Amazing Race 13 contestants

You gotta love the way the Amazing Race does such wild casting.

The 13th season to launch in the US in September will include an ex-NFL player and his estranged wife, a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader and her actor brother, recent divorcees, ageing hippies, a pair of Southern belles and frat brothers.

“I love the fraternity brothers because they’re so young and such a contrasting team,” host Phil Keoghan recently told The Associated Press.

“One takes his time to think things out. The other one loves to rush and go at a million miles an hour. There’s definitely tension between the two of them while they’re making decisions during the race.”

Minor spoilers follow.

Another team competing is geeky best friends Mark Yturralde, 41, and Bill Hahler, 42. The Comic-Con treasurer and student aid administrator from San Diego have been pals for over 20 years. They’ll look like superheros in the reality race.

Married beekeepers Anita, 63, and Arthur Jones, 61, are the oldest — and perhaps most colorful — team on this season. Among the self-described hippies’ mottos: “Don’t worry, be hippie” and “The hokey pokey is what it’s all about.” Before the race, the Joneses worked out in hopes of keeping up with the other teams.

“We both tried to do some training, along the lines of going down to our little gym, but that was pretty much it,” said Anita. “We have an emerging farm, so we do a lot of work out there, splitting wood and taking care of the horses. We’re pretty physical, so we thought, ‘Hey, we can be in there with everybody else. It’ll be fun.”‘

Starting at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the 13th season of the Emmy-winning reality competition premieres September 28th in the US.

Countries this season include Brazil, Bolivia, Russia, India, Cambodia and Kazakhstan. It’s the first time the series visited the landlocked country lampooned by Sacha Baron Cohen in Borat.

“We shot most of that episode in the capital,” said executive producer Bertram van Munster. “People were a little afraid we were going to pull a Borat on them. I told them we weren’t doing Borat, but what happened there is very, very funny. It’s not easy to shoot in places like that because they practically have no television industry.”

Van Munster, who is currently scouting locations in Asia for the 14th season, promised the 13th season will include a series of firsts for the reality competition, including a mistake that ultimately prohibited one team from joining their fellow racers at the finish line.

More on the individual teams can be found at ETOnline

Source: USA Today