[jazzy music] Dan: This season, Relative Race starts right here in Cincinnati.

Four new teams have submitted their DNA in hopes of finding family.

And they’re ready to start their journeys from this amazing city!

♪ Yep.

This is a hard-workin' town with hard-workin' people.

And that’s why we’re here.

This season, our four teams will begin their journeys by giving back.

Welcome to Relative Race.

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

Following their own DNA, four teams are racing-- - Woo!

- Here we go.

Dan: --to win $50,000.

- We’re here!

We made it!

Dan: And to find their family.

[knocking] ♪ ♪ Over the years, Relative Race has started in some of our country’s most iconic locations.

The U.S. capitol in Washington D.C., Miami Beach, Pier 49 in San Francisco, and even the St. Louis Arch.

But this season, it’s not about the place.

It’s about the people, which is why our teams have been brought to this quiet suburban neighborhood, where they’ll kick off the season by providing service to Scott and Elaine Bridges.

♪ Scott: Elaine and I met, uh, at our church.

We were both teenagers, and, uh, we just fell in love and we haven’t been able to be apart from each other since.

We were married for about two and a half years, and, uh, we found out Elaine was pregnant and, you know, we were just so excited to start our little family, but never had no idea what was waiting for us just around the corner.

[somber music] When Elaine was about four months pregnant, Elaine had went out to lunch with a co-worker and was driving, and, um, she had a seizure at a red light.

They took her to the hospital and, uh, we found out she had a brain tumor.

Elaine went into surgery, but on the operating table, uh, she developed a hematoma, and we almost lost her.

[emotionally] And, uh, thankfully, uh, the good Lord brought her through, both of ‘em.

It was just a miracle that Elaine and Destiny came through the surgery, uh, fine, and, uh, survived.

Uh, but over the years, Elaine has suffered quite a bit of, uh, mobility issues and she requires 24/7 care.

So, every morning when I go to work, my daily routine is to, uh, carry Elaine out to the truck, and, uh, take her over to her parents’ house, and they care for her while I’m there.

We’ve really been in need of a wheelchair ramp, but for various issues, we just haven’t been able to get one yet.

This whole thing has been, uh, really hard at times, but one of the things that’s made it so enjoyable is, is our daughter, Destiny.

She’s just been such a-- - Blessing.

--a blessing and just a light in a dark place to be honest with you.

Elaine has, she’s just leaned on her faith and trusted the Lord in all this and is just so strong, and she’s been so uplifting to me that sometimes I wonder who’s really carried who through this whole thing.

♪ - Good morning, everybody, and welcome.

See that home behind you?

That house belongs to Scott and Elaine Bridges.

Today, teams, your first challenge is to provide service.

And to help build a ramp that will enable Scott to use a wheelchair to move his wife in and out of the house.

- That’s cool.

Dan: All right.

Now that we know a little bit more about Scott and Elaine, we wanna know more about each of you.

- I’m Layton White, and I’m 23.

- I’m Kyle Weeks, and I’m 26, and we’re from Provo, Utah.

Both: And we’re Team Black!

Layton: I’m a college student.

I go to school full time, and I’m studying criminal forensics to hopefully someday be a lab technician.

Kyle: I work for a heating and cooling company, and I just run around taking care of people, and I love my job.

- Kyle and I just got engaged.

- Woo hoo hoo.

♪ Layton: We went on this trip to Kalispell, Montana, and-- Kyle: She had no idea what was going on.

Layton: Yeah, I just thought I was going on a boat ride with my friends, and I came back and there he was.

It was absolutely gorgeous.

So right after we finish filming the show, we plan on getting married.

- Hi, I'm Rachelle.

- And I'm Karim.

We're from Los Angeles California.

Both: And we're Team Blue!

- Karim is my cousin, he's my only guy cousin, but I still feel like we're brother and sister.

He's my confidant for sure.

Karim: I'm 39 years old.

I grew up in the Bronx.

I started a construction company, and I love coaching youth sports.

Rachelle: I'm 24 years old.

I'm a production coordinator and also a professional dancer.

I love to read, so I'm super nerdy.

Karim: Team Blue.

- We bringing home the gold.

- I'm Angie Banyas, I'm 39.

I'm Kelly Banyas, I'm 31.

We're sister-in-laws.

We live in Berwick, Pennsylvania.

Both: And we're Team Green!

- We've known each other for seven years.

- Yeah, our husbands are brothers.

Angela: We just had a lot in common, so we became really good friends.

We're both avid readers.

I have cats.

She had cats.

Going to the cat cafe is like heaven.

Kelly: And we both had baby girls within three months of each other.

Angela: I work in IT at the nuclear plant in Berwick.

Kelly: I'm a home health nurse.

I travel to different people's homes.

It's a very rewarding career.

Angela: Yeah, besides my husband, she's pretty much, like, the second person that I call about anything.

Kelly: I'm excited to be your partner.

I'm glad you picked me.

- I'm Jose Suarez.

- And I'm Tiffani Suarez.

- We're 43.

We're married.

We're from Goodyear, Arizona.

Both: And we're Team Red.

Tiffani: I am a stay at home mom with my three kids.

So we are a blended family.

I have two children from a previous marriage and he has a daughter.

I work for the department of the Air Force as a police officer.

So I've been training Jiu-Jitsu for about ten years now.

That's kind of like my stress reliever, my therapy.

All right, guys, come here.

You ready?

Tiffani: And it's such a huge part of his life and so he brought us into it when we got married.

Jose: So I tried to push Tiffani to be more mentally tough, more physically tough, 'cause, you know, life isn't easy, and I teach 'em that.

So it's like, "Hey, man.

It's not always going to be about cupcakes."

I'm about tough love.

♪ Tiffani: Coming from a blended family, we want to expand our family and have a family of our own, so we want to have another child.

With winning this, that would give us the opportunity to do, possibly, IVF treatments.

