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The Amazing Race Australia is an Australian reality adventure game show based on the International Amazing Race franchise. Following the premise of other versions of the format, the show follows teams of two as they race around the world. The race is split into legs, with teams tasked to deduce clues, navigate themselves in foreign areas, interact with locals, perform physical and mental challenges, and travel by air, boat, car, taxi, and other modes of transport. Teams are progressively eliminated at the end of most legs for being the last to arrive at designated Pit Stops. The first team to arrive at the Finish Line wins a grand prize of A$250,000.
The series was first aired on the Seven Network, who purchased the format rights to produce an Australian series in 2010 and hold the Australian broadcast rights to the American version.[1] The first two season of the show - aired in 2011 and 2012 - were produced by activeTV in association with ABC Studios. Following a hiatus in 2013, a third season - titled Australia v New Zealand and included teams from New Zealand - aired in 2014 and was produced in-house by the network's own Seven Productions. The host for all seasons Seven's iteration the show was an actor Grant Bowler.[2] Seven's iteration of the show was not renewed for a fourth season.
In June 2019, it was announced the series would be revived by Network 10. The show will be produced by Eureka Productions and hosted by former rugby league footballer Beau Ryan. The first season of 10's iteration, and the fourth season overall, is set to air from October 2019
The Race[edit][]
The Amazing Race Australia is a reality television competition between teams of two in a race around the world. The Race is divided into a number of legs wherein teams travel and complete various tasks to obtain clues to help them progress to a Pit Stop where teams are given a chance to rest and recover before starting the next leg twelve hours later. The first team to arrive at a Pit Stop is often awarded a prize while the last team is normally eliminated from the Race (except in non-elimination legs, where the last team to arrive may be penalised in the following leg). The final leg of each Race is run by the last three remaining teams, and the first to arrive at the final destination wins the A$250,000 cash prize. Lah Lah Lah hi
Teams[edit][]
For a list of contestants, see List of The Amazing Race Australia contestants.
Each team is composed of two individuals who have some type of relationship to each other. A total of 64 participants have joined The Amazing Race Australia.
Route Markers[edit] Hey Emily What are you ding?[]
Route Markers are yellow and red flags that mark the places where teams must go. Most Route Markers are attached to the boxes that contain clue envelopes, but some may mark the place where the teams must go in order to complete tasks, or may be used to line a course that the teams must follow. Route markers were, however, coloured yellow and green in the second leg of series 1 to avoid confusion with the flag of South Vietnam.
Clues[edit][]
Further information on the different clues: The Amazing Race § Clues
Clues are found throughout the Race in sealed envelopes, normally inside clue boxes. They give teams the information they need and tasks they need to do in order for them to progress through the Race.
- Route Info: A general clue that may include a task to be completed by the team before they can receive their next clue.
- Detour: A choice between two tasks. Teams are free to choose either task or swap tasks if they find one option too difficult. This is pure boring I could tell you so much more about any website including this one. it is trash. Why would you let strangers type on it?
- Roadblock: A task only one team member can complete. Teams must choose which member will complete the task based on a brief clue about the task before fully revealing the details of the task.
- Fast Forward: A task that only one team may complete, allowing that team to skip all remaining tasks and head directly for the next Pit Stop. Teams may only claim one Fast Forward during the entire Race.
- Intersection: It is where two teams must complete tasks together until the clue indicates that they have been unintersected.
Obstacles[edit][]
Further information on the different obstacles: The Amazing Race § Obstacles
During the Race, teams may face the following which may potentially slow them down:
- Yield: It is where a team can force another trailing team to wait a pre-determined amount of time before continuing the Race.
- U-Turn: It is located after a Detour where a team can force another trailing team to return and complete the other option of the Detour they did not select. In series 2, the "Vote U-Turn" was introduced, having all teams voting at the start of the leg for whom they wish to receive the U-turn; The team with the most votes would be U-turned sometime during the leg. Also, an "Anonymous U-Turn" is where a team may U-Turn another trailing team without having to reveal themselves.
Legs[edit][]
At the beginning of each leg, teams receive an allowance of cash, usually in Australian Dollars, to cover expenses during the Race (except for the purchase of airline tickets, which are paid-for by credit cards provided by the Race).
