie.

JT: What do you see?

Kaleigh: You look out on the left.

I'll look on the right.

- All right.

- No mistakes.

We've got to make up for lost time.

- Yeah, we do.

- Oh, that green sign?

I mean I don't-- Amauni: But I think that's kinda dangerous.

Pam: Come on, Loveland.

We need you to show us some love.

Steve: We get in the city limits and we can't pull over on the side of a busy freeway.

- There's a sign right there.

We can't pull over on this freeway.

There's another one.

Steve: And we really wanted that first picture.

♪ - [laughing] Steve: Hold on.

- I don't think that's gonna work.

- Smile!

[shutter click] Steve: Didn't work.

Susan: Yeah.

Pam: Loveland, right there!

Loveland Veterinary Clinic!

Yes!

- Right here, right here.

- Okla City.

Steve: Pull into this parking lot right here.

Susan: Yes.

Christine: Get the phone, get the phone.

Pam: I got it, I got it.

Jarrell: Go, go, go.

Kaleigh: Here, you get the-- get right there.

[yelping] Christine: The camera's this way!

- Oh.

[laughing] - Come on!

- Wait.

- Higher.

Jarrell: Almost dropped it.

Kaleigh: Don't move, don't move.

Stop moving.

JT: I'm not movin'.

Kaleigh: Yes, you are.

JT: Okay.

Susan: 'Kay, go, go, go.

Go.

♪ [shutter click] ♪ [phone ping] ♪ - Woo!

Christine: Oh my gosh, okay, seatbelt, seatbelt!

Susan: Come on, let's go!

Amauni: Don't get hit.

Kaleigh: Let's go.

Start drivin'!

That was a terrible picture of me by the way.

- I have no idea where we are.

- Well, maybe we just knock on somebody's house and ask.

- Do you know where it is?

Like, Park Street?

Man: Mmmm, nah, [indistinct].

- Okay, I need to go this way, and go to 37th?

- Yeah.

- Nothing?

- No.

Kaleigh: Do y'all know where County Line Place is?

- Thank you so much.

Oh, we were right.

We were right, we were right!

- Are you ready for this?

Like, we're about to be at someone's front door.

- County Line Place.

JT: Yeah.

Pam: It's about to go down.

Steve: Four more blocks, family.

- Okay, just help me look.

Look, look, look.

Kaleigh: 1820, right here!

This is it!

JT: Okay.

[intense music] [reflective music] ♪ JT: Pulling in the driveway, I was feelin' nervous.

I was excited.

Scared, I was-- you know, I was scared.

But, mainly just nervous.

♪ - How's it goin'?

Kaleigh: Hey.

- 'Sup, I'm Jonathan.

Man: Jonathan.

- And this is Kaleigh.

- Hi, nice to meet you, Kaleigh, Jonathan.

My name's Anthony.

JT: Okay, so who are you related to?

Anthony: Uh, so I'm actually related to you, Jonathan.

JT: Okay, how are you related?

- Um.

♪ I'm your brother.

[happy string music] ♪ - Yeah, it is.

You're telling me.

♪ How've you been, man?

- I've been good, man, how 'bout you?

Anthony: Hey, making it, man.

♪ [light sniffling] This is wild.

JT: It is.

I never thought I'd be doing this right now.

- I, I didn't either.

I definitely didn't.

♪ JT: Hearing the words that, "I'm your brother" just-- I don't know, it was just-- it-- It was like a hole just being filled.

Because I've never had siblings.

I never grew up with siblings.

So, to know that I have a brother of my own, blood brother, it-- it was fulfilling, very fulfilling.

So do we have any other siblings?

- Yeah, you got some more siblings.

That is the truth.

- Cool.

- [sniffle] JT: So what do you do?

- Um, right now I'm, uh, full-time military.

- Okay.

- Um, prior to that, uh, I was a firefighter in Mississippi.

Twelve years.

- [chuckling] Anthony: What's that?

- I'm a career firefighter.

Anthony: Oh yeah?

JT: Yeah.

- Wow.

JT: I work at-- I work at Flowood.

- So you went to the academy in Brandon.

- Missi--Jackson, in Pearl?

Anthony: Yeah, that's where I went.

- That's where I went to academy.

- Oh, that's wild.

This is-- Kaleigh: Wow!

- Yeah, that's, uh-- Kaleigh: Wow!

