The Amazing Race 9 kicked off last night (February 28) with a special two-hour season premiere on CBS.

Phil Keoghan again hosts the mad-dash-around-the-globe competition series, which this season will span five continents and include stops in far-away destinations such as Brazil, the Middle East, Moscow, and Sicily.

"There is not a team we have this time that you can say is like any other (before)”, says Keoghan in The Amazing Race's electronic press kit. True enough. This time around the “gay” contingent is a two man team consisting of two gay guys who happen to be close friends.

In AR 9's first episode viewers are introduced to gay team-mates Scott Braginton-Smith, 41, sales rep, West Harwich, Massachusetts; and John Lowe, 38, wealth manager, Dorchester, Massachusetts.

According to The Amazing Race's pre-season press kit, John and Scott are: “life-long friends. Both gay, they have a "ying-yang thing" going on. Their strategy is to get the most athletic people eliminated. They'll steal other teams' cabs, but will let the other teams do their dirty work.”

Unfortunately, as was revealed in the very first episode, the two kindred spirits were in over their heads and not up to the demands of the competition. They often got confused and lost precious time as they got rather bitchy with each other.

**Spoiler Alert**

Most humiliating of all – they couldn't even beat “The Frosties,” (Joni Glaze, 44, and Lisa Hinds, 48, sisters) who finished 10th, just ahead of them. John and Scott came in last and were eliminated.

At least during the wanderlust ordeal John was able to address and conquer his fear of flying and other challenge-of-life issues. His short stint on The Amazing Race was somewhat of a “Now Voyager” experience for him.

In the touching moment when they learned they had lost, John and Scott held hands in reaffirmation of their friendship.

As a consolation for gay AR fans, the winners of Season 9's premiere show were party boy/alpha males Jeremy Ryan, 26, valet, Fort Lauderdale; Eric Sanchez, 27, waiter, Fort Lauderdale (friends). These two hot young buff straight buds will no doubt provide considerable eye-candy, and food-for-fantasy, throughout the season.

Even before it was revealed that there would be gays in AR's season 9, there was already much pre-show internet speculation on John and Scott's sexual orientation. The gay sports site Outsports.com had fun with many posts “sensing” their gayness via “gaydar.” Other Amazing Race fan sites were more mean-spirited in their opining – smugly hinting at the two's gayness per their apparently more effeminate personas.

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