Michael & Kevin

Michael Wu and Kevin Wu are a Father/Son team on The Amazing Race 17.

Coming into the race, Kevin was not confident of their ability to do well, feeling that his father would be a physical liability for their team. Nevertheless, Michael was able to prove his son wrong, making up for his lack of physicality by performing well in other tasks, often resulting in them finishing near the front of the pack. However, Kevin's tendency to ignore Michael's advice ended up costing them in the seventh leg as they incurred two 30-minute penalties for misreading clues, resulting in their elimination in 7th place.

Profile[]

Retrieved from CBS.com^[1]

Michael[]

Age: 58
Hometown: Sugar Land, Texas
Connection to your Teammate: Father
Current occupation: Software Consultant and Content Creator/Internet Entertainer Favorite hobbies: My favorite hobbies include reading a good book, watching old movies and going to the park/lake.
Achievements: I have provided a stable and comfortable environment for my two kids to grow up. My wife and I did our best to raise them while running our own business.
Lifelong to do list: Travel around the world, be good at martial arts like Tai-Chi and pursue an advanced degree
What scares you most about traveling? Being in an airplane accident
What excites you most about traveling? Seeing different places and people, and getting out of the routine to do something different
What are you passionate about? I like to make friends smile and laugh. I also love to share my knowledge with young people and hope to make a difference in their lives.
What would you do if you won the million dollars? I would share half of the amount equally among the 11 teams and the rest I would donate to charity.
People would be surprised to learn: I am not really comfortable in a competitive situation.
Favorite place you have ever visited: North European countries
Biggest challenge you and your teammate will face on the Race together: We need to try and put our different personalities aside and work to be the best team we can be. What do you hope to accomplish by running the Race (other then winning one million bucks)? I hope the Race will be an exciting and fun experience that we can share for the rest of our lives. I'm also sure that facing the challenges and solving them together will definitely make us understand each other better. I hope to improve our relationship.
Pet peeve about your teammate: He uses foul language in situations when it's not really called for.

Kevin[]

Age: 19
Hometown: Sugar Land, Texas
Connection to your Teammate: Son
Current occupation: Student/Internet Entertainer
Favorite hobbies: Making videos, competitive sports and traveling
Achievements: I just recently hit one million subscribers on Youtube. Also I'm the youngest person ever to be on Amazing Race!
Lifelong to do list: Ultimately I would like to learn how to cook, travel the world, start a production company.
What scares you most about traveling? Losing my luggage
What excites you most about traveling? Getting to experience new places
If I could switch places with someone: I'd rather not switch places with anyone.
Role model/hero: My dad. He knows how to keep it real.
What are you passionate about? Food
What would you do if you won the million dollars? I would use it to fund a show I have in mind.
People would be surprised to learn: I make YouTube videos with my dad. My dad is hilarious!
Favorite place you have ever visited: Amsterdam
Biggest challenge you and your teammate will face on the Race together: Being decisive and using our heads more than others, because as a team we might be at a disadvantage physically.
What do you hope to accomplish by running the Race (other then winning one million bucks)? The experience of traveling around the globe.
Pet peeve about your teammate: Sometimes we have a difficult time comprehending one another.

The Amazing Race 17[]

Race History[]

Michael & Kevin's Race History
Episode	Leg	Destination(s)	Detour Choice (underlined)	Roadblock Performer	Placement	Notes
1	1	United States → United Kingdom	No Detour	Kevin	7 of 11
2	2	United Kingdom → Ghana	Tune In / Check Out	Michael	3 of 10
3	3	Ghana	Bicycle Parts / Language Arts	Kevin	9 of 9
4	4	Ghana → Sweden	Sleds / Beds	Michael	4 of 9
5	5	Sweden → Norway	Bike / Boat	Kevin	4 of 8
6	6	Norway → Russia	Classical Music / Classic Cinema	Kevin	3 of 7
7	7	Russia	Circus Band / Circus Clown	Michael	7 of 7	^[1]
				Average	5.29
Legend: The team finished in first place The team finished in last place and was eliminated from the race The team finished in last place in a non-elimination leg The team that won The Amazing Race The team that crossed the Finish Line second The team that crossed the Finish Line third ► The team used the Fast Forward pass ϵ The team used the Express Pass somewhere during the leg ⊂ The team used the U-Turn ⊃ Recipient of the U-Turn ⋐ The team that used the second slot of the "Double U-Turn" ⋑ Recipient of a second U-Turn due to the "Double U-Turn" twist
Notes: 1: Michael & Kevin arrived in 6th, but were issued two 30-minute penalties: one for hiring a taxi to lead them from Bank Bridge to 1 Vladimirsky Prospekt Tower, and another for taking a taxi from the tower to the Church of the Savior on Blood, both of which were explicitly prohibited by two clues. Chad & Stephanie returned during Michael & Kevin's penalty time, but were also issued a 30-minute penalty for taking a taxi to Church of the Savior on Blood when the clue instructed them to travel on foot. Since they were the only two teams left to check in at that point, and Michael & Kevin had more than 30 minutes remaining on their penalty time, Chad & Stephanie were allowed to check in immediately for a 6th-place finish. Michael & Kevin were then checked in and eliminated.

Post-Race[]

In 2014, Kevin starred in the crime drama film Revenge of the Green Dragons.^[2]
In 2015, Kevin turned down a role for the Netflix series Master of None.^[2]

Trivia[]

Michael is originally from Taiwan.
Largest age gap for a parent/child team, 39 years
Kevin is the first The Amazing Race contestant to be born in the 1990s on a standard format.
Kevin is the youngest male racer to perform a Roadblock on a standard format, being 19 at the time of racing, and the first teenage racer in the standard format. This would be followed by Zac Sunderland, Cameron Benson and Cole LaBrant.

External links[]

Kevin's Wikipedia page: KevJumba

Interviews[]

Linda Ong at AsianWeek (09/25/2010): "Kevin Wu on The Amazing Race and His Rise to YouTube Fame"
Joyce Eng at TV Guide Online (11/08/2010): "Getting Two Penalties Was a Shock to Us"
Carrie Bell at People (11/08/2010): "Amazing Race's Team Jumba Were Clueless About Misreading Clue"
Gina Scarpa at Reality Wanted (11/08/2010): "The Amazing Race 17: Exclusive Interview with Michael and Kevin Wu"
Digital Spy (11/09/2010): "Father-and-son pair say they had no idea they would incur penalties"
Reality TV World (11/09/2010): "Exclusive - Michael and Kevin Wu discuss The Amazing Race"
Teeuwynn Woodruff at RealityNewsOnline (11/10/2010): "It Was a Month of Pure Adrenaline"