The Amazing Race 29 cast: Complete strangers to be paired up into teams

Remember the blind date season of The Amazing Race where we had a select number of teams meeting and “dating” for the first time. Well, The Amazing Race 29 cast has been officially released, and something similar is happening here.

For the first time in the CBS show’s history, the teams are going to be paired up into teams of two with no pre-existing relationship. Therefore, everyone is going to have to learn how to get along with each other while on the road.

We’re going to give our thoughts on this in just a moment, but let’s bring in first a statement from show host Phil Keoghan to make it clear just what he thinks about the move:

“For years, the Amazing Race fans have suggested we line up complete strangers and match them up at the starting line to see what would happen … These newbie racers begin with no pre-existing relationships or emotional baggage, and the excitement of traveling around the world to complete dozens of gut-busting, mind-blowing challenges quickly ignites tension.”

If there were two seasons this year, we’d probably have less of an issue with the idea of this as a season. However, as it is it’s a little weird to have the only season of The Amazing Race of the 2016-17 season be one that is such a harsh departure from the format. Part of the appeal is seeing people who already know each other have their relationships tested, and seeing them utilize their strengths and weaknesses out in the field. Having strangers compete with each other strips almost everything away to where physical strength and speed are the most important things. You can’t go into the show with a gameplan or the same sort of strategy not knowing what someone else on your team is going to think.

In the end, though, we just hope that the show remains exciting and gives us much of what we want as a longtime Amazing Race fan — a tremendous sense of geography, and a feeling of inspiration that comes with seeing these people from all over travel the world. The show’s got a new timeslot Thursdays at 10:00 p.m. Eastern starting on March 30, so we hope people remember to watch and check it out.

We’ll have more on the season as it approaches, but for now, what do you think of The Amazing Race 29 cast? Share some of your thoughts right now in the comments! (Photo: CBS.)