Richard & Joey

Richard Toutounji and Joey Toutounji are a of Married Entrepreneurs on the 1st season of The Amazing Race Australia.

Joey

 * Age: 30

Richard

 * Age: 29

Biography
'They’re fit, focused and super competitive. Will Joey and Richard’s ruthless determination keep them on track to the final pit stop? Or will this husband and wife just rub the other teams up the wrong way?'

Sydney entrepreneurs Joey and Richard believe they have the physical and mental strength to make it to the top three. They’ve already planned their “T3” strategy, which includes T-shirts emblazoned with encouraging slogans such as “Focus, Believe, Achieve” and “Crush It!”. Devotees of motivational speakers such as Anthony Robbins, they’re hoping to intimidate their competitors. Together for 11 years and married for four, their competitive streak even extends to a rivalry between themselves. “Sometimes we’ll just jump on the treadmill next to each other to race,” says Joey. Richard adds: “Coming from a sport and business background makes us competitive. It’s an advantage for us, to work together as a couple on a lot of different projects. “We are very hard on ourselves and mentally tough. We believe action cures fear.” The couple met when Richard, 29, started training former PE teacher Joey’s parents. He then started training Joey, 30, and sparks flew in between sprints and squats. Nowadays they operate their own fitness website and conduct motivational seminars for major corporations. Big believers in healthy eating as well as training, the couple released the book, Please Mum, Don’t Supersize Me, to rave reviews a few years ago. “It’s my proudest achievement,” says Joey. “It felt as though we reached a lot of people with the healthy eating message. I’m the kind of person who’s fulfilled if I feel like I’m helping people.” That caring spirit may not extend to their rivals in the race, with the couple admitting they’re not in it to make friends. “I don’t have a huge amount of friends. And I don’t expect that to change during the race. Ultimately it’s us versus the other 10 teams. And we’re here to win no matter what,” says Richard. While they have travelled extensively – Richard worked on an international cruise ship, and they have holidayed in Europe and the US together – they admit they’re not always great on details. Joey says: “When it comes to geography and stuff, we don’t really know where places are. We like to guess.”

Australia Season 1

 * Leg 1: 10th
 * Leg 2: 9th
 * Leg 3: 1st (Fast Forward)B72239d69612333b_Amazing_Ep3.jpg
 * Leg 4: 9th (Eliminated)

Memorable Moments

 * U-Turned by Nathan & Tyler.
 * When Richard started yelling at a goat.
 * They got bogged in South Africa, which resulted in their elimination.

Franchise

 * Lowest average placing team who won at least one leg in a season, 7.25.

Australia

 * First team to win a Fast Forward.