The Amazing Race 11 (also known as The Amazing Race: All-Stars) is the eleventh season of the American reality competition show The Amazing Race. Hosted by Phil Keoghan, it featured eleven teams of two, all consisting of individuals from previous seasons of The Amazing Race, competing in a race around the world. This season visited six continents and nine countries, traveling approximately over thirteen legs. Filming took place from November 20 to December 17, 2006. Starting in Palmetto Bay, Florida, racers traveled through Ecuador, Chile, Argentina, Mozambique, Tanzania, Poland, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Macau, before returning to the United States, traveling through Guam and Hawaii, and finishing in San Francisco. The season premiered on CBS on February 18, 2007, and concluded on May 6, 2007.
Dating couple Eric Sanchez and Danielle Turner, who had competed on opposing teams on The Amazing Race 9, were the winners of this season, while beauty queens Dustin Seltzer and Kandice Pelletier from The Amazing Race 10 finished in second place, and cousins Charla Faddoul and Mirna Hindoyan from The Amazing Race 5 finished in third place.
Format
The Amazing Race is a reality television show created by Bertram van Munster and Elise Doganieri, and hosted by Phil Keoghan. The series follows teams of two competing in a race around the world. Each leg of the race requires teams to deduce clues, navigate foreign environments, interact with locals, perform physical and mental challenges, and travel on a limited budget provided by the show. At each stop during the leg, teams receive clues inside sealed envelopes, which fall into one of these categories: Route Info: These are simple instructions that teams must follow before they can receive their next clue. Detour: A Detour is a choice between two tasks. Teams may choose either task and switch tasks if they find one option too difficult. There is usually one Detour present on each leg. Roadblock: A Roadblock is a task that only one team member can complete. Teams must choose which member will complete the task based on a brief clue they receive before fully learning the details of the task. There is usually one Roadblock present on each leg. Fast Forward: A Fast Forward is a task that only one team may complete, which allows that team to skip all remaining tasks on the leg and go directly to the next Pit Stop. Teams may only claim one Fast Forward during the entire race. Yield: The Yield allows one team to force another team to stop racing for a predetermined amount of time before they can continue the race. Teams may use the Yield only one time during the entire race. Intersection: An Intersection requires two teams to work together until otherwise instructed. Most teams who arrive last at the Pit Stop of each leg are progressively eliminated, while the first team to arrive at the finish line in the final episode wins the grand prize of US$1,000,000.
Production Development and filming
As early as 2004, there had been talk about an all-star edition of The Amazing Race, with speculation that it would occur during the eighth season, just as it had with Survivor. These rumors were fueled by reports that season 4 winner Reichen Lehmkuhl had been invited to appear in a future all-star race. Speculation continued for the next few years, particularly after CBS aired all-star editions of their two other reality competition series, Survivor and Big Brother. On September 28, 2006, CBS announced an eleventh season of The Amazing Race. In November 2006, the network officially acknowledged that an all-star edition was in production. Host Phil Keoghan was originally skeptical that an all-star edition was feasible. Over time, Keoghan felt that "as we got more and more really good teams, it just seemed like it had to happen."
This season traveled a little over , across thirty cities and six continents. Filming took place from November 20 to December 17, 2006. The new locales visited in this season were Ecuador, Mozambique, Poland, Macau, and Guam. This was the last season to feature the Yield until The Amazing Race 32.
Casting Host Phil Keoghan personally submitted a list of fifteen teams to the show's production staff that he thought should return; ten of them were chosen. The team Keoghan did not choose was Eric Sanchez and Danielle Turner, who did not previously race together. He said, "I didn't think of that new combination, which actually is a really good one." Keoghan also added that the production team's goal for the race "wasn't to pick the best racers," but "to pick the teams that have earned the most attention over the last ten seasons." Only one team, Uchenna and Joyce Agu, had won their original season, while other seasons' winners criticized CBS' casting process after being omitted, most notably Chip and Kim McAllister (season 5), and B.J. Averell and Tyler MacNiven (season 9).
Colin Guinn and Christie Woods from season 5 were invited to participate, but they declined due to Woods' pregnancy. They later participated on The Amazing Race 31. Flo Pesenti and Drew Riker, who began dating after meeting during season 3, were invited to participate, but Pesenti reportedly declined because she felt the first race had brought out the worst in her, and her season 3 winning partner, Zach Behr, was not invited to join her.
Release This season introduced the Elimination Station, featured on the official website. A series of thirteen web episodes presented the eliminated contestants living together in a common house in their sequester location in Acapulco, Mexico. The series was viewable only in the United States and was available on the Innertube video streaming service on the CBS website, with a new episode debuting immediately following the airing of each new Amazing Race episode in the Pacific Time Zone.
