It’s episode three of Rush Australia 2023 and one Traveller has decided to call it quits.
After leaving Turkey — and Priscilla — behind during the July 3 episode, Team Navy, Team Gold and Team Scarlet have now been dropped in Jordan, specifically the scorching 44-degree heat of the Wadi Rum Desert.
“Where are we? On a Star Wars bloody set?” Fiona asks, and no, Fiona. You’re in an actual place.
The teams receive a message from host David Genat (DG) which reads: “A precious rock, surrounded by sand. A reminder of Egypt is where you should land.”
DG is 8km away at Pyramid Rock and they need to get to him quicksmart with the use of a provided compass and map. While you’d think having literal directions would be a walk in the park, Team Navy doesn’t even notice that they’ve been equipped for the mission.
Tommy, Madeline, Sofia and Tylen then decide fate will get them to their destination, picking a direction at random before going the wrong way… for three hours.
Meanwhile, since they had the sense to check their backpacks, Team Gold reach DG first, followed by Team Scarlet.
The Mission – Bedouin Camp
DG then tells the two teams that the next Escape Zone is located in the ancient city of Petra, with another mission to complete along the way.
“There’s something you should know about tonight’s Check-In,” he then warns. “You will need to wander the desert in search of a traditional Bedouin camp that is willing to host you for the night. With their nomadic lifestyle, there is no guarantee of where to find them, it could be a needle in a haystack.” Fun!
With just 100 Jordanian dinars, they set off.
Team Navy, however, are still lost AF, before realising Tylen doesn’t know how to read a compass.
Madeleine loses her cool and says: “Apparently I’m the only one who knows how to read a compass. I can’t stand people who just say they can do stuff to try and be a hero. I trusted you guys. I’m done.” Oop!
Unfortunately, they fail to find our Golden God and Sofia becomes frustrated at Madeleine’s s**tty attitude.
When they finally get to DG, he’s sitting there being fanned while being fed grapes. He wasn’t, but we wouldn’t blame him given the fact that Team Navy rocked up at 8.30pm.
Since they took their sweet a** time, they have to give up and make camp under the stars.
“We’ve got sleep out of here, it’s pitch black, it’s freezing. Are you serious?” Tommy says. And yes, the producers at Rush were very serious because, with one blanket between the four of them, that’s where they slept.
The Mission – The High Place of Sacrifice
After what Tommy calls “the crappest sleep”, he too decides he cannot stand Madeliene’s complaining; however, as they would say in MasterChef, it was time to motor!
By the grace of the desert gods, Tommy then sees a car and they manage to haggle a ride but their obstacles weren’t over just yet. Once at Petra, they faced a 900-step hike to the High Place of Sacrifice where they had to photograph a circular stone altar.
Madeleine once again loses her mind, thinking they couldn’t possibly complete the task and the team begin to turn on her.
“Madi you’ve got no respect sometimes,” Tylen tells her, while she says: “I don’t care”. Ouch.
The team manage to complete the task, albeit 50 million hours behind the other teams, and make it to DG.
The Mission – The Monestary Escape Zone
You’d be forgiven for thinking that Team Navy were the only Travellers competing given their airtime, but ya gotta follow where the drama is and Team Navy is that drama.
Once again, they get lost on their way to meet DG, who finally puts them out of their misery. He tells them that they need to eliminate one of their own, and Madeleine is thrilled.
“I can save all of this,” she tells him. “Chuck me on that plane back to Australia, team. I’m gonna love you and leave you. If there’s no arguments, I’ve had a blast. I’ve been on the adventure I wanted to. And I’m ready to see my kids again. Thank you. That’s me.”
Madeleine then becomes the latest Traveller to be eliminated (of her own volition) from the show.
“I feel like to be leaving the team with that comment. Honestly, I was like, that is so nasty,” Sofia says in a piece-to-camera.
“But you know what? That’s just made the fire in my belly a hell of a lot bigger. And I’m just ready to take on the world with my two boys and prove Madi wrong.”
Rush airs on Sunday at 7:00pm and continues Monday and Tuesday at 7:30pm on Channel 9 and 9Now.
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