Probably gonna have to have a surrogate considering our age, so that's our main goal.

Winning $50,000 would definitely get us there.

Dan: Well, the skies have opened up.

We have some light drizzle.

But that's okay, because your first challenge will be accomplished in teams of two.

Team Blue, you'll be paired with Team Black.

And Team Green and Team Red, you'll be working together to build that ramp.

Tiffani: When he first said we were going to be paired up with Team Green, I'm like, "Okay, Great.

These girls are smart.

They've got a good head on their shoulders."

Angela: We found out it was going to be Team Red so we were like, "That's great."

- That's awesome.

Dan: Now, as you build the ramp, follow your instructions carefully.

Because once you think you've finished building your part of the ramp, a licensed contractor will need to approve your work.

But that's just the beginning, because once you build the ramp, then you will split back up into separate teams to finish the railing on their deck.

- When Dan mentioned that I was going to be doing construction, I loved it.

- I think, I think we'll do pretty well.

Dan: So teams, what do you think?

- Let's do this!

All: Yeah.

- Let's do it.

Kyle: Dan tells us that we're about to start, and we kind of look at each other, and we can feel that this was a very important moment.

- So I asked Dan if it would be all right for us just to have a moment in prayer.

Tiffani: Let's circle up.

- Gracious Father, I thank You for allowing us to wake up today.

I thank You for bringing us together.

I thank You for us meeting, and Lord, I thank You for the journey that You're going to take us on.

I thank You for the laughs and I thank You for the cries.

I thank You for the safe travels, Lord, in Jesus' name we pray, amen.

All: Amen.

- At the end of the day, we're all in this together, and I think that just helps build the camaraderie that we, that we already seem to have.

Dan: So, are you up for this?

All: Yeah.

Dan: Good.

Because your Relative Race starts in three, two, one, go.

Rachelle: Let's go!

- All right.

You ready?

[rock music] Rachelle: All right, let's go.

Dan: The first part of today's challenge is...

Teams will partner up in order to assemble a handrail on a wheelchair ramp.

They must connect six pieces of handrail, lift it in place, and use nuts and bolts to secure it.

- So, get these parts and put them together first.

Get 'em out, get 'em out.

Get 'em out.

It was a little challenging, but it wasn't difficult, to be honest.

The difficult part was working with another team.

- Yeah.

Angela: So now what?

Kelly: I am not getting it, like... Angela: So what do we do?

I don't get it.

Do you get this?

I don't get this.

You guys, I don't know what I'm doing.

- [laughs] I love Team Blue.

Layton: Blue.

Karim: You need help?

Layton: Let's start screwing from the end and go forward.

Karim: Oh, yeah, oh, that sounds great.

- We did amazing working together.

We communicated.

And I mean, when you have a big guy like that pushing pipe, I mean, it gets things done fast.

Layton: We still have to screw this in together.

- Okay.

- All right, once I get here, do you guys want to move on to the next one?

Rachelle: Yes.

- 'Kay, go.

Scott: It was really great for us to watch the four teams, and, uh, to know that they were doing something for our benefit that would help us greatly.

- Yeah.

[chuckles] - And we were really touched by it.

♪ ♪ Supervisor: Are you calling for a supervisor?

Karim: Yes, sir.

Yes, sir.

Supervisor: Congratulations, you passed.

You can move on.

Angela: We got it.

- Good job, guys.

- Teams Red and Green are done.

And they came out of nowhere.

And now, we need to catch up.

- Now we're on our own.

Angela: Yes.

Kelly: Okay.

Dan: In order to install the ramp to Scott and Elaine's back patio, the deck must first be brought up to code, which brings us to our second challenge of the day...

Teams will individually finish off one section of a patio railing.

They must screw in three caps, level, then tighten the balusters, and screw on the top and bottom rails.

Kelly: Caps?

Okay.

They're doing caps first.

We're doing caps first.

Go.

[drilling] Kyle: Oh, yeah.

All good.

Rachelle: Supervisor?

Layton: Supervisor?

Kyle: All right, we got the thumbs up!

Let's move on.

Layton: Thank you.

- You're welcome.

Karim: When we get over to the railing, I'm like, this should be pretty simple to get this out of the way.

- Okay, and then you'll have to screw this in like this?

- I gotta do it.

Rachelle: [laughing] Because you the handy dandy one.

[laughs] [drilling] - C'mon.

Kyle: Beautiful.

Look at that sucker.

All right.

♪ Angela: Is it working?

- No, it's falling out.

Angela: Oh my gosh.

- We didn't know to use our drill.

I didn't know how to even take it apart.

What are we doing wrong that this won't stay in?

Like, is there a button we're supposed to push?

- Team Green, she asked me, she's like, "Hey Kyle, "I honestly don't even know how to get the bits changed."

Kelly: Are you allowed to give me help for a second?

Kyle: Yes, I can.

What do you need?

Kelly: And he was like, "Sure."

Like, he was so nice about it.

He didn't hesitate.

I don't know how to get my bits to stay on the drill.

Kyle: On the thing?

Kelly: Yeah.

Kyle: So, go ahead and pull this out, stuff it in there.

Kelly: Yeah.

Kyle: There you go.

And thank you, Kyle.

Thank you, Kyle, for teaching me how to use a power drill.

Okay, now we can go.

Scott: Seeing Team Green, uh, struggle, um, and, uh, yeah, we really, really look up to them.

- It's gotta be level.

It's got to be in the middle.

In the middle, 'cause I gotta level it.

So once we figure out what we need to do, like, everything just flowed.

Woo!

♪ Kyle: I'm going to attack it.

[drilling] - All right, can we get a supervisor?

- Who called for a supervisor?

- Red.

Red Team.

- We called for inspection.

I triple checked everything, but, you never know.

- Look good.

- Thank you.

- We're ready to go.

Layton: Contractor!

We get inspection from the contractor.

- You're good.

- Thank you very much.

- Thank you.

