The Amazing Race 31

The Amazing Race 31
Season Information
Version:	United States
Continents Visited:	4
Countries Visited:	10
Cities Visited:	18
Distance Traveled:	25,000 mi (40,000 km)
Starting Line:	Hermosa Beach Pier, Hermosa Beach, California
Finish Line:	Fort Wayne, Detroit, Michigan
Filming Dates:	June 10, 2018 - July 3, 2018
Season Run	April 17, 2019 - June 26, 2019
Number of Legs:	12
Number of Teams:	11
Winners:	Colin & Christie
Runners-Up:	Tyler & Korey Leo & Jamal
Cast
Opening Sequence
Season Chronology
Previous:	The Amazing Race 30
Next:	The Amazing Race 32

The Amazing Race 31 (billed as The Amazing Race: Reality Showdown for promotional marketing) is the thirty-first season of the reality television show, The Amazing Race. It premiered on April 17, 2019 and ended on June 26, 2019 on CBS. The entire season was released on DVD on December 5, 2019.

Production

On June 10, 2018, it was confirmed by host Phil Keoghan on the show's official accounts that this season would feature teams who have previously competed on The Amazing Race, as well as fellow CBS reality shows Survivor and Big Brother. Crossovers had occurred among contestants of all three shows before, with Big Brother first crossing over with The Amazing Race in The Amazing Race 5 and Survivor first crossing over with The Amazing Race in The Amazing Race 7. However, this season marked the first time that all three shows were represented on a single season.

Filming began the same day and concluded on July 3, 2018. This season traveled a total of 25,000 miles (40,000 km), across ten countries on four continents.

Initially slated to premiere on May 22, 2019, on April 5, 2019, it was announced that the premiere would be moved forward to April 17, 2019, replacing the low-rated Million Dollar Mile. If the original premiere airdate had not changed, the season would not have been eligible for 2019 Primetime Emmy Awards as half of the episodes would not have aired before the requisite date of May 31, 2019.

Travelocity was the only official sponsor of the season and would provide the prizes awarded to first place teams on certain legs.

Casting

Five teams were selected to represent The Amazing Race, while Survivor and Big Brother were represented by three teams each. Prior to the final cast being selected, the following teams were on the included shortlist:

For The Amazing Race, two members of the Linz Family (season 8), Eric & Jeremy (season 9; Eric also competed on season 11), and Kym & Alli (season 25) were all contacted and agreed to participate, but ultimately cut when production decided to include Big Brother and Survivor teams. Justin & Diana (season 27) were invited, but declined due to Diana's pregnancy. Sheri & Cole (season 28) were contacted, but declined the offer.

For Survivor, Rob Cesternino (Survivor: The Amazon and Survivor: All-Stars) & Stephen Fishbach (Survivor: Tocantins and Survivor: Cambodia) were contacted and expressed a desire to compete, but ultimately declined due to filming of this season coinciding with Stephen's wedding. Josh Canfield & Reed Kelly (both from Survivor: San Juan del Sur) were contacted because production did not realize that they had already broken up. Keith Nale & Wes Nale (both also from San Juan del Sur; Keith also competed in Cambodia) were also contacted, but ultimately did not make the final cast.

For Big Brother, Will Kirby & Mike Malin (Big Brother 2 and Big Brother: All-Stars; Mike also competed on Big Brother 14) were invited, but Will declined the offer. Mark Jansen & Elena Davies (Big Brother 19) were contacted and agreed to participate, but were cut a few days before filming.

Twists/Changes

• Reality Showdown: Five teams of former racers returned to represent The Amazing Race against three teams each from fellow CBS reality shows Survivor and Big Brother.
• Roadblock Limits: This season featured 12 Roadblocks, leaving for a maximum Roadblock split of 7-5.
• Double U-Turn: Double U-Turns are available on certain legs of the Race.
  • Double U-Turn Vote: First seen in HaMerotz LaMillion and later in other international versions, this season introduced the U-Turn Vote to the flagship US version. In the eighth leg, teams were gathered at a designated Route Marker and voted verbally in front of other teams, in an order selected by random draw. The two teams with the most votes were U-Turned.
• 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.
• Head-to-Head: The fourth and sixth legs featured a Head-to-Head as the final task of the leg. Teams would face off against another team in the order they arrived at the designated Route Marker, selecting one member to compete in the task. The winning team would be allowed to check in to the nearby Pit Stop, while the losing team must compete against the next team in line. Teams may switch members in between Head-to-Heads and the non-participating team member may offer their partner verbal assistance. The team that loses the last Head-to-Head would be eliminated. The Head-to-Head in the fourth leg was unaired.

