The Amazing Race 32 is the thirty-second 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 eleven countries and traveled over during eleven legs. Starting in Los Angeles, racers traveled through Trinidad and Tobago, Colombia, Brazil, Paraguay, France, Germany, Kazakhstan, India, Cambodia, and the Philippines before returning to the United States and finishing in New Orleans. New twists introduced in this season include an elimination during a no-rest leg, a Double Switchback, and the City Sprint. Elements of the show that returned for this season were the Yield and double-length legs, which were renamed Mega Legs. The season premiered on CBS on October 14, 2020, and concluded on December 16, 2020.
Boyfriends Will Jardell and James Wallington were the winners of this season, while married parents Hung Nguyen and Chee Lee finished in second place, and professional volleyball players Riley and Maddison McKibbin finished in third place.
Production Development and filming
During the airing of season 30 in January 2018, Phil Keoghan suggested that the show could return to filming two seasons a year after two years of only filming one. After season 31 completed filming in July 2018, The Amazing Race 32 began on November 10, 2018, with filming of first leg reported on the island of Tobago, marking the first time The Amazing Race visited Trinidad and Tobago. Filming ended on December 3, 2018, in New Orleans, Louisiana.
According to Phil Keoghan, this season was the most physically demanding to film since The Amazing Race 3. This season also saw The Amazing Race reach a milestone of traveling one million cumulative miles.
This season was the first to eliminate the last place team during a no-rest leg. It also saw the first appearance of the Yield since the first All-Stars edition back in 2007, making this the first season to feature both the Yield and the U-Turn. The mechanics of the Yield were changed such that teams had to find an hourglass during Leg 2 that they could use later in the season to Yield another team.
Two new twists were introduced this season: the Mega Leg and City Sprint. Leg 8 featured a Mega Leg: a rebranding of the double-length leg last seen on The Amazing Race 10, which featured two Detours and two Roadblocks over the course of one leg. Leg 10 featured the City Sprint, where teams did not have to complete any Detours or Roadblocks, but rather a series of tasks that they had to complete as quickly as possible.
Casting Unlike five of the past six seasons, which had particular themes, Phil Keoghan referred to this season as taking a "back to basics" approach with the cast and the show going back to core elements.
Release Broadcast At 22 months, The Amazing Race 32 has the longest gap between its filming completion and its premiere. This is primarily attributed to the filming of the season prior to season 31's broadcast and the delays on the 2019–20 television season as television production was suspended following the COVID-19 pandemic. CBS first announced on April 13, 2020, that the season would originally premiere with a two-hour special on May 20, 2020, taking over the Wednesday slot of Survivor: Winners at War part of the 2019–20 TV season. Following this, the show would have returned to the standard one-hour episode format. However, on April 29, CBS announced that it was postponing the premiere until later in 2020, and the freshman game show Game On! would assume Survivor's former timeslot. The postponement was designed to allow The Amazing Race to replace shows scheduled in the 2020–21 television season whose production has not begun as a result of suspended television production following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Outside a message from Keoghan at the start of the first episode describing the timing of filming of this season relative to the COVID-19 pandemic, the season made no other changes or mention of the pandemic. Keoghan explained this choice was made by production to keep the show evergreen.
Contestants
This cast included former Carolina Panthers players DeAngelo Williams and Gary Barnidge, Olympic hurdlers Kellie Wells-Brinkley and LaVonne Idlette, professional volleyball player Riley McKibbin, college basketball coach Jerry Eaves, and America's Next Top Model cycle 21 runner-up Will Jardell.
After Phil Keoghan announced to Will & James that they had won The Amazing Race, Will proposed to James, who accepted. Will & James got married on December 3, 2021: the three year anniversary of their Amazing Race win and engagement.
ContestantsAgeRelationshipHometownStatus 39Best Friends Dayton, TennesseeEliminated 1st(in Buccoo, Trinidad and Tobago) 33 Paint Lick, Kentucky 37Former Olympic Hurdlers Richmond, VirginiaEliminated 2nd(in Bogotá, Colombia) 34 Hampton, Virginia 61Father & Son Louisville, KentuckyEliminated 3rd(in Rio Negro, Brazil) 25 34SistersLafayette, LouisianaEliminated 4th(in Paris, France) 33 31DatingSomerville, MassachusettsEliminated 5th(in Almaty, Kazakhstan) 29 30SistersBluffton, South CarolinaEliminated 6th(in Hyderabad, India) 31 24Siblings Fremont, CaliforniaEliminated 7th(in Siem Reap, Cambodia) 26 Berkeley, California 36Former NFL Stars Charlotte, North CarolinaEliminated 8th(in Manila, Philippines) 34 Middleburg, Florida 31Pro Volleyball BrothersHonolulu, HawaiiThird place 29 39Married ParentsHouston, TexasRunners-up 38 30Boyfriends Nederland, TexasWinners 31 Grand Rapids, Michigan Future appearances Will and James appeared on The Amazing Race: 25 Years Around the World.
In 2022, James Wallington competed on the first season of The Challenge: USA. In 2026, Wallington competed on the fifth season of The Floor.
