Mo & Mos

Mohammed "Mo" El-Leissy and Mostafa "Mos" Haroun are a team of Friends on The Amazing Race Australia 1.

Profile[]

Retrieved from au.tv.yahoo.com

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.^[1]

The Amazing Race Australia 1[]

Race History[]

Mo & Mos's Race History
Episode	Leg	Destination(s)	Detour Choice (underlined)	Roadblock Performer	Placement	Notes
1	1	Australia → Indonesia	Cash / Carry	Mos	11 of 11
2	2	Indonesia → Vietnam	Carry Fowl / Carabao	Mo	7 of 11	^[1]
3	3	Vietnam → Hong Kong → Macau	Lion Dance / Kung Fu Stance	Mos	9 of 10	^[2]
4	4	Macau → South Africa	Smash / Bash	Mos	8 of 9
5	5	South Africa	Guns / Rosé	Mo	8 of 8
				Average	8.60
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
Notes: 1: Mo & Mos initially arrived 4th, but were issued a 30 minute penalty for being "marked for elimination" and not arriving 1st. As Mo & Mos were waiting out their penalty, three teams checked in, dropping Mo & Mos to 7th. 2: Mo & Mos elected to take the four-hour penalty for not completing the Roadblock in Leg 3. During their penalty time, Anne-Marie & Tracy, the only team trailing Mo & Mos at that point, also elected to take the four-hour penalty for not completing the Roadblock, but because Mo & Mos had began their penalty time earlier than Anne-Marie & Tracy, both teams were called to the check-in mat and Mo & Mos were checked in as 9th, with the remainder of the penalty time being issued at the start of Leg 4, and Anne-Marie & Tracy being eliminated without the penalty being issued.

Trivia[]

Australia Records[]

Mo & Mos are the first team to the finish last on a leg.
First team to be finish last on a Non-Elimination Leg and thus the first to be Marked for Elimination.
First team to be penalized.
First all-male team to be eliminated from the race.