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Local mother and daughter have gone from viral fame to teaming up on ‘The Amazing Race’

Twenty-two million YouTube viewers can't be wrong.

Thanks to Marty Cobb's Internet following, she and her daughter Hagan Parkman were invited to take a "once-in-a-lifetime" trip around the world, as contestants on The Amazing Race.

All 11 teams competing this season, which begins at 7 p.m. Friday on CBS, are considered social media influencers.

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Cobb, who lives in Mesquite, made a name for herself on the Web with a three-minute video that went viral in April 2014. In it, the Southwest Airlines flight attendant put a comic spin on the boring but necessary preflight safety instructions.

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"Position your seat belt tight and low across your hips, like my grandmother wears her support bra," she joked. And if oxygen masks deploy during an emergency, "to activate the flow of oxygen, insert 75 cents for the first minute."

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Cobb's overnight Internet fame led to TV appearances on Ellen, Today and Inside Edition -- and now The Amazing Race, in which teams will trek more than 27,000 miles through 10 countries in pursuit of the $1 million prize.

Cobb, 51, and Parkman, 22, a recent Texas A&M graduate and aspiring model who grew up in Southlake, talked last week about the show.

When producers approached you about being on The Amazing Race, why did you accept?

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Cobb: It couldn't have come at a better time. Hagan graduated from Texas A&M in May and was living with me. But you know your kids are going to leave the nest eventually. So we were beyond thrilled that we could do this together. This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that we will cherish forever.

Parkman: Also, my mom and I have been fans of the show for quite a while. Going on it has always been a dream of ours.

Cobb: And don't forget the million bucks. Winning that would be life-changing.

Marty Cobb (left) and Hagan Parkman (right)
Marty Cobb (left) and Hagan Parkman (right)(Cliff Lipson / CBS)

Do you have much experience as world travelers?

Cobb: Not as much as you might think. I've obviously been around the United States as a flight attendant, but I haven't done a lot of traveling around the world as a passenger. Certainly nothing like what we got here.

Parkman: I've been to Thailand and that experience helped a little bit, I think. I understand what it's like to be in a place where you don't know the culture, you don't know the language, but you still have to figure out how to make your way around in an unfamiliar city, an unfamiliar country.

Was it awkward having a camera crew shadowing you and documenting your every move?

Cobb: We were one of the lesser-known teams. Everybody else has a humongous following. We didn't have as big a following. We're just everyday normal people who happened to be blessed enough to get on this show. So the camera did take some getting used to.

Parkman: But we're so competitive, we eventually didn't care. In the heat of the moment, all I cared about was doing what I was doing and getting it done right. Thinking back, I wish I had cared a little more. Because who knows what I said or did?

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What were some of your strengths and weaknesses on the show?

Parkman: I'm the take-charge type. That's my personality. I jump on the situation. I just want to get it done. Which sometimes is the same thing as acting without thinking. But my mom was the one who would slow me down and say, "Let's take a moment to think this through logically."

Cobb: I have life experiences that hopefully would help us out. She has youth and strength and energy. We complemented each other so much.

Isn't it also true, Hagan, that you are afraid of flying? Isn't that a weakness?

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Parkman: I would call it more anxiety than fear. But when I get on a plane, I do have constant worries. I do get very nervous. But if there was ever any turbulence, my mom would turn to me and say, "It's OK. You can do it."

Cobb: I would be holding her hand -- and probably getting her a vodka tonic.

By David Martindale, Special Contributor

The Amazing Race

7 p.m. Friday, CBS (Channel 11). 1 hr.