The Amazing Race: Season 26

For the first time in “The Amazing Race” history, each team was comprised of a dating couple. The teams included six sets of partners, dating from seven months to 10 years, and five “blind date” teams, who met for the first time at the start of the race. Couples included Olympic winners Aly Dudek (short track speed skater) and Steven Langton (bobsled), as well as New Kids on the Block’s Jonathan Knight and his boyfriend Harley Rodriguez. 

Kicking off outside Los Angeles, the Race stretched through five continents and nine countries, including Japan, Thailand, Germany, Monaco, Namibia, France, The Netherlands and Peru. Along the way, the racers faced distinctive challenges unique to each country and region, including some with romantic gestures. At a restaurant in Thailand, teams were tasked to deliver meals via zipline, with no spills! In Germany, teams had to learn a Bavarian love song and serenade their partner while perched on a ladder. In Namibia, the couples had to build a traditional hut using wooden sticks and dried grass. 

The season also introduced the “Date Night,” a ticket awarded to one team who retrieves a special clue for each leg, thus earning them a one-and-one romantic-related activity.