Brendon & Rachel

Brendon Villegas and Rachel Reilly are a team of PhD Student & Event Hostess on the 20th season of The Amazing Race, and a team of Newlyweds on the second all-star season of The Amazing Race.

Brendon

 * Age: 31 (Season 20), 33 (All-Stars)
 * Hometown: Westwood, California
 * Connection to Teammate: Fiancé
 * Current Occupation: Ph.D. student at UCLA
 * Met Rachel on Big Brother 12 and finished in 6th Place.
 * Reappeared on Big Brother 13 and finished in 9th Place.
 * Describe what you do: Cancer research via Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Imaging. I am investigating biological mechanisms in the human brain that may aid in preventing neurodegenerative disease; also involved in proliferation of various types of cancer.
 * How will these skills help you win The Race? I am a logical thinker and believe I am fairly proficient at cartography.
 * Three words to describe you: Fun, competitive and intellectual.
 * Favorite hobbies: Running, reading and swimming.
 * What famous person reminds you of yourself? Stephen Colbert
 * What famous person reminds you of your teammate? Scarlett Johansson
 * What is the accomplishment you are most proud of? Working on my PhD. in Biomedical Physics.
 * What scares you most about traveling? Nothing.
 * What excites you most about traveling? Exploring new places with the love of my life.
 * Biggest challenge you and your teammate will face on The Race together? I am impatient.
 * Pet peeve about your teammate: She’s short with me and often doesn’t want to listen to me.
 * What country and place would you most like to visit and why? South America, because they are Latin and I feel like I share similarities with them, culturally.
 * What do you hope to accomplish by running The Race (other than winning one million bucks)? I hope we are able to enjoy the small moments and not forget to stop and smell the proverbial roses.

Rachel

 * Age: 27 (Season 20), 29 (All-Stars)
 * Hometown: Westwood, California
 * Connection to Teammate: Fiancée
 * Current Occupation: Event Hostess
 * Met Brendon on Big Brother 12 and finished in 9th Place
 * Reappeared on Big Brother 13 and was the winner of that season.
 * Describe what you do: Just got off “Big Brother.”
 * How will these skills help you win The Race? We’re very competitive. Brendon and I work very well together: fast, strong, smart. If we can survive “Big Brother,” we can do anything.
 * Three words to describe you: Fun, bubbly and effervescent.
 * Favorite hobbies: Working out, making clothes with glitter and hiking with my dog.
 * What famous person reminds you of yourself? Lucy from “I Love Lucy.”
 * What famous person reminds you of your teammate? Ricki from “I Love Lucy.” He’s a fiery Hispanic and I’m the ditsy, flighty redhead.
 * What is the accomplishment you are most proud of? My B.S. Chem degree. I worked really hard. My magazine cover with Steven Tyler of Aerosmith. Winning “Big Brother.”
 * What scares you most about traveling? I love it.
 * What excites you most about traveling? Meeting new people, experiencing new cultures and seeing the world.
 * Biggest challenge you and your teammate will face on The Race together? Brendon is impatient.
 * Pet peeve about your teammate: Impatience. He’s always rushing me.
 * What country and place would you most like to visit and why? Africa on a Safari. I’d love to go to Egypt and Kenya.
 * What do you hope to accomplish by running The Race (other than winning one million bucks)? Traveling around the world, bonding, falling deeper in love and working together as a couple.

Biography
Brendon and Rachel met on reality show Big Brother.

Season 20

 * Leg 1: 2nd
 * Leg 2: 4th
 * Leg 3: 2nd
 * Leg 4: 6th
 * Leg 5: 5th
 * Leg 6: 4th
 * Leg 7: 4th
 * Leg 8: 4th (1st U-Turned by Art & JJ; 2nd U-Turned Vanessa & Ralph)
 * 1st U-Turned by Art & JJ; 2nd U-Turned Vanessa & Ralph.
 * Leg 9: 2nd
 * Leg 10: 2nd
 * Leg 11: 3rd
 * Leg 12: 3rd