- That's absolutely amazing, man.

My name is Anthony Burkett, and I am JT's brother on his father's side.

When I told my brother that I also was a firefighter, he immediately just-- just broke down, 'cause that's a bond as well.

And it's, uh-- it's not an easy field, and once you get to that level, you know you can count on everybody.

Kaleigh: Y'all have got a lot in common, that's for sure!

Anthony: So how long have you been a firefighter now?

- I went full time career, I've been there two years now.

- So, wow, that's crazy.

And you're 30.

JT: Yeah.

- So you've been in Mississippi the whole time?

- Mm-hm.

I've never left.

I've been there 30 years.

I've always wanted siblings.

I've never had that and now I do have that.

And I get to start that relationship and build on that.

- That's a bond that once you have it, it can't be broken.

And I'm just-- I'm so happy he gets to have that now.

And it's just amazing to be able to watch it.

It, it really is.

- I wanna give you another hug, man.

Anthony: Yeah, brother, come on.

[laughing] - This is awesome.

♪ Anthony: We got 30 years of catching up to do, and uh, this is-- it's not gonna stop here.

♪ Pam: 8, 4-- there it is, 460, pull in!

Christine: All right, all right!

Pam: Right there in the driveway.

Christine: So, we finally make it to our relative's house in Loveland.

Pam: And I was just getting nervous about it.

You know, this is real.

This is happening.

We're here.

But I was ready to see what this journey has in store for us.

[creaking] [chuckling] Man: Hi.

Both: Hi!

Man: How're you guys doin'?

Both: Good!

- I'm Christine.

- I'm Pamela.

- My name is Nick.

- And I'm his fiancée, Hannah.

Pam: Nice to meet y'all.

- And how are you related to us?

- So, I'm actually your cousin... - Okay.

- ...on your mother's side.

- Oh, that's awesome!

Okay.

- Your mom grew up with my dad.

- Okay.

Nick: On your mother's side, obviously, so.

- All right, that's cool.

Can I give you a hug?

- Yeah, nice to meet you guys!

Pam: We're related to a redhead!

Nick: Yeah.

[laughing] - I'm jealous!

Nick: Right?

I get burnt easy in the sun, so nothing to be jealous about.

My name is Nick Phillips.

I'm originally from Manitou Beach, Michigan, and I am Pamela and Christine's cousin.

- Nick seemed very welcoming and, and happy to see us and happy to be a part of our journey.

And I was just looking forward to talking to him more and asking questions and finding out, uh, what he knew.

Christine: Okay.

- So you guys wanna come inside for a second?

Christine: Yeah, yeah, thank you.

♪ Dan: Back in Bowling Green, Kentucky, Team Red is still searching for their relative.

- That was no help.

- None whatsoever.

♪ Amauni: We just have to find the relative.

But I'm nervous now because finding a specific address was gonna be harder than just getting to the city.

[click] Run!

Park Street.

- Park Street... Amauni: The first two places we went to, they didn't know where to go.

Jarrell came up empty-handed.

- And so then it was my turn.

I had to get the directions.

Jarrell: And I'm saying, I'm like, "I hope she's getting some good information 'cause she's been in there for quite a while."

Did ya get something?

- Yeah I did, baby.

Step-by-step directions to get to Park Street.

We finally got the address and it was exciting.

It was game on from there.

941.

Jarrell: 941... Amauni: That's 942.

- So it's on this side.

It's right here!

- [squealing] ♪ Susan: Oh my gosh, we're here.

- Yeah.

- [gasp] Oh my goodness.

Steve: When we pulled up, I was just... overjoyed, nervous.

Just so many emotions.

- [exhale] Oh my gosh, baby.

- Let's say a prayer.

Dear Lord, we just ask that You give us some calmness, and help us to gain these emotions and just take 'em all in.

And, uh, just help us to have the right things to say.

In Jesus' name I pray, amen.

♪ [vocalization] Just think.

There's somebody on the other side of that door that has been waiting, who's anxious, just as anxious as you are, to meet you.

♪ And just the thought of that was just amazing.

Susan: Oh my gosh.

'Kay.

[laughing] - You okay?

- Yeah!

[laughing] ♪ Steve: Oh.

[cymbal roll] Susan: Oh my goodness.

[birds twittering] Man: Hi.

Susan: Hi.

