Mo & Mos

Mo and Mos are a team of Friends on the 1st season of The Amazing Race Australia.

Mohammed (Mo)

 * Age: 26

Mostafa (Mos)

 * Age: 25

Biography
'Melbourne mates Mo and Mos share a strong friendship and an Islamic faith. Will their background create a few extra obstacles on the race?'

Australian born and bred, Mo (Mohammed) and Mos (Mostafa) both have Egyptian parents and a similar “cuddly” build, meaning they’re often mistaken for brothers.

“People always point out that we look really similar. Of course the big debate is ‘Who’s better looking?’ I think we’ll have to sort that out on the race,” says Mo.

Mos, 25, says being a young Muslim man could pose a few added challenges not faced by other teams on the race.

“People might think there’s something suspicious about two young Arab Muslim men running around madly with backpacks on,” adds Mo, 26. “I would say that 70 per cent of the time I get stopped for random security checks in airports.”

Aside from losing time to security screening, Mo and Mos’ faith means they must also stop to pray five times a day.

“Who knows? Just taking five minutes to stop and pray might just help us focus. And that could be just what we need to win the race,” says Mos.

The boys don’t necessarily see their weight as a disadvantage.

Mo says: “There have been people in the race who have been fatter than us. I don’t think it’s a barrier for us to win. The other teams with their six packs might be looking at us and going,

‘Don’t worry about those guys,’ which works in our favour.”

Mo and Mos met three years ago at a leadership course. They cite their experience of different cultures as one of their greatest strengths.

As a multicultural youth worker for the past five years, Mo says, “That’s given me access to people from lots of different backgrounds so I know about many cultures around the world.”

Mos has similar experience through his volunteer work at RISE, a group which assists refugees and asylum seekers. He has also completed a degree in Sociology and a Masters in Sports Business.

While they have plenty in common, their approach to the race could differ.

Mo says, “I’m far more driven. Honestly, the thing I’m most scared about with Mos is that we’re at the start line and Grant says, ‘Go’ and I’m going to run and Mos will just start walking. He’ll be like, ‘Yeah, there’s no rush.’ He’s a very relaxed guy. Whereas I’ll be stressed about not knowing what’s happening next.”

Australia Season 1

 * Leg 1: 11th (non-elimination, must come first in the next leg or suffer a 30-minute penalty)
 * Leg 2: 7th

Franchise
Highest placing by a muslim team (11th or higher)