Monty Brinton/CBSThe Amazing Race is shaking things up this season!
CBS has revealed that the 11 teams racing around the globe for the opportunity to win the $1 million dollar prize will all be dating duos with a twist: six teams are preexisting couples, while five duos will meet for the very first time at the starting line when they are set up on the most extreme blind date ever.
"Usually we have people who know each other really well," executive producer Bertram van Munster says. "In this particular case, we have five blind dates and six regular dates. Going on a blind date to a restaurant is one thing, but going on a blind date around the world is like rolling the dice in a big way."
And get ready to see some familiar faces, as the preexisting dating teams traveling around the world include New Kids on the Block member Jonathan Knight and his partner Harley Rodriguez, and Olympic medalists Aly Dudek and Steven Langton!
To make things extra exciting, the dating teams will also have an opportunity throughout the race to win the all-new "Date Night" reward. This allows one lucky couple to enjoy a one-on-one romantic activity, such as a steamy evening at a hot springs resort in Nagano, Japan, or star-gazing at the Bavarian Public Observatory in Munich, Germany.
The other teams are Jeff Magee and Lyda Grawn, C.J. Harris and Lebya Simpson, Matt Cucolo and Ashley Gordon, Rochelle Nevedal and Michael Dombrowski, Hayley Keel and Blair Townsend, Jackie Ibarra and Jeffrey Weldon, Laura Pierson and Tyler Adams, Jenny Wu and Jelani Roy, and Bergen Olsen and Kurt Jordan Belcher.
The Amazing Race premieres Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 9:30 p.m. before moving to its regular time period on Friday, Feb. 27 at 8 p.m. on CBS.