- Hi.

Steve: Hey!

I'm Steve Dimmitt.

This is my wife.

Man: Hi.

I'm Craig.

Both: How are you related to us?

- Steve.

I'm your uncle.

♪ Steve: [light sobbing] - I am Craig Philbrook.

I am Stephen's uncle.

And the biggest thing that was the most important today was just to try to be there for him.

Steve: [sniffle] ♪ Steve: I gained an uncle today.

♪ And he was so excited to meet me.

- I had this-- just this feeling of recognition.

I just thought immediately, I will do anything for this person.

♪ I'm so glad to meet you.

- Uh, how are-- so, you’re my uncle on what side?

- I am your mother's brother.

- All right.

- Thank you for going on this journey together.

- This is amazing.

He's always gonna be the first blood relative I've ever met.

It was like, almost like I finally belonged.

- Do you wanna come in the house?

Steve: Yeah, absolutely.

- Okay, come on in.

♪ Amauni: [squeal] Jarrell: Aw, man.

Amauni: When we get to Park Street, I'm nervous because I'm like, we're going to meet a new person.

We're gonna meet somebody.

Somebody wanted to meet us.

♪ - How're y'all doing?

Jarrell: How you doing?

I'm Jarrell, this is Amauni.

- I'm Domonic Smith.

- Who are you related to?

- I'm related to you, Amauni.

- [lightly] Oh!

How are we related?

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

Amauni: [happy laughing] Jarrell: What's goin' on?

Amauni: It's nice to meet you.

- Great meeting you, too.

- I really thought that I'd knew most of my family.

And I didn't think that I'd find any family.

But, it, it's excitin'.

I'm sorry, everything is just excitin'.

I don't-- I can't even think of another word.

[laughing] - How old are y'all?

- I'm 28.

- I'm 28.

Domonic: Okay, I'm 27. so.

Amauni: 'Ay, there we go, same age and everything!

- That's crazy!

Domonic: And you didn't even-- like, we didn't even know each other existed.

Finding out that you have a cousin that you never knew existed is-- is amazing, is.

Just finding out that now my family's that much bigger, you know, gave me a very warm feeling.

Well y'all, let's get out of the sun.

Let's go inside and, uh, let's talk a little more.

- Cool.

- Okay.

I got a cousin in Bowling Green.

Jarrell: Bowling Green!

Amauni: [laughing] ♪ Dan: In Loveland, Colorado, the twins on Team Black settle in with their newest cousin, Nick.

Nick: So, uh, when it comes to your guys' biological family, do you guys know anything else besides that I'm a cousin of yours?

- That's it.

You're the golden ticket.

Nick: Really?

- I mean, that's-- yeah, that's, that's it.

So of course, there's a lot of unanswered questions and things that we're very curious about.

Nick: Yeah.

My father and your guys' mother, they did grow up together.

And your mother was actually a big part of my dad's childhood.

- Really?

Nick: Yeah, they spent a lot of time together in their childhood.

Christine: I wasn't expecting to hear anything about a biological parent first day.

Pam: But it, it made me feel, you know, like we were gonna begin to be a part of something.

Nick: So I can tell you guys your mother's name.

It's Diana Bilkey.

- Diana Bilkey?

Nick: Yes.

- Wow.

Nick: Mm-hm.

- Okay.

- 'Kay.

- Huh.

- 'Kay.

- So, um, uh, I actually have a few pictures I want you guys to see.

This is Diana.

Yeah, you can tell who she resembles.

Like a lot.

[chuckle] Pam: Oh my goodness.

Nick: I think you're a spittin' image of her.

Pam: When Nick first showed us the pictures, I recognized the hair color, skin color.

So, there's a lot to take in in that moment.

It might take months to digest that.

This is our biological mother?

- Yep, that's Diana.

- Is she alive?

Nick: So, unfortunately, she is no longer alive.

She has passed.

She passed in 2017.

- Oh, wow.

- Dang.

That was only, what, four years ago.

- Mmm.

- How did she pass?

- I honestly don't know the answer to that.

But I do know that she did pass.

♪ Pam: Mmm.

Hearing that our mother, Diana, has passed away was absolutely crushing.

We always thought we were abandoned, or that's what we were told, and we'll never get to ask those questions.

She was the source of it all, and we don't have her.

That's, it's dis-- that's disappointing.