All-Stars (2014)
Arrived 2nd Arrived 1st and won US$2,500 each Arrived 8th Arrived last but were not eliminated Arrived 7th Arrived 5th Arrived 1st and won a trip for two from Travelocity to The Great Barrier Reef, Australia Arrived 1st and won US$7,500 each Arrived 4th Arrived 2nd
 * Leg 1: 2ndBrenchelintrocap.png
 * Who's feeling wired?: Brendon
 * Leg 2: 1st2412-3rdPlace.png
 * Who's the mechanic?: Brendon
 * Feather Ball
 * Leg 3: 8th
 * Who will fall for this one?: Rachel
 * Jungle Run
 * Leg 4: 8th
 * Who's got a spring in their step?: Rachel
 * Master Mix
 * Leg 5: 7th
 * Spin Control
 * Who's ready to put the pedal to the medal?: Brendon
 * Leg 6: 5th
 * Who's ready to fill 'er up?: Rachel
 * Sheet
 * Leg 7: 1st
 * Charioteer
 * Who can count up the Spanish Steps?: Brendon
 * Leg 8: 1st
 * Donkey Run
 * 1st U-Turned Dave & Connor
 * Who's got the write stuff?: Rachel
 * Leg 9: 4th
 * Who's ready to be milked to oblivion?: Brendon
 * Leg 10: 2nd (2nd U-Turned by Caroline & Jennifer, but unaffected)
 * Who wants to be a Barber of Seville?: Rachel
 * Run With The Ballz
 * 2nd U-Turned by Caroline & Jennifer, but unaffected
 * Leg 11: 3rd
 * Leg 12: 3rd

Season 20

 * Brendon slipped at the pit stop in leg 5.
 * Went for a fast forward in leg 10, which required them to shave their heads, and didn't do it.
 * Rivalry with Vanessa & Ralph and Art & JJ. Alliance with Bopper & Mark

All-Stars (2014)

 * Winning a four-team footrace in leg 2 to win $2,500 each and their first leg win.
 * Struggling along with Margie & Luke on the detour in leg 4.
 * Taking a risk on an earlier flight with only a half hour connection to save themselves from elimination in Leg 5, and making the connection in Singapore, arriving in Colombo, Sri Lanka ahead of the other teams.
 * Rivalry with Dave & Connor and Caroline & Jennifer.


 * Settled for 3rd place due to a common misunderstanding of where the clue was, and thus they mistakenly searching the inside of the hotel when the clue box was outside the corner. This caused them to lose valuable time and their fate was sealed when they were too far behind to catch up after the light bulb task at The Mirage. Their horrible taxi driver did not do them any good either.


 * Disliking the quality of how fast their taxi driver drove, Brendon and Rachel attempted to steal Caroline and Jennifer's taxi. that didn't go out well since the taxi driver kept of refusing.
 * Rachel cried after realizing she and Brendon placed 3rd again. The couple agreed to have children after Brendon get graduated.

Franchise

 * Second team of Big Brother following Jordan & Jeff.
 * Highest average placing team to finish 3rd without winning any leg at all, 3.42
 * Second reality show team to be in an all-star season, following Rob & Amber.
 * First returning team to make the Final 3 in both races and by extension not be eliminated. The First person overall was was Eric Sanchez.
 * One of five teams to finish in the same position in two seasons, 3rd place (with Oswald & Danny, 4th, Kent & Vyxsin, 5th, Margie & Luke, 8th and Leo & Jamal, 4th)
 * Most legs traveled by a team in two seasons, 24 legs (tied with Dustin & Kandice)
 * Most legs traveled by a male/female team in a career, 24 legs
 * Most legs traveled by a reality competition team, 24 legs.
 * Rachel, the first female to make it to the final three twice.

American

 * Only team to finish twice in the same position to make the final.

Season 20

 * Youngest male/female team, 29.
 * Youngest team in the Final Three, 29.
 * Lowest average placing team in the Final Three, 3.42

All-Stars (2014)

 * Only team who never got eliminated in their previous season.
 * Last male/female team standing.
 * First team to win consective legs.
 * Last team who made to the Final Three in their last season (Season 20) standing.

Trivia

 * Brendon & Rachel got married on September 8, 2012.
 * In both of their seasons, Brendon & Rachel came 2nd in both leg 1 & 10, and came 3rd in both leg 11 & 12.
 * In both of their seasons, the winning team had won at least half of their seasons and won the last four legs.