The Amazing Race Season 37 will finally be hitting the 2025 TV schedule soon – March to be exact– and it has promised a slew of twists, including the brand new Fork in the Road. That’s not the only twist coming to the new season, as the show will also feature the largest cast ever for a season of The Amazing Race, a fact the contestants were not warned about before hitting the mat for the first time.
During a recent interview CinemaBlend’s own Laura Hurley conducted at SCAD TVfest, we spoke with newcomer contestants Han and Holden Nguyen, who were among the surprised when The Amazing Race’s big upcoming season filmed. They spoke about the moment being a “huge” shock, and I can’t even imagine.
I had no idea. I think I will say, I think this is the awesomest cast of The Amazing Race ever. Everyone is very unique and awesome. It was definitely a shock to us, though, when we got to the mat for the first time and it was 14.
It's all part of a big "reset" Phil Keoghan and co. are trying for this season, but it doesn't change one fundamental aspect of the show.
Ultimately, the whole goal of Race up until the finale is to just not come in last. That’s easier said than done, but having 14 teams should honestly help some of the laggers early on. Then again, that’s also one more leg teams have to prevail through, and the reality competition show is not all based on skill and strategy. It also includes outside factors like travel, luck, the TAR rules, choosing the right tasks, and whether roadblocks and more are actually in a team's wheelhouse.
The previous two seasons of The Amazing Race only had 13 teams competing. All previous seasons before that only had 10-12. So, to win, basically you have to be able to knock out 1-3 more teams than you would in a normal season in order to make it to the final three, and then you need to be the first team to the mat when it really matters if you want to land that $1 milllion prize package.
Still, Han and Holden told us their strategy was really to “just survive” and make no enemies along the way.
Holden: And so if that meant, like, 'Hey, man, help us please. We'll help you!' That was our approach.
Han: But I think more generally speaking, be nice to everybody. Make no enemies.
Helping others at key moments is honestly a giant pet peeve of a lot of Amazing Race fans. However, in the spirit of healthy competition, I will say it’s always better to be friendly than to lash out or be aloof in relation to your fellow contestants. Will that strategy be enough to get Han and Holden into TAR's final 3? We'll have to wait and see, but I am personally very excited to see how all these changes play out in the show's upcoming 90-minute episodes.
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