That's disappointing that she's passed away because that means that she won't be on this journey.

I mean, we don't know if what we know is the truth, but to me, abandonment means... you just didn't want us.

So, you know, I don't know if that's true or not, and it doesn't, uh, you know-- [exhale] [sigh] ♪ - Abandonment causes unseen trauma, and we don't know what really happened until we really know.

Now we know it won't be coming from our biological mother.

But it could very well possibly come from those that know more about our story.

- Hopefully your next person you meet-- - Of course.

Nick: --they'll be able to give you guys some more information about your unanswered questions.

[melancholic music] ♪ [peaceful music] - Wow, man.

- It is.

JT: While my brother was talking, I just kinda looked at him and, and-- you know, I just got-- a bit of a calmness.

And you just know that that's, that's your brother.

That's your blood.

Did y'all know about me or not?

- I didn't know anything about you.

And-- everybody that I've talked to hasn't.

So, what made you spark up the interest to start looking for your family?

So, I-- I'm assuming you were adopted.

JT: Yeah.

My mom passed away when I was... Kaleigh: 22.

JT: ...22.

And shortly after that, my dad passed away.

- I'm sorry to hear that.

- After that, you know, it kinda just felt like I didn't have anybody.

- You just wanted that extra connection.

JT: Mm-hm.

- You got it, man.

JT: I know.

Anthony: I promise you that.

Today, the-- the depth of the emotion and, and the feelings, I wasn't really prepared for.

But I wanted to welcome my brother to the family, and I wanted to do that by givin' him something that was very personal to myself.

Since I'm the first one of the family, I do have something that I actually wear daily.

Uh, and nothing big or small, but I wanted to let you know where you come from, so this is actually our last name.

And that comes off of my uniform that I wear.

JT: My brother gave me his nametag off his military uniform that says Burkett.

That meant a lot.

Thank you.

Anthony: Yeah.

No, thank you.

I hope that that puts something in your heart.

JT: It absolutely does.

A lot of love.

♪ This is awesome.

You know, it stays close to his heart all the time, and he just rips it off his jacket and gives it to me.

Just no questions asked.

He's like, here you go.

This is my family; you're a part of it.

- We're the Burketts, man, and that's-- ♪ Amauni: I didn't know you existed.

Domonic: Yeah, there you go.

Yeah, we're like the same age and-- Amauni: Yes!

'Cause when you first said that you were my cousin on my mom's side, I was confused 'cause I thought I knew most of them.

My cousin, Domonic, was so excited to tell me how we're related, so he pulled out his phone with our entire family tree on it.

Domonic: My great grandma is Dovey Lott, and her sister is Nina May Lott.

And Nina is the mother of Mindy Lott.

Does that name ring a bell?

- Yes, my great grandmother.

Domonic: Finding out today that me and Amauni are related because our great grandmothers were sisters is-- it was amazing.

- Domonic seemed as awestruck as I was.

And apparently, there's a lot of Lotts in-- Jarrell: [chuckling] A lot of Lotts.

Amauni: I know, that's crazy isn't it?

- A lotta Lotts!

- I actually have some pictures, um, I could show y'all of my sisters.

So there's Raven and Mauricia.

I've been telling Amauni that, that she looks just like Raven and Mauricia, so boom.

I'm ready to go back and share that with my sisters to tell them there's another one of y'all out here.

There's Jason, Jonathan Smith.

Jamie Smith, Kimberly.

Like, 'dem are all our cousins.

You know, those are all cousins.

Jarrell: Y'all got a big family.

- Yeah, it's-- there's a lot of 'em.

There's a lot of 'em.

Amauni: That's huge.

Domonic: You know, even though we didn't know each other existed before today, it was automatically a bond there, so that's something that family can do that any other relations can't.

♪ Dan: Back in Oklahoma City, Stephen on Team Green sits down with his Uncle Craig to learn about his biological family for the first time.

Steve: I sure appreciate you, um, wanting to meet me.

Craig: Yeah, absolutely.

- Thanks for wanting to meet me!

- And vice versa, right.

Susan: So you didn't know he existed?

- I did not know, and-- and that's at least in part because, uh, until I was contacted by the show, I didn't know that your mother existed, um, for sure.

- Oh.

In this journey, Craig, um, found out that he had a sister, which was my mother.

He didn't even know she had existed.

