Amazing Race 15: Half-Over, Half-Spoiled
Spoilers, Rumors, and Speculation about the Upcoming Season
The Amazing Race 15 began from the Sixth Street Viaduct in Los Angeles on July 18th. Over the course of next two weeks, sightings of the racers sprung up all over the map, from Tokyo to Dubai, and more of the racers’ identities have been unveiled. See below for a summary of everything that’s known about the race, which is expected to conclude around August 6th.
How Many Teams Are There?
Earlier, it was debated whether there would be eleven teams (as usual), or whether a twelfth team had been added to this season’s race. It appears that indeed, twelve teams begun the race, although information provided by ‘Chateau d If’ at Reality Fan Forum strongly points towards a challenge and an elimination right at the starting line of the race. This would immediately reduce the number of teams back to eleven. Although season 10 featured an unexpected elimination point before the pit stop of the first leg, this would be the first time that a team was eliminated right at the starting line of the race.
Where in the World are the Amazing Racers?
On July 23rd, ‘AbeFrellman’ tweeted that he “[s]aw a finishing leg of "The Amazing Race" being filmed outside HCMC's Reunification Palace this morning.” The next day, ‘girlclumsy’ saw the teams in Cambodia, at the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh. Another blogger (cited on Reality Fan Forum) noted that the “contestants from the Amazing Race were to meet the host at the top of the mountain of Wat Phnom.”
On July 26th, ‘gerrydoyle’ saw teams in Dubai looking for a clue, which “turned out to be near the [D]ubai [M]all taxi stand, by a giant statue of a black horse.” Other reports of teams being on a flight to Dubai came from Twitter.
On July 31st, a new poster (‘Dutch Samadhi’) reported on Reality Fan Forum that racers were spotted in the Groningen province of The Netherlands. The teams had to cycle from a small town called to Vierhuizen to another town, Zoutkamp, and then complete a ‘detour’: dance or golf. ‘Dutch Samadhi’ also noted that teams arrived in The Netherlands from Dubai, which suggests that two legs of the race may have been filmed there since teams were there for several days. It is believed that there were six teams remaining in the race at the beginning of The Netherlands leg. If this is true, then one of the previous legs may have been a non-elimination round.
Assuming that all of the reported sightings are correct, the race course appears to be as follows:
- Leg 1 (July 19-20): Los Angeles, California to Tokyo, Japan;
- Leg 2 (July 21-22): Tokyo, Japan to Unknown (probably a second city in Japan);
- Leg 3 (July 23-24): Unknown to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam;
- Leg 4 (July 25-26): Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to Phnom Penh, Cambodia;
- Leg 5 (July 26-27): Phnom Penh, Cambodia to Dubai, United Arab Emirates;
- Leg 6 (July 28): Dubai, United Arab Emirates***;
- Leg 7 (July 29-31): Dubai, United Arab Emirates to Groningen, The Netherlands.
***Unconfirmed reports indicate that teams may have been in either Israel or Italy on July 28th; however, if these are true, then teams must have had connecting flights in these locations. ‘Dutch Samadhi’ indicates that teams went from Dubai to The Netherlands.
Who is Racing Around the World?
As previously reported, professional poker players Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho, and Harlem Globetrotters Nate Lofton and Herbert Lang are among the twelve teams racing for the one million dollar prize. Another team is married couple Brian Kleinschmidt and his Miss America 2004 wife, Ericka Dunlap (identified by ‘graytex’ with help from ‘Chateau d If’). ‘Thetoothfairy’, a poster on Reality Fan Forum, recognized Canaan Smith, a country singer from Nashville. He is racing with a fellow country artist Mika Combs. The identities of the other racers are expected to be officially released by CBS next month.
UPDATE 8/11/09: For a sneak preview of the new teams, click here.
Check back for more information on The Amazing Race 15 as it becomes available, and don’t forget that the season kicks off on Sunday, September 27th at 8:00 p.m. EST on CBS.
Host Phil Keoghan
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