The Amazing Race 11
The Amazing Race 11 is the eleventh season of the American reality competition show The Amazing Race. Hosted by Phil Keoghan, it featured 11 teams of two, all consisting of individuals from previous seasons of The Amazing Race, competing in a race around the world. This season visited six continents and nine countries, traveling approximately over 13 legs. Filming took place between November 20 and December 17, 2006. Starting in Palmetto Bay, Florida, racers traveled through Ecuador, Chile, Argentina, Mozambique, Tanzania, Poland, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Macau before returning to the United States, traveling through Guam and Hawaii, and finishing in San Francisco. The season premiered on CBS on February 18, 2007, and the season finale aired on May 6, 2007.
Dating couple Eric Sanchez and Danielle Turner, who had competed on opposing teams on The Amazing Race 9, were the winners of this season, while beauty queens Dustin Seltzer and Kandice Pelletier from The Amazing Race 10 finished in second place, and cousins Charla Faddoul and Mirna Hindoyan from The Amazing Race 5 finished in third place.
Overview
The Amazing Race is a reality television show created by Bertram van Munster and Elise Doganieri, and hosted by Phil Keoghan. The series follows teams of two competing in a race around the world. Each leg of the race requires teams to deduce clues, navigate foreign environments, interact with locals, perform physical and mental challenges, and travel on a limited budget provided by the show. At each stop during the leg, teams receive clues inside sealed envelopes, which fall into one of these categories:- Route Info: These are simple instructions that teams must follow before they can receive their next clue.
- Detour: A Detour is a choice between two tasks. Teams may choose either task and switch tasks if they find one option too difficult. There is usually one Detour present on each leg.
- Roadblock: A Roadblock is a task that only one team member can complete. Teams must choose which member will complete the task based on a brief clue they receive before fully learning the details of the task. There is usually one Roadblock present on each leg.
- Fast Forward: A Fast Forward is a task that only one team may complete, which allows that team to skip all remaining tasks on the leg and go directly to the next Pit Stop. Teams may only claim one Fast Forward during the entire race.
- Yield: The Yield allows one team to force another team to stop racing for a predetermined amount of time before they can continue the race. Teams may use the Yield only one time during the entire race.
- Intersection: An Intersection requires two teams to work together until otherwise instructed.
Production
Development and filming
As early as 2004, there had been talk about an all-star edition of The Amazing Race, with speculation that it would occur during the eighth season, just as it had with Survivor. These rumors were fueled by reports that season 4 winner Reichen Lehmkuhl had been invited to appear in a future all-star race. Speculation continued for the next few years, particularly after CBS aired all-star editions of their two other reality competition series, Survivor and Big Brother. On September 28, 2006, CBS ordered an eleventh season of The Amazing Race. In November 2006, the network officially acknowledged that an all-star edition was in production. Host Phil Keoghan was originally skeptical that an all-star edition was feasible. Over time, Keoghan felt that "as we got more and more really good teams, it just seemed like it had to happen."This season traveled a little over, across thirty cities and six continents. Filming took place from November 20 to December 17, 2006. The new locales visited in this season were Ecuador, Mozambique, Poland, Macau, and Guam. This was the last season to feature the Yield until The Amazing Race 32.
Casting
personally submitted a list of 15 teams that he thought should return; 10 of them were chosen. The team Keoghan did not choose was Eric and Danielle, who did not previously race together. He said, "I didn't think of that new combination, which actually is a really good one." Keoghan also added that the production team's goal for the race "wasn't to pick the best racers," but "to pick the teams that have earned the most attention over the last ten seasons." Only one team, Uchenna & Joyce, had won their original season, while other seasons' winners criticized CBS' casting process after being omitted, most notably Chip & Kim McAllister, and B.J. Averell & Tyler MacNiven.Colin Guinn & Christie Woods from season 5 were invited to participate, but declined due to Woods' pregnancy. They later participated on The Amazing Race 31. Flo Pesenti and Drew Riker, who began dating after meeting during season 3, were invited to participate, but Pesenti reportedly declined because she felt the first race had brought out the worst in her, and her season 3 winning partner, Zach Behr, was not invited to join her.