Contestants
The eleven teams were selected from among the first ten seasons. Eric Sanchez and Danielle Turner had met while competing in season 9; Eric had been partnered with his friend Jeremy Ryan, while Danielle had been partnered with her friend Dani Torchio. Rob and Amber Mariano (née Brkich) had gotten married prior to this season. ContestantsAgeRelationshipHometownStatus 32Formerly DatingThe Amazing Race 3New York City, New YorkEliminated 1st(in Cotopaxi National Park, Ecuador) 29 40Lifelong FriendsThe Amazing Race 1 Bayonne, New JerseyEliminated 2nd(in San Pedro de Atacama, Chile) 41 Staten Island, New York 33Coal Miner & WifeThe Amazing Race 10Stone, KentuckyEliminated 3rd(in Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park, Chile) 32 30NewlywedsThe Amazing Race 7Pensacola, FloridaEliminated 4th(on Isla Redonda, Argentina) 28 53Married ParentsThe Amazing Race 3Palm City, FloridaEliminated 5th(in Zanzibar City, Tanzania) 54 56Life PartnersThe Amazing Race 1Laguna Niguel, CaliforniaEliminated 6th(in Sułoszowa, Poland) 53 42MarriedThe Amazing Race 7Houston, TexasEliminated 7th(in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) 46 36Best FriendsThe Amazing Race 2 New York City, New YorkEliminated 8th(in Humåtak, Guam) 41 Miami, Florida 30CousinsThe Amazing Race 5Towson, MarylandThird place 30 24Beauty QueensThe Amazing Race 10 Seattle, WashingtonRunners-up 25 New York City, New York 28DatingThe Amazing Race 9 Deerfield Beach, FloridaWinners 23 Staten Island, New York Future appearances Uchenna and Joyce and Charla and Mirna appeared on The Amazing Race: 25 Years Around the World.
Rob Mariano went on to compete on Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, Survivor: Redemption Island, and participated as a non-competing mentor on Survivor: Island of the Idols. The Marianos both returned to Survivor to compete on Survivor: Winners at War. On May 23, 2016, Rob Mariano appeared on a Survivor-themed primetime special episode of The Price Is Right. In 2024, he competed on Deal or No Deal Island. Later in the year, he competed on the third season of The Traitors.
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 was "marked for elimination" in the following leg. A indicates that the team won the Fast Forward. A indicates that the team used the Yield and a indicates the team on the receiving end of the Yield. A indicates that the teams encountered an Intersection. +Team placement (by leg) Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Eric & Danielle 4th 4th 3rd 2nd 6th 5th 5th 5th 3rd 3rd 2nd 1st Dustin & Kandice 6th 6th 4th 5th 2nd 4th 1st 3rd 1st 2nd 1st 1st 2nd Charla & Mirna 8th 8th 8th 7th 1st 1st 4th 4th 2nd 3rd 2nd 3rd 3rd Oswald & Danny 2nd 2nd 5th 1st 4th 2nd 2nd 1st 4th 1st Uchenna & Joyce 7th 5th 2nd 6th 3rd 3rd 1st Joe & Bill 5th 3rd 7th 4th 5th 6th Teri & Ian 3rd 7th 6th 3rd 3rd Rob & Amber 1st 1st 1st David & Mary 9th 9th Kevin & Drew 10th & Jill Notes
Race summary
Leg 1 (United States → Ecuador)
Episode 1: "I Told You Less Martinis and More Cardio" (February 18, 2007) Prize: A trip to Whistler, British Columbia (awarded to Rob and Amber) Eliminated: John Vito and Jill Locations Palmetto Bay, Florida (Charles Deering Estate) (Starting Line) Miami (Miami International Airport) → Quito, Ecuador Quito (Plaza de San Francisco) Quito (Pim's Restaurant) Cotopaxi National Park (Hacienda Yanahurco) Cotopaxi National Park (Mirador Cotopaxi) Episode summary Teams set off from the Charles Deering Estate in Palmetto Bay, Florida, and had to drive to Miami International Airport and book one of two flights to Quito, Ecuador. Once there, teams had to travel to Plaza de San Francisco to find their next clue, which sent them to Pim's Restaurant. There, teams had to choose one of three departure times. The next morning, teams were provided a map and had to drive themselves to Hacienda Yanahurco at Cotopaxi National Park, where they found their next clue. This season's first Detour was a choice between Wrangle It or Recover It. In Wrangle It, teams had to help local cowboys lasso, tie down, and groom one wild horse. Team members had to clip its hooves and trim its mane and tail. In Recover It, one team member would have had to put on a historical military uniform and then search a field for three items missing from the uniform (an epaulette, a button, and a sword) in order to receive their next clue. All teams chose Wrangle It. After the Detour, teams had to check in at the Pit Stop: Mirador Cotopaxi.
Leg 2 (Ecuador → Chile)
Episode 2: "Beauty Is Sometimes Skin Deep" (February 25, 2007) Prize: An off-road motorcycle for each member (awarded to Rob and Amber) Eliminated: Kevin and Drew Locations Cotopaxi National Park (Mirador Cotopaxi) Quito → Santiago, Chile Santiago (Codelco Corporate Headquarters) Santiago → Calama Calama (Chuquicamata) San Pedro de Atacama (Valley of the Dead) Episode summary At the start of this leg, teams were instructed to fly to Santiago, Chile. Once there, teams had to travel to the Codelco corporate headquarters to find their next clue. In this season's first Roadblock, one team member had to enter the Codelco headquarters and search the boardroom for letters of the alphabet. They had to figure out that the letters, when unscrambled, spelled one of the ten destinations inscribed on the plaques hanging on the wall. When they believed they had the solution – Chuquicamata – they had to show their answer to the security guard. If they were correct, he handed them their next clue. After the Roadblock, teams were instructed to fly to Calama and then travel to the Chuquicamata copper mine.