Uchenna & Joyce

S11
S7

Team Profile

Born:

May 12, 1964 (age 61) (Uchenna)
July 4, 1960 (age 64) (Joyce)

Hometown:

Houston, Texas

Relation:

Married

Occupation:

Energy broker (Uchenna)
Sales manager (Joyce)

Legs Competed:

12

Legs Won:

3

Placement:

1st

Average Position:

3.08

Roadblock
Count:

Uchenna: 6
Joyce: 5

Countries
Raced:

Legs Competed:

9

Legs Won:

1

Placement:

5th

Average Position:

4.33

Roadblock
Count:

Uchenna: 3
Joyce: 4

Countries
Raced:

Uchenna Agu and Joyce Robinson Agu are a Married team and the Official Winners of The Amazing Race 7. They also competed on The Amazing Race: All-Stars.

Coming into the The Amazing Race 7 while going through a problematic period in their marriage, Uchenna & Joyce slowly rediscovered their love for each other during their time on the Race. During the eighth leg, Joyce also notably agreed to have her head shaved so that they could win the Fast Forward in India, giving them a spot in the final four. Though they aligned with Lynn & Alex and Meredith & Gretchen against the alliance of Rob & Amber and Ron & Kelly, they lost their allies on the way to the final three. After suffering a flat tire on their way to the Pit Stop during the penultimate leg, they came in last and had all their money taken away from them, handicapping them throughout the final leg where they were forced to beg for money on several occasions. In addition, they also had to beg to be allowed on the same flight to Miami as Rob & Amber. However, the married couple was able to decipher the final clue in Miami faster than Rob & Amber and, even after having to beg for money to pay their taxi just before the Finish Line, would go on to win the Race.

Later returning in All-Stars after undergoing more problems in their marriage due to being unable to have a child, Uchenna & Joyce nevertheless performed strongly yet again, including outlasting their old rivals Rob & Amber on their way to the final five. However, in a season notable for teams encountering flight problems, Uchenna & Joyce took the risk of taking a connecting flight to Malaysia with a short layover. When their connecting flight landed 10 minutes late, they missed their flight to Malaysia, putting them hours behind the other teams, consigning them to a 5th place finish.

Profile[]

Retrieved from CBS.com

Uchenna & Joyce are a married Team from Houston, Texas, who are going through an extremely challenging period in their lives. Both worked for now-bankrupt companies that experienced highly publicized accounting scandals: Uchenna worked for Enron and Joyce worked for WorldCom. Uchenna and Joyce's primary motivation for participating in the Race is to regain some of the closeness they've lost during these trying times.

Uchenna grew up in Los Angeles and now works as an energy broker in Houston. Uchenna and his wife have been through some challenging financial and emotional times as of late. After several failed attempts to get pregnant, they tried in-vitro fertilization, but it was unsuccessful. Uchenna describes himself as competitive and extroverted, and he enjoys basketball, scuba diving and horseback riding.

Joyce was born in Mississippi and raised in San Diego, California. Following her own layoff from WorldCom, Joyce now works in sales in Houston. Joyce and Uchenna desperately want children, and their numerous failed attempts has caused tension within their relationship.

Both are adventurous and ready to compete. Both have hinted that if they won the Race they would use the prize money for additional in-vitro fertilization procedures.^[1]

Uchenna and Joyce are one of the most beloved teams from any season of Race. The winners of Season 7, Uchenna and Joyce were relentless and stopped at nothing to win the $1 million prize… including shaving their heads. They have known each other for 16 years and have been married for seven. Both have admitted that the continued inability to start a family has caused a strain on their marriage, but are looking to the Race to get their relationship back on track. This thrill seeking duo will stop at nothing to win the Race as they proved in Season 7, when without hesitation, they shaved their heads for good luck after partaking in the "Fast Forward" task. A decision that moved these tough competitors to the front of the pack and no doubt granted them a stroke of luck for the rest of the Race. Uchenna describes himself as competitive, fair and charismatic, while Joyce claims to be caring, determined and sensitive. Will their competitive nature and luck be enough to propel them to another victory this time around?^[2]

The Amazing Race 7[]

Race History[]

Uchenna & Joyce's Race History
Episode	Leg	Destination(s)	Detour Choice (underlined)	Roadblock Performer	Placement	Notes
1	1	United States → Peru	Rope a Llama / Rope a Basket	No Roadblock	8 of 11
2	2	Peru → Chile	Shop / Schlep	Joyce	4 of 10
3	3	Chile → Argentina	Paddle / Pedal	Uchenna	2 of 9
4	4	Argentina	Shipwreck / Island	Joyce	3 of 8
5	5	Argentina → South Africa	Tunnels / Tribes	Uchenna	6 of 7
5	6	South Africa → Botswana	Food / Water	Joyce	3 of 7
6	7	Botswana	Carry It / Milk It	Uchenna	3 of 6	^[1]
8	8	Botswana → India	Solid / Liquid	Uchenna	3 of 5	^[2]^[3]
9	8	Botswana → India	Used Fast Forward		1 of 5►	^[2]^[3]
10	9	India → Turkey	Columns / Kilos	Uchenna	1 of 4
11	10	Turkey → United Kingdom	Brains / Brawn	Joyce	3 of 4
12	11	United Kingdom → Jamaica	Raft It / Build It	Joyce	3 of 3
12	12	Jamaica → Puerto Rico → United States	Pony Up / Tee It Up	Uchenna	1 of 3
				Average	3.08
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 > The team used the Yield < Recipient of the Yield
Notes: 1: Uchenna & Joyce initially arrived 3rd, but they did not complete the Roadblock correctly and were forced to finish it. This did not affect their placement. 2: Leg 8 was a double-length leg with two Detours and two Roadblocks shown over two episodes. The placement listed in the top row reflect the order teams arrived at the leg's halfway point. 3: The leg's Fast Forward was offered after the halfway point, and thus permitted Uchenna & Joyce to skip only the second set of challenges.

The Amazing Race: All-Stars[]

Race History[]

Uchenna & Joyce's Race History
Episode	Leg	Destination(s)	Detour Choice (underlined)	Roadblock Performer	Placement	Notes
1	1	United States → Ecuador	Wrangle It / Recover It	No Roadblock	7 of 11
2	2	Ecuador → Chile	By Hand / By Machine	Joyce	5 of 10
3	3	Chile	Vertical Limit / River Wild	Uchenna	2 of 9
4	4	Chile → Argentina	Navigate It / Sign It	Joyce	6 of 8
5	5	Argentina → Mozambique	Pamper / Porter	Uchenna	7 of 7
6	6	Mozambique → Tanzania	Solve It / Schlep It	Uchenna	3 of 7	^[4]
7	7	Tanzania → Poland	Perfect Pitch / Perfect Angle	Joyce	3 of 6	^[5]
8	8	Poland	Used Fast Forward		1 of 6►
9	9	Poland → Malaysia	Artistic Expression / Cookie Confection	Joyce	5 of 5	^[6]
				Average	4.33
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 > The team used the Yield < Recipient of the Yield
Notes: 4: Uchenna & Joyce initially arrived 3rd, but were issued a 30-minute penalty for being "marked for elimination" and not arriving 1st. This did not affect their placement. 5: Leg 7 had an unaired Roadblock, which Uchenna confirmed later that Joyce performed.^[3] 6: Uchenna & Joyce missed a connecting flight early in Leg 9 and were not shown performing any of the tasks; they were shown proceeding from the Batu Caves Route Marker directly to the Pit Stop for elimination. However, in a post-Race interview they confirmed that they completed Cookie Confection Detour, and that Joyce had performed the Roadblock prior to being eliminated.

Post-Race[]

On June 1, 2005, Uchenna & Joyce attended the wedding of Lynn & Alex.^[4]
During the premiere of The Amazing Race: All-Stars, it was revealed that the in vitro fertilisation (IVF) Uchenna & Joyce talked about getting after winning The Amazing Race 7 failed.
After their first race, Uchenna & Joyce founded a charitable children's organization in Houston, Texas. They hold "The Great Raise," a Houston-version of the Amazing Race, where teams compete around the Houston area to win money for the charities.^[5]
In a May 2011 interview, Joyce revealed that she and Uchenna were divorced. However, they still remain good friends.^[6]

Trivia[]

Franchise Records[]

Uchenna & Joyce are the first team to not use the Yield after it was introduced and ultimately win the Race.
First team to be penalized for arriving last in the penultimate leg.
- As a result, they are the first team not to receive any money on the last leg.
First team to suffer two different non-elimination penalties in a career.
First team to have the Marked for Elimination penalty applied and not be eliminated on that leg.
The only former winning team to win two Fast Forwards in a career.
The first former winning team eliminated during the Race (followed by Shay & Shani).

US[]

Second African-American team to win the Race, after Chip & Kim.
Only winners to return for a later season.

External links[]

Interviews[]

Season 7[]

Harry Smith on Early Show (05/10/2005): "Uchenna & Joyce Win Race"
- Early Show (05/11/2005): "Uchenna and Joyce Beg No More"
Cynthia Wang at People.com (05/11/2005): "The Amazing Race's Uchenna and Joyce"
Mike McDaniel at Chron (05/12/2005): "Nice guys discuss finishing first on Amazing Race"
AP (05/12/2005): "Uchenna and Joyce Agu win Amazing Race"
Ethan Alter at TV Guide (05/13/2005): "Amazing Champs Beg To Differ"
BJ and Shannon at 96X (05/19/2005): "Uchenna & Joyce, Winners of The Amazing Race 7"
Tamar Alexia Fleishman at Bankrate.com (02/14/2006): "Break out of your rut, advise Amazing Race winners"

All-Stars[]

Julie Chen on Early Show (04/09/2007): "Uchenna & Joyce Lose Race"
Christopher Rocchio at Reality TV World (04/09/2007): "Uchenna and Joyce Agu discuss their All-Stars experience"
Oscar Dahl at BuddyTV (04/09/2007): "Exclusive Interview: Uchenna and Joyce Agu, 7th Team Elminated From All-Stars"
Teeuwynn Woodruff on RealityNewsOnline (04/10/2007): "Everyone Should Live Life Boldly"
Eric Goldman at IGN.com (04/10/2007): "All-Stars Interview: Uchenna & Joyce"

Post-Show[]

Rob Cesternino & Jessica Liese at RHAP (10/28/2013): "LIVE Amazing Race Recap with Uchenna"
Dalene Rovenstine at EW (11/07/2014): "Amazing Race: Where Are They Now?"