Vanessa & Ralph

Vanessa Macias and Ralph Kelley are a team of Dating Divorcees on The Amazing Race 20.

Confrontational and explosive, Vanessa & Ralph spent most of their time in the race bickering with each other and feuding with Brendon & Rachel. Vanessa, in particular, revealed a mean streak, often getting into catty squabbles with Rachel, from which Ralph had to reel her in. When not getting into confrontations, the pair found themselves languishing at the back of the pack, though repeatedly barely escaping elimination on their way to the final four. There, Vanessa struggled in a physical Roadblock, having sprained her ankle in the previous leg, causing them to fall behind and leading to their elimination in 4th place.

Profile[]

Retrived from CBS.com^[1]

Vanessa[]

Age: 31
Hometown: San Antonio, Texas
Connection to your teammate: Girlfriend
Current occupation: Freelance Writer
Describe what you do: I do freelance TV commercials and shows. I also write whatever people tell me to do.
How will these skills help you win The Race? I am an amazing communicator. My years in TV and politics have made me great at dealing with difficult people.
Three words to describe you: Smart, impatient and super-awesome.
Favorite hobbies: Reading, eating and talking politics and religion with people.
What famous person reminds you of yourself? Jessica Simpson, sadly.
What famous person reminds you of your teammate? Marky Mark, maybe?
What is the accomplishment you are most proud of? Having the guts to start my life over from scratch.
What scares you most about traveling? I have a weird fear of being abducted. That and crazy natural disasters.
What excites you most about traveling? I like getting lost and finding street vendors. I love hanging out with new people even if I can't communicate with them verbally.
Biggest challenge you and your teammate will face on The Race together: We blame each other for everything. Neither one of us likes to take responsibility for our mistakes and we can justify anything. I want to address how we are sometimes mean to each other.
Pet peeve about your teammate: He can be a jerk sometimes. Typically he's very kind and patient, but sometimes he's a grade "A" jerk. And he ends his sentences with prepositions.
What country and place would you most like to visit and why? Rome! I've always wanted to see such an old city. It ticks me off that I was born in such a young city…our buildings aren't that cool.
What do you hope to accomplish by running The Race (other than winning one million bucks)? I want to see the world with Ralph. We've known each other for a long time, but not very well. I know we rushed into this relationship, but I want to see how we work under horrible stress.

Ralph[]

Age: 36
Hometown: San Antonio, Texas
Connection to your teammate: Boyfriend
Current occupation: Bar Owner
Describe what you do: I own and operate a bar outside of San Antonio.
How will these skills help you win The Race? I am physically fit and dealing with "not so sober" adults gives me considerable patience (or lack of patience) to deal with the sometimes jackass contestants and "partner."
Three words to describe you: Clever, quick-witted and well-made (props to my mom!)
Favorite hobbies: Cooking, reading and exercising.
What famous person reminds you of yourself? The Rock
What famous person reminds you of your teammate? Audrey Hepburn – she's a timeless beauty and captivating personality.
What is the accomplishment you are most proud of? Being a father to my daughter.
What scares you most about traveling? Not wanting to come back home.
What excites you most about traveling? Seeing new places, food and taking in other cultures.
Biggest challenge you and your teammate will face on The Race together: We truly think the same and share the same brain, but we never allow each other to finish talking without both needing to be "alpha" so I'd really like for her to understand she's not.
Pet peeve about your teammate: The disaster that hurricane Vanessa leaves in her path – she's really messy!
What country and place would you most like to visit and why? Greece, for their history and culture.
What do you hope to accomplish by running The Race (other than winning one million bucks)? I hope to test our relationship on different levels of stress and communication planes. I want more than anything to become closer to my partner – and maybe "get lucky" in some off the wall locations

The Amazing Race 20[]

Race History[]

Vanessa & Ralph's Race History
Episode	Leg	Destination(s)	Detour Choice (underlined)	Roadblock Performer	Placement	Notes
1	1	United States → Argentina	No Detour	Ralph	5 of 11
2	2	Argentina	Boil My Water / Light My Fire	Vanessa	7 of 10
3	3	Argentina → Paraguay	Stacked Up / Strung Out	Ralph	8 of 9
4	4	Paraguay → Italy	Clean That Statue / Name That Salami	Vanessa	4 of 8
5	5	Italy → Austria → Germany	Fairy Tale / Champion Male	Ralph	3 of 8
6	6	Germany → Azerbaijan	Apples / Oil	Vanessa	6 of 7
7	7	Azerbaijan → Tanzania	Marksmanship / Courtship	No Roadblock	5 of 6
8	8	Tanzania	Water Supply / Air Supply	Ralph	5 of 6⋑
9	9	Tanzania → India	Cricket / Clutch It	Vanessa	4 of 5
10	10	India	Pachyderm / Pack a Box	Ralph	3 of 5
11	11	India → Japan	Bingo Shout-Out / Photo Cut-Out	Vanessa	4 of 4
				Average	4.91
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

Post-Race[]

Immediately after the race, Vanessa & Ralph broke up.
Vanessa has been dating former NBA player Tim Duncan since 2013.^[2]
- Their daughter, Quill, was born in March 2017.^[3]
Ralph got married on August 14, 2015.^[4]

Trivia[]

External links[]

Interviews[]

Susan Gonzales at Yakkity Yaks (05/09/2012): "The Amazing Race: The Yak Chats with 4th Place Winners, Vanessa and Ralph!"
Elimination Interviews at CBS.com (05/08/2012): "Elimination Interview: Vanessa & Ralph"
Daniel Fienberg at Hitfix.com (05/08/2012): "The 4th place finishers discuss Japanese game shows and on-air fights"
Catriona Wightman at Digital Spy (05/08/2012): "Didn't want to go down quitting"
Elizabeth Kwiatkowski at Reality TV World (05/08/2012): "Exclusive: Vanessa Macias, Ralph Kelley talk Amazing Race" (Parts 1 & 2)
Gina Scarpa at Reality Wanted (05/10/2012): "The Amazing Race 20: Exclusive Interview with Vanessa Macias and Ralph Kelley"
Joyce Eng at TV Guide Online (05/10/2012): "Rachel Is a Weak Personality"