The 11 globetrotting teams are set to begin the 7th edition of "The Amazing Race" on Tuesday night (March 1) in Los Angeles.
This season's race is already attracting attention because of the addition of veteran reality show players from "Survivor." Amber Brkich scored a cool million as the winner of last spring's "Survivor All-Stars" competition, closely followed by her fiance and runner-up, Rob Mariano.
According to Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan: "There's a new kind of tension among the teams because Rob and Amber are now a part of the mix. They are obviously a threat to many people. I've never seen so much raw energy at a start line."
"A lot of time on 'Survivor' is spent sitting down and working out what you are going to do," Keoghan said. "There's no time to contemplate like that in 'The Amazing Race,' where you have to make decisions in the moment, on the fly, very, very quickly. To me, this is actually the very antithesis of their experience on 'Survivor,' so viewers will see them reacting to a completely different experience here."
Keoghan says this is the season to watch: "I know I said this before about race 5, but I honestly believe number 7 is the best race that we have ever had."
"That has a lot to do with the teams we have, and I can assure you that the show has moved back to its roots in terms of the things that made people fall in love with this show in the first place."
And the dance card reads:
Rob & Amber: Yup, the winner and runner-up from the "Survivor: All Stars" show. CBS must be hoping to pull in "Survivor" fans to the more exiting world of The Amazing Race. Amber is already a $1 million winner, so it'll be interesting to see her 'tude throughout the race.
Brian & Greg: A brothers twenty-something act. Brian is an actor/bartender and Greg is a bouncer. They are young, laid back, and athletic bar hounds who have never been out of the US. If they don't get lost often during the race, they'll be strong performing the tasks.
Debbie & Bianca: One of the two female teams, Bianca is a high school teacher and eye candy for the straight guys and Deb's a photographer and surfer girl.
Lynn & Alex: The token gay couple. Definitely not as hot as Reichen and Chip from the AR4 season, whose relationship ended after they won the $1 million dollar prize.
Megan & Heidi: Hippie chick eye candy for the she-mullets, or just potential Zena warriors. Megan's a fashion designer and Heidi's a stay-at-home mom. The catch: Megan has never traveled outside the United States and has an extreme phobia of flying. Could mean an early exit for these two.
Meredith & Gretchen: The token senior citizen retired couple, but they look like they're in great shape. He's a champion Masters Swimmer, and Gretchen admits to "being quite loud when she's upset." (The perfect AR contestant in other words.)
Ray & Deana: The token steroid team. He's a weight-lifting stockbroker and she's a much, much younger than him (17 years younger) outdoorsy type chick. I see tension in their future . . .
Ron & Kelly: He's the former Iraqi War POW and Apache helicopter pilot, and she was Miss South Carolina. If they have any personality at all, they should be fan favorites.
Ryan & Chuck: Ah, the token overweight happy fat guys. Chuck's the bearded one who speaks fluent Portuguese, plays bass guitar, rides motorcyles. Che Guevera without the beret. Or the revolution.
Susan & Patrick: The mother and son team. She's 51, he's 26. He's also gay which is probably the only type of guy who would be racing with his mom in a show like this.
Uchenna & Joyce: The token black married couple. Interesting nugget: He used to work for Enron; she worked for Worldcom. Should be strong contenders if they don't argue too much.