Teams

Colin & Christie  1st Place  Colin & Christie Life Partners The Amazing Race	Tyler & Korey  2nd Place  Tyler & Korey Best Friends The Amazing Race	Leo & Jamal  3rd Place  Leo & Jamal Cousins The Amazing Race	Nicole & Victor  4th Place  Nicole & Victor Engaged Big Brother	Becca & Floyd  5th place  Becca & Floyd Friends The Amazing Race
Chris & Bret  6th place  Chris & Bret Friends Survivor	Rachel & Elissa  7th place  Rachel & Elissa Sisters Big Brother	Janelle & Britney  8th place  Janelle & Britney Friends Big Brother	Corinne & Eliza  9th place  Corinne & Eliza Friends Survivor	Rupert & Laura  10th place  Rupert & Laura Married Survivor
Art & JJ  11th place  Art & JJ Best Friends The Amazing Race

From The Amazing Race:

• Art Velez & JJ Carrell competed in The Amazing Race 20
• Becca Droz & Floyd Pierce competed in The Amazing Race 29
• Colin Guinn & Christie Lee Woods competed in The Amazing Race 5
• Leo Temory & Jamal Zadran competed in The Amazing Race 23 and 24
• Tyler Oakley & Korey Kuhl competed in The Amazing Race 28

From Survivor:

• Chris Hammons & Bret LaBelle competed in Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X
• Corinne Kaplan competed in Survivor: Gabon and Survivor: Caramoan
• Eliza Orlins competed in Survivor: Vanuatu and Survivor: Micronesia
• Rupert Boneham competed in Survivor: Pearl Islands, Survivor: All-Stars, Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, and Survivor: Blood vs. Water
• Laura Boneham competed in Survivor: Blood vs. Water

From Big Brother:

• Janelle Pierzina competed in Big Brother 6, Big Brother 7, and Big Brother 14
• Britney Hayes competed in Big Brother 12 and Big Brother 14
• Nicole Franzel competed in Big Brother 16 and Big Brother 18
• Victor Arroyo competed in Big Brother 18
• Rachel Reilly competed in Big Brother 12 and Big Brother 13
  • Rachel also competed with her husband Brendon Villegas in The Amazing Race 20 and 24
• Elissa Slater competed in Big Brother 15

