Luke McGregor had to do a ‘sexy dance’ on The Amazing Race – with his mum
Luke McGregor would have liked to have taken his wife, author Dr Amy Thunig, on the celebrity version of Ten’s globetrotting competition The Amazing Race. But with Thunig tied up in academia, the comedian turned to his second choice of travel companion: his mum, Julie.
“I would have rather shared a hotel room with my wife,” says McGregor. “But whenever I see Mum, it’s always Christmas or some family thing, and we hadn’t really gone on a holiday together. And I thought Mum would say less problematic things on television than Dad would.”
Comedian Luke McGregor and his mum Julie in The Amazing Race Australia: Celebrity Edition.
His Rosehaven co-star Celia Pacquola, with whom he would “travel with any day”, was also busy hosting Thank God You’re Here.
The McGregors chase clues across Argentina, South Africa, Namibia and Thailand, competing against 10 other pairs comprised of at least one celebrity (they include Peter Helliar, Ian Thorpe, Natalie Bassingthwaighte, Billy Brownless and Matildas players Chloe Logarzo and Emily Gielnik), all playing for charity. For McGregor, who has until now turned down offers to appear in reality shows, “the idea of going around the world and solving puzzles seemed right up my alley”.
“What makes me scared is that maybe the edit will show me being mean to someone,” he says. “That was my goal the whole time: just don’t be mean.”
That resolve was at times tested by the practicalities of travelling with a film crew of two.
Luke and Julie McGregor attempt the tango in Argentina in The Amazing Race Australia: Celebrity Edition.
“My natural instinct is to hold the door open for them when we come into a place, but you’re not allowed to because they need the shot of you entering without looking like you’re with people, obviously,” he says. “I just have to barge through the door and let it close on them and that was hard to do. I’m hoping my opening-doors ways will come back to me.”
Although the rigours of even regular travel can test relationships, McGregor and his mum grew closer. She used her people skills honed in real estate to ask for directions, while her son “ran around in circles with a map”. The pair overcame awkwardness to dance the tango in Buenos Aires on the first leg of the journey.
“It’s a sexy dance and not necessarily one you want to do with your mum,” McGregor says. “And it involves a lot of lifting up, which I also struggle with, so it was a baptism of fire.”
Having his mum onboard helped McGregor overcome his crippling anxiety. “I’ve got a lot of health anxiety. So I had a lot of fears of not having access to medical care. That, and flying, I don’t love. This sounds a bit lame, but because Mum was there, it helped because growing up, she would be a source of comfort.
“Also, if something bothered Mum, I would be more worried about Mum than I was me. I don’t know if I’ll bring Mum on every family holiday from now on, but it certainly helped when we were travelling around on The Amazing Race.”
McGregor is stepfather to two children, aged 9 and 13, with Thunig, whom he married last year on Valentine’s Day.
“I had no doubt that Amy and I would work, but I was worried that maybe the kids wouldn’t accept me,” he says. “We get along like a house on fire. One of them likes anime and horror movies, and the other one likes video games, so it’s been very easy to slide in there as their dad. I’ve probably got more in common with them, hobby-wise, than I do with Amy.”
If the McGregors win the $100,000 prize, they will donate it to the Mudgin-Gal Women’s Centre in Redfern. “My wife and children are Indigenous, so I wanted to get behind a charity that was Indigenous-run, serving the community – anything I can do for them as a white, low-grade celebrity.”
Not that he’d necessarily do Amazing Race again, but it was “really cool”. “It was like being in one big escape room, if the escape room was the whole world.”
The Amazing Race: Celebrity Edition returns on Monday, September 9, 7.30pm on Ten.
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