The Amazing Race 18
The Amazing Race 18 is the eighteenth season of the American reality competition show The Amazing Race. Hosted by Phil Keoghan, it featured 11 teams of two, each returning from a previous edition of the series, competing in a race around the world to win US$1,000,000. This season visited five continents and nine countries and traveled over during 12 legs. Starting in Palm Springs, California, racers traveled through Australia, Japan, China, India, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, and Brazil before returning to the United States and finishing in the Florida Keys. New twists introduced in this season include the no-rest leg, where teams immediately began the subsequent leg after finishing the previous leg, and an automatic U-Turn for the last team to finish the first task. Elements of the show that returned for this season include the starting line task. This season was also the first to be filmed and broadcast for high-definition television. The season premiered on CBS on February 20, 2011, and the finale aired on May 8, 2011.
Sisters Kisha and Jen Hoffman from The Amazing Race 14 were the winners of this season. They are the second all-female team and the first team of sisters to win The Amazing Race. Herbert "Flight Time" Lang and Nathaniel "Big Easy" Lofton of the Harlem Globetrotters from The Amazing Race 15 finished in second place, while father and daughter team Gary and Mallory Ervin from The Amazing Race 17 finished in third place.
Production
Development and filming
The Amazing Race 18 was the first season of the United States series to be broadcast on high-definition television. While most other prime-time television shows had transitioned to high definition, including other reality television shows, previous seasons of The Amazing Race used standard-definition television due to the cost and fragility of high-definition recording equipment.Filming started on November 20, 2010, at the San Gorgonio Pass wind farm near Palm Springs, California. Teams were spotted at Oceanworld Manly around November 22, 2010, and a day later around the mining town of Broken Hill, New South Wales, in the Australian Outback. Other locales cited as destinations were Yokohama, Japan, where teams swam in freezing waters near Mount Fuji, and the series' first visit to Liechtenstein. In total, this season traveled a little over across 23 cities and five continents.
The Express Pass, introduced in the previous season, returned and allowed a team to bypass one single task later in the season. The last team to complete the first task was forced to complete a U-Turn in the next leg, performing both tasks of the leg's Detour.
The double-length legs format previously used were changed in this season to legs without a mandatory rest period between them. At the end of the first leg in Sydney, Australia, and the fourth leg in Lijiang, China, teams were ordered to keep racing and given their next clue. The first team to check in was still awarded a prize, but the last team to check in was not eliminated and did not have to perform a Speed Bump.
Casting
described all the contestants as teams that "came so close to winning but for one reason or another just didn't quite make it over the finish line in first place.” Keoghan gave examples of two teams: Zev & Justin from season 15, who had finished first on a leg, but lost a passport too late to continue racing; and Kisha & Jennifer from season 14, who took an ill-timed restroom break while racing to the Pit Stop and were eliminated. The prior experience of all the teams in previous seasons allowed the producers to increase the difficulty of the various tasks and challenges. All of the teams were from recent seasons of The Amazing Race with the earliest season being season 12. According to Bertram van Munster, they stayed with more recent teams because "if we're digging too far back, people might not even remember who they were". Season 14 was represented by five of the 11 teams; van Munster called this particular season of The Amazing Race "a very unique season" and justified its larger proportion of teams. Although they had considered mother and son fan-favorites Toni and Dallas Imbimbo from season 13, Keoghan stated they felt the other selected teams "have the best stories and the best motivation" for casting. During an interview with CBS's The Early Show, season 17 runners-up Brook Roberts and Claire Champlin revealed they were asked to take part on the season, but couldn't due to the latter's pregnancy.Release
Marketing
served as a sponsor this season of The Amazing Race, with "Snapple Real Facts" introduced during commercial breaks. The sixth leg of the season in Kolkata, India, featured several tasks involving a papaya-and-mango flavored tea Snapple developed and named after the show. Ford also sponsored the season, with their new Focus serving as a prize during the eighth leg.Contestants
This season featured eleven returning teams from previous seasons vying a second chance to win.| Contestants | Age | Relationship | Hometown | Status |
