Phil Keoghan, the host of Amazing Race, presents the cast of season 33.<

Posted on January 5, 2022, 3:14 PM

Phil Keoghan has knocked out hundreds of teams in his decades of work as host of The Amazing Race. But even with his vast experience, he found himself in trouble when he was forced to announce to the remaining crews of Season 33 that filming would be halted in February 2020.

"It was very emotional," he told Parade.com. “These teams have all sacrificed so much to be there. They quit their job, left their family, turned their lives upside down to be part of something special. And suddenly, they are told: “Listen, sorry, we are taking you home by plane”. You can imagine some people thought, “Is this really necessary? Are you sure? It is unprecedented. We have never had anything like it. Are we coming back next month? How long could this last? »

When a subset of crews returned over a year later to resume filming the show, everything was slightly different. The production had to make some notable changes to keep the cast and crew safe, including changing their itinerary for a Europe-only season and chartering their own plane to get from location to location. other. And each of the pairs has seen their lives turned upside down by the pandemic. But given what each team had been through in their lives up to that point – some of which even became the subject of books and movies – they were eager to don their Amazing Race fanny pack once more at fall 2021.

"It was like we got something back," Keoghan said. “So many things have been taken away. So many things have changed. But some things have remained the same. And it was just great to see them do it again. I was like, 'Okay, great. We did it. We restarted this thing. »

Below, Keoghan gives his thoughts on this season's teams, including who has the best chance of winning the $1 million prize at the end of the game. The Amazing Race 33 kicks off with a special two-hour episode Wednesday, January 5 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.

Akbar Cook Sr. and Sheridan "Sheri" Cook. Cook – Married educators from Martinsville, NJ

My mother is a teacher. Teachers make huge sacrifices. They have a huge investment in other people's lives. I think you have to be a special person to be a teacher. They were recognized for their hard work and passion, creating a community, a safe place for young people. I believe Oprah invested about half a million dollars in a program they started for kids who needed a place to go after school, a place where they felt like they belonged. 'a community. They are also larger than life characters. When Akbar walks into the room, he has a big voice, a big beard, a big afro and a big presence. And a real passion. Both Akbar and Sheri have been D1 athletes so they are very competitive.

Anthony Sadler and Spencer Stone – Childhood friends from Sacramento, California.

Anthony and Spencer literally bear the scars of what they went through on their travel adventure. A terrorist attack took place on a train bound for Paris, and it turns out that soldiers were on this train, Anthony and Spencer. Spencer got up and attacked one of the terrorists who had pulled out a gun, and Anthony came to help him. Clint Eastwood heard about this story, and he wanted to bring it to life. When Anthony and Spencer started The Amazing Race, they wanted to have fun. These are two people who deserve to have a good time running around the world, having done what they did.

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Arun Kumar and Natalia Kumar – Father and daughter from Detroit, Mich.

They are superfans. I love it when superfans come to the show. You see their eyes open, they realize their dream has come true. I find the parent/child relationships really interesting in racing. Often, as a parent, there's a certain dynamic where you're the 'old', imparting knowledge to the 'young' and telling them what to do. And then when you have a parent with a child who is now an adult, the dynamic has changed. You haven't really spent much time with your adult child because he's gone out into the world. Or maybe you're close, but you haven't spent as much time together as when they were little. Arun and Natalia know the series inside out. The question is whether they can come together and form a dynamic and successful team.

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Caro Viehweg and Ray Gantt – Dating from Los Angeles and Toms River, NJ respectively

Love Island is a dream destination and a dream scenario. It's not about “taking out the trash, going to mow the lawn”, those daily relationship challenges we face. It's more of a honeymoon type environment than a real environment. So for Caro and Ray, it's going to be like, “Welcome to the stress of being out of this environment and into a more stressful place. And I know you like stickshift driving, it always makes for good TV. And the driving dynamics that go on between these two are enough to push any relationship over the edge. Can this island love survive the stresses and strains of The Amazing Race? Because there is no hiding it, it will happen.

Connie Griener and Sam Greiner – Married couple from Charlotte, NC

Connie and Sam took in a young man who had great potential but needed a home. He needed love and care, and they were able to give him that. That's nice to look at. They have a child of their own, but then they took in an older child to take care of. Early on, we introduce this part of their story, and you see what it takes to decide to make sacrifices to help someone else. It's a very heartfelt story.

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Kim Holderness and Penn Holderness – Internet personalities from Raleigh, NC

They are both big fans of the show. For people who've never seen them, they make these fun family videos where they dress up in pajamas and do crazy dance moves. Their careers show how much the world has changed. They found a way to share their moments online. And people love to watch them. They are very telegenic; they know how to put on a show. They have a lot of fun with the differences between men and women. It's no small feat to leave your young children behind and set off around the world for a run, especially with a reboot where we promised to return them safely to their families.

Marianela “Lulu” Gonzalez and Marissa “Lala” Gonzalez – Twins and radio hosts from North Bergen, NJ

I remember that with Lulu and Lala in the casting process. I have never met identical twins who finish their sentences the way they do. It's really strange. It's like they're scripted or something. They talk over each other and say exactly the same thing. They are really full of energy, larger than life characters. Smart, funny, and a great dynamic between them.

Michael Norwood and Armonde “Moe” Badger – Singing police officers from Buffalo, NY.

We have yin and yang here. Michael is like a bodybuilder. The guy is built, and he's tall. And he has a real presence. Moe is also very muscular, but not as tall. So together they make a nice combination. They found a fun way to humanize the police officers in their community. The situation of the policemen is not easy, and some bad students have ruined the reputation of all the good policemen who are there. These guys wanted to find a way to connect with the community. So they started to sing and they have a very beautiful voice! For them, it's an opportunity to escape their everyday life and have fun all over the world.

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Raquel Moore and Cayla Platt – flight attendants from Chicago (Illinois) and Gulf Breeze (Florida), respectively.

I love the relationship between Raquel and Cayla. I like when you see a good friendship where people just get along really well. They are funny and bubbly personalities. I think they would be the first to admit that sometimes people can underestimate them because they are so enthusiastic. But they are very intelligent and very wise. They have the experience of being an air hostess and must think quickly. They have a habit of adapting on the fly.

Ryan Ferguson and Dusty Harris – Best Friends from Columbia, Mo.

Their love for each other as friends is very clear. It's that deep love, wanting to be there for your friend. And Dusty has certainly been there for his friend Ryan, who was wrongfully convicted of murder and spent a decade in prison. Many of Ryan's friends didn't want anything to do with him and assumed he was guilty. But Dusty believed in his friend from day one, and obviously that means a lot to Ryan. Ryan accepts very well what happened. But can you imagine ten years of your life being taken away from you for a crime you never committed? It's a great story to see them able to go out into the world and have fun together, because a lot of their friendship was due to Ryan being locked up.

Taylor Green-Jones and Isaiah Green-Jones – YouTube sensations from Portland, Ore.

They are two men who are very much in love. They are the perfect partners on the outside. They take their style very seriously and wear a lot of clothes to match. Their viral wedding video is definitely worth seeing online; you can see the energy that comes out of these two. Big smiles and incredible enthusiasm for the race. It will be interesting to see how they perform during the race. When they first lined up, I really had no idea how they were going to behave. Because they just look like they're ready to have fun. And since there are a lot of very competitive teams, they will have their work cut out for them.

Next, find out which teams are participating in this season of The Amazing Race.

Manon DelangePassionate about fantastic worlds and the Geek imagination, Manon devours the news of Pop Culture. After a school of journalism, she joined Mirror Mag to lend a hand to the teams in place. The latest articles by Manon Delange (see all)

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