Andy DehnartUpdate, June 10: The list of all Amazing Race 31 teams
The Amazing Race season 31’s cast will include teams of former Big Brother houseguests, but that won’t be the entire cast. Instead, the season will be a mix of BB teams and former Amazing Race teams.
TMZ reported earlier today that the show will have “an all-‘BB’ cast for an upcoming season.”
But I’ve confirmed with someone who has knowledge of the casting that’s not entirely accurate: Instead, Amazing Race alumni have also been cast and confirmed as teams on the new season.
I have no knowledge of who any of those teams will be; TMZ says there’s at least one Big Brother winner among the Big Brother houseguest teams.
Survivors have been contacted but not yet cast, according to the person I spoke with.
Season 30 was won by Big Brother couple Cody and Jessica, and the success of that season—which began airing Wednesday nights in Survivor’s timeslot this winer—led CBS to renew the series. Earlier, Phil Keoghan told me he expected to film two new seasons this year.
Were Cody and Jessica the reason for the season’s success, as TMZ suggests with its usual over-simplification? They may have pulled in Big Brother fans, but there were other factors, too, including the new, more high-profile timeslot. And the show has had Big Brother teams before.
Since TAR did well in Survivor’s timeslot, I’m surprised there are no Survivor teams in this current plan. Having contestants from the network’s three major shows face off on one of those shows seems to be a logical next step.
Update, June 10: The list of all Amazing Race 31 teams