The Amazing Race is getting a little long in the tooth. This doesn’t mean the landscapes are any less gorgeous or the challenges are any less exciting, but it does mean that CBS has begun to throw together a few more gimmicks when it comes to planning each season, just to keep things interesting. For the upcoming Amazing Race Season 28, CBS has put together a lineup entirely made up of vloggers and other viral sensations coming together from all corners of the internet.
CBS’ announcement this week indicates that the 11 teams in Season 28 will include Vine Stars, YouTube stars, YouTube hosts, popular Instagram users and more. You can check out the full list of Season 28 names, below.
Tyler Oakley and Korey Kuhl – Social Media Influencers (7.7 million followers)Burnie Burns and Ashley Jenkings – YouTube Stars (8.2 million followers)Erin White Robinson and Joslyn Davis – YouTube HostsSheri and Cole LaBrant – Vine Star (6.5 million followers)Zach and Rachel King – Vine Star (3.7 million followers)Dana Borriello and Matt Steffanina –YouTube Stars (2.4 million followers)Jessica Versteeg and Brittany Oldehoff – Instagram Models (60,000 followers)Marty Cobb and Hagan Parkman – Viral Video Sensation (22 million views)Scott and Blair Fowler – Beauty YouTuber (1.7 million subscribers)Kurt Gibson and Brodie Smith – Pro Frisbee Players (1 million followers)Cameron and Darius Benson – Vine Stars (3 million followers)
Most of these people are seasoned in getting viral hits—or at least have spouses, siblings or kids who are seasoned at getting hits--but a few of them are a little more outside-the-box. Marty Cobb, for instance, is famous for being that flight attendant who cracked jokes during a safety demonstration and was recorded. The video of the performance later went viral. Cobb’s experience with being a flight attendant should theoretically help her and her daughter out with the travel aspects on The Amazing Race.
Clearly, the goal here is to get young people to tune in for the new season of the acclaimed show and maybe earn some slightly better 18-49 demo numbers. It’s not the worst idea we’ve ever heard. With the cross-pollination that is likely to go down with all of the social media fiends taking to their respective platforms to support their own performances, the show might see an uptick in viewers, even though CBS has aired the show in a pretty rough Friday night timeslot for the last couple of years, now. Plus, it should be a nice change-up from the usual routine of the show, although The Amazing Race has seen internet sensations on the series before when Joey and Meghan appeared on the 22nd season of the show, and those YouTube hosts were not my favorite. At all.
The chance of pace comes at a time when Race has tried to up its social media game a bit, having contestants take selfies on certain legs and do other fun technology-oriented challenges. The really bright thing about Season 28, though? At least The Amazing Race isn’t awkwardly pairing up blind dates like the show did last season.
The Amazing Race is currently airing Season 27. You can catch new episodes on Fridays at 8 p.m. ET.