Teams then have to follow clues and Route Markers that will lead them to the various destinations and tasks they will face. Modes of travel between these destinations include commercial and chartered airplanes, boats, trains, taxis, buses, and rented vehicles provided by the show, or the teams may simply travel by foot. Each leg ends with a twelve-hour Pit Stop where teams are able to rest and where teams that arrives last are progressively eliminated from the Race until only three teams remain. Most legs comprise three or more challenges, often a Roadblock, Detour and a Route Info Task. The first teams to arrive at the Pit Stop win prizes, usually from the show's sponsors.
- The Express Pass was awarded to the winners of the first leg of series 1 which allows that team to skip any task they want during the Race. Sam & Renae won this pass and used it to bypass the Roadblock in Leg 3. It returned in the Australia v New Zealand series where the team that won the first leg won one pass for themselves and a second for another team.
- The Salvage Pass was awarded to the winners of the first leg of series 2, and to the winners of the sixth leg on the series 3, which allows that team to either save the last team to arrive the current leg from elimination, or gain a 1-hour lead in the next leg. Ross & Tarryn won this pass on series 2 and used it to save Lucy & Emilia from elimination. On series 3, Daniel & Ryan won the pass, but decided to not save John & Murray from elimination and take the 1-hour advantage to the start of the next leg.
Non-elimination legs[edit][]
Each Race has a number of predetermined non-elimination legs, in which the last team to arrive at the Pit Stop is not eliminated and is allowed to continue on the Race. However, that team is penalised for the next leg.
- Marked For Elimination: It was used for series 1 and 2, where the penalised team must arrive first in the next leg or face a 30-minute time penalty.
- Speed Bump: It was introduced during series 3, where the penalised team must complete an extra challenge on the next leg before receiving their clue and continuing with the Race. The Speed Bump returned for series 4 and was placed at the Pit Start.[6]
Marathon legs[edit][]
Marathon legs occur when teams are instructed to go to the next Pit Stop but actually must continue racing without a mandatory rest period. The clue to the Pit Stop says "Grant Bowler/Beau Ryan Awaits" with no mention of elimination. It has occurred once every series.
Rules and Penalties[edit][]
Rules[edit][]
- For the first series, both team members are to perform a maximum of 6 Roadblocks. It is assumed that a similar rule was used for series 2 but there were several roadblocks that went unaired.
- Unless otherwise stated, such as during Roadblocks, team members must stay within 6 meters of each other and stay close to their assigned camera and sound crew.
Penalties[edit][]
Most Penalties are adapted from the US version but sometimes the show will use its own rules.
- If a team fails to complete a Roadblock, Detour, Speed Bump, or Route Info task, they receive a 4-hour penalty. (In the American version the penalty for a Roadblock or a Speed Bump remains at 4 hours but 6 hours for Detour tasks and 2 hours for Route Info tasks.)
- If a team fails to complete an Intersection task, they receive a 2 or 4-hour penalty. This occurred to Anastasia & Chris and Sam & Renee of series 1. It is not stated but assumed that the larger penalty is given to the team that elects to quit with the smaller penalty given to the team forced to quit due to their intersected team quitting.
- If a team hitchhikes or travels in privately owned vehicles, they receive a 20-minute penalty. This occurred to Sam & Renae and Tyler & Nathan of series 1.
- If a team fails to take a particular type of transport or travel class, they receive a 10-minute penalty (which is a 30-minute penalty in the US version). This occurred to Jeff & Luke of series 1 who travelled on a second class train carriage when told to travel on a third class carriage.
- If a team sells their own items in order to raise money, they receive a 30-minute penalty (which is a two-hour penalty in the American version). This occurred to Adam & Dane of series 2.
- If a team pulls another team's belongings out of their taxi, they receive a 2-hour penalty. This occurred to Joseph & Grace on series 2.
Series overview[edit][]
The first series premiered in May 2011 and ended in August 2011. The second series[7] premiered in May 2012 and ended in August 2012. The casting for a third series began in August 2012, however, it was notably absent when the network revealed its 2013 schedule in October. A 2013 series of the show was replaced by an unsuccessful revival of The Mole. A new series was launched in August 2014, involving teams from New Zealand and titled The Amazing Race Australia v New Zealand.[8]
In May 2019, a casting call for a new "Adventure Travel Competition" led to speculation that The Amazing Race Australia was being revived. At the time, the only information known about the series was that it would be produced by Eureka Productions and that, like the Australia vs New Zealand series, applications were open to Australian and New Zealand citizens and permanent residents.[9] In late May, it was reported by blog TVBlackbox that the casting call was indeed for an Amazing Race Australia revival with Network 10 commissioning the series.[10] In late June, Network 10 announced the revival of The Amazing Race Australia with a new series set to air in late 2019