The Amazing Race 4


The Amazing Race 4 is the fourth season of the American reality competition show The Amazing Race. Hosted by Phil Keoghan, it featured 12 teams of two, each with a pre-existing relationship, competing in a race around the world. This season visited four continents and nine countries, traveling approximately over 13 legs. Filming took place between January 18 and February 14, 2003. Starting in Los Angeles, racers traveled through Italy, Austria, France, the Netherlands, India, Malaysia, South Korea, and Australia before returning to the United States, traveling through Hawaii, and finishing in Phoenix. The season premiered on CBS on May 29, 2003, and concluded on August 21, 2003.
Married couple Reichen Lehmkuhl and Chip Arndt were the winners of the season, while engaged couple Jon Corso and Kelly Parks finished in second place, and best friends David Dean and Jeff Strand 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.
Most teams who arrive last at the Pit Stop of each leg are progressively eliminated, while the first team to arrive at the finish line in the final episode wins the grand prize of US$1,000,000.

Production

The fourth season of The Amazing Race spanned across four continents and nine countries, two of which were new to the series: the Netherlands and South Korea. Casting for this season began in August 2002. Filming for the show began on January 18, 2003, and finished on February 14.

Contestants

The cast of The Amazing Race ''4 included 12 teams. Monica Ambrose and Sheree Buchanan were married to Ashley Ambrose and Ray Buchanan, respectively, who both played for the Atlanta Falcons the season before the television series was filmed. When this season was filmed and broadcast, same-sex marriage had not yet been legalized in the United States. Reichen and Chip were never legally married, although they were married in a religious ceremony. CBS decided for the purpose of the show to respect the fact that they recognized themselves as a married couple. Not long after the season ended, Reichen revealed that he and Chip had separated.
ContestantsAgeRelationshipHometownStatus
49Married ParentsLouisville, KentuckyEliminated 1st
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40Married ParentsLouisville, KentuckyEliminated 1st
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25DatingSioux Falls, South DakotaEliminated 2nd
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28DatingSioux Falls, South DakotaEliminated 2nd
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32Friends & DatingHermosa Beach, CaliforniaEliminated 3rd
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39Friends & DatingLos Angeles, CaliforniaEliminated 3rd
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47Father & SonSanta Barbara, CaliforniaEliminated 4th
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21Father & SonLos Angeles, CaliforniaEliminated 4th
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46Air Traffic ControllersChicago, IllinoisEliminated 5th
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43Air Traffic ControllersChicago, IllinoisEliminated 5th
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29NFL Wives & MomsDuluth, GeorgiaEliminated 6th
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31NFL Wives & MomsDuluth, GeorgiaEliminated 6th
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30Friends & ModelsMiami, FloridaEliminated 7th
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33Friends & ModelsMiami, FloridaEliminated 7th
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29Dating 12 Years & VirginsChattanooga, TennesseeEliminated 8th
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28Dating 12 Years & VirginsChattanooga, TennesseeEliminated 8th
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40Best Friends & ClownsLong Island, New YorkEliminated 9th
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34Best Friends & ClownsLong Island, New YorkEliminated 9th
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32Best FriendsLos Angeles, CaliforniaThird place
37Best FriendsLos Angeles, CaliforniaThird place
30EngagedMiami, FloridaRunners-up
28EngagedMiami, FloridaRunners-up
28MarriedLos Angeles, CaliforniaWinners
36MarriedLos Angeles, CaliforniaWinners

;Future appearances
In 2005, Reichen Lehmkuhl appeared on a "Reality All-Stars" episode of Fear Factor. Reichen also appeared as part of the cast of The A-List: New York in 2011. Monica and Sheree, now both divorced, appeared on Atlanta Exes'' in 2014.

Results

The following teams are listed with their placements in each episode. 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.
  • A indicates that the team won the Fast Forward.
;Notes

Race summary

Leg 1 (United States → Italy)

  • Episode 1: "Cheaters Never Win... and They Cheated!"
  • Prize: A trip to Hawaii
  • Eliminated: Debra and Steve
;Locations
;Episode summary
  • Teams set off from Dodger Stadium with instructions to fly to Milan, Italy. Once there, teams had to travel to the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, where they had to search the complex for tickets on one of three charter buses leaving the next day for an unknown destination.
  • At the Church of St. Filippo and Giacomo, teams had to follow a marked path to find their next clue, which directed them to the Cinque Torri. There, teams had to ride a ski lift to the top and find their next clue on the mountain.
  • This season's first Fast Forward required one team to find a field on Passo Giau, put on snowshoes, and trek to the top of a snowy hill. Monica and Sheree won the Fast Forward.
  • This season's first Detour was a choice between Search or Rescue. In Search, teams would have had to use a locator beacon to find a beeper hidden somewhere in the snow, and then they'd have searched for a set of keys for a snowmobile that they could have driven to their next clue. In Rescue, teams crossed a traditional alpine rescue bridge of four steel cables. They then had to use a zipline to travel across the ravine in order to receive their next clue. All teams chose Rescue.
  • After the Detour, teams had to ride the ski lift back down to the lodge and then travel to the Pit Stop: the Hotel Lajadira.

    Leg 2 (Italy)

  • Episode 2: "It Doesn't Say Anything About First Come First Served... and We're Bigger"
  • Eliminated: Amanda and Chris
;Locations
;Episode summary
  • At the start of this leg, teams traveled to the Trampolino Olimpico. There, they rode an inflatable snow raft down the hill in order to receive their next clue, which instructed them to travel by train to Venice. Once there, teams had to find their next clue at the Ponte delle Guglie.
  • This leg's Detour was a choice between Waterway or Pathway. In Waterway, teams had to travel by gondola, using only a map to guide their gondolier, to the Campo Querini Stampalia, where they found their next clue. In Pathway, teams had to travel by foot through the city's streets and bridges to the same plaza, but without a map, although they could ask for directions.
  • This leg's Fast Forward required one team to go to Campo San Vio and join a troupe of actors performing street theater known as commedia dell'arte until the Fast Forward award appeared in the skit. Steve and Dave won the Fast Forward.
  • After the Detour, teams had to travel to the Palazzo da Mosto and wait for a masquerade ball to begin before receiving their next clue.
  • In this season's first Roadblock, one team member had to choose a picture of a Venetian mask, enter the Palazzo da Mosto, and search the rooms filled with masked revelers to find the one wearing the same mask shown in their photo, who gave them their next clue. If they chose incorrectly, the reveler took the photo and walked away, and the racer had to go back outside to wait to receive another photo, since only four contestants could enter the palace at a time.
  • After the Roadblock, teams had to check in at the Pit Stop: the Citta di Padova, moored at the Venetian Lagoon.