There have been a lot of changes to The Amazing Race over the years, most recently when the show switched to 90-minute episodes or when they briefly had contestants fly in a chartered jet during the pandemic. Despite trying to spice things up a little bit, veteran host Phil Keoghan has been at the reality TV game for a really long time. But there’s one thing he is trying to change ahead of Season 37 hitting the 2025 TV schedule.
Speaking on the red carpet as The Amazing Race was nominated for (yet another) Golden Globe award, the longtime reality host did say he’s always “honored” to be at events. But he did allude to the tedium that can creep up when one is doing the same job for 20+ years, as Mr. Keoghan has done since joining The Amazing Race in 2001. Season 37 will be his 24th year hosting the same game, but he’s really trying hard to think of it as a “reset,” as he put it to Gold Derby.
I feel honored that we’re still part of the discussion about reality shows. Someone was telling me something the other day where, you know where people say, ‘Oh I have to go do this and I have to go do that?' I’ve been trying to reset with, ‘I get to go do this and I get to go do that.’
I honestly think it’s a really healthy perspective to have. While it’s probably hard for some to understand how hosting a TV show could feel like a real chore, it is a job. Which means there are likely a lot of things about the job that are tedious or difficult. Still, the reality host is self-aware enough to know there are absolutely worse jobs out there, and his approach for the new season is to remember all of the cool stuff the show also affords him.
Phil Keoghan actually opened up a short while ago about one of the most challenging parts of filming The Amazing Race. People are constantly asking him what he does when the teams are racing, but he says they forget he and the production team have to travel at the same time the racing teams do, then they have to set up for the end of the challenge and film all of the stand-up opportunities where Phil explains what the contestants are doing, all in a short window of time.
The whole thing sounds really stressful, honestly, and I can see where it can become a “we have to do this” situation. That’s particularly true as Keoghan nears 60 (he’s 57 right now). He’s been at it a long time, and while I think a lot of fans would miss him hosting Race, I also think when you are at the same game for more than 20 years and you are hitting the twilight of your career, it’s probably easy to shift into thoughts about what possibilities are next.
I could be putting words in Phil’s mouth, but all of this is to say that Phil was working on this mindset shift when The Amazing Race 37 was filming and hopefully it will show on the small screen. He was notably stoked to be nominated at the Globes again, remarking on other reality shows and the “talented people” involved with that, and mentioning that getting to sit in the room where it happens “is huge.”
