By Geoff Herbert
syracuse.com
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Two contestants from Western New York are returning to “The Amazing Race” after being eliminated, thanks to an unusual, historic twist.
A special sneak peek video released by the reality TV show shows Buffalo Police Officers Armonde “Moe” Badger and Michael Norwood Jr., known as Buffalo’s “singing cops,” will be part of the competition again on Wednesday. They were the first to be eliminated on the season 33 premiere (shot in February 2020), but the show was paused for 19 months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, forcing drastic changes when filming resumed.
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“Not everybody had the ability to come back and race for that $1 million prize,” host Phil Keoghan said as the teams gathered in Switzerland.
Four of the remaining nine teams were unable to participate when filming resumed in September 2021, Keoghan revealed, so two pairs that were previously eliminated were invited back into the competition.
“Feel good to be back?” Keoghan asked the Buffalo cops.
“Absolutely,” they agreed.
Badger and Norwood first appeared in England for a series of challenges that included Buckingham Palace and Parliament Square. The Buffalo “bobbies” — British slang for cops — were tasked with pasting up a piece of original artwork like Banksy, but Moe suffered a leg cramp and they botched the puzzle, making them last to arrive at the Natural History Museum.
But now they have a chance at redemption with the “Amazing” restart.
Norwood and Badger, who are partners in the Buffalo Police Department’s Housing Unit, previously got the national spotlight with videos of themselves singing songs like Shai’s “If I Ever Fall in Love” and Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud.” During the holidays, they were known as the “Caroling Cops” as they performed Christmas songs around Western New York.
Badger was a professional gospel singer before becoming a police officer, while Norwood has jokingly called himself “a legendary shower singer.” They appeared on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” in 2019.
“The Amazing Race” airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on CBS. The show can be streamed live on fuboTV, Paramount Plus and other live TV streaming services, and can be watched the following day on CBS.com.
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