The Race is on...a little bit earlier.
CBS has unveiled the identities of the 12 teams that will compete in the globe-trotting 10th edition of The Amazing Race and vie for the $1 million grand prize.
The network also said the three-time Emmy-winning reality contest, which will go for its fourth consecutive statuette Aug. 27 after locking up another nomination earlier this month, will move to a new night and earlier time slot this fall, a tactic designed to underscore its family-friendly content. The show will air Sundays at 8 p.m., as opposed to Tuesdays at 9.
The new roster of competitors will represent the show's most diverse yet. Joining the college cheerleaders, male models and Miss USA pageant contestants, will be Asian-American brothers, a married Indian-American couple, Islamic best friends, a gay couple and a female Iron Man triathlon winner with a prosthetic leg. Also among the 12 two-person teams, one set of competitors from last season.
"I really believe we've never really had such a broad spectrum of people," host Phil Keoghan said at the Television Critics Association Saturday. "We've, I think, always had a diverse cast, but this particular cast is the whole gamut. It's really exciting to see them all at the starting line."
The season kicks off in a familiar locale, with the teams beginning their journey in Seattle's Gas Works Park, the same spot the third season ended in 2002.
From there, they take off on a 28-day journey, logging an estimated 40,000 miles over four continents.
"Normally we go--we're eastbound," producer Bertram Van Munster said. "This time we went westbound."
Van Munster said the production didn't waste their time "easing" the competitors into the journey with stopovers in Europe or South America or slightly more familiar locations.
"We picked some of the countries that are really hard to produce in," he said, adding that more than one "hardcore communist county" made the itinerary.
China, Mongolia, North Vietnam, Madagascar and Kuwait were among the 13 countries visited, though Van Munster insists the contestants, not the scenery, will make the show must watch.
"It's meltdown city on this whole trip," he said.
Here's a quick glimpse at latest crop of Amazing Race contestants:
Vipul Patel, 29, sales; Arti Patel, 26, nutritional educator (married) Erwin Cho, 32, insurance company manager; Godwin Cho, 29, financial analyst (brothers) Tom Rock, 39, college admissions director; Terry Consentino, 45, special events director (dating) Kellie Patterson, 22, student; Jamie Hill, 22, college grad (best friends) Lyn Turk, 32, 4th grade teacher; Karlyn Harris, 32, program analyst (best friends) David Conley, 32, coal miner; Mary Conley, 31, homemaker (married parents) Bilal Abdul-Mani, 37, medical supply technician; Sa'eed Rudolph, 39, power lineman (best friends) Peter Harsch, 35, clinical prosthetist; Sarah Reinersten, 31, motivational speaker (friends) Rob Diaz, 31, bartender/real estate student; Kimberly Chabolla, 28, public relations (dating) Tyler Denk, 29, model; James Branaman, 27, model (best friends) Dustin Konzelman, 24, reigning Miss Califonia/marketing director; Kandice Pelletier, 24, reigning Miss New York/Rockette (best friends) Duke Marcoccio, 52, tour company owner; Lauren Marcoccio, 26, speech & language pathologist (father/daughter)