Release
This season introduced the Elimination Station, featured on the official website. A series of thirteen web episodes presented the eliminated contestants living together in a common house in their sequester location in Acapulco, Mexico. The series was viewable only in the United States and was available on the Innertube video streaming service on the CBS website, with a new episode debuting immediately following the airing of each new Amazing Race episode in the Pacific Time Zone.Contestants
The eleven teams were selected from among the first ten seasons. Eric Sanchez and Danielle Turner had met while competing in season 9; Sanchez had been partnered with his friend Jeremy Ryan, while Turner had been partnered with her friend Dani Torchio. Rob and Amber Mariano had gotten married prior to this season.| Contestants | Age | Relationship | Hometown | Status |
| 32 | Formerly Dating The Amazing Race 3 | New York City, New York | Eliminated 1st ' | |
| 29 | Formerly Dating The Amazing Race 3 | New York City, New York | Eliminated 1st ' | |
| 40 | Lifelong Friends The Amazing Race 1 | Bayonne, New Jersey | Eliminated 2nd ' | |
| 41 | Lifelong Friends The Amazing Race 1 | Staten Island, New York | Eliminated 2nd ' | |
| 33 | Coal Miner & Wife The Amazing Race 10 | Stone, Kentucky | Eliminated 3rd ' | |
| 32 | Coal Miner & Wife The Amazing Race 10 | Stone, Kentucky | Eliminated 3rd ' | |
| 30 | Newlyweds The Amazing Race 7 | Pensacola, Florida | Eliminated 4th ' | |
| 28 | Newlyweds The Amazing Race 7 | Pensacola, Florida | Eliminated 4th ' | |
| 53 | Married Parents The Amazing Race 3 | Palm City, Florida | Eliminated 5th ' | |
| 54 | Married Parents The Amazing Race 3 | Palm City, Florida | Eliminated 5th ' | |
| 56 | Life Partners The Amazing Race 1 | Laguna Niguel, California | Eliminated 6th ' | |
| 53 | Life Partners The Amazing Race 1 | Laguna Niguel, California | Eliminated 6th ' | |
| 42 | Married The Amazing Race 7 | Houston, Texas | Eliminated 7th ' | |
| 46 | Married The Amazing Race 7 | Houston, Texas | Eliminated 7th ' | |
| 36 | Best Friends The Amazing Race 2 | New York City, New York | Eliminated 8th ' | |
| 41 | Best Friends The Amazing Race 2 | Miami, Florida | Eliminated 8th ' | |
| 30 | Cousins The Amazing Race 5 | Towson, Maryland | Third place | |
| 30 | Cousins The Amazing Race 5 | Towson, Maryland | Third place | |
| 24 | Beauty Queens The Amazing Race 10 | Seattle, Washington | Runners-up | |
| 25 | Beauty Queens The Amazing Race 10 | New York City, New York | Runners-up | |
| 28 | Dating The Amazing Race 9 | Deerfield Beach, Florida | Winners | |
| 23 | Dating The Amazing Race 9 | Staten Island, New York | Winners |
;Future appearances
Rob Mariano went on to compete on Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, Survivor: Redemption Island, and participated as a non-competing mentor on Survivor: Island of the Idols. Rob and Amber both returned to Survivor to compete on Survivor: Winners at War. On May 23, 2016, Rob appeared on a Survivor-themed primetime special episode of The Price Is Right. In 2024, Rob competed on Deal or No Deal Island. Later in the year, Rob competed on the third season of The Traitors.
Results
The following teams are listed with their placements in each leg. Placements are listed in finishing order.- A placement with a dagger indicates that the team was eliminated.
- An placement with a double-dagger indicates that the team was the last to arrive at a Pit Stop in a non-elimination leg, and was "marked for elimination" in the following leg.
- A indicates that the team won the Fast Forward.
- A indicates that the team used the Yield and a indicates the team on the receiving end of the Yield.
- A indicates that the teams encountered an Intersection.