Phil Keoghan Reflects on 20 Years of ‘Amazing Race’ & Offers Season 33 Update
In the midst of a pandemic that’s curbed many people’s travel plans, globe-trotting TV shows have often served as an escape. Unfortunately, The Amazing Race was forced to take a long hiatus during this crucial time.
The show hosted by Phil Keoghan, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in September, last aired its Season 32 finale (filmed prior to COVID shutdowns) in December 2020 finale, leaving over a year before its eventual return in early 2022.
(Credit: CBS)
The show’s extended hiatus makes its promised return all the more anticipated, and Keoghan is grateful for the fans’ continued support over the years and believes the show promotes positivity with its adventures. “I think more than ever, The Amazing Race is an important show to be on the air, because we need to start celebrating some of the better things in the world,” Keoghan said in September. “We’ve been getting stuck and weighted down with what’s wrong, and The Amazing Race is a lot about what’s right and opening people’s eyes up to some of the more positive things that we should be celebrating, including the human spirit.”
“So it makes me feel great that we’ve lasted this long,” he admitted. As showrunner of CBS’s other reality hit Tough as Nails, Keoghan will continue to follow teams of two around the globe for one of TV’s most ambitious competition series due in part to the high quality of its production.
(Credit: CBS)
“I think we’ve lasted this long because of the tremendous quality of the show we’ve managed to produce for 20 years,” Keoghan muses. “A lot of hardworking, talented people have poured their heart and soul into it.”
And they’re still at it as Keoghan offered an update on Season 33 at the time, saying, “We’ve started pre-production, and now we’re going through the process of, how do we do this? When do we do this? What does it look like? How is it different from what it was before? How do we engage the viewers working with different rules, essentially?”
“I’ve shot two seasons now of Tough as Nails during COVID. It’s very different,” Keoghan said of the experience, but noted, “Shooting Tough as Nails in L.A. is very different from suddenly expanding that stage to something global.”
While it may take more time, Keoghan wants to reassure fans of The Amazing Race, saying, “We’re going to do it. What I can tell you is there is absolutely no doubt. CBS is committed to doing it. And it will happen. The question is just a matter of when and how, and that’s exactly what we’re doing right now.”
The Amazing Race, Season 33 Premiere, Wednesday, January 5, CBS
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