On Sunday, the 17th season of the CBS reality series “Amazing Race” came to a close with Nat and Kat becoming the first all-female team to prevail. The duo crossed the finish line in Los Angeles to scoop the $1 million first place prize and, after the credits had rolled, a sneak preview of Season 18 was shown.
The next season of the Emmy Award winning “Amazing Race,” dubbed “Unfinished Business,” will see teams from past cycles that didn’t win compete one more time for the $1 million grand prize. A montage of “favorite teams” was shown and included poker players Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho, who competed as part of Season 15.
Ho and Michelle were ousted in the Netherlands, where high winds on a makeshift golf course and an overly heavy high striker resulted in the only all-female team left standing being eliminated in sixth place. On whether the duo would consider returning for “Unfinished Business,” Michelle told Poker News Daily, “The ‘Amazing Race’ was the adventure of a lifetime. Clearly with how we were eliminated from our season, we’ll always feel like we have some unfinished business and would jump at the chance to do it again.”
About 20 teams were shown in the preview, whereas only 11 or 12 typically take to the “Amazing Race” course. Those who appeared included cowboys Jet and Cord (the runners-up during Season 16), Brooke and Claire (the runners-up from Season 18), and Margie and Luke, a mother and deaf son who finished third in Season 14. Several reality television websites have speculated as to who the teams that will compete as part of “Unfinished Business” will be. One site offered up the following list of 11:
Ronald and Christina: Father and daughter from Season 12
Kynt and Vyxsin: Dating Goth couple from Season 12
Amanda and Kris: Dating couple from Season 14
Jaime and Cara: Former NFL cheerleaders from Season 14
Kisha and Jen: Sisters from Season 14
Margie and Luke: Mother and deaf son from Season 14
Mel and Mike: Father and son from Season 14
Flight Time and Big Easy: Harlem Globetrotters from Season 15
Zev and Justin: Friends from Season 15
Jet and Cord: Cowboys from Season 16
Gary and Mallory: Father and former Miss Kentucky from Season 17
According to an article that appeared in Entertainment Weekly, Amanda and Kris, Margie and Luke, and Mel and Mike will all return. Complicating the matter is an Australian news site that reported teams scuttling around Oceanworld three weeks ago on November 22nd. During that time, Michelle reported via Twitter that she was enjoying the Thanksgiving holiday and participating in a Heartland Poker Tour event in the United States.
Whether the aforementioned list of 11 represents the final group is not yet known. The “Unfinished Business” cycle of “Amazing Race” will be shown in high-definition on CBS, with the kickoff episode airing on Sunday, February 20th. It marks the first installment of “Amazing Race” to air in high-def.
Other poker players who have appeared on reality television series include UB.com pro Annie Duke, who finished as the runner-up to Joan Rivers in the second cycle of “Celebrity Apprentice,” and Jean-Robert Bellande, who participated in “Survivor: China.” Rumors have persisted that a poker player will appear in the upcoming 22nd cycle of “Survivor,” although an official cast list has not yet been revealed. The finale of “Survivor: Nicaragua,” the 21st running of the CBS program, airs on Sunday night.
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest.