The Amazing Race 23 is the twenty-third season of the American reality competition show The Amazing Race. Hosted by Phil Keoghan, it featured eleven teams of two, each with a pre-existing relationship, competing in a race around the world to win US$1,000,000. This season visited four continents and nine countries and traveled over during twelve legs. Starting in Santa Clarita, California, racers traveled through Chile, Portugal, Norway, Poland, Austria, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, and Japan before returning to the United States and finishing in Juneau. The season premiered on CBS on September 29, 2013, and concluded on December 8, 2013.
Dating couple Jason Case and Amy Diaz were the winners of this season, while exes Tim Sweeney and Marie Mazzocchi finished in second place, and married doctors Travis and Nicole Jasper finished in third place.
Production Development and filming
The season was renewed on March 27, 2013. A revised opening credits sequence and on-screen clue graphics were developed for this season along with an updated map using 3D blue marble layout.
Filming for this season began on June 9, 2013, with teams spotted checking into a Pit Stop in Iquique, Chile, the next day. On June 19, the show filmed in Gdańsk, Poland, with news reporting of an American production at Neptune's Fountain. The season spanned across four continents and nine countries. The Double Express Pass, introduced in the previous season, returned, where the first team to arrive at the Pit Stop on the first leg received two Express Passes: one for themselves and one to give to any other team.
Contestants
The cast included former Houston Texans players Chester Pitts and Ephraim Salaam, the wives of baseball players Chris Getz of the Kansas City Royals and David DeJesus of the Tampa Bay Rays, a pair of Los Angeles Kings Ice Crew maintenance workers, former Miss Rhode Island USA beauty queen Amy Diaz, former Minor League Baseball player Tim Sweeney and former Lingerie Football player Marie Mazzocchi, and a pair of theater performers from the stage comedy The Queen of Bingo. Married emergency room doctors Travis and Nicole Jasper have also appeared on the docudrama series Untold Stories of the E.R.
ContestantsAgeRelationshipHometownStatus 60Father & Daughter Laguna Niguel, CaliforniaEliminated 1st(in Iquique, Chile) 27 56Theatre PerformersCharlotte, North CarolinaEliminated 2nd(in San José de Maipo, Chile) 47 33Former NFL Teammates Missouri City, TexasEliminated 3rd(in Lisbon, Portugal) 36 Studio City, California 34Childhood Friends Chico, CaliforniaEliminated 4th(in Sopot, Poland) 34 Los Angeles, California 26Best FriendsCordell, OklahomaEliminated 5th(in Vienna, Austria) 25 25Baseball Wives Kansas City, MissouriEliminated 6th(in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates) 32 Chicago, Illinois 22NHL Ice CrewLos Angeles, CaliforniaEliminated 7th(in Lembang, Indonesia) 25 26CousinsLos Angeles, CaliforniaEliminated 8th(in Tokyo, Japan) 26 39Married ER DoctorsAtlanta, GeorgiaThird place 43 32ExesMorristown, New JerseyRunners-up 29 33Dating Attleboro, MassachusettsWinners 29 Providence, Rhode Island Future appearances While the season was still airing, Tim & Marie and Leo & Jamal were invited to appear on The Amazing Race: All-Stars. The former declined the invitation, but the latter participated. Leo & Jamal also returned for a third time on The Amazing Race: Reality Showdown.
On May 25, 2016, Leo & Jamal appeared on an Amazing Race-themed primetime special of The Price Is Right. In 2022, Leo also competed on the first season of The Challenge: USA. In 2023, Ephraim Salaam competed on Raid the Cage.
Results The following teams are listed with their placements in each leg. Placements are listed in finishing order. A placement with a dagger () indicates that the team was eliminated. An placement with a double-dagger () indicates that the team was the last to arrive at a Pit Stop in a non-elimination leg, and had to perform a Speed Bump task in the following leg. An italicized and underlined placement indicates that the team was the last to arrive at a Pit Stop, but there was no rest period at the Pit Stop and all teams were instructed to continue racing. There was no required Speed Bump task in the next leg. A indicates that the team used an Express Pass on that leg to bypass one of their tasks. A indicates that the team used the U-Turn and a indicates the team on the receiving end of the U-Turn. +Team placement (by leg) Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Jason & Amy8th5th2nd2nd2nd5th2nd2nd3rd1st2nd1st Tim & Marie1st8th8th5th1st4th4th3rd2nd2nd1st2nd Nicole & Travis2nd4th1st3rd3rd1st3rd1st4th3rd3rd3rd Leo & Jamal7th2nd6th4th6th3rd1st4th1st Ally & Ashley6th7th7th7th7th6th5th5th Nicky & Kim5th9th3rd8th4th2nd Tim & Danny9th6th4th6th5th Brandon & Adam10th3rd5th1st Chester & Ephraim4th1st Rowan & Shane3rd Hoskote & Naina Notes
Race summary
Leg 1 (United States → Chile)
Episode 1: "We're Not in Oklahoma No More" (September 29, 2013) Prize: Two Express Passes (awarded to Tim & Marie; one for themselves and the other to be given to another team) Eliminated: Hoskote & Naina Locations Santa Clarita, California (Melody Ranch Motion Picture Studio) (Starting Line) Los Angeles → Iquique, Chile Alto Hospicio (Zona de Parapentes) Iquique (Muelle Prat) Iquique (Teatro Municipal de Iquique) Episode summary At the Melody Ranch Motion Picture Studio, teams had to choose a vehicle and use the in-vehicle communication system to contact a man named Javier, who revealed their first destination: Iquique, Chile. Teams then drove to Los Angeles International Airport, where they booked one of two flights to Iquique, the first of which carried seven teams and arrived 2:30 hours before the second flight, which carried the remaining four teams. Once there, teams had travel to the Zona de Parapentes in Alto Hospicio and find Javier, who had their next clue. In this season's first Roadblock, one team member had to direct their taxi to follow their partner, who paraglided from Alto Hospicio down to either Playa Brava or Huayquique Beach. Once team members reunited on the beach, they received their next clue. After the first Roadblock, teams had to travel to Muelle Prat and find their next clue. In this leg's second Roadblock, the team member who paraglided in the previous Roadblock had to collect five fish from one of three boats, reaching them by rowboat, and then deliver them to a fishmonger in order to receive a postcard, which depicted their first Pit Stop. The three fishing boats each had a limited number of fish, so if a boat ran out of fish, racers had to find one of the other boats in order to get their remaining fish. After the second Roadblock, teams had to travel on foot to the Pit Stop: the Teatro Municipal de Iquique.
