Small-Town Alabama Takes the World Stage: Daisha Wilks and Dalton Hamby’s Amazing Race Journey

CALHOUN COUNTY, AL — Sometimes an opportunity arrives in a way that makes you stop and wonder whether you are dreaming.

For Daisha Wilks and Dalton Hamby, that moment came in the middle of the night while they were traveling through Laos.

The email said The Amazing Race.

At first, they thought it had to be a scam.

It wasn’t.

Now, when Season 39 of CBS’s long-running adventure competition premieres Sept. 30, viewers across the country will watch 13 teams travel more than 25,000 miles through 13 cities, nine countries and five continents in pursuit of a $1 million prize. Among those teams will be two young people with deep roots in Calhoun County — an Alabama couple who never expected that a simple audition video would take them around the world.

For Jacksonville, Weaver, Flat Rock and communities throughout Calhoun County, this is more than a television appearance.

It is a spotlight.

And right now, Alabama has a light shining on it.

Wilks and Hamby represent something bigger than a competition. Their story is about taking chances, believing in possibilities, embracing where you come from and refusing to let the size of your hometown determine the size of your dreams.

It is a story that MAWH Productions is proud to help highlight — because opportunities like this matter. When people from small communities step into spaces that once seemed unreachable, their success can become a reminder to others that there is room for their dreams, too.

From Calhoun County to the World

Wilks grew up in Flat Rock and attended Jacksonville State University, where she earned a master’s degree in biology and worked as a graduate teaching assistant.

Hamby, a Weaver native, also attended Jacksonville State, earning a bachelor’s degree in emergency management. After college, he moved to Gulf Shores for work, but eventually realized that path was not where he wanted to remain. He returned to Calhoun County and pursued his passion for videography.

It was at Jacksonville State’s recreation center where their paths crossed.

Hamby eventually sent Wilks a direct message near the end of 2023.

One message became a first date.

The first date became a relationship.

And within months, the couple found themselves boarding a plane for a three-month journey through Southeast Asia.

For Hamby, who was adopted and is Filipino, the trip carried an especially personal meaning. It gave him an opportunity to explore his heritage while sharing an experience he had always dreamed about with someone he loved.

“I wanted to experience a once in a lifetime experience, and I wouldn’t have done it with anybody else,” Hamby said. “And I’m so grateful that Daisha could be in my life.”

Wilks encouraged him not to wait for the perfect moment.

“He said he always wanted to go and we booked a ticket within the next week because I told him, you know, life’s too short to wait for the perfect time,” she said. “Let’s do it now.”

That philosophy — let’s do it now — would eventually lead them to one of the biggest opportunities of their lives.

The Audition They Never Thought Anyone Would See

After another trip, this time a road trip through Europe, Wilks’ mother suggested something that sounded almost too unlikely to take seriously.

She told the couple to audition for The Amazing Race.

“She said, ‘Will y’all please make an audition video for The Amazing Race? I really think that they would like y’all,’” Wilks recalled.

So they did.

They went outside, set up a camera, filmed an audition and submitted it in September 2024.

Then they moved on with their lives.

There were no expectations.

No assumption that producers would call.

No belief that two people from small-town Alabama would suddenly be considered for one of television’s biggest adventure shows.

“We really didn’t think that we had much of a chance of getting picked,” Wilks said. “We did not think that two kids from small-town Alabama would even have their audition video watched.”

Months passed.

Then, near the end of February 2025, while the couple was traveling in Laos, the unexpected happened.

An email arrived.

It was from The Amazing Race.

Hamby looked at Wilks.

“I looked at her and I was like, ‘This is a scam. This isn’t real,’” he recalled.

It was real.

The email led to phone calls, FaceTime interviews and an intense, lengthy audition process.

Eventually, the couple learned that they had been selected.

Two videographers from Calhoun County were going to compete for $1 million on The Amazing Race.

Sometimes the biggest opportunities begin with the smallest decision: saying yes.

Jacksonville Became Their Training Ground

Once the excitement wore off, reality set in.

They had to prepare.

And they did much of that preparation right here in Jacksonville.

“We have to exercise, we got to train, and the majority of our training happened in Jacksonville,” Hamby said.

They ran stadiums.

They trained outdoors.

They worked out.

And they practiced puzzles wherever they could.

“Everywhere, we did puzzles everywhere in Jacksonville,” Hamby said. “So that was like our little practice ground.”

Their athletic backgrounds helped prepare them for the physical demands ahead. Wilks grew up as an athlete in the Pisgah area, while Hamby competed in athletics at Weaver.

But there was no way to fully prepare for what awaited them: international travel, unfamiliar cultures, unpredictable challenges, cameras following their every move and the pressure of competing for a $1 million prize.

And then there was the most important challenge of all — doing it together.

When the Race Tests More Than Your Strength

Traveling can test any relationship.

Doing it under pressure is something else entirely.

Wilks and Hamby were still a relatively new couple when they entered the competition. Suddenly, they were dealing with exhaustion, uncertainty, stress and the enormous weight of knowing that millions of people would eventually watch their journey.

“It put mine and Dalton’s relationship to the test,” Wilks said. “They say traveling will test any relationship. Well, we had traveled, but we had never traveled under that stressful of a situation where a $1 million is up for grabs and it’s going to be recorded on national television.”

The experience taught them about each other.

It also taught them how important it is to be there when the other person needs you most.

Before the first leg even began, Wilks experienced significant anxiety and had a panic attack after arriving at the race location. Without her phone or the ability to speak with her parents, the magnitude of the experience became overwhelming.

Hamby was there.

“Just having Dalton by my side, it’s very comforting,” Wilks said. “The race is just — it’s a hard experience, and it puts you in a very stressful state of mind.”

Hamby described their relationship in a way that captures the balance they found.

“When she was at a 10, I was her 90,” he said. “But there were also times whenever I was at a 10 and she was my 90.”

That may ultimately be one of the most meaningful parts of their story.

The race is about speed, strategy, endurance and competition.

But sometimes winning the moment means simply knowing how to hold someone up when they need you.

And while viewers will have to watch the season to discover how the competition unfolds, one thing is already known:

They are engaged.

Alabama Is Having Its Moment

There is something powerful about seeing people from places like Jacksonville, Weaver, Flat Rock and the surrounding communities step onto a national stage.

Alabama is often talked about through its history, its traditions, its football, its music and its well-known landmarks.

But there is another Alabama worth showing the world.

An Alabama filled with young entrepreneurs.

Artists.

Filmmakers.

Educators.

Athletes.

Creators.

Dreamers.

People building something from the communities they call home.

Wilks and Hamby are part of that Alabama.

And their story is helping shine a light on Calhoun County at a time when national attention can open doors and inspire conversations about what is possible for people who come from smaller communities.

That is where MAWH Productions sees an important opportunity.

MAWH Productions is highlighting what is happening around these kinds of opportunities because visibility matters. When someone from a small Alabama community gets the chance to tell their story on a national platform, it can become more than a headline. It can become encouragement for the next person who is wondering whether they should submit the application, make the audition tape, launch the business, pursue the creative career or simply take the chance.

Not every dream begins with a large budget.

Not every opportunity starts with a major connection.

Sometimes it starts with a camera in the backyard.

Sometimes it starts with a mother saying, “Y’all should audition.”

Sometimes it starts with a direct message.

And sometimes it starts with the decision to stop waiting for the perfect time.

MAWH Productions is working to help shine a light on those stories and the people behind them — particularly those who may not always have the opportunity to see themselves represented on larger platforms.

Wilks and Hamby are showing what can happen when people say yes.

“Small-Town Alabama Won”

For Hamby, the meaning of their experience goes beyond appearing on television.

During the casting process, he and Wilks told producers that they wanted their journey to encourage people from communities like Weaver and Jacksonville to take chances.

“We want to inspire small-town communities like ours to take that leap of faith, even if it’s going into a relationship or going for that job,” Hamby said.

Their own lives demonstrate exactly what they mean.

A social media message became a relationship.

A relationship became a journey through Southeast Asia.

A conversation with Wilks’ mother became an audition.

An audition they barely expected anyone to watch became a series of interviews.

And an email they initially believed was a scam became an invitation to compete on The Amazing Race.

For Wilks, the achievement does not belong only to her and Hamby.

“Getting on the show and just having this opportunity for us, it feels like more than just me and Dalton won,” she said. “We feel like small-town Alabama won.”

That may be the heart of this entire story.

Because when people from small communities are given a platform, they carry their communities with them.

When they succeed, young people watching from home see a possibility.

When they take a chance, someone else may become brave enough to take one too.

And when Alabama gets the chance to show the world what is happening beyond the state’s biggest cities, everyone gets to see a little more of what is possible.

Calhoun County Will Be Watching

When The Amazing Race Season 39 premieres Sept. 30 on CBS, Calhoun County will have its own reason to tune in.

The Calhoun Journal will host a public Season 39 launch party at The Roost on the Square in Jacksonville, giving residents an opportunity to gather and watch Wilks and Hamby begin their televised journey.

Jacksonville Mayor Mark Jones and Weaver Mayor Jeff Clendenning are expected to participate.

And the community’s involvement will not end after the premiere.

Following each episode, Wilks and Hamby will provide behind-the-scenes recaps with the Calhoun Journal, sharing their perspective on what viewers witnessed once they are permitted to discuss the events of each episode.

The couple also plans to create video recaps through their own online platform, bringing their professional experience as videographers into the conversation.

They are not simply going around the world.

They are bringing their hometown with them.

“We’re so excited and we can’t wait to give recaps as the season [airs],” Wilks said.

A Race That Started Before the Starting Line

The world may see 13 teams competing for $1 million.

Calhoun County sees something different.

It sees two people who grew up in Alabama and chose to dream beyond the boundaries of what they thought was possible.

It sees two Jacksonville State graduates.

Two videographers.

Two athletes.

Two people who took a chance on each other.

And now, two people carrying the name of their communities onto one of the biggest stages in television.

Season 39 may begin in Vancouver, Canada, and take contestants through nine countries and five continents, including The Amazing Race’s first-ever visit to Albania.

Every team will also begin the competition with an Express Pass — a new twist that forces each team to decide when to use its advantage, with every pass required to be played by the end of the sixth leg.

But for Wilks and Hamby, their greatest advantage may have been something they had long before the race began:

Each other.

And behind them is a community.

A hometown.

A state.

And a growing group of people who now have a reason to believe that extraordinary opportunities do not belong only to people from extraordinary places.

Sometimes, extraordinary things happen to ordinary people in small-town Alabama.

Sometimes, the world comes looking.

And sometimes, all it takes is the courage to say yes.

As Wilks put it:

“We’re all Team Small-Town Alabama — Team Daisha and Dalton.”

Beginning Sept. 30, the rest of the country gets to join them.