Ernie and Jeena Lopez, ?TARA Season 1?

Local viewers had expected a lot from scions Ernie and Jeena Lopez, who were after all young, fit and good-looking. But the two broke our hearts early on. Recalls Ernie: ?My favorite comment was from a good friend who said ?Ernie, you suck!!!? Ha ha ha ha! Jeena and I intended to finish first but we ended up getting eliminated first! It?s very humbling to have your mistakes broadcast all over Asia!!!?

Despite that setback, he and Jeena are still very much together, says Ernie. And he?s also still working at the family-owned ABS-CBN publishing. ?We?ve come out with Metro, the first Philippine magazine on the iPad, which is currently available for free on iTunes.?

Aside from finding fame and getting recognized in public from time to time, Ernie says he has also recently found Jesus. ?I used to be a missionary preacher 18 years ago, until I got burnt out planting churches and doing ministry work. But around March this year, I realized that my kids deserve a better dad. So like the prodigal son, I had a reunion with the One who knows all about how to be a good dad. I still screw up, but there are definite improvements.?

His best moment on ?TARA?? ?Finishing second in the first episode in spite of my lousy driving and crashing the car.

And the worst? ?Obviously being eliminated first after training so hard for the race. Seeing my wife so sad has to be the worst part of the experience.?

Agrees Jeena: ?Getting eliminated first in a competition that we had considered as typical Ernie and Jeena adventure was the hardest part. It?s never easy to lose.?

The Race has also been as life-changing for her, says Jeena. ?I closed my rock climbing facility and recently started a new brand called Headware. So far, we have three products ? a seamless and elastic bandana, a headband and a visor bandana. As for sports, I got into kite boarding, paragliding and wake boarding where I was Women?s Open champion for two years in a row, 2007 and 2008. I?m still actively a show jumping equestrienne.?

Jacqueline Yu, ?TARA Season 1?

Jacq and partner, starlet Aubrey Miles, set hearts a-racing during the Race with their dusky good looks. She?s still best friends with her partner, she says, still living in the Philippines and still in the entertainment biz (acting, singing, modeling, hosting). She has also been involved in humanitarian projects, especially after typhoon Ondoy. ?Trying to do good while I still can,? she says.

Her best moment on the series was that encounter with all kinds of snakes inside the snake pit. ?I guess I didn?t realize how dangerous it was!? And her worst? ?When Allan [Wu] told us we were the last team to arrive, and that it was an elimination round. I couldn?t believe it, I was in denial. All I could think of was, ?We need to get back to the race and do it again!??

For all its disappointments, the Race also gave her a different perspective on life, says Jacq. ?It made me want to be a better person in mind, body and spirit. It made me eager to find what I want in life and sparked my passion for travel.?

Terri Reed, ?TARA Season 2?

With their constant bickering, Terri and husband Henry could easily have been voted Pair Most Likely to Kill Each Other. Not surprisingly, they are no longer living together and she?s moved back to the US since July last year, says Terri. ?As of now, I?m on my own in Texas and working at Pizza Hut as shift manager. I?m not getting financial support from Henry, who has chosen to stay in the Philippines.?

In fact, she adds, she?s thinking of having him deported and of filing for divorce soon. Henry, she alleges, has been going nuts over women who, errr, like having a good time.

No, the series had nothing to do with their split. ?Since 2004 or one year after we moved to the Philippines, our relationship had started to sour,? says Terri, of the one challenge that their team couldn?t hurdle. PAC