The Amazing Race 25

Season Information

Version:

United States

Continents Visited:

4

Countries Visited:

9

Cities Visited:

20

Distance Traveled:

26,000 mi (42,000 km)

Starting Line:

Times Square – Duffy Square, New York City, New York

Finish Line:

Point Vicente Lighthouse, Rancho Palos Verdes, California

Filming Dates:

May 31, 2014 – June 22, 2014

Season Run

September 26, 2014 – December 19, 2014

Number of Legs:

12

Number of Teams:

11

Winners:

Amy & Maya

Runners-Up:

Misti & Jim
Adam & Bethany

Cast

Opening Sequence

Season Chronology

Production[]

Applications for the season were originally due on November 7, 2013, but were extended for another two weeks to November 21. Semi-finalist interviews were held in January and February 2014, and the final casting interviews were held in Los Angeles around March 2014.

Filming began on May 31, 2014 and concluded on June 22, 2014. This season traveled a total of 26,000 miles (42,000 km), across nine countries on four continents. For the first time, the Starting Line was opened to the public, rather than in a private location to avoid spoilers. Host Phil Keoghan explained that this was done due to the ubiquity of social media and fans' excitement.^[1] This led to the announcement of the teams' identities on the same day.^[2]

During the race course, teams would encounter Keoghan filming scenes for the task descriptions for viewers, at least once in every episode in a sequence shot.

Beginning with this season, the show moved to a new timeslot of Fridays at 8 pm.^[3]

Travelocity and Ford were the official sponsors during this season and would provide the prizes awarded to first place teams on certain legs.

Twists/Changes[]

Roadblock Limits: This season featured 10 Roadblocks, with team members limited to performing a maximum of 4 Roadblocks before the final leg. The final leg then featured two Roadblocks, with each team member required to perform one, leaving for a maximum Roadblock split of 5-5.
Save: The team that wins the first leg would be awarded the Save, which grants them a one-time immunity from elimination until the end of the ninth leg.
Single Flight Itinerary: Beginning with this season, the number of how many flight itineraries a team could book reverted to the rule seen in The Amazing Race 1. Teams could only book one travel itinerary for themselves. They could not book another set of tickets if they discovered another flight they would prefer after purchasing the first booking. This was done due to teams from The Amazing Race 2 to The Amazing Race: All-Stars (2014) abusing the previous rule by using their production-provided credit cards to block other teams from booking the same flight itinerary by overbooking, with production forced to cover the expenses.^[4]
Express Pass: For the first time, the Express Pass was not awarded to a team as a prize for winning a leg. Rather, it was given to the first team to complete an optional task in the second leg. The Express Pass allows them to skip any task of their choosing until the end of the eighth leg.
Speed Bump: A team that came in last place on a Non-Elimination Leg would encounter an additional task in the following leg that only they would have to perform.
Double U-Turn: Double U-Turns are available on certain legs of the Race.
Blind Detour: The eighth leg saw the introduction of the Blind Detour, in which teams are only given the names of both Detour options and their locations upon first receiving their clue. Teams would only be given information on the task upon arrival at the location of the Detour option they have chosen. The Blind Detour was also seen in the eleventh leg.
No-Rest Leg and Midpoint Elimination: Upon checking in at the Pit Stop at the end of the eleventh leg, teams were given their next clue by host Phil Keoghan and immediately began the final leg. The first team to arrive received a prize, while the last place team did not face a penalty. In addition, they were warned that the last team to arrive at a predetermined midpoint in the final leg would be eliminated.
Rules and Penalties: The following rule was revealed on this season:
- The Save is only valid for elimination legs. A team that possesses the Save and comes in last place on a Non-Elimination Leg would instead be subject to the standard rules.

