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Amazing Race 35 is now filming, starting in a country it hasn’t visited since TAR28

Amazing Race 35 is now filming, starting in a country it hasn’t visited since TAR28
Phil Keoghan in Jordan during Amazing Race 34 episode 6, wearing the same hat he was photographed wearing in Mexico filming Amazing Race 35. (Image from Amazing Race via CBS)

Update, Aug. 2023: Season 35 will air after season 36, so the season season this article discusses will actually become The Amazing Race 36.

There’s great news about The Amazing Race: season 35 is now filming!

That means CBS has ordered another season, even though the network has not yet announced the renewal. But that’s pretty typical.

I wasn’t so sure about its future when CBS did this to season 32, but since then, it’s aired regularly and also rebounded creatively.

The Amazing Race 34 is currently airing Wednesday nights, along with Survivor.

Alas, TAR has the awful Real Love Boat as its lead-in, and has been losing viewers most weeks among those who watch live or the same night.

However, those overnight ratings matter less and less—especially with the 10 p.m. timeslot, which makes it more likely people will DVR and watch later. Clearly, CBS can rely on TAR to deliver consistent viewers, whether they watch live, on DVR, or stream on Paramount+.

Plus, it’s been a reliable show for the network for 21 years now, ever since that very first race around the world.

Amazing Race 35 starts in Mexico

An aerial photo of Amazing Race 35's first destination: Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico, and the ocean
An aerial photo of Amazing Race 35’s first destination: Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico, and the ocean. (Photo by Taylor Beach/Unsplash)

Amazing Race 35 is the second season to be filmed this year; TAR 34 filmed in June, just four months ago.

TAR 35 hasn’t started under the radar, with photos and video on Facebook and a report on Reddit.

Host Phil Keoghan and teams were photographed doing challenges on the beach in Puerto Vallarta yesterday, Oct. 25. Phil was even wearing the same hat that he’s wearing in TAR 34’s Jordan episodes.

In Puerto Vallarta members are taking pictures with fans, and were wearing butterfly wings for a challenge.

One person posted videos of teams being filmed in the city, while the production also got local media coverage.

Who are the TAR35 teams? Where are they going?

The Amazing Race

Casting for The Amazing Race 35 started in mid-June, and the application said it expected to start filming in mid-October.

I haven’t yet seen any of the cast members identified publicly, though photos seem to suggest that there are 13 teams this season.

However, while Big Brother 24 winner Taylor Hale and cast member Joseph Abdin talked about wanting to compete on The Amazing Race, they do not appear to be among the teams photographed in Mexico.

Where will they go next? There’s speculation they’ll go south to Central America and/or South America.

The charter plane the show used during the past two seasons hasn’t been to Mexico recently, according to flight-tracking sites.

However, I checked the other planes owned by the same charter company, Titan Airways, and while this plane did land in Guadalajara on Oct. 20, yesterday it was flying between Brazil and Argentina. I’ll keep an eye on it, but if they are using a charter plane again this season, it seems like the production may have rented a different plane.

As filming unfolds over the next few weeks, I’ll update this story with details. And if you see the race, either in person or on social media, feel free to comment below or send me an e-mail message!

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About the author

  • Andy Dehnart

    Andy Dehnart is the creator of reality blurred and a writer and teacher who obsessively and critically covers reality TV and unscripted entertainment, focusing on how it’s made and what it means.

Discussion: your turn

I think of writing about television as the start of a conversation, and I value your contributions to that conversation. We’ve created a community that connects people through open and thoughtful conversations about the TV we’re watching and the stories about it.

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Happy discussing!

Don

Wednesday 9th of November 2022

Just met Phil filing with a drone in Carlisle Bay, Barbados. Nov 9

Sharon

Saturday 29th of October 2022

Amazing race was the only reality show I watched mainly because of the eliminations process was so fair. Contestants eliminated themselves and not by snippy cruel comments. I did watch Big Brother for a few seasons, but the recent contestants got so weird, I stopped. The other show I really like is Tough as Nails, another Koeghan production. I’m 78 and really “old fashioned” in my thinking and don’t much influence on programming these days. I do like the resurgence of game shows, “trivia” contests never go out of style. The Kelly Ripa show is quite good too. We seniors really aren’t paying enough attention to current culture.