It was really cool to kind of like, catch up and say, "All right, we gotta ride."

Tiffani: C'mon, c'mon.

We gotta say goodbye.

Jose: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Scott: Great job.

Great job.

Jose: Nice to meet you.

- Good luck to you.

Thanks for all your help.

- So, before we get in the car, we just wanted to take a moment and stop and thank Scott and Elaine.

Scott: If you don't find any more family, you guys are our family now.

Jose: Thank you, we appreciate it.

Scott: Appreciate you guys.

- They are such a beautiful family and so deserving.

Destiny: Thank you, guys.

Good luck.

- Take care, you guys.

Bye bye.

Be safe.

- All right.

Open it up, open it up.

Where are we going?

Jose: Eugene, Oregon.

Oregon.

Tiffani: Eugene, Oregon.

To Portland, we’re flying to Portland?

- Portland to Eugene.

Yep.

- [sighs] Awesome.

Let’s go.

Jose: All right, let’s go, let’s go.

♪ - Oh, hey.

- Thank you so much.

Can I give you a hug?

- Yes, ma’am.

Congratulations, guys.

Kyle: Thank you so much, I appreciate it.

Layton: Thank you for allowin’ us to help you.

Kyle: Scott.

Scott: Our pleasure.

Kyle: Thank you, and I wish you luck in everything you do.

Just keep it up, man.

Scott: Yes, sir.

Kyle: Scott and Elaine are a wonderful couple.

That struck a chord.

I always wanted to give back, and so it’s, it’s really, really powerful for me.

- We were really touched by the, uh, the warmth of the teams.

Uh, they were takin’ time out to come over and, uh, wish us well, and, uh, and yeah, just really meant a lot to us.

Layton: All right, we gotta run, so.

Kyle: We’ll think of you, all right?

Scott: Take care, good luck.

Kyle: Definitely a great way to start the race.

- Fantastic way to start the race.

- Yes.

Layton: Your first destination is-- Both: Osborn, Missouri?

Kyle: [laughing] Heck yeah!

Layton: Okay.

Kyle: All right, well, let’s get out of here.

Angela: This isn’t right.

That-- that’s not right.

We need to get this flat up against there.

We need to use the mallet.

[drill whirring] Karim: Supervisor?

Everything’s in place, we called for the inspector, and... - Congratulations, you’re good.

Rachelle: Thank you!

- The inspection?

Perfect.

Kelly: Let’s see what he says.

Check us.

Angela: Yeah.

All right, we’re ready.

Kelly: Uh, supervisor?

Angela: The supervisor checked our work.

I just have absolutely no, no skill with fixing things, or using tools, so I knew right away that this was just gonna be not our day.

Supervisor: A couple of your posts are off.

Kelly: Okay.

Angela: Being so out of your element, when clearly, like, everyone else knows what they’re doing, it’s pretty embarrassing.

Yeah, that was pretty hard.

Rachelle: Hi, you guys!

- Sorry we took so long.

[laughs] Rachelle: Thank you for letting us help.

Scott: I appreciate it, man, appreciate it, thank you.

Rachelle: Thank you.

Karim: Getting the chance to help Scott and Elaine is just like addin’ on to another part of our family, and it meant a lot to us.

Scott: Good luck to you.

Rachelle: Thank you.

Scott: Be safe.

Rachelle: Have a good one.

Scott: Love you all.

Take care.

Karim: Uh-huh.

Rachelle: Let’s go!

- Givin’ back is, it’s the human thing to do.

- Oh my gosh!

Are you ready?

- [laughs] - So where are we-- [laughs] - It’s the wet hands, I guess.

Your first-- Both: Destination is-- Rachelle: Morrow, Georgia - [screams] - [screams] Yay!

Let’s go!

- Windshield wipers.

Safety first.

- Safety first.

Angela: This is probably a no.

- That looks fine.

Okay.

Angela: All right, supervisor.

Kelly: I think we were defeated at-- right away, but we did finish it.

- Congratulations, you can move on.

Angela: Okay!

Kelly: Okay.

- Finally done, we’re so relieved.

And then we went to Elaine and Scott.

Over here.

- Oh.

Angela: Hey, so nice to meet you.

Scott: Congratulations, yeah.

So glad to meet you.

Angela: Thank you for letting us be at your house.

Thank you so much, I am absolutely soaked, I’m sorry.

Scott: Congratulations.

Angela: Thank you so much.

- As a home help nurse, I spend more time with my clients than I do my own family, so when I saw her sittin’ there waitin’ for us, like, I felt like I, like she’s one of mine.

You like-- I’m a home help nurse, so when we heard the challenge, I want-- I wanted to be the first one to complete it, not the last.

But I take care of, of clients in wheelchairs all the time, I’ve seen them on their ramps, I’ve helped them on their ramps, and I think we got picked for this season, I think, for this.

I know we were last, but I’m glad that if we were on a show, this is what we could do.

So I’m glad that we were able to help you.

Scott: You may have finished last, but you’re helpin’ us finish first in this.

We sure appreciate all you’ve done.

- Thank you.

Scott: Awesome.

Kelly: Thank you.

Scott: Yeah, it’s awesome.

Kelly: I don’t want to say I’m glad we finished last, but we had more time with her because we were already late.

Kelly: We, we have keys!

Scott: Okay, good luck, guys.

Be safe.

Angela: Thank you.

Kelly: Thank you.

Scott: Good luck to you.

Bye bye.

Kelly: The next step is navigating, and Angie spent months and months and months going through maps.

Angela: There’s a long way to go.

- Yes.

It’s only day one.

Oh, my-- - Syracuse, New York!

- What?

What?

- Syracuse, New York.

- What?

Oh my gosh!

That’s awesome.

Dan: Well, that’s it.

All four teams are on the road out looking for their family.

Over the next ten days, they’ll be racing to find relatives using only paper maps and old-fashioned flip phones with no GPS or Internet access.

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

Once they arrive in that city, they must take a city selfie, and then overcome a challenge before being provided with their relative’s address.

Once 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 make it all the way to day 10 will then compete for the $50,000 grand prize.

[siren wailing] ♪ Man: Okay, here we go.

Lifting in three, two, one.

- Most of the time, when we respond, it’s not a good thing, so when we, we’re able to do things like this in a positive light for the city and the community, we’re always all on board for it.

♪ Scott: To think that, uh, Relative Race could have went anywhere and started their season opener, but they chose to come to little old Norwood, uh, to help little old Scott and Elaine, that, uh, that had such a need, and I can definitely see God’s fingerprints all over this.

♪ Dan: Now that Scott and Elaine’s ramp is finished and installed, our four teams can focus... on navigation.

Layton: Okay.

All the maps.

- That, that was fun.

- Oh, there’s an interstate to the right.

There has to be a way to get on it.

- 275 West.

To CVG Airport.

Karim: 75, 7.

Rachelle: Oh my gosh.

Follow those signs.

- 71, look!

We’re good, we’re good!

- Okay, now we’re on the freeway.

- On the freeway, got it.

We can get it from here.

Dan: All four teams have hit the highway and are headed to their destination cities.

Team Black, Kyle and Layton, are going to Osborn, Missouri, while Team Green, Angela and her sister-in-law, Kelly, travels to Syracuse, New York.

Team Blue, Karim and Rachelle, are going to Morrow, Georgia, and Team Red, Tiffani and Jose, will be racing to find Eugene, Oregon, but with a flight to Portland first.

Team Red’s clock will stop at the airport and then resume again when they land.

Jose: Ready to do this, babe?

- Yeah.

- All right, you’re driving, right?

- I’ll drive, I’ll drive.

Come on, babe.

All right, let’s go.

♪ Karim: I can’t believe that we’re here.

- Me neither.

This is really crazy.

- Like, you know, like, when we meet our first relative tonight-- - Yeah.

- Everything will change.

- Yeah, yeah, I know.

It’s literally gonna change everything.

- I was born in Atlanta, Georgia.

I was adopted at 10 days old.

My mother adopted me, um, by herself, so it was her decision to get me, and then later on, she got married.

Karim: When I first met Rachelle, she was a six-month-old baby, and I had a, a carrier on, carrying her everywhere with me, you know?

And so, she has always had a special place in my heart.

Rachelle: Karim is my cousin, but I still feel like we’re brother and sister.

Karim: I know ma-- majority of my family, so I’m expecting this race to be all for Rachelle.

♪ Rachelle: I don’t really know very much about why I was given up for adoption.

I’ve asked my adoptive mom, and she said that my biological mom just wasn’t able to take care of me.

Pretty much know nothing about my biological parents.

I want to do this race because I’ve always been curious about, you know, my biological family, where I come from, who they are.

I thought this would be a really cool, unique way to meet them.

It’s really unique that I have the opportunity to go on this journey with my adoptive cousin, and my family, and my adoptive family is so supportive.

[sighs] ♪ I love, um... my adoptive family.

[sniffs] Because they always make me feel like, you know, like, blood, Like, I’ve never questioned feeling loved in my family, I’ve never questioned feeling welcome.

And I know that’s a blessing, ‘cause not everybody gets that.

So, you know, I just really love y’all, and, um, I know I’ll always have a place, you know, in the family.

[sniffs] ♪ Kyle: Who do you think you’re gonna meet today?

- Who I think I’m gonna meet today?

I don’t know.

- You don’t know?

I like that.

I wanna-- - I mean, it’s, it’s hard to speak of the unknown future.

- [laughs] - If you even can.

♪ Kyle: I grew up in Idaho.

My family is huge.

My mom comes from a family of 11 kids, and so family for me has been so close-knit we practically know everybody.

Layton: I realized I was adopted when I was eight years old.

Once my mother told me I was adopted, I, I reacted negatively, and I just isolated myself.

I wanted to know the full story, but my mom knew it wasn’t the right time.

I couldn’t comprehend it at eight years old.

Then when I was 13 years old, I found an old birthday card, and inside it had a note and a picture of a man I didn’t recognize.

And as I read it, I understood that it was from my biological father.

His name was Bryon.

Bryon went into the Marine Corps, and so it was one of the pictures that he had sent my mom from one of his travels abroad.

Kind of piqued a lot of questions now that I had a face and a name.

I saw that I had his ears, that I had more of his features.

Any time I would go back and look at the picture of Bryon, I just knew that one day, I’ll know more.

I was 22 years old, and I went home to Arizona, and my parents sat me down and they started telling me the entire story of my biological parents.

And my mom, she came up to me and she told me, “I’ve been so excited to give you this one day.” And I had no idea what she was talking about.

But she walked up to me, and she gave me a box of all these letters that my two biological parents had written to me.

“I can’t believe Layton "is going to be four years old.

One more year till kindergarten.” And my biological father wrote me letters of his time in the Marine Corps, and asking questions about what I was doing in my life.

“Thank you once again for the pictures.

"I love seeing and hearing how Layton is growing up.

"Write back when you have a chance, Bryon.” My biological mother also wrote to my parents saying that she could not be more appreciative.

The number of letters that I have, I probably have double the pictures.

My biological father sent pictures with every single card that he wrote to me.

I was able to see a photo of them right there at the time that I was born.

Every time I read a letter, it was so genuine feeling, and loving, and I knew that they both wanted to be a part of my life while not being in my life.

I know that they did love me, and they did care, but being adopted was the best way that they could ensure that I had a great life.

Being able to actually touch them and give them a hug and say hello and introduce myself, and-- it’s something that I am very excited for.

♪ Angela: So yeah, this is really exciting.

I can’t wait to see who we meet today.

It would be awesome if we meet-- if I have a sibling that has young kids.

- Can you imagine?

- That would be awesome.

- Like the same ages?

- Same age, yeah.

- Yeah.

Angela: That would be amazing.

We’d definitely have to come back and visit.

- I am one of seven kids.

Um, my parents are still together.

They raised all of us in a very, very normal household.

- I was adopted at six months old.

I’ve always known that I was adopted.

I have an older sister who’s also adopted.

She’s three years older than me.

My adopted dad left my mom and sister and I when I was a little kid, I was probably six or seven, and I don’t have a relationship with him.

I have this letter that the adoption agency gave to my adopted mom that has a few details about my biological parents.

It has their age-- they were teenagers-- and a few of their interests.

It also says when I was born, the time, and how much I weighed.

My adopted mom remembers being told when I was adopted that my biological parents were passing through Pennsylvania on their way to Florida.

I would love to meet my mother, my biological mother.

Um, giving birth to a biological child, it just makes you question, where are you from?

Like, what’s our heritage?

It makes you question that more.

I just wonder if, like, you know, she thinks about me, like, when my birthday rolls around.

Like, I wonder if she thinks about me.

[sniffs] - [quietly] It’s okay.

[normal voice] You’re okay.

If she is here, she does think about you.

You know that.

- [sniffs] - You know that.

♪ Angela: It, it’s something that I don’t think you can forget.

I don’t think you can give a baby up for adoption that you just gave birth to and forget, so I do, I do think, like, on my birthday, if they think about me.

♪ Tiffani: I can’t believe we’re finally doing this, like.

Jose: I know, right?

[sighs] - Just waiting 40-plus years.

- To find out.

- To find out, yeah.

I know, crazy.

Jose: I grew up in a small town called Calipatria, and, uh, fortunately, I grew up with my family, so I know pretty much all my family.

So we’re doing this journey more for, for Tiffani.

♪ Tiffani: I am here to find my biological family.

Hopefully, my biological parents, and any siblings I have.

I was born to very young parents who gave me up for adoption right after birth.

My adopted parents already had four boys, and my mom wanted to grow their family.

They continued on to have ten more children together.

There are a total of five of us that are adopted, and we’re at 17 now?

So I have 17 siblings.

Growing up, I was very much the black sheep, um, of the family.

I don’t look like anyone else in my family.

I have a different personality than most of my siblings.

That’s what I’m searching for, is somebody that I can identify with, somebody who looks like me, who has the same features.

I kind of want to know where I’m from, my nationality, my heritage.

I don’t have any information on my biological family.

I don’t have a name to associate with.

I don’t know anything about my biological family.

♪ After searching for, for so long, to possibly know that it might be too late, I think is, will probably be the biggest fear that I have.

Not knowing where I come from, not knowing who I am, I want to have that sense of, of connection with someone.

I want to be involved in my biological parents’ lives.

Um, or at least their involvement in, in mine.

I didn’t have a very close relationship with my adopted father growing up, and I think I’ve always searched for that.

♪ Dan: As our teams near their destination cities-- Angela: I’m gonna grab my binoculars.

Dan: --it’s time to look for a city selfie.

- First sign you see, babe, call it out.

- Right there?

Rachelle: Yeah!

- Yeah, welcome to Osborn.

That was it.

♪ - Yeah, the binoculars didn’t work out the way I thought they would.

- City of Syracuse!

Who found the sign?

- You did.

Layton: I’m runnin’ on the road.

Kyle: I’m runnin’!

♪ - Um, yes, I’m jumping in.

- Ready?

- Ready, go.

[camera clicking] ♪ [phone chiming] [swiping] [phone chiming] Tiffani: Welcome to Eugene, Oregon.

- Your relative lives at 116-- Both: Green Meadows Lane.

Kyle: All right, let’s go, let’s go, let’s go.

[dramatic music] ♪ Kelly: Excuse me, sir, do you know where Waite Avenue is?

No.

Rachelle: Okay, I found it.

Karim: All right, all right.

- Finding our relative’s address is way more difficult than I can even describe.

- West or east?

- Considering there was only the one main road of Osborn, we kind of just kept driving until we saw Emma street.

That’s Emma.

- Yep, take that right.

Big ol’ benefit for us.

- I feel like that was a easy advantage for us today.

Angela: ‘Scuse me!

[horn honking] ‘Scuse me!

Have you ever heard of Waite Avenue?

Rachelle: It looks like a pretty straight shot once we’re on Mt.

Zion Road.

- Hey, guys, 1196 West 8th?

Tiffani: Do I keep going?

Jose: We’ll hit it eventually?

All right, thank you.

- Thank you!

- What is the house number?

- Uh, 6634.

- So it’s gon’ on, it’s gon’ be on your side.

Rachelle: Okay.

Tiffani: Right here, right here, right here, right here!

Rachelle: [gasps] This is it!

Kelly: 116, right, here it is, right, here it is!

- Wrecked it!

Wrecked it!

Wrecked it right there!

♪ - Oh, my goodness, I’m so nervous.

- Are you?

Tiffani: Yeah.

We pull up to our relative’s house, and it’s just a, a whole tornado mix of emotions.

I’m excited, I’m happy, I’m nervous, I’m scared.

It was nearly indescribable.

We see a guy come out, and immediately, I’m thinking, okay, how are we related?

What could it possibly be?

Jose: How’s it going, I’m Jose.

This is my wife, Tiffani.

Tiffani: Hi.

- Hey.

-Tiffani.

- Charley.

- So, uh, whose relative are you?

- I am Tiffani’s.

[music swells] Tiffani: Nice to meet you.

- Nice to meet you.

♪ Meetin’ Tiffani for the first time, it was pretty nice, you know, it was a warm feeling.

And, and I see our family in her, in her face, and it’s amazing, ‘cause we don’t know each other.

- How are we related?

Charley: Well, your mom is my dad’s sister, so, that makes us, yeah, cousins.

♪ [sniffs] Tiffani: I got emotional, uh, when I first met Charley.