Leg 2 (Chile)
Episode 2: "Zip It, Bingo" (October 6, 2013) Prize: A trip for two to the Turks and Caicos Islands (awarded to Chester & Ephraim) Eliminated: Rowan & Shane Locations Iquique (Teatro Municipal de Iquique) Iquique (Museo Corbeta Esmeralda) Tarapacá Region (Atacama Desert – Irlanda 3 Road Sign) Tarapacá Region (Atacama Desert – Mina de Sal Punta de Lobos) Iquique → Santiago Santiago (Plaza de Armas) Santiago (Paseo Ahumada & Merced 738) San José de Maipo (Cascada de las Animas) Episode summary At the start of this leg, teams had to find the Museo Corbeta Esmeralda, where they had to repeat to the deck officer a quote uttered by Arturo Prat at the Battle of Iquique – "¡Al abordaje, muchachos!" – "Charge the ship, men!" – in order to receive their next clue. Teams then had to travel to the Irlanda 3 Road Sign in the Atacama Desert, where they found their next clue. This season's first Detour was a choice between Brining or Mining. Both options required teams to bike to the salt mine in the Tarapacá salt flats. In Brining, teams had to carry bags of salt and dump them into a pool in order to reach neutral buoyancy. Once they were able to float on the surface, they could receive their next clue. In Mining, the teams had to use pickaxes and sledgehammers to open halite boulders until they found one that contained their next clue. After the Detour, teams were instructed to travel by bus to Santiago. Once there, they had to travel to the Plaza de Armas, where they found their next clue. In this leg's Roadblock, one team member had to work as a Chilean shoeshiner. After shining a customer's shoes, the racer had to properly put all of their supplies into their cart and transport it back to the storage depot in order to receive their next clue, which directed them to the Pit Stop: Cascada de las Animas in San José de Maipo. Additional note Promotional photos showed some teams riding a zipline above the Maipo River at Cascada de las Animas before checking in at the Pit Stop. Once it was nighttime, teams could no longer ride the zipline and simply checked in at the Pit Stop, which was also moved from the suspension bridge.
Leg 3 (Chile → Portugal)
Episode 3: "King Arthur Style" (October 13, 2013) Prize: A trip for two to Costa Rica (awarded to Nicole & Travis) Eliminated: Chester & Ephraim Locations San José de Maipo (Cascada de las Animas) Santiago → Lisbon, Portugal Lisbon (Martim Moniz Square → Miradouro das Portas do Sol) Lisbon (Museu Nacional dos Coches) Lisbon (Fábrica Sant'Anna Jerónimos Monastery & Padrão dos Descobrimentos) Lisbon (Parque Florestal de Monsanto – Clube Português de Tiro a Chumbo) Sintra (Castelo dos Mouros) Episode summary At the start of this leg, teams were instructed to fly to Lisbon, Portugal. Once there, teams had to travel to Martim Moniz Square, where they had to take a tram to the Miradouro das Portas do Sol. Once there, they had to find Fado performers, who gave them their next clue: a painting of the Embassy Coach sent by King John V to Pope Clement XI. Teams had to figure out that the painting was directing them to the Museu Nacional dos Coches and that their next clue was near the Embassy Coach. This leg's Detour was a choice between Tiles or Miles. In Tiles, teams had to correctly assemble a life-size tile puzzle in order to receive their next clue. In Miles, teams had to first retrieve a giant-sized compass from the Jerónimos Monastery and then use it to map out the distance traveled by Ferdinand Magellan on his circumnavigation of the globe on the large compass rose at the Padrão dos Descobrimentos. Once teams were within 500 nautical miles of the correct answer, they could receive their next clue. After the Detour, teams had to travel to the Parque Florestal de Monsanto, where they found their next clue. In this leg's Roadblock, one team member had to put on a suit of armor and then use a ballista to fire an arrow into a shield away. Once successful, a knight retrieved their shield which had their next clue on the back, which directed them to the Pit Stop: the Castelo dos Mouros in Sintra. Additional note Chester & Ephraim did not arrive in Lisbon until long after all of the other teams had already checked in at the Pit Stop. Phil met them at the Lisbon Airport to inform them of their elimination.
Leg 4 (Portugal → Norway)
Episode 4: "Beards in the Wind" (October 20, 2013) Prize: each (awarded to Brandon & Adam) Locations Sintra (Castelo dos Mouros) Lisbon → Bodø, Norway Bodø → Svolvær (Ferry Terminal) Svolvær (L. Bergs Sønner A/S Fish Processor) Svolvær → Henningsvær Henningsvær (Henningsvær Bridge) Henningsvær (Rock Quarry) Vestvågøy (Viking Longhouse) Episode summary At the start of this leg, teams were instructed to fly to Bodø, Norway. Once there, teams had to travel by ferry to Svolvær and search for their next clue.