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 in the following leg. An italicized placement indicates a team's placement at the midpoint of a Mega Leg. A indicates that the team used the Yield and a indicates the team on the receiving end of the Yield. 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 8a 8b 9 10 11 Will & James4th6th1st1st4th4th1st3rd2nd2nd2nd1st Hung & Chee1st1st2nd6th2nd3rd3rd4th4th3rd3rd2nd Riley & Maddison3rd3rd4th4th1st2nd2nd1st1st1st1st3rd DeAngelo & Gary10th2nd5th7th5th1st4th2nd3rd4th Eswar & Aparna 7th 4th 6th 5th 6th 5th 6th5th 5th Kaylynn & Haley 8th 8th 3rd 7th 5th 6th Leo & Alana 6th 7th 8th 3rd 3rd 6th Michelle & Victoria 2nd 5th 7th 2nd Jerry & Frank 5th 9th Kellie & LaVonne 9th Nathan & Cody Notes
Race summary
Leg 1 (United States → Trinidad and Tobago)
Episode 1: "One Million Miles" (October 14, 2020) Eliminated: Nathan & Cody Locations Los Angeles, California (Hollywood Bowl) (Starting Line) Los Angeles → Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago Saint Augustine (24 Hour Fruit Stand) Saint Augustine (Exodus Panyard) Port of Spain → Crown Point Pigeon Point (Swallow's Beach → Nylon Pool) Pigeon Point (Nylon Pool → Pigeon Point Jetty) Pigeon Point (Pigeon Point Beach) Buccoo (Buccoo Integrated Facility) Episode summary Teams set off from the Hollywood Bowl and flew to the island of Trinidad. Once there, teams had to find their next clue at the 24 Hour Fruit Stand in Saint Augustine. Both team members then had to roll an oil drum used to make steelpans to a Carnival at the Exodus Panyard. There, teams had to find the Midnight Robber, who had their next clue and tickets for one of two flights to the island of Tobago on the next day. Once on Tobago, teams found their next clue at Swallow's Beach, which instructed them to board a boat to the Nylon Pool and memorize a uniquely-painted fish with a four-digit combination on their boat. Once at the pool, teams had to search amongst 125 fish for an exact match and unlock the fish in order to receive their next clue, which directed them to the Pigeon Point Jetty. In this season's first Roadblock, one team member had to learn to play a section of "Day-O" on a steelpan and then perform alongside the Redemption Sound Setters in order to receive their next clue. After the Roadblock, teams had to travel to Buccoo Integrated Facility and take part in goat racing, with both team members having to run across a finish line with a goat in order to check in at the Pit Stop. Additional note Although the last team to arrive at the Pit Stop was eliminated, there was no rest period at the end of the leg and all remaining teams were instead instructed to continue racing.
Leg 2 (Trinidad and Tobago → Colombia)
Episode 2: "Red Lipstick is Not My Color" (October 21, 2020) Prize: A trip for two to Switzerland (awarded to Hung & Chee) Eliminated: Kellie & LaVonne Locations Crown Point → Bogotá, Colombia (El Dorado International Airport) Nemocón (Nemocón Salt Mine) Nemocón (Templo Parroquial San Francisco de Asís) Bogotá (Plazoleta del Rosario Universidad del Rosario) Bogotá (Escuela Nacional Circo Para Todos) Bogotá (Carrera 26 #10-03) Bogotá (Parque Nacional Enrique Olaya Herrera) Episode summary At the start of this leg, teams were instructed to fly to Bogotá, Colombia. Once there, teams found their next clue outside the airport, which instructed them to travel by taxi to the Nemocón Salt Mine and search for either a 10- or 20-minute hourglass that they could use to Yield another team later in the season. They then signed up for one of two departure times the next morning, when they also received their next clue. The next day, teams had to climb to the top of the bell tower at Templo Parroquial San Francisco de Asís, retrieve either an emerald or a golden raft replica, and then travel back to Bogotá to deliver either the emerald to a broker at Plazoleta del Rosario or the raft to an archeology professor at the Universidad del Rosario in order to receive their next clue, which directed them to Escuela Nacional Circo Para Todos. In this leg's Roadblock, one team member had to dress as a clown, take a ride in a wheel of death, and then walk across a tightrope and back without falling or dropping any of the items they were carrying on a tray in order to receive their next clue. After the Roadblock, teams had to travel to Carrera 26 #10-03 and decorate a volqueta (a dump truck) so that it matched an example, as well as hook up the truck's horn, in order to receive their next clue, which directed them to the Pit Stop: Parque Nacional Enrique Olaya Herrera.
Leg 3 (Colombia → Brazil)
Episode 3: "We're Makin' Big Moves" (October 28, 2020) Prize: A trip for two to Bali, Indonesia (awarded to Will & James) Eliminated: Jerry & Frank Locations Bogotá (Parque Nacional Enrique Olaya Herrera) Bogotá → Manaus, Brazil Manaus (Mercado Municipal Adolpho Lisboa) Manaus (Port of Manaus – Balsa Laranja) → Tupé Reserve (Dessana Village) Tupé Reserve (Beach – Maloca) Rio Negro (Barco Corrêa Filho) Episode summary At the start of this leg, teams were instructed to use a mobile app to book a flight to Manaus, Brazil. Once there, teams had to travel to the Mercado Municipal Adolpho Lisboa and purchase eleven items on a list written in Portuguese, and then bring them to the dock manager at the Balsa Laranja in order to receive their next clue. Teams then had to board a boat, which took them to Dessana Village in the Amazon rainforest, with the items that they had purchased. Once there, a chief used a blowgun to knock teams' next clue down from a tree.