The Amazing Race 17

The Amazing Race 17 is the seventeenth season of the American reality competition show The Amazing Race. Hosted by Phil Keoghan, it featured 11 teams of two, each with a pre-existing relationship, competing in a race around the world to win US$1,000,000. This season visited four continents and 10 countries and traveled over during 12 legs. Starting in Gloucester, Massachusetts, racers traveled through England, Ghana, Sweden, Norway, Russia, Oman, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, and South Korea before returning to the United States and finishing in Greater Los Angeles. New elements introduced in this season include the Express Pass, which was awarded to the winners of the first leg and allowed them to skip the task of their choosing, and the Double U-Turn. The season premiered on CBS on September 26, 2010, with a special 90-minute premiere, and the season finale aired on December 12, 2010.
Anesthesiologists Natalie Strand and Katherine Chang were the winners of this season, becoming the first all-female team to win The Amazing Race. Home shopping hosts Brook Roberts and Claire Champlin finished in second place while dating couple Jill Haney and Thomas Wolfard finished in third place.

Production

Development and filming

CBS renewed the 17th season of The Amazing Race on January 25, 2010. The season spanned while racing across four continents with first-time visits to Ghana and Bangladesh. Teams also crossed the Arctic Circle for the first time in the show's history.
Filming began on May 26, 2010, with the starting line at the Eastern Point Yacht Club in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and finished on June 15, 2010, in Los Angeles, California.
Prior to the season's broadcast, CBS posted a short preview video clip from an episode on the Internet, showing Brook & Claire competing at a watermelon launching challenge using an elastic slingshot. The clip showed Claire being hit in the face full-on with a watermelon after it failed to launch correctly from the slingshot, leaving her momentarily stunned but otherwise not seriously injured. The clip spread virally on the Internet.
Two new game elements were introduced in season 17. The first was the Express Pass, which was awarded to the team who finished first on the first Leg. The Express Pass allowed the team to skip any one task before Leg 8. The other new element was the Double U-Turn, where two teams were able to use U-Turns in a single leg.

Contestants

The cast included a team of home shopping hosts; Internet entertainer Kevin Wu and his father, Michael; Cirque du Soleil director and choreographer Ron Kellum; Ivy League a cappella singers, and a birth mother and daughter who recently reunited following an adoption twenty years earlier. There were also three beauty queens competing: Mallory Ervin, who competed in Miss America 2010; Brook Roberts, who competed in Miss America 2005; and Stephanie Smith, who was Miss South Carolina USA 2009.
Chad Waltrip proposed to Stephanie Smith during the eighth leg, and she accepted. They got married on November 20, 2010.

Contestants	Age	Relationship	Hometown	Status
	45	Best Friends	Los Angeles, California	Eliminated 1st '
	42	Best Friends	Tucson, Arizona	Eliminated 1st '
	43	Birth Mom & Daughter	Atlanta, Georgia	Eliminated 2nd '
	21	Birth Mom & Daughter	Atlanta, Georgia	Eliminated 2nd '
	22	Ivy League A Cappella Singers	Chesterland, Ohio	Eliminated 3rd '
	22	Ivy League A Cappella Singers	Cranford, New Jersey	Eliminated 3rd '
	23	Beach Volleyball Partners	Rahway, New Jersey	Eliminated 4th '
	24	Beach Volleyball Partners	Moorestown, New Jersey	Eliminated 4th '
	58	Father & Son	Sugar Land, Texas	Eliminated 5th '
	20	Father & Son	Sugar Land, Texas	Eliminated 5th '
	53	Father & Daughter	Morganfield, Kentucky	Eliminated 6th '
	24	Father & Daughter	Lexington, Kentucky	Eliminated 6th '
	26	Newly Dating ' Engaged '	Fort Lauderdale, Florida	Eliminated 7th '
	23	Newly Dating ' Engaged '	Fort Lauderdale, Florida	Eliminated 7th '
	26	Dating	Henderson, Nevada	Eliminated 8th '
	26	Dating	Henderson, Nevada	Eliminated 8th '
	27	Dating	Marina Del Rey, California	Third place
	30	Dating	Marina Del Rey, California	Third place
	27	Home Shopping Hosts	San Diego, California	Runners-up
	30	Home Shopping Hosts	Reno, Nevada	Runners-up
	31	Doctors	Newport Beach, California	Winners
	35	Doctors	Santa Monica, California	Winners

;Future appearances
Gary & Mallory raced again in The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business. Mallory also returned on the second All-Star edition, racing with Mark Jackson from season 20 as a last-minute replacement when his original partner, Bopper Minton, was deemed too sick to compete.
Outside of The Amazing Race, Mallory appeared on the Discovery Channel reality show Backyard Oil in 2013. On May 25, 2016, Nat & Kat and Brook & Claire appeared on an Amazing Race-themed primetime special of The Price Is Right.

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 had to perform a Speed Bump task in the following leg.
A indicates that the team won the Fast Forward.
A indicates that the team used an Express Pass on that leg to bypass one of their tasks.
A indicates that the team used the U-Turn and a indicates the team on the receiving end of the U-Turn.

;Notes

Race summary

Leg 1 (United States → England)

Episode 1: "They Don't Call It The Amazing Race For Nothin!"
Prize: Express Pass
Eliminated: Ron & Tony

;Locations

Gloucester, Massachusetts
Boston → London, England
Amesbury
Ledbury

;Episode summary

Teams set off from the Eastern Point Yacht Club in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and drove to Logan International Airport, where they had to book one of two flights to London, England. The first three teams were booked on one flight, while the other teams were booked on a second flight that departed a half-hour later. Once in London, teams had to drive to Stonehenge in order to find their clue, which was a riddle: "Find the castle that is the opposite of Nor'easter". They had to figure out that their next destination was Eastnor Castle.
At Eastnor Castle, teams had to climb a ladder on an exterior wall while peasants atop the wall taunted them and poured dirty water on them. Once teams scaled the wall, they had to retrieve a medieval flag, use a coracle to cross the castle's moat, and bring the flag to a knight, who gave them their next clue.
In this season's first Roadblock, one team member had to travel on horseback to a tournament area. There, they had to use a giant slingshot to launch a watermelon and knock over a suit of armor standing away in order to receive their next clue, which directed them to search the nearby castle grounds for the Pit Stop.

;Additional notes

While performing the Roadblock, Claire's slingshot became twisted and launched the watermelon back at her, where it smacked her in the face. CBS released a clip of this scene before the season premiere and it became a viral phenomenon. Claire was stunned, but not otherwise seriously injured.
Ron & Tony were unable to perform the coracle task. Already in last place, production informed them to swim across the moat without applying a penalty. Ron then performed the Roadblock, which was unaired.
Leg 2 (England → Ghana)
Episode 2: "A Kiss Saves the Day"
Prize: A trip to Oahu & Kauai
Eliminated: Andie & Jenna