Race cut short for WA models

P *erth * pageant models *Inga Lederhaus *and *Tiharna McGregor *insist they are not bitter about being the first team eliminated from The Amazing Race Australia.

Season three kicked off last night and the Seven show did not waste any time racking up its first casualties, with the *WA * beauties sent packing after they were the final team to check in at a New Zealand pit stop.

In a twist befitting the reality race, Lederhaus and McGregor were initially doing well on the leaderboard but were pushed to last place when they left a clue behind during a white-water rafting challenge.

Speaking to _Access All Areas _after their elimination, the women described their experience as a "game of snakes and ladders".

"We both were really devastated because we didn't see ourselves as the weakest competitors," Lederhaus said. "It was just a series of bad luck really."

But McGregor added they had no regrets about their short time on the show. "We are quite humbled by being selected over so many people - for us to even get on the race was quite an achievement," the 26-year-old said. "We are not bitter or anything."

Both contestants agreed they had walked away with a new-found sense of confidence after they were forced to fend for themselves on the first leg of the race, which stretched from Uluru to Christchurch and country New Zealand.

"Racing around the world with a backpack with no iPhones and no communication really put things into perspective for me," Lederhaus, 27, said. "You learn not to freak out about little things. It makes you realise how much you can achieve on your own."

While the current series is pitting Australia against New Zealand, McGregor said she hoped Kiwi siblings *Emily * and *Jono * would fare well. "At the end of the day I think it was team against team, no matter if it was Australia or New Zealand," she said.

Lederhaus agreed there was not a strong rivalry between the opposing sides. "We were all very friendly," the accountant said. "Although you kept your country above the other one, we all still got along."

Fellow WA contenders *Tyson Smith *and *Sally Yamamoto *are still in the race, which continues on Monday at 9pm on Seven/GWN7.

JESSIE PAPAIN

'We are quite humbled by being selected over so many people - for us to even get on the race was quite an achievement.' Tiharna McGregor