- I think it just goes to show how, how much we have to tell the people who are in our lives that we care about them.

And I had really hoped that I would at least get to share, you know, a picture of Charlene.

[sniffle] ♪ This is your mom.

♪ - [emotionally] I look like her.

That's where I got my hair from.

I got the same hair.

♪ [sniffle] Man.

- I know.

♪ Steve: I was definitely caught off guard by seeing her face.

She has the same exact smile as me, so.

♪ I'm just, like, identical.

It's crazy.

Craig: Uh, Stephen.

I, um, I never-- I don't know your mom.

And I'm, I'm sorry to say that part of that was learning that she has passed.

Um, I-- - Who, my mom?

- Yes, uh, and I'm-- - [sobbing] - I'm so sorry.

- [emotionally] No, I mean-- I mean, I knew this was a possibility, right?

Oh, that's hard.

I'm sorry you had to tell me that.

[emotional vocalizations] ♪ I mean, it's hard to say what my first question was gonna be to my mom.

Um.

Some of those questions that I wanted to ask, I was just, I'll never get answered.

But I respect the fact that Craig made a point to make sure that he-- He wanted to tell me that so I didn't go further down this journey expecting every person behind that door to possibly be my mom.

♪ And I know that had to have been a hard thing to do.

♪ But to not get those answers... ♪ I mean, it's tough.

Craig: I'm, I'm sorry to break it to you on this first day, uh, and-- - [sniffle] Craig: Today was very bittersweet, uh, getting to meet Stephen.

And feeling like there was also this, um, absence of Charlene for both of us.

♪ - [sigh] If you ever have a chance to find somebody, you should do it.

♪ While you can.

♪ - This is the-- the death certificate that we were able to find for her.

♪ Steve: My mom, I mean, she passed away in Fort Worth.

♪ Susan: [emotionally] That's where we live!

- [crying] I grew up in Fort Worth!

♪ [sobbing] - This is the person who let the county know that your mom had passed.

- That's her daughter.

- Yeah.

- That would make them my sister.

Craig: I, I believe so, yeah.

Steve: So I guess there's always a little bit o'-- a ray of sunshine even in the darkest days.

Um, I found out I potentially have a sister.

Jennifer Sky... Mache?

Craig: Mache.

♪ And at least at the time... - Port Arthur, Texas?

- Living in Port Arthur.

♪ - Any hope I have left of finding out some of the answers that I wanted to ask my mom would lie in her.

She's the only one who could possibly answer 'em.

So I'm looking forward to hopefully meeting her.

- I hope you get some of the answers you're looking for.

- Thank you.

[hopeful piano chord ringing] [intense music] Dan: It's the end of Day One, and all four teams are anxiously waiting for the results.

Steve: I'm a little nervous goin' into the call, absolutely.

We don't want an X tonight.

I mean, we wanna make it all the way through to meet all the relatives.

Pam: I think for our first day, we did a great job.

Jarrell: I don't think we came in first, but I don't think we did that bad to get a first strike.

- I'm okay, I feel-- I feel good.

- I feel good, but I'm still just nervous.

Dan: Now it's time to find out who will take home the first strike of the race.

[click] Here we are at the end of Day One, and I love seeing all four teams with smiles and hopefully in good spirits.

However, with Team Red, you got out of the Smashing Smoothie challenge, then you kinda had troubles from there.

What happened?

- So we had a hard time gettin' to 65, uh-- [laughing] Amauni: Yeah.

It took a while.

Dan: Team Black.

You run to your car, and there was a big surprise.

What was waiting for you in the car?

Pam: To get to our destination, we were gonna have to get on a plane and fly there.

Dan: Is it fair to say that when you landed at your destination, the, uh, weather conditions were different?

- It was dramatically different.

We went from 60, sunny, and nice to 23, snow, and cold.

Blizzard.

[chuckling] - All right, so you all had a few hiccups, a few ups and downs.

But ultimately, you made it to your relative's home safely.

And so, Team Green.

Who was on the other side of that door?

Steve: Today I met my first blood relative.

And that is my uncle, Craig.

Everybody, this is my uncle.

[chorus of 'hi's'] - Hi, Mr. Craig!

Dan: Did Uncle Craig enlighten you when it came to your family at all?

- [sigh] Sorry, um.

Uh, my mother, which was his sister, um, passed away.

