REALITY TV: CBS’s The Amazing Race returns and opens with some very special contestants.
By Emma Carson, Staff Writer
On February 12, 2016, CBS kicked off the 28th season of their hit show, The Amazing Race. The reality show features a race around the world consisting of 22 competitors who will travel through 18 cities and 10 countries, amounting to a 27,000 mile trip. Throughout their journey, contestants will be obligated to perform extraordinary tasks. These tasks can be anything from walking through a tiger pit to eating a lamb’s head. This season offers several new surprises, such as three new locations and some out-of-the-ordinary racers.
On this season of The Amazing Race, contestants will travel across the globe with one million dollars on the line. The players will be separated into 11 teams. These 11 teams will be traveling to three new locations: Cartagena, Colombia; Tbilisi, Georgia; and Yerevan, Armenia. The teams must complete the tasks in the shortest amount of time in order to move on. The team who comes in last risks being eliminated from the race. Contestants in the reality show are given the opportunity to meet knew people, see new places and experiences different cultures across the world.
One of the biggest surprises this year are the 22 new contestants. All of the teams are comprised of popular social media influences, such as Vine stars and YouTubers. Some racers include Tyler Oakley, a popular YouTube personality, and Burnie Burns and Ashley Jenkins from the popular YouTube channel Rooster Teeth. This change is huge, seeing as for the past 15 years the teams have all been made up of “normal” people. The reality show’s change in cast is an example of the impact social media has had on our lives. People can now make a career out of these apps, and have become well known celebrities. This year, we get to watch and see how these social-savvy racers fare against challenges hardly anyone can imagine, while spending the entire time unplugged. “The first day I felt like I was missing a limb, but then three days into it, I felt like a free man,” Tyler Oakley commented. The Amazing Race has new episodes every Friday night at 8 P.M., so tune in to see how your favorite internet stars fare!