Phil Keoghan is an excellent reality TV host. I know this because of his long tenure on CBS and also because he has a really good grip on what The Amazing Race is and what the show needs to survive and thrive in the modern reality era. (Hint: it’s the occasional twist.)
So, I know he’s a reality rock star, but did you know he even maintains his own data tracking of what Amazing Race fans talk about on the Internet? His breakdown is on point, and also it’s absolutely wild that he does this.
Fans Of The Amazing Race Are Apparently Obsessed With Travel Snafus
A short while ago, Keoghan spoke with TV Insider about the data he's pulled together concerning The Amazing Race over the years. He admitted he knows the fans' most oft-touted favorite moment of all time was Season 17's watermelon catapult. If you watch the show, I know you remember this.
If you didn't see that season, it was like a medieval challenge in which a watermelon was being launched in a giant slingshot-type apparatus, and a contestant named Claire was busy launching. She got some good shots off, but then her science was a wee bit messy, and the "catapult" slingshot rushed back and slapped her in the face without launching the messy fruit. The moment has lived on in Internet infamy, and Phil said that while other moments with contestants like former Big Brother contestant Rachel Reilly and more have stood out, the watermelon catapult has been huge.
But what repeat stuff are fans really obsessed with? Well, any sort of travel snafu. The longtime reality host told the outlet two things always stand out when he's looking over TAR data points:
- Fans love when contestants are "self-driving" (*usually poorly)
- Fans love when "there's drama at the airport with getting tickets" (which frequently happens as there almost never enough room on the first flight, whether by accident or design)
Phil's kept tabs on all of these frequently touted points over the years, and there's more where that data came from.
Breaking Down What Else Amazing Race Fans Still Talk About By The Numbers
In fact, Phil is very analytical about what it takes to make a great season of the longtime CBS reality series. He said he's broken down the math, and they've figured out how much of the show should be emotional versus serious game play. Who is this man? Here's what he said:
As far as what they talk about, I also did a breakdown. Twenty-five percent of the things they talk about are competitions, 10 percent are funny moments. Five percent are eating moments, heartfelt moments are also at 10 percent. Traveling mishaps are also at 10 percent. So it’s just to remind ourselves, how do we get more of these? How do we get more funny? How do we get more of the heartfelt moments?
I’m just imagining Phil hunched over an Excel spreadsheet, or maybe even a poster board since he strikes me as the kind of guy who might like to go old school. Looking at his data, what he's saying honestly feels like an average episode of The Amazing Race to me.
During one episode alone, we’ll go from some sort of traveling snafu to everyone competing in a challenge, with one team having to overcome some sort of emotional obstacle (ex: fear of heights, hatred of dancing) in order to do so. Next, if someone is self-driving (always the best), they might get pulled over or stuck in the mud. Will the other teams help out? Will they be on their merry way?
When it plays out on TV, it all feels very organic, but it’s all crafted in a way that ultimately makes for compelling TV year after year after year. While I noted before The Amazing Race does like a good twist, one thing I do think that sets it apart from its sister reality TV series Survivor is that in general the show doesn’t take twists too far.
Season 37 was honestly borderline too much for me, but in general it’s nice to pepper in new ideas among the old, whereas Jeff Probst has even admitted Survivor is absolutely trying to throw a twist in whenever it can. As we can now see, Race is more analytical about the risks its taking with viewers.
The best news is the show is absolutely renewed, and didn’t make the lengthy list of all the shows canceled in 2025. In truth, that’s a testament to Phil, the production team, and their ever-evolving knowledge of what makes the show so great. You can catch The Amazing Race Season 38 when it hits the 2025 TV schedule on September 25th.
