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See the "Scary" Moment Amazing Race Contestants Were Told Their Journey Was Being Put on Hold

E! News has an exclusive look at the moment producers told Amazing Race contestants that their time on the show was being cut short.

By Cydney Contreras Jan 17, 2022 5:00 PMTags

See the moment The Amazing Race encountered its biggest roadblock yet.  

While filming season 33 in early 2020, the cast and crew of the CBS series encountered a problem that they've never had to deal with before: a pandemic. At that time, they were only three episodes into the season and information about the coronavirus was limited, but out of an abundance of caution, they decided to put the race on hold.

And now, E! News has an exclusive look at the moment Keoghan made that announcement. In the clip, filmed on Feb. 28, 2020, he explains, "Right now, the world is dealing with the coronavirus and in order to keep you safe, we believe the best choice for all of us is to suspend the race.

Little did everyone know that the pitstop would last more than 18 months.

Looking back, contestant Akbar Cook said, "For them to shut down a race of this magnitude—in February, it was a scary time."

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How The Amazing Race Returned During COVID

Coming back, though, was pretty damn amazing. Even though there are limitations and risks to filming in the COVID-19 era, Keoghan has found a silver lining, saying, "In a way, it's kind of fun to flirt with a different way of doing the show. One of the ways that we're adjusting is, we're saying, 'Okay, we're not going to put you on a commercial flight.' We won't be allowing our teams to go out and just jump on public transport. So I'm excited for them to try the race in a different way."

Sonja Flemming/CBS

Naturally contestants were game for whatever. Flight attendants Raquel Moore and Cayla Platt shared that they are among the many in their industry who were furloughed, so returning to the race was a welcome distraction. Cayla said, "We've been through a lot."

For Ryan Ferguson and Dusty Harris, life has also changed in those 18 months, with Dusty revealing that he welcomed a healthy baby boy named Miles

And the contestants aren't viewing their break as a disadvantage, with many using the time to get in even better shape and, yes, practice their driving skills. As Cayla put it, she and Raquel "are so competitive and we know our abilities, so I think this time we're going to be easier on ourselves."

See how the contestants fare when the Amazing Race airs on CBS Wednesdays at 8 p.m.

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