Um, just, you know, there’s no words to describe how it is to meet someone from a family that you’ve looked for for 40 years.

You know, this is an opportunity that I never thought I would have.

[tearfully] Thank you, thank you.

♪ This is my first blood relative I’ve met.

I mean, it’s, it’s started opening up, getting so many questions answered, and, and who I am, and where I came from, and the wave of emotions is crazy.

How, how long have you known about me?

Charley: Uh, well, your mom, I knew she had a baby, I knew she gave it away, but-- Yeah, I didn’t know you were lookin’, or nothin’.

- That’s all you knew?

- Yeah.

Tiffani: [sniffs] But I do want to hear about the rest of the family, if that’s okay.

Charley: Oh, yeah.

Tiffani: Okay.

You know, it’s a start of questions I’m longing for to be answered.

I’m very, just very excited to learn more.

♪ Kyle: All right, let’s do this.

♪ Layton: Oh gosh.

So when we got to the house, of course I was nervous.

I mean, if you’re meeting your biological family that you don’t know a ton about, I mean, it’s normal to be nervous.

Woman: Hi!

Kyle: Look at you guys.

Woman: Hi, how are you?

Layton: Good.

- My name’s Kelsey Grimshaw.

- And I’m Kayla.

Kyle: Nice to meet-- Layton: Kelsey, Kayla.

I’m Layton.

Kyle: And I’m Kyle.

It’s nice to meet you all.

Kelsey: Nice to meet you.

Kyle: How are you guys related to us?

Kelsey: Layton, um, I am your dad’s sister.

I’m your aunt.

- So you’re my-- Kayla: Cousin.

[laughs] Layton: Okay.

Kelsey: Hi.

- Hi.

Kyle: Are you guys okay with hugs?

Kayla: Yeah.

Kyle: Come here.

It’s nice to meet you.

Kelsey: It’s so nice to meet you.

[crying] ♪ Kayla: Okay.

Kyle: Get in there.

♪ Kelsey: Oh, I’m so happy to meet you.

I am Kelsey Grimshaw.

I’m from Osborn, Missouri, and I am Layton’s aunt.

I was overcome with emotion, because-- [sighs] Her dad talked about her so much that-- it was one of those things that it was like a missing part.

A missing part of our family.

And it was so important for us to find her again, and I’m so glad that she found us.

Layton: How long have you known about me?

Did you-- Kelsey: Since the day you were born.

- Okay.

- You’ve never been a secret.

He’s talked about you all the time.

[laughs] Yeah, we’ve known about you.

- No, that’s good to know, ‘cause he wrote letters to my parents until I was like four or five.

Kelsey: Yes, he did.

I’ve seen letters, I’ve seen pictures of you when you were a baby, and everything.

- [laughs] Kyle: Wow.

Layton: That’s awesome.

Kelsey: So I have pictures, yeah, yeah.

So we’ve always known about you.

- That’s awesome.

Kelsey: Yeah.

Layton: Kelsey was so welcoming, and the fact that she’s known about me my entire life, it made me feel so much more comfortable.

It was refreshing.

Kelsey: Do you guys want to come inside real quick?

Kyle: We would love to.

[triumphant chord] ♪ Rachelle: 6727.

You ready?

[seatbelts clicking] Let’s go.

[doors opening] ♪ Walking up to the house, and we’re, like, sprinting up to the house, I’m super nervous, but I look up and I see this relative’s face, and I have no idea whose relative it could be, but I’m feeling like it might be mine.

♪ - Hello.

My name’s Karim, this is my cousin Rachelle.

- Hi.

- Hi, I’m Sabrina.

Rachelle: Nice to meet you.

Um, whose relative are you?

- I am your relative, Rachelle.

I’m your Aunt Sabrina.

[music rises] [crying] Sabrina: I’ve been waitin’ on this.

Rachelle: After hugging Sabrina, I just, I didn’t want to let her go.

Like, it just felt very familiar, like, I felt overcome with love.

Sabrina: I didn’t want to let her go when I hugged her.

She just felt like-- mine.

Instantly, I felt a sense of peace, and just overwhelmed, overwhelmed with joy.

[Rachelle cries] - Oh, it’s okay.

I’m your family, I’m your family.

[laughing, crying] Karim: My eyes got a little sweaty.

And, uh, it was just beautiful, and it’s this, you just know it’s, it was God’s will.

- It felt like the moment was supposed to happen.

I was so happy.

Thank you, thank you for having us.

Thank you for letting us in your home and in your space.

- No problem.

You’re family.

You’re welcome anytime, anytime.

And you’re so close.

[laughs] Rachelle: Like, I grew up thirty minutes from here.

DeKalb County.

♪ Sabrina: I’m so grateful.

I’m so very happy, very happy.

♪ Angie: The emotions walking up to the door, just so nervous, so excited.

Like, on this first day, I'm not sure it's just something that... Can't wait to meet everybody.

Hi, I'm Angie!

- I'm Kelly.

- This is Kelly.

- Shonna.

- Who's relative are you?

- Angie, I'm your aunt.

Your mother is my sister.

- Oh, my goodness, you're my aunt, can I give you a hug?

- Absolutely, 100 percent.

Angie: It is so nice to meet you.

I have so many questions for you.

Shonna: Awesome, I have lots of answers.

I am Shonna Geyer and I am Angie's aunt.

- That's amazing, so you are the first biological relative I've ever met in my life.

- Your mom is her sister.

- Yes.

- We have the same eyes.

Kelly: Yes, yes!

I can't get over it!

I'm like, I can't get over it!

Wow.

- It's been a lot of years and today it opened up a door and I can start building a future with somebody that is family and that we can become close with and the opportunities now, it's wide open.

Angie: It was pretty overwhelming when I first walked up to the door, it's neat to walk up to somebody and see a resemblance and see that you're clearly part of this family.

I just couldn't wait to ask all the questions I had and get some answers.

- Can we go in?

Angie: Sure, absolutely.

♪ Charley: So I really wanna introduce you to the newest member of the family.

Tiffani: Charley invites us to meet his wife, Regina, and their baby Colton, and he is so cute.

He's only a month and a half old and just adorable.

- This is the newest member.

Tiffani: Oh-ho!

He's so precious!

- This is Colton Mayo.

- Mayo, yep.

- Mayo?

- Yes.

- Yeah.

[baby cooing] [sniffs] - I know that I've heard that name.

My adopted mother said that she had heard my last name might have been Mayo, and that my biological mother didn't give me a name, and so Baby Mayo is what they called me.

And hearing that Colton's last name is Mayo, it hit me, I just got goosebumps that there's a question that has already been answered.

That was a big question that I had, 'cause my name was Baby Mayo at the hospital when I was given up for adoption.

Regina: That was his name, just recently.

Tiffani: Baby Mayo.

[laughing] Until you decided on one, oh.

Regina: Yep.

Tiffani: Wow.

Charley: When Tiffani told me that she was known as Baby Mayo from the nurses, and just knowing that our last name, you know, means something to her for the last 40 years, it's pretty exciting news, you know.

It's pretty amazing.

Being a Mayo, just, it means that no matter what, your family comes first, and we're honored to have you become a part of our family.

- Yeah, I am so thankful that you chose to do this with me, I'm so excited to have met my first blood relative and the newest Mayo relative.

♪ Dan: After a long day on the road... - You wanna look at the pictures I got goin' on here?

Layton: Yes.

please.

- Okay.

Dan: Layton finally gets to learn more about her father, Bryon.

- And these are of Bryon?

- This is your Dad, yeah.

Dan: From her aunt, Kelsey.

Layton: I haven't seen this one.

What made him join the Marine Corps?

Because I've never been able to ask anybody that.

- Um, after he gave you guys, he gave you up, um, it was just the next step.

He wanted to get out and just-- Layton: Kind of move on.

Kelsey: Yeah, that was it, he was gone.

Layton: I was very emotional and I was happy to get the answers to these questions, so it was cool to learn that piece of information.

Goodness gracious.

- Yeah, that's Bryon when he was way younger.

- Wow!

There was a picture of my name on Bryon's back, the tattoo.

And that was something that, it's a picture that, that says a thousand words.

And then when did he get that then?

- I wanna say within the first year after you were born he was already in the military, so this was the very, very first tattoo he ever got.

- Okay.

- Your name.

I showed Layton, um, pictures of my brother's tattoo, it's the very first tattoo he got about a year after she was born, and it was very important to him to have his daughter with him at all times and that was his way of remembering and knowing her.

He always regrets it, but he knows he did the best thing for you, and that's his way of remembering you, and he, like I said, he's always-- You're his eldest daughter, he always talks about "My oldest daughter," and anytime he talks about his kids, it's always, "My oldest daughter, Layton," he doesn't call you anything else, but that's his way of, you're always with him.

Always with him.

[emotional chuckle] So, yeah.

- That makes me feel good.

- It does!

I'm telling you, I mean, he always talks about you.

And that was the first thing he wanted to do, was make sure you were always with him.

- I'm so happy that he did choose to give me away because I grew up in a very, very loving family and I had a great life, but it's going through my mind of... that he really did love me and that he still does because she said that they talk about me all the time.

Kelsey: I am very happy to meet you.

I've wanted to meet you for so many years.

I do hope you have a safe journey and I really hope you get to meet your dad, because he's an amazing man.

She'll always be a part her family, always, and I will love her forever.

I think she's amazing.

She will never have to question ever being a part of this family.

♪ Sabrina: All right, come have a seat.

Rachelle: Thank you, I love your couch, it's beautiful.

- Oh thank you, thank you!

Rachelle: Once we sat down with Sabrina we started talking and I realized we have so much in common.

I used to dance at Academy of the Arts and like, Suits and Stands Studio, and like Stone Mountain.

- Wow.

Rachelle: Yeah.

- So, I'm a former dancer.

- Really?

Sabrina: My daughter is a dancer.

- Really?

[laughing] Wow!

There were so many commonalities that I did not expect to have, and it's a bonding moment and I was very grateful to have that.

- On your dad's side I have some photos that I would like to show you.

- Okay, I would love to see them.

♪ - So...

These are my three brothers, and this is the baby brother.

- Oh.

Sabrina: Barry, Timothy, Anthony, Kerry.

So based on your DNA, one of these men in this picture is your dad.

- Wow.

Sabrina: When I told Rachelle about the picture, I saw her whole demeanor change, her whole expression.

I felt that she can't wait to meet her dad, I could feel everything that she was feeling.

- I've never been this close to figuring out... [laughing] ...who my dad was, so the fact that one of these faces is him is like, it's mind blowing.

[sniffs] Sabrina: Family.

- It's so nice to see these pictures.

To see the photos and to know that one of them is my father, it's amazing.

I think Aunt Sabrina is pretty close to her brothers, but because an adoption was never spoken about, she wasn't sure which brother was my father.

- You have a big family.

You have your adopted family, and now you have us.

[sniffs] Karim: Watching on the couch, it definitely brought joy to me, and I was happy and just to be able to be a part of that, and grateful of how accepting Aunt Sabrina was.

- Well, you guys are beautiful.

- Thank you.

- And I'm so happy to be here.

So, thank you.

- Thank you.

♪ Dan: Back in Syracuse, New York... Shonna: I'm so glad to meet you.

- I'm so happy to meet you too.

Shonna: It's been a long time.

- Mm-hm.

Dan: ...Angela, on Team Green, finally gets to connect with her Aunt Shonna.

- I do have a lot of questions.

- Go for it.

Angie: So I mean, I guess I wondered if you knew about me?

- Absolutely.

- You knew about me?

- I absolutely.

Um, you just turned 39 this past July, um, uh, July 8th.