| 25 | Engaged The Amazing Race 14 | Pismo Beach, California | Eliminated 1st ' | |
| 27 | Engaged The Amazing Race 14 | Pismo Beach, California | Eliminated 1st ' | |
| 70 | Father & Son The Amazing Race 14 | Lynchburg, Virginia | Eliminated 2nd ' | |
| 40 | Father & Son The Amazing Race 14 | Los Angeles, California | Eliminated 2nd ' | |
| 32 | Former NFL Cheerleaders The Amazing Race 14 | Fort Lauderdale, Florida | Eliminated 3rd ' | |
| 28 | Former NFL Cheerleaders The Amazing Race 14 | Boca Raton, Florida | Eliminated 3rd ' | |
| 53 | Mother & Son The Amazing Race 14 | Colorado Springs, Colorado | Eliminated 4th ' | |
| 25 | Mother & Son The Amazing Race 14 | Colorado Springs, Colorado | Eliminated 4th ' | |
| 61 | Father & Daughter The Amazing Race 12 | Tacoma, Washington | Eliminated 5th ' | |
| 29 | Father & Daughter The Amazing Race 12 | Washington, D.C. | Eliminated 5th ' | |
| 31 | Cowboys & Brothers The Amazing Race 16 | Ada, Oklahoma | Eliminated 6th ' | |
| 30 | Cowboys & Brothers The Amazing Race 16 | Tupelo, Oklahoma | Eliminated 6th ' | |
| 35 | Dating Goths The Amazing Race 12 | Los Angeles, California | Eliminated 7th ' | |
| 32 | Dating Goths The Amazing Race 12 | Los Angeles, California | Eliminated 7th ' | |
| 28 | Best Friends The Amazing Race 15 | Sherman Oaks, California | Eliminated 8th ' | |
| 31 | Best Friends The Amazing Race 15 | Los Angeles, California | Eliminated 8th ' | |
| 53 | Father & Daughter The Amazing Race 17 | Morganfield, Kentucky | Third place | |
| 25 | Father & Daughter The Amazing Race 17 | Morganfield, Kentucky | Third place | |
| 34 | Harlem Globetrotters The Amazing Race 15 | Brinkley, Arkansas | Runners-up | |
| 29 | Harlem Globetrotters The Amazing Race 15 | New Orleans, Louisiana | Runners-up | |
| 30 | Sisters The Amazing Race 14 | The Bronx, New York | Winners | |
| 26 | Sisters The Amazing Race 14 | Louisville, Kentucky | Winners |
The teams cited the following details from their respective races as their reason for having "unfinished business":
- From The Amazing Race 12
- *Kent & Vyxsin: They suffered a communications breakdown in Tuscany due to their lack of experience driving a manual transmission vehicle, resulting in them coming in last on a non-elimination leg and having to complete a Speed Bump on the next leg. They also wasted their U-Turn by erroneously using it on a team who was ahead of them. Note: In season 12, Kent went by the name Kynt.
- *Ron & Christina: They had a lead for most of the final leg in Anchorage until Christina was brought down by the final Roadblock. They ultimately lost the race to TK & Rachel.
- From The Amazing Race 14
- *Amanda & Kris: They were U-Turned by Margie & Luke in Siberia.
- *Jaime & Cara: Their taxi driver in Maui got lost on the way to the final Roadblock destination, costing them valuable time. They ultimately lost the race to Tammy & Victor.
- *Kisha & Jen: They were U-Turned in Beijing. In addition, on the way to the Pit Stop, Jen took an emergency bathroom break after drinking four bottles of water during the Roadblock, allowing Jaime and Cara to squeak past them to the Pit Stop. As a result, they came in last place and were eliminated.
- *Margie & Luke: They were in the lead for most of the final leg in Maui, until Luke stumbled at the final Roadblock, costing them the win.
- *Mel & Mike: Their taxi driver took them to the wrong place in Phuket, putting them behind all the other teams. They could not recover from this setback and were eliminated.
- From The Amazing Race 15
- *Flight Time & Big Easy: Big Easy could not complete the Roadblock in Prague, and took a four-hour penalty, resulting in their elimination.
- *Zev & Justin: After checking in first in Phnom Penh, they realized they had lost Zev's passport and were unable to find it before all of the other teams checked in.
- From The Amazing Race 16
- *Jet & Cord: On the plane from Shanghai to San Francisco during the final leg, Dan & Jordan were able to move up to first class, giving them a lead that Jet & Cord were never able to overcome.
- From The Amazing Race 17
- *Gary & Mallory: They got lost for many hours trying to find the Roadblock location in Oman and ended up losing to Nat & Kat by a mere five minutes.
Margie & Luke, Flight Time & Big Easy, and Jet & Cord returned for a third time to compete on The Amazing Race: All-Stars. Mallory Ervin returned on the same season forming a composite team with Mark Jackson when his partner, William "Bopper" Minton, was not medically cleared to compete.
Outside of The Amazing Race, Mallory appeared on the Discovery Channel reality show Backyard Oil in 2013. On May 25, 2016, Flight Time & Big Easy appeared on an Amazing Race-themed primetime special of The Price Is Right. Mike White later competed on Survivor: David vs. Goliath. Flight Time & Big Easy also appeared on 100 Day Dream Home in 2021. In 2026, Mike White competed on Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans.