The Amazing Race’s plucky duo

The Star Online
Thursday September 2, 2004

Mirna Hindoyan and Charla Faddoul who were eliminated after the seventh
episode tell ZACK YUSOF of the good and trying times they faced competing in
The Amazing Race.

Their trek on The Amazing Race may have ended in tears for plucky
contestants Mirna Hindoyan, 27, and Charla Faddoul, 28, but nobody expected
host Phil Keoghan to be visibly moved as well.

“At each pit-stop, Phil was so gracious to us and I can tell you that he
wasn’t like that with the other teams,” said Mirna in a telephone interview
from Maryland.

Charla Faddoul (left) and Mirna Hindoyan were fierce and determined
competitors throughout seven legs of The Amazing Race.
“I think Phil and us have mutual respect for each other. We are big fans of
the show. Unlike some of the other teams, we didn’t get on the show through
an agent, but it was through our own will, trying very hard to prove that we
had what’s needed to be on the show.

“I think Phil also respected us because we had respect for the locals. It
was obviously hard for him to see that after all our hard work, we just
could not advance further.”

On this occasion, the normally ice-cold host of the top-rated TV adventure
race could not contain his emotions and allowed his eyes to well up when the
122cm-tall Charla explained her motivation for competing on the show after
they were eliminated.

It’s a physically challenging 29-day race, with 11 teams travelling
116,800km and at the same time performing challenging tasks for a US$1mil
(RM3.8mil) prize. Few people gave Charla and her team-mate and cousin Mirna
Hindoyan much chance of making it past the early stages.

But having survived seven episodes using their wits and wiles, the two have
gained the respect of audiences around the world.

“I just wanted to prove to the world how much I can do, and the pressure is
greater when there are always people thinking you can do it,” said Charla to
a teary-eyed Keoghan when they were eliminated.

Mirna and Charla were fierce and determined competitors throughout seven
legs of The Amazing Race. They gave as good as they got on their travels but
got themselves eliminated after gambling on an earlier flight from Abu Dhabi
to Dubai, which was later delayed by three hours. Their final destination
was to be Nairobi, Kenya.

“That was the worst moment of the race for us. Everything was going so well
until then. That killed our lead.” said Mirna.

Since the fifth season of the series began airing in the United States on
July 6, Mirna and Charla have emerged as one of the most interesting teams
on the show, while angering other teams and polarising popular opinion. The
other contestants like Colin and Christie in particular were so against the
two women.

“Let’s just say that Colin’s a very offensive person and he is not open to
people of different cultures. From day one, he had some choice words that he
used on us. We are Armenian and very proud of our heritage. He wanted to
beat us and we wanted to do our best. Some people just resort to blocking
doorways and others just try to use their brains and play their own games.”

In fact, the cousins were prepared to resort to almost any measure,
including using Charla’s small stature, to get ahead. From the very
beginning of the race, Charla had admitted that people were inclined to
offer her help because of her size. She was proven right as early as the
third episode when she claimed that she needed a doctor so that she could
secure a seat on a plane. Unscrupulous maybe, but having a small person
among their ranks definitely worked in Mirna and Charla’s favour.

As it turned out, Charla proved to be such an able competitor. She ended up
performing most of the tasks at the roadblocks, which made many people
speculate that she was doing most of the work.

“I really would like to respond to that,” stated Mirna firmly. “Most people
don’t realise how much of a struggle the race was for us. Charla may be the
smallest person in the race but she weighs as much as me. I’m a 160cm girl
who weighs 48kg and I must say that although I’m a very hardworking person,
I’ve never worked as hard as in the race.

“I’m very proud of her because for the first 10 days of the race I was ill
and on antibiotics. But also, for the two people challenges, I was there
with her and a lot of time I had to do it on my own like herding the goat
and finding the dancer in Argentina.

“I joked and laughed about it but it hurts me when people think that I
didn’t contribute. If we weren’t a team, I don’t think we would have made it
that far.”

Between the two of them, they speak a variety of languages including
Armenian, Turkish, French and Spanish, and have travelled extensively to
foreign countries. Their linguistic skills and experience of different
cultures certainly helped them on various legs of the race.

“We like to have a good time,” explained Charla. “We love experiencing
different cultures and meeting people. There are lots of beautiful things in
the world to experience. We try to communicate with the locals because in my
travelling experience, I find that when you respect people, they treat you
very graciously. It’s nice to try and speak their language. Speaking
different languages definitely gave us an edge over the other teams.”

Certainly, Mirna and Charla’s stint on The Amazing Race has made them
household names back in the United States. People, In Touch, Jay Leno,
Access Hollywood and Entertainment Tonight have all requested interviews
with them.

In a CBS poll conducted just before they were eliminated, the two ladies
were voted as the team most likely to win. Even after their elimination from
the race, the fan websites garner more comments about Charla and Mirna than
any other team.

For the record, Mirna and Charla are first cousins from Towson, Maryland,
and Phoenix, Arizona, respectively. Both are Armenian and were born in the
same hospital in Syria one month apart. They emigrated to the United States
when they were young children.

As well as co-owning/ managing 10 sportswear stores, Charla said that she is
married to the man of her dreams. Although she has a form of dwarfism, she
stressed that she does not consider it a limitation. Mirna is an attorney
who graduated from the University of Maryland School of Law at 23, the
youngest in her class.

Now that they are eliminated from the race, which of the remaining teams are
they rooting for to win the grand prize?

“We like the mums, and Chip and Kim. They are very nice people to be around.
They are very positive people,” said Charla.

Added Mirna: “At the end of the day, we are proud of what we have
accomplished. Our families and people who stopped us in the streets are
proud of us. I got letters from Singapore and all over the world where the
senders said they were proud of us. We never expected any of this and we are
very appreciative.”

The Amazing Race airs on Wednesdays at 8pm on Astro’s AXN channel.