Leo & Jamal

Leo & Jamal are a team of cousins on the 23rd season of The Amazing Race, and the second all-star season of The Amazing Race.

The "Afghanimals" were loudly enthusiastic and cutthroat racers in Season 23 who never missed an opportunity to ham it up for the cameras. Despite Leo being engaged, they were also known for flirting with female locals and fellow racers Ally & Ashley, with whom they formed an alliance. However they tried to gain any advantage that they could get over the other teams, mostly by blatantly lying about anything and everything, which caused the other teams to dislike them. They were also easily distracted and careless which caused issues for them, and they were eliminated in the penultimate leg after Leo struggled with the robot-building Roadblock.

Their constant scenery chewing got them invited back for All-Stars where they were more subtle with their lies and plotting, and ended up being part of the majority "Accidental Alliance" with Dave & Connor and Caroline & Jennifer, although they personally had nothing against Brendon & Rachel, the team that the alliance intended to target for elimination. Although they were in a good position to enter the final three, they got lost driving to both the Roadblock and the Detour, and never caught up to the other teams, falling just short of the Final 3 for the second time.

Leo

 * Age: 26 (Season 23)
 * Hometown: Los Angeles
 * Connection to your teammate: Cousin
 * Current occupation: Entrepreneur/Restaurateur
 * Describe what you do: I own and operate a restaurant and recently opened a bar/lounge.
 * 3 words to describe you: Smart, funny and friendly.
 * Favorite hobbies: Hiking, traveling, tennis and cooking.
 * What is the accomplishment you are most proud of? Climbing Mt. Whitney, the highest summit in the contiguous United States, with no prior experience.
 * What famous person reminds you of yourself? Bill Gates
 * What famous person reminds you of your teammate? Kobe Bryant
 * What scares you most about traveling? Missing my flight or a bad taxi.
 * What excites you most about traveling? Meeting and interacting with different cultures.
 * Biggest challenge you and your teammate will face on The Race together: Sometimes my cousin doesn’t listen or take my advice or direction to heart. I want to show him that I mean well and have him listen and be patient with me.
 * Pet peeve about your teammate: That he is very secretive and sometimes isn’t serious enough.
 * What country and place would you most like to visit and why? Venezuela, because the women are beautiful in South America.
 * What do you hope to accomplish by running The Race (other than winning one million bucks)? I hope to become closer to my cousin and show the entire world that Afghans are great, fun people and not just what we are portrayed in the media.

Jamal

 * Age: 26
 * Hometown: Los Angeles
 * Connection to your teammate: Cousin
 * Current occupation: CEO/Owner of Z.I.G. (Zadran Investment Group)
 * Describe what you do: I manage and operate Zadran Investment Group (Z.I.G.) where we own our own Independent Dealership to sell cars to the public. Z.I.G. also buys and flips homes in the Southern California area and operates as a Reality Firm to the Public. Part of my Investment Group also manages Equity Portfolios with trading of stocks, bonds and forex, and options.
 * 3 words to describe you: Persistent, confident and energetic.
 * Favorite hobbies: Jet skiing, paintball and boogie boarding.
 * What is the accomplishment you are most proud of? Working in Afghanistan for two years with the U.S. Military.
 * What famous person reminds you of yourself? Kobe Bryant – competitor and champion.
 * What famous person reminds you of your teammate? Albert Einstein – his ideas are efficient and usually right.
 * What scares you most about traveling? A bird hitting the aircraft and the plane crashing.
 * What excites you most about traveling? Seeing the different cultural customs people have and being able to try it out with them if allowed. To interact with and actually leave a life-lasting memory to somebody across the world would give me a feeling of making some type of difference in their life even if it’s only for a short time.
 * Biggest challenge you and your teammate will face on The Race together: We need to trust one another more often and not be too stubborn. Sometimes we may need to agree to disagree and not bicker a lot.
 * Pet peeve about your teammate: He’s very sensitive to things I may say to him or when I critique him.
 * What country and place would you most like to visit and why? Kenya, because of the natural wildlife. I’m a big cat fanatic and love the characteristics. To see them in the wild would be nice.
 * What do you hope to accomplish by running The Race (other than winning one million bucks)? To have more patience with one another and get through all challenges and obstacles with Leo. Though it will be difficult, the ultimate feeling should be worth it.

Leo

 * Name: Leo Temory
 * Age: 27
 * Hometown: Torrance, Calif.
 * Previous Seasons: Season 23
 * Current occupation: Founder/Owner of New York Deli & The Speakeasy
 * Describe what you do: I am a restaurateur and in the business of making sure people are never hungry and never thirsty.
 * Biggest mistake you made in your previous season: By far the biggest mistake I made was during the leg in Japan while I was constructing the robot. We had just gone from being last in the previous leg to first in Japan. I finished the robot before the other three teams but when I was putting the arms in the torso, I accidentally turned them around and by the time I figured out what I had done wrong, the other three teams had finished and we were eliminated.
 * Most memorable moment from your first Race: The most memorable part of season 23 was definitely the leg in Indonesia while I was constructing the angklung with all the students. For a brief moment, it put the race on pause for me and it felt like I was back in school. I wasn't in a hurry to complete the road block, I just wanted to enjoy the moment and entertain all the students. With all the good energy we received from the students, we ending up finishing the roadblock first and coming in first place! I'm actually starting an angklung store here in Los Angeles now, haha!
 * Favorite place you visited on your first season: My favorite place I visited in my first season was between Lisbon and Abu Dhabi. The history and people in Lisbon were amazing, and I could definitely see myself living there. On the other hand seeing the amazing advances, buildings, and technology in Abu Dhabi was breathtaking. Not only were those places great places to visit, they were also the places we had the most fun in!
 * Why do you want to run the Race again? I want to run the race again because I have to redeem myself. Jamal and I are so competitive in our day to day lives, it was so hard to go all the way to the end, and to go out the way we did. It's almost like making it to the Superbowl and missing the game winning field goal. We hate losing, and we lost in the most upsetting way. Not to mention it’s an experience of a lifetime, and to be given the opportunity to do again is amazing, I cannot wait to interact with all the different cultures, visit more amazing countries, and drop a dash of the “afghanimal” spirit everywhere we go!
 * How have you changed since the last time you competed? I've been the same ever since I was born, however this time around I am more knowledgeable about how the race is run, how to interact with the different team members and I know how to build a robot.
 * What are you passionate about? I am passionate about traveling, cooking, friends, family, being active, film, sports, fashion, business, and being entrepreneurial and coming up with new and innovative ideas. My brain never seems to stop working.
 * People would be surprised to learn: People would be surprised to learn how humorous and genuine we are. I love to live life to the fullest and want to show the world and everyone we interact with that, yes, we are running the most competitive race in the world, but at the same time, we're staying true to our roots and not losing focus on what makes us who we are. Expect lots of fun, out of the ordinary, entertaining from the “afghanimals!”
 * Biggest challenge you and your teammate will face on The Race together: The biggest challenge Jamal and I will face is communicating with one another. Communication is key to every healthy relationship, whether it be between a husband and wife, coach and player or two cousins racing around the world. We are definitely communicating better every day, but since we are both so aggressive and competitive sometimes we can bump heads, but we get over it really fast.
 * Pet peeve about your teammate: My biggest pet peeve about my cousin is the fact that sometimes he doesn't listen. We both are hard headed and we both want to do things our own way. But we are a team, and compromises have to be made.
 * What country and place would you most like to visit and why? I would love to visit Spain! The way of life in Spain is something that I can relate to and I could see myself living there in the near future. The people there are some of the nicest people I have ever met, and I also speak Spanish so that would help!
 * What do you hope to accomplish by running The Race (other than winning one million bucks)? I hope to finish the Race. We came so close last time. I hate not finishing something that I start, and to be given another opportunity to run the Race is a blessing. This time I'm going to finish and hopefully at the same time, entertain the entire world!
 * Any strategic changes you will make heading into this Race: This time around we will be a little more careful of what we say and who we say it to. We want to make sure everyone gets to know us first before we start racing and becoming super competitive. Plus, we do not want to get u-turned twice again. In the beginning of our last season, we were unfortunately portrayed as being sneaky and manipulative, which wasn't the case. Certain teams didn't understand our humor and how we were running the race.

Jamal

 * Name: Jamal Zadran
 * Age: 26
 * Hometown: Irvine, Calif.
 * Previous Seasons: Season 23
 * Current occupation: Owner, Z.I.G (Zadran Investment Group)
 * Describe what you do: I run my own private investment group, specializing in real estate and the automobile industry. Zadran Investment Group operates an independent dealership to sell cars to the public, buys and flips homes in the Southern California area, and operates as a reality firm to the public. We also manage equity portfolios with trading of stocks, bonds and forex, and options.
 * Biggest mistake you made in your previous season: Showing our competitiveness to other teams, making us the biggest threat of the race.
 * Most memorable moment from your first Race: The first-hand experience of racing around the world and interacting with different people and their cultures.
 * Favorite place you visited on your first season: Austria and Portugal are at the top of my list of favorite places because of how beautiful the cities looked as we were racing. They’re both so rich in history, and definitely places I would want to visit in the future with my wife.
 * Why do you want to run the Race again? I feel like we have some unfinished business to take care of. The way we went out the last race was kind of unfair and out of our hands.
 * How have you changed since the last time you competed? Nothing much has changed! We’re still crazy, funny, cool guys who enjoy life!
 * What are you passionate about? I’m very passionate about winning and trying not to make any mental mistakes.
 * People would be surprised to learn: That I can speak four different languages and used to be a linguist. So picking up new languages in a new country in a very short time shouldn’t be too hard!
 * Biggest challenge you and your teammate will face on The Race together: The other competitors on the Race. Some are back for the 3rd time and there is no team we will take for granted.
 * Pet peeve about your teammate: He can be sensitive to criticism and at times can be stubborn.
 * What country and place would you most like to visit and why? I would like to visit some African nation with all wild animals. To have any challenge where we interact with animals is always fun. Also, I love lions, tigers and bears … Oh My!!
 * What do you hope to accomplish by running The Race (other than winning one million bucks)? I want to be able to say that competing with the best of the best was challenging, but I was able to perform and bring my “A” game! Any strategic changes you will make heading into this Race: I am going to try not to be such a big target to other teams and take it easy so we aren’t shown as threats to the race.

Race History
Notes: Leg 1 had two Roadblocks and no Detour. The team member who sat out the first Roadblock was required to perform the second one. Leo & Jamal initially arrived first at the Pit Stop. However, Phil refused to check them in after they failed to pay their taxi driver properly. By the time they paid it and returned to the mat, Chester & Ephraim had already checked-in the Pit Stop at first place, dropping Leo & Jamal to second. Leo & Jamal departed the Pit Start two minutes later than their schedule due to oversleeping.