And, um, this is a picture of her when she was a teenager.

When I was younger, she looked, uh, we looked almost just alike, so.

♪ - We love you, Steve.

- Aw, we love you, too!

[sniffle] Pam: When we watched Stephen get his news today, that, my heart just ached for him.

That, that was-- Christine: Yeah.

- I hurt for him.

Dan: And that's part of the beauty of Relative Race is that here you are competing, and yet you share this empathy because you all know what you're going through.

- Yeah, my heart aches for him right now.

- Yeah.

Dan: And that's because why?

You have a similar story to share tonight.

- Yeah, so um, we met today... Christine and Pam: ...our cousin, Nick, and his fiancée.

Christine: Like Stephen, today, um, he was able to share with us that, although he hadn't met our biological mother, she passed in... - 2017.

- 2017.

But he was able to share, um, some pictures.

♪ - I see it.

Pam: Do you?

Steve: To hear that Team Black's Mom passed away was so sad.

And then me getting the same news.

I mean like, I know how that feels.

Dan: This is just Day One.

There are nine more days of discovery waiting for all of you.

Team Red.

There had to be a little bit of a surprise when you got to the door because you're thinkin' this entire road of discovery is Jarrell's.

But what happened today?

♪ - I got to meet my cousin, Domonic.

Steve: Hey!

Christine: Hi!

- How're y'all doin'?

Dan: Amauni, you thought you knew all your family.

- I did.

I figured I knew most of my family, especially on my mom's side.

♪ It was exciting.

- Aw, fantastic.

Let's talk with Team Blue.

Who was waiting on the other side of the door for you?

- So on the other side of the door for me, it was my brother.

- What!

[clapping] Pam: Yay!

That's so exciting.

Steve: That is awesome!

JT: And he got to share with me our last name.

And our last name would-- Both: Burkett.

- That's cool.

Dan: That's not the only thing that you have in common.

- So we both went through our training at the same fire academy.

- Wow!

Jarrell: Wow.

Pam: That's crazy.

Christine: Yeah.

Amauni: [laughing] [intense music] Dan: Unfortunately, this is the time of day when one of you will earn the first strike of Relative Race.

However, one of you will also pick up the first place prize benefit, and that is penalizing one of the other teams in tomorrow's challenge.

So, who gets to do that?

And who has to think about that first strike?

[anticipatory music] Team Green.

You had the longest allotted time of the day: 10 hours and 1 minute.

You finished 13 minutes over your allotted time and finished in first place.

Congratulations to Team Green.

- What?!

- I was not expecting that.

- We thought Team Green was going to be our toughest competition, and so far, they've lived up to that expectation.

- Finishing in second place, 27 minutes over their allotted time, and safe on this first day of the race...

Team Blue, congratulations.

- Yes.

♪ Dan: Team Red.

You had issues.

- [laughing] Jarrell: [chuckling] Dan: But Team Black had a few problems of their own.

- We did.

Dan: Team Black, you finished... 46 minutes over your allotted time and are safe, finishing in 3rd place.

- Okay.

Dan: Team Red.

Unfortunately, you did finish in last place today, and picked up the first strike of Relative Race.

- Okay.

Jarrell: We still have, you know, two more strikes to get kicked off, so I mean, today was just a test.

- To all four teams, this is only Day One.

You have eight more days of finding family, eight more days of ups and downs.

But it all ends on someone's doorstep.

And the one thing that you know for sure is on the other side is always family.

Good night, and we'll see you tomorrow, on Day Two of Relative Race.

All: Good night, Dan.

Susan: Love y'all!

♪ - [whispered] Forty-six minutes.

- [groan] - We're still in there!

- I wanted to punch that thing.

[chuckling] I'm like, hey, hey, hey!

- Woo!

Team Green!

[clap] - That was probably the easiest navigation we're gonna have 'cause it wasn't really that difficult.

We just didn't know what we were doing.

- Yeah.

- It's kinda hard to explain all the emotions, but it's been a fun day of crying and just celebrating a new relationship.

- Hey, Relative Race.

It's the end of Day One.

And boy, what a day.

- I'm just excited to see everyone we'll meet, and how far we'll go.

- Since meeting her is not ever going to be a possibility... - Right.

- I wanna meet the person who was closest to her.

- Good night!

- Good night, Relative Race.

[smooch] ♪