‘I wanted to hold Tim’s hand but thought…it could be dangerous.’

After getting married in March, personal trainers Rod Jones and Tim Sattler came up with the perfect (or craziest) honeymoon – travelling to every corner of the globe and winning the reality TV show The Amazing Race Australia. It’s an experience they described as one of the greatest things they have ever done.

“It was a thousand times harder than we thought it would be,” Sattler told Star Observer. “When you binge watch the show at home you think you can do a much better job than the contestants, but when you have cameras in your face and the pressure the show creates –  it’s more hectic than we could have ever expected.”

Huge fans of the reality tv franchise, the couple were excited to partake in the onscreen adventure.

“We couldn’t wait to be a part of the show and experience the spontaneity of it all. Plus to experience it together was fantastic,” Jones told us.

“I never thought in my wildest dreams I’d have been able to have gone to some of the places they sent us. When we read the clue saying we were going to Africa we were so pumped – The Lion King is like our favourite movie in the world,” he laughed.

Not knowing where you are heading next is part of the excitement of the series but also something the married couple had to seriously consider when they entered. Homosexuality is frowned upon or illegal in certain countries. What happens if they end up in one of those destinations?

“It was something the producers were really good about during the filming of the series,” Sattler said.

“They did warn us that we were going into countries where homosexuality isn’t accepted and is still illegal, so we had to be careful and watch our public displays of affection in certain areas.”

Although they never felt unsafe because of their sexuality, the duo admit that it was something that was always in the back of their minds.

“There were definitely times we wondered whether we should hold hands or not,” Jones added. “There were times I wanted to hold Tim’s hand or give him a kiss because I was so happy but thought ‘is this right decision? It could be dangerous.’”

“That was why we decided that no matter where we were, we were always going to jump onto the mat hand in hand. We did that every single time.”

Though it may look like the duo were running around the world by themselves, they were surrounded by producers and crew as well as security who watched out for their safety.

‘There were so many people involved behind the scenes, but we were kept separate from the other teams and there was plenty of rivalry. We had similar fitness levels to Tom and Tyler and really we were just two gay men who just wanted to beat the straight footy boys,” Sattler laughed.

“It was a rollercoaster of emotions,” Jones said. “There were plenty of days we thought we could win, and others where we thought we were beaten, but I’ve never wanted to win anything more in my entire life.”

“The experience took me back, growing up as a little gay boy thinking I wasn’t good enough, feeling like an underdog. There were so many times we thought that we weren’t just doing this for ourselves, but to make our LGBTQI family proud and show the world that two gay guys can come in and win this thing.”

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Since winning The Amazing Race Australia the two have received messages of support from young people who tell them that seeing their bubbly personalities on TV helped them to come out to their families and struggle with depression about not feeling normal.

“We went into the show just being ourselves, hoping we could make a few people laugh along the way,” Jones said.

“The show will go down as one of the greatest things we have ever done, but by being on it, we have also given people the courage to stand up and be themselves and we love that we have also inspired people along the way.”

The couple plan will spend the Christmas and New Year’s season relaxing on the beach with their family and friends.