After a month of living life in the fast lane on CBS’ “The Amazing Race,” Cole LaBrant is enjoying the process of slowing down.
“It’s been very relaxed compared to ‘The Amazing Race,’ which was just a whole month of nonstop sleep deprivation, lack of eating, traveling, jet lag and all that stuff,” said LaBrant, a Troy University student who finished second alongside his mother, Sheri, on the most recent season of the CBS reality series.
During the contest, the LaBrants travelled to Mexico, Columbia, Switzerland, France, Greece, Armenia, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, China and finally back to the U.S. as they competed with other teams over a month-long period.
“Whenever I got back to the United States, it was very relaxing just to get home,” said LaBrant, an Enterprise resident. “Obviously I had school, finals and all that work, but that doesn’t compare to traveling the world. It’s been (relaxing) and very enjoyable.”
Despite the pace, LaBrant said the show made him fall in love with travelling, something he hopes to do again in the future.
“The things we got to see were unreal, and it was something I’d never be able to do on my own financially,” he said. “It’s made me appreciate life more, appreciate different people and different customs. It’s like a drug in a way. You get a taste of traveling and you want to do it again. It’s a rush I want to experience again.”
In addition to strengthening his bond with his mother, the show also forged new relationships for LaBrant.
“Every contestant was honestly so nice,” he said. “I keep in touch with a few individual contestants, and they’re such great people. (The show) created lifelong friends. It’s like a summer camp, but you’re traveling the world for a whole month, so you can’t help but become great friends.”
“The Amazing Race” has opened other opportunities for Cole and Sheri, and they have spent some time in Los Angeles exploring some of those opportunities.
“Since ‘The Amazing Race,’ I have been contacted and we have a few family things going on,” LaBrant said. “There are some things with Disney, TLC, MTV and a few other networks that are looking into potential other reality (projects), so we’ll be doing some auditions out in L.A.”
He plans to continue his studies at TROY in between projects, and he also continues to update his popular social media accounts (including an Instagram account with more than 765,000 followers).
“Life has remained the same (since the show ended),” LaBrant said. “I have the same friends, family and school. It’s just opened up bigger opportunities, so that’s exciting.”