Episodes

Episode		Air Date	Leg	Destination	First Place	Last Place	Finish	Viewership (millions)	Ratings/Share (18-49)
1	"You're in Our Race Now"	April 17, 2019	1	United States → Japan	Leo & Jamal	Art & JJ	1st Eliminated 11th Place	5.80	1.2/6
2	"Knock the Newbie Out of Us"	April 24, 2019	2	Japan → Laos	Leo & Jamal	Rupert & Laura	2nd Eliminated 10th Place	4.65	1.0/5
3	"Here Fishy, Fishy, Fishy"	May 1, 2019	3	Laos → Vietnam	Becca & Floyd	Chris & Bret	Non-Elimination Leg	4.50	0.9/4
4	"I Took Out a Polar Bear"	May 8, 2019	4	Vietnam	Colin & Christie	Corinne & Eliza	3rd Eliminated 9th Place	4.50	0.8/4
5	"I'm a Bird, I'm a Plane, I'm on The Amazing Race"	May 22, 2019	5	Vietnam → United Arab Emirates	Becca & Floyd	Rachel & Elissa	Non-Elimination Leg	4.47	0.9/5
6	"Who Wants a Rolex?"		6	United Arab Emirates → Uganda	Tyler & Korey	Janelle & Britney	4th Eliminated 8th Place	3.94	0.7/4
7	"Living Fearlessly"	May 29, 2019	7	Uganda → Switzerland	Tyler & Korey	Nicole & Victor	Non-Elimination Leg	4.74	0.8/4
8	"You're the Apple in My Eye"	June 5, 2019	8	Switzerland	Tyler & Korey	Rachel & Elissa	5th Eliminated 7th Place	4.67	0.9/5
9	"Let's Split!"	June 12, 2019	9	Switzerland → Croatia	Tyler & Korey	Chris & Bret	6th Eliminated 6th Place	4.66	0.8/4
10	"Chugga Chugga Choo Choo!"	June 19, 2019	10	Croatia → Netherlands	Colin & Christie	Becca & Floyd	7th Eliminated 5th Place	4.75	0.8/5
11	"This One Is for One Million Dollars"	June 26, 2019	11	Netherlands → United Kingdom	Leo & Jamal	Nicole & Victor	8th Eliminated 4th Place	3.82	0.7/4
			12	United Kingdom → United States	Colin & Christie	Leo & Jamal	3rd Place
						Tyler & Korey	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	Colin & Christie	2	4	3	1	3	2	2	3⊃	4	1	3	1	2.42	6-6
2	Tyler & Korey	3	7⋑	4	5	4	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2.75	6-6
3	Leo & Jamal	1	1	8	6	7	6	4	6	5	3⊂	1	3	4.25	7-5
4	Nicole & Victor	6	2	2	2	5	3	7	5	2	4⊃⋐	4		3.81	5-6
5	Becca & Floyd	5	9⊃⋐	1	4	1	5	3	4	3	5⋑			4.00	5-5
6	Chris & Bret	7	8	9	3	2	4	6	2	6				5.22	5-5
7	Rachel & Elissa	4	3⊂	7	8	8	7	5	7⋑					6.13	4-5
8	Janelle & Britney	8	5	6	7	6	8∇							6.67	5-2
9	Corinne & Eliza	9	6	5	9∇									7.25	2-3
10	Rupert & Laura	10	10											10.00	2-1
11	Art & JJ	11												11.00	1-1
Notes:		[1]			[2]
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 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 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 ∇ The team that lost the Double Battle
Notes: 1: Art elected to quit the second Roadblock, thus Art & JJ were issued a 4-hour penalty at the Roadblock site starting from the arrival of the next team. Rupert & Laura, the only team trailing, finished the Roadblock and checked in at the Pit Stop before their penalty was up, resulting in Art & JJ's elimination. 2: There was unaired Head-to-Head at Tầm Vu Park. The team that lost the final Head-to-Head was eliminated.

Voting History

On the eighth leg, teams verbally voted for who should receive the U-Turn in front of other teams in an order selected by random draw. The two teams who had the most votes had to complete both Detour tasks. The order in which teams voted is listed from top to bottom.

Leg	8
U-Turned	Colin & Christie	Rachel & Elissa
Vote	3–2–1–1
Voter	Vote
Rachel & Elissa	Colin & Christie
Nicole & Victor	Leo & Jamal
Colin & Christie	Rachel & Elissa
Leo & Jamal	Colin & Christie
Becca & Floyd	Colin & Christie
Tyler & Korey	Nicole & Victor
Chris & Bret	Rachel & Elissa

Trivia

• For this season, teams representing The Amazing Race had their chyrons in the standard yellow, teams representing Big Brother had theirs in blue, and teams representing Survivor had theirs in green.
• Only teams representing The Amazing Race won legs this season.

Franchise

• First season to include a mixture of both new and Returning Racers.
• First season to visit Uganda.
• Most U-Turns in a season, with 6.

US

• This season is the first to premiere in the month of April.
• First visit to Laos.
• First season to feature the U-Turn Vote.
• This season finale marks the first visit to the state of Michigan.

Reception

• Riley Chow at Gold Derby (03/13/2019): "Emmys rename Competition Program category as The Amazing Race sits out"
• Joyce Eng at Gold Derby (03/21/2019): "The Amazing Race is a DNQ at the Emmys for the 1st time, so which show do you want to grab its spot?"
• Benjamin Powell at RealityTVWarriors (April 2019): "Who Are These Teams?"
• Barb Oates at Las Vegas Review-Journal (04/11/2019): "Amazing Race plots reality-TV showdown"
• Joyce Eng at Gold Derby (06/14/2019): "Keoghan on reality showdown and being 'heartbroken' by initial Emmy ineligibility"