On Monday night, viewers were shocked to see Brendan Fevola's daughter, Leni, not present in the seventh leg of the race.
Leaving Uzbekistan and having arrived in Sri Lanka, Leni was struck down with an illness, unable to compete and forcing Fev to complete the leg on his own.
Fighting his way from the back of the pack, Fev managed to leapfrog other teams and landed on the Pit Stop in an impressive second place. Emotionally and physically spent, the footy legend was given the unfortunate news that this was a 'virtual pit stop', meaning teams would continue racing.
"I thought if I got to that pit stop and got through, Leni might be okay," Fev told 10. "Obviously, you have a break before you race, so it would give her time to recover. But knowing I had to go again.. I don't think I've ever been more exhausted - and I've done a lot of pre-season footy training, running up hills, SAS camps. I physically couldn't go on anymore.
"We raced in the morning, it was a couple of hours, but it felt like we were out there for 24 hours. It was 40 degrees, and the humidity was just ridiculous. I needed my little wingman to help me," he said. "When Beau said it was a virtual pit stop, I thought, oh my god, I'm going to have to race again."
"I've never seen you that depleted of energy," Leni added.
"I had nothing," Fev continued. "I just thought I didn't think I could do this again. And thinking about Leni, knowing she was in a hotel in Sri Lanka without a parent, it weighed on my mind a lot."
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Fev said that part of the reason he was able to power through the seventh leg of the race was that he was motivated to get back to Leni as quickly as possible. But with the idea of having to complete another leg of the race alone, Fev made the heartbreaking decision to end their time in the race.
"It was devastating," Leni said. "We were having such a good time and we were doing so well, the vibes were high and it was going good. We thought we could win it for our charity, and then I got sick and there was just nothing we could do about it."
"I made the right decision," Fev added, "we flew home that night and Leni was in bed for a week. She ended up having a chest infection, and then her appendix burst, so I made the right call! She was really sick."
While their time on the show was cut short, the pair said they wouldn't trade the experience for anything -- having formed some great friendships and bonding even closer with each other.
"It's like one of the best experiences we've ever done together," Leni said.
"It's the first thing we've done together without the rest of the family," Fev added. "I was so fortunate to be able to go away for that period of time and travel some places in the world we’d never go to and hang out! It was really cool. A really good, fun, bonding experience that you’d just never have."
"I was surprised at how well we worked together as a team," Leni said. "Going into it, one of my worries was dad and I fighting because we butt heads. We're both quite stubborn and competitive, but it was great. We were both very understanding, patient and helpful."
Re-living their adventures as the show goes to air, Leni said it's been just as fun to watch the episode again and see things from a different perspective.
"There's so much that we forgot about, and it's amazing to see what everyone else went through. You don't spend much time with them during challenges; you just hear everything afterwards and everyone's talking about what they did," she said. "To actually see what everyone was talking about is so fun."
Fev and Leni were competing on behalf of Small Steps 4 Hannah, named after Hannah Clarke, who -- along with her three children Aaliyah, Laianah, and Trey -- lost her life as a result of domestic violence.
The Clarke family founded Small Steps 4 Hannah to honour their family members, raising awareness and educating young people to H.A.L.T. the cycle of domestic and family violence.
Hoping to win the race for their charity, Fev admits that part of the reason he struggled with his decision to pull out of the race was due to competing on behalf of such a worthy cause.
"It's such an important charity and I know we didn't win the money, but a lot of people have asked about the charity and spreading the word," he said. "Being on the show and being able to talk about it on the show is just a really big help for the foundation.
"It is a really important charity for us, and I think, hopefully, we did them proud and people get on and donate some money and help them out."
The Amazing Race Australia: Celebrity Edition continues Sundays at 7pm and Mondays at 7.30pm. Watch and Stream Free On 10.