Teams[]

Amy & Maya 1st place Amy & Maya Food Scientists	Misti & Jim 2nd place Misti & Jim Married Dentists	Adam & Bethany 3rd place Adam & Bethany Married Surfers	Brooke & Robbie 4th place Brooke & Robbie Dating Pro Wrestlers	Kym & Alli 5th place Kym & Alli Urban Bike Racers
Tim & Te Jay 6th place Tim & Te Jay College Sweethearts	Shelley & Nici 7th place Shelley & Nici Mother/Daughter	Keith & Whitney 8th place Keith & Whitney Engaged	Michael & Scott 9th place Michael & Scott Firefighters	Dennis & Isabelle 10th place Dennis & Isabelle Newly Dating
Lisa & Michelle 11th place Lisa & Michelle Realtor Sisters

Episodes[]

Episode		Air Date	Leg	Destination	First Place	Last Place	Finish	Viewership (millions)	Ratings/Share (18-49)
1	"Go Big or Go Home"	September 26, 2014	1	United States → U.S. Virgin Islands	Misti & Jim	Lisa & Michelle	1st Eliminated 11th Place	5.48	1.1/4
2	"When You Gotta Go, You Gotta Go"	October 3, 2014	2	U.S. Virgin Islands → United Kingdom	Adam & Bethany	Dennis & Isabelle	2nd Eliminated 10th Place	6.08	1.2/5
3	"Get Your Sheep Together"	October 10, 2014	3	United Kingdom	Misti & Jim	Michael & Scott	3rd Eliminated 9th Place	5.89	1.1/4
4	"Thinly Sliced Anchovies"	October 17, 2014	4	United Kingdom → Denmark → Sweden → Denmark	Kym & Alli	Misti & Jim	Non-Elimination Leg	6.57	1.4/6
5	"Morocc' and Roll"	October 24, 2014	5	Denmark → Morocco	Kym & Alli	Keith & Whitney	4th Eliminated 8th Place	5.51	1.0/4
6	"I Feel Like I Just Kissed a Goat"	October 31, 2014	6	Morocco	Misti & Jim	Shelley & Nici	5th Eliminated 7th Place	5.89	1.1/5
7	"Pretty Fly for a Food Scientist"	November 7, 2014	7	Morocco → Italy	Misti & Jim	Tim & Te Jay	Non-Elimination Leg	6.05	1.2/3
8	"Hot Sexy Knights"	November 21, 2014	8	Italy → Malta	Adam & Bethany	Tim & Te Jay	6th Eliminated 6th Place	5.95	1.2/4
9	"You're Taking My Tan Off"	November 28, 2014	9	Malta → Singapore	Adam & Bethany	Kym & Alli	7th Eliminated 5th Place	5.42	1.0/3
10	"Smells Like Dirty Tube Socks"	December 5, 2014	10	Singapore → Philippines	Misti & Jim	Brooke & Robbie	Non-Elimination Leg	6.22	1.2/4
11	"Hooping It Up"	December 12, 2014	11	Philippines	Brooke & Robbie	Amy & Maya	Ordered to Continue Racing	5.92	1.2/4
12	"All or Nothing"	December 19, 2014	12	Philippines → United States	Amy & Maya	Brooke & Robbie	8th Eliminated 4th Place	6.59	1.3/5
						Adam & Bethany	3rd Place
						Misti & Jim	2nd Place

Leaderboard[]

