Over the last few seasons, The Amazing Race had taken a private jet from country to country, and switching that format back to regular airplane transport has been a huge change for Season 35. Now the CBS show is back to traditional transport, series host Phil Keoghan was asked about transportation once more, and he noted a lot of fans of the long-running show ask him the exact same question.
So, what’s that question? Keoghan actually seemed a little exasperated this is what crops up so often, but for an outsider who has always watched the show but who (clearly) has never really thought about many of the logistics, it actually is a question that makes sense. That is, until Phil started explaining how the travel actually works. He noted in a recent interview:
A lot of people ask me, ‘What are you doing while the teams are racing around the world?’ And it’s as if people forget that I am literally going everywhere they go, but just slightly ahead of them. For some reason, they just think I’m like going to the pool, drinking a piña colada or something and then, hey, I get a call and am like, ‘Yeah, oh you want me to come to the pit stop now? Yeah, I’ll be there in a second.’ No!
To be clear, I did not think that Phil was lounging around by a pool while the show’s logistics were playing out, as he’s heavily involved in the series. However, somehow in my mind he filmed spots early and then was in a tent somewhere near the pit stop coordinating with the producers and the camera people who follow the contestants on the show. But it actually sounds like things can be really touch and go when it comes to transporting Phil, which I found very surprising. The TV host told TV Insider:
I am literally trying to stay ahead of the teams. Sometimes very challenging. Twelve shows in roughly 21 days – do the math. So I am taking whatever means of transportation I can get into to try and beat the teams to the mat.
Now that I really pause to think about it, even in the photo at the top of this article, Phil is at an actual challenge from Season 35 and explaining the options the teams have in terms of completing the challenge and the rules the teams will have to abide by. Even in the current episodes hitting the TV schedule, he obviously still has to get from the challenges to the mat before the first team is finished and races to the end of the leg. Given the amount of time travel takes and the length of some of the challenges, it makes sense that the window of filming for Phil isn’t leisurely either.
One Time Phil Barely Made It To The Pit Stop Ahead Of The Leg-Winning Team
On another note, Phil also recounted — though he didn’t want to talk about it — an example of barely making it to the end of a race leg ahead of the actual teams. He recounted this has happened off and on over the years and revealed the first time it ever happened in the same interview.
I don’t really want to talk about that because it means I somehow missed the boat, didn’t get the car… the answer is, ‘yes.’ First time it ever happened was in Season 4. I literally was running into the mat while a team was running to the mat. It happens. You ever see me huffing and puffing when I say, ‘You’re team number 1,’ chances are I was actually running to get there ahead of the team.
I’d love to speak to the producers or whomever manages the time logistics for The Amazing Race, because they must be incredibly competent and detail-oriented. Even so, sometimes Phil sounds like he’s also racing against the clock and other teams in order to produce a quality TV series.
It almost makes me wonder what would happen if Phil were ever late. Would a producer step in? Would the person they’ve hired who is a cultural touchstone in each country do the honors? Would they make the team just wait on the mat for Phil and film late with the fans watching later none the wiser? … And on that last note, has it happened already? It’s enough to keep me up at night as a fan.
Tune in for Season 35 of The Amazing Race on Wednesday nights at 9:30 ET, after Survivor Season 45. Both CBS shows are airing supersized episodes this season, and it’s been a delight to tune in, so if it’s been awhile, give ’em a whirl.