Uh, we, the whole family knows about you.

It was just a decision that was very difficult for my sister to make, um, she made it in your best interest, and uh, yeah.

Angie: I wanted to know if she knew about me, and the answers that I got were amazing.

Everyone has known about me all these years, everyone has wanted to meet me, so it's just truly amazing.

Wow.

[sniffing] Is-- Is my mother still alive?

- Yes.

- Okay.

Um, do you have pictures of everybody?

Can I see pictures?

- Oh, my goodness yes.

Angie: My Aunt Shonna hands me a photo of my mom, and I'm seeing her face for the very first time.

Shonna: You do look like your mother.

You look like your mother, it's why I'm like... [chuckling] Your mother's name is Barbara Geyer.

We call her Barbie.

That's kind of, it's always been Barbie, all, still to this day.

- Wow, that's amazing.

That's, yeah, that's the first time that I've ever heard her name.

Um, or what my last name is, so that's amazing to hear that.

I've never heard that before, so wow, that's huge, that's a big piece of information.

[chuckling] Shonna: I wanted Angie to know she was never forgotten, um, even though that she had a different life, she was still part of ours.

All this time, every birthday that came around that was Angie's you know, it was "hey, wish we knew you," and be able to pick up the phone and say, "hey, happy birthday to you," in person.

I was with my father and we went to the hospital to see you and your mother, and I wasn't allowed to come into the room to see your mother.

I was eleven and just uh...

But I did kind of peek through the door and I was able to see you and her, and it was a very, you could feel the intensity of the moment amongst my father and I could see it in your mother's eyes from a distance how difficult this was for her.

And uh, it was a sad day, it was a sad day.

- At eleven to remember that definitely means it was something that meant a lot, and to finally be able to share that with me must have been, just really, really special.

Shonna: But everything is turning out okay!

You're getting to meet everyone.

- Mm-hm.

Dan: After an exhausting first day of the race, all four teams are anxious as they await the results.

Kyle: I feel like, I think we're at least in the top three at least.

If we go top one I'd be super happy.

Karim: We had a lot of hiccups.

Rachelle: We did, but the drive was kind of okay, so... Karim: Definitely the drive was okay.

- So, we did our best, I'll accept whatever happens.

- Yeah, so-- - 'Cause either way, I mean look where we're at right now.

It's fine.

- You think we got this?

- I think we're good, I think we're safe.

[dramatic music] - Wow guys, here we are at the end of day one, and what a day it was!

We started like we've never started before by giving service back.

And I want to talk with Team Green because this seemed really personal and emotional to you, why?

Tell us about that.

- For work I am a home health nurse, I work with people in their homes.

I spend more time with my clients in their homes than I do with my own family, and when I heard what we were doing I was so happy for them because it does mean a lot to me.

Dan: Well the day certainly started in a wonderfully unusual way, and it certainly ended that way by meeting relatives.

We'll start with you, Team Black, who did you meet?

- So I was able to meet my aunt, Kelsey.

- What was that like for you?

- It was really, really nice, because I was able to get a lot of questions answered today.

- And then, there was a photo.

Tell us about that.

- This is my biological father, and he tattooed my name on his back, and Kelsey said it was his first tattoo that he ever got.

Rachelle: Hearing Layton's story and seeing that her father got her name tattooed, I thought that was a beautiful, beautiful moment.

Dan: Team Green, you had a tough day.

But was it worth it?

- Absolutely, it was worth it.

I got to meet my Aunt Shonna, and there she is, hello.

- Hi!

- And it turns out that she actually works in construction.

So-- Kelly: Yeah, she's a contractor.

Angie: It would have been amazing to have had her with us on our challenge, it would have been so helpful.

- It sounds like that's what family's there for, right?

To help you along the way.

Team Blue, who was waiting for you, Rachelle?

- We arrived at my Aunt Sabrina's house on my father's side.

- Hi.

- So I finally got to meet someone from my biological family.

- They looked alike.

- A lot alike.

Down to the same hoop earrings.

Jose: Yeah.

[laughing] Dan: Team Red, who was on the other side of the door when you knocked?

- Today I met the first biological family, my cousin Charles from my mom's side.

He is awesome, so there was a rumor that my last name was Mayo, and my cousin confirmed that for me today, my last name is Mayo.

Dan: Well I'll tell you what, for all of you, obviously, the journey's just begun.

And I can tell you this, you'll have plenty of ups and downs, but it will always be worth it.

And so, it's now that time of the day.

Who will be safe?

And who will have to think of new strategies for tomorrow?

Finishing in first place and picking up the first place prize of skipping their city selfie tomorrow... [dramatic music] Congratulations to Team Black, you finished 42 minutes over your allotted time.

[laughter] Layton: First place feels good, I didn't expect it, but I'm very happy that it turned out this way.

- Finishing 7 minutes behind Team Black, 49 minutes over their allotted time... You may have struggled a little bit in your challenges, but boy did you cruise on the roads, congratulations Team Blue.

- Team Black, you came in first, but we were only seven minutes behind, so we're comin' for you.

- And now it's between Team Red and Team Green.

Finishing 56 minutes over their allotted time and safe is Team Red.

Team Green, you will pick up the first strike of Relative Race.

Angie: The positive side is in the end it's just all about meeting family members and... - You met a great one today, that's for sure.

- Yeah.

- What a way to start these journeys, and this is just day one, you have eight more relatives waiting to meet you.

♪ Keep that in mind, and I'll see you tomorrow.

- Love you guys.

- Love you!

- Bye guys, take care!

- Bye guys!

- Be safe!

- Oh!

- I honestly, I thought we did a little better.

- I thought we did way better than that.

- Good job.

- Good job!

[laughing] - Congratulations!

- We won!

- That's awesome!

- I knew that was coming.

- I'm not like, shocked.

- Yeah, exactly.

- If we weren't last, somebody must have went to every car wash on their way to their selfie.