Place	Team	Leg 1	Leg 2	Leg 3	Leg 4	Leg 5	Leg 6	Leg 7	Leg 8	Leg 9	Leg 10	Leg 11	Leg 12	Average
1	Amy & Maya	6	8	5	4	7	6	3	4	4⊂	2	4	1	4.50	5-5
2	Misti & Jim	1	2	1	8	6	1	1	2	3	1	3	2	2.58	5-5
3	Adam & Bethany	5	1	2	7	2	2	5	1ϵ	1►	3	2	3	2.83	5-4
4	Brooke & Robbie	4	7	6	2	5	5	4	5	2	4	1	4	4.08	4-4
5	Kym & Alli	3	3	7	1	1	3	2	3	5				3.11	4-3
6	Tim & Te Jay	2	5	8	5	3	4	6	6					4.88	3-3
7	Shelley & Nici	8	9	4	6	4⊂	7							6.33	2-2
8	Keith & Whitney	9	4	3	3	8⊃⋐								5.40	2-1
9	Michael & Scott	10	6	9										8.33	0-1
10	Dennis & Isabelle	7	10											8.50	1-0
11	Lisa & Michelle	11												11.00	1-0
Notes		^[1]	^[2]		^[3]	^[4]			^[5]	^[6]		^[7]	^[8]
Legend: The team finished in first place The team finished in last place and was eliminated from the race The team finished in last place in a non-elimination leg The team finished in last and was initially to be eliminated, but were saved by the Salvage Pass, Resurrection Card, or The Save The team that won The Amazing Race The team that crossed the Finish Line second The team that crossed the Finish Line third ► The team used the Fast Forward pass ϵ The team used the Express Pass somewhere during the leg ⊂ The team used the U-Turn ⊃ Recipient of the U-Turn ⋐ The team that used the second slot of the "Double U-Turn" ⋑ Recipient of a second U-Turn due to the "Double U-Turn" twist
Notes: 1: Keith, Lisa, and Scott elected to quit the Roadblock. Keith & Whitney and Michael & Scott were issued 4-hour penalties for their forfeits that were applied at the start of the next leg. However, Lisa & Michelle were the last team to arrive and were instead eliminated from the Race. 2: Adam & Bethany chose to retrieve the Express Pass as part of an optional task, before checking-in at the Pit Stop. 3: Misti & Jim, winners of the Save in the first leg, arrived last and handed the Save to host Phil Keoghan to prevent elimination. However, Phil returned the Save to them after announcing that the leg was a Non-Elimination Leg. 4: In an unaired scene, Keith & Whitney attempted to U-Turn Amy & Maya. However, Amy & Maya were ahead of them, thus having no effect. 5: Adam & Bethany used their Express Pass to bypass the Flag Detour. 6: Amy & Maya attempted to U-Turn Adam & Bethany. However, Adam & Bethany had already checked-in after winning the Fast Forward, thus having no effect. 7: Leg 11 had no mandatory rest period between legs, and all teams were ordered to continue racing. The team who checked in last on this leg did not face a Speed Bump in the next leg. 8: Brooke & Robbie arrived last at the site of the first Roadblock, an elimination point. Instead of being allowed to perform the task, they were eliminated.

Trivia[]

Franchise Records[]

First time visits to Malta, as well as the unincorporated territory of the United States Virgin Islands.
First season to award the Save.
First season where the Express Pass is not awarded to a team as a prize for winning a leg, but as an optional task in which a team may retrieve it on the race course, at the risk of costing them time.
First season to have four teams race in the final leg instead of the standard three.
- However, one team would be subject to a midpoint elimination during the final leg, leaving only the standard three teams to race to the Finish Line.
- First season to feature a midpoint elimination in the final leg.

US[]

First season where the Starting Line was opened for public viewing.
- This is also the first season where the Starting Line took place at night.
Most number of all-female teams, 4 (tied with The Amazing Race 17, The Amazing Race 35, and The Amazing Race 37).
First season since The Amazing Race 19 to have four Non-Elimination Legs.
First season since The Amazing Race 9 that the penultimate leg was a Non-Elimination Leg.
First season to have all teams finish last at some point.

Season 25[]

The Amazing Race Asia 1 contestant Melody Chen was the Pit Stop greeter in Leg 9 in her home country of Singapore.
Leg 7 was billed as the 300th leg in the US version.

Reception[]

Andy Dehnart at realityblurred (05/31/2014): "Amazing Race adds (more) immunity from elimination"
Jean Bentley at Zap2it (09/26/2014): "The Amazing Race team isn't worried about the move to Friday nights"

References[]

The Amazing Race Season Index
United States	1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10 · 11 · 12 · 13 · 14 · 15 · 16 · 17 · 18 · 19 · 20 · 21 · 22 · 23 · 24 · 25 · 26 · 27 · 28 · 29 · 30 · 31 · 32 · 33 · 34 · 35 · 36 · 37 · 38
Asia	1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5
Australia	1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 ·
Brazil	1
Canada	1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10
Central Europe	Cancelled
China	1 · 2 · 3 · 4
China Rush	1 · 2 · 3
Finland	1 · 2
France	1
Israel	1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8
Latin America	1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6
Norway	1 · 2
Philippines	1 · 2
Ukraine	1
Vietnam	1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6

[1] ttps://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/amazing-race-host-phil-keoghan-2-735521/

[2] ttps://web.archive.org/web/20140601020336/http://www.hitfix.com/the-fien-print/amazing-race-season-25-cast-features-survivor-veterans-surfer-bethany-hamilton/

[3] ttp://www.tv.com/shows/scorpion/community/post/cbs-2014-2015-schedule-140007836265/

[4] ttps://people.com/tv/the-amazing-race-rules-contestants-must-follow/

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