The Amazing Race 10: Celebrating Diversity All Over the World
by Jenn Brasler -- 07/18/2006

This fall, the newest season of The Amazing Race will feature its most diverse cast yet. It will also send them to a number of locations the show hasn’t visited before. Keep reading for an early look at the teams and where they’ll be going.

It’s been just a couple of months since BJ & Tyler took home the prize in the ninth season of The Amazing Race, but it’s almost time for a new adventure. This coming season, the show’s tenth, will feature the most diverse group of teams ever seen on the show. It will also take them to places we’ve never seen this show go before.

The ten teams will start out in Seattle’s Gasworks Park, then head straight to China. From there they’ll travel to Mongolia, Vietnam (not visited since season 3), Madagascar, and Kuwait, among other places. Camera crews have also been spied in Paris (which the show hasn’t visited for a long time), Barcelona, Finland, and Mauritius (all first-time locations).

CBS hasn’t updated their website with information on the new teams yet, but I’ve been able to cobble together some interesting facts from other sources. For starters, this season we will see the show’s first Asian-American team (if I’m not mistaken, the only Asian-American contestant ever to appear on the show was Kathy way back in season 3), the first Indian-American team, the first Muslim couple, and the first amputee. And while last season we got a reprieve from pageant girls, this year they’re back – the reigning Miss California and Miss New York are competing. Here’s a brief rundown of the new competitors:

Arti & Vipul: Arti & Vipul are a married couple from Windermere, Florida. They’re the first Indian-American couple to appear on The Amazing Race. Arti is in nutritional education and Vipul is in sales. Both of them speak a number of languages and have traveled a lot (though that didn’t help Frankenberry much last season, did it?). It sounds like they’re one of those balancing couples; he’s “overzealous” and she’s calm. They’ll probably make it through to the middle of the race.

Bilal & Sa’eed: Bilal & Sa’eed are best friends and Browns fans from Cleveland (so they’d get along well with the Linzes). Sa’eed is a power lineman and Bilal is a medical supply technician. They’re the show’s first ever Muslim and Middle Eastern-American team. Bilal is described as the more outgoing of the pair, while Sa’eed is more reserved, so they’re probably another team that balances each other out. If they speak Arabic, they’ll be at a huge advantage in Kuwait. They’ll probably be around until the middle, too.

David & Mary: My first impression is, uh oh, shades of Lake & Michelle – David & Mary are married parents from Stone, Kentucky, where David is a coal miner and Mary is a homemaker. However, as I gathered more information, they struck me as much different from Michelle & Lake. In fact, I’m naming them as my first sentimental favorites. The couple met ten years ago while working at McDonald’s. David later served in the Army, where he got to travel a lot, but Mary hasn’t flown very much. They look like they’re very sweet and I think I’ll end up liking them (assuming they make it past the first three out, which I don’t really see happening).

Duke & Lauren: Duke & Lauren are our first father/daughter team since Gus and Hera from season 6. Lauren is also being called the series’ first out lesbian (though wasn’t Tian or Jaree from season 4 a lesbian?). At 52, Duke is the oldest competitor this season (but he must be doing something right because he looks at least ten years younger than that). They’re both from Rhode Island, where Duke owns a tour company and Lauren is a speech and language pathologist. Lauren and Duke were estranged after she came out, and now they’re trying to rebuild their relationship. Because where better to try to work out your problems than in a stressful competition? I think Duke may have an advantage as a tour company owner (he’ll know the best way to book flights) and that will take them through the middle of the race.

Dustin & Kandice: Here are our pageant girls for the season. Dustin is the current Miss California, as well as a marketing director, and Kandice is Miss New York and a Rockette. They’re both 24, and Dustin is from Riverside, California, while Kandice resides in New York City (of course). Unsurprisingly, they met at a pageant – they were roommates at the Miss USA pageant and started out as rivals. Kandice is described as impulsive and wild while Dustin is more conservative and religious. Lena & Kristy from season 6, anyone? I don’t see them lasting much longer than Kristy & Lena did.

Erwin & Godwin: Our first Asian-American team, Erwin & Godwin are brothers from San Francisco. Erwin manages an insurance company and Godwin is a financial analyst. That means they both work with numbers, a concept that makes me break out in hives. Godwin and Erwin are described as competitive, but I’m not sure if that’s with each other or other people. Erwin went to Harvard, so Godwin wants to show everyone that he’s just as good as his brother. I can’t gauge their athletic ability, so I’ll put them in the middle.

James and Tyler: Tyler & James seem to be the Eric & Jeremy of this season. Both models in their late 20s, they live in Los Angeles (of course) and are best friends. A search of the Internet Movie Database turns up only one TV or film credit for each – Tyler guest starred on an episode of CSI: Miami and James appears in the upcoming National Lampoon’s Totally Baked. However, unlike Eric & Jeremy, Tyler & James have a twist to their relationship – they lost track of each other for a while and reconnected after going through rehab. We learned last season never to underestimate the pretty boys, so I’ll say they make it to the final three.

Jamie & Kellie: Kellie and Jamie hail from Columbia, South Carolina. They’re best friends and are both 22. Kellie is a braodcast journalism student while Jamie recently graduated from college. In case you were wondering, yes, they were cheerleaders – they were co-captains of the University of South Carolina cheerleading squad. Forgive me for underestimating them (there’s that word), but I don’t see them making it far.

Karlyn & Lyn: Young best friends with similar names? Paging the new Dani & Danielle! Lyn and Karlyn (I’ll inevitably end up calling them the Lyns) are both 32 and live in Alabama, where Karlyn is a program analyst and Lyn is a fourth-grade teacher. They’ve known each other since the ninth grade (just like me and my best friend) and this will be the first time they’ve traveled abroad together. They don’t have much traveling experience at all, actually, but they think their wit and resourcefulness will take them far. Unfortunately for them, I disagree.

Kimberly & Rob: One of only two dating couples this season, Rob and Kimberly live in L.A. Rob is a real estate student and bartender, and Kimberly is in public relations. They met while bartending and have been dating two years. Their relationship has had ups and downs, and… oh, crap. They’re going to annoy me. That means they’ll probably be around through the final three.

Peter & Sarah: I’m going to take a huge chance and predict that Californians Sarah & Peter will win the race. (I’m also calling them my second sentimental favorite team.) What, you say, a clinical prosthetist and motivational speaker – who happens to be an amputee – winning The Amazing Race? How’s this for reasoning: Sarah recently became the first female with an artifical leg to finish the Iron Man Triathalon, which Peter has also competed in. Because they’re so competitive and have worked as a team before, I think they’ll pull through.

Terry & Tom: Our first gay couple since season 7’s Alex & Lynn, Tom & Terry (let’s see how long I last before I accidentally call them Tom & Jerry) are from New York City and have been dating for about two years. Terry is a special events director and Tom is a college admissions director. They apparently nitpick a lot but always end up laughing, which makes me think of the not-long-for-this-race Scott & John from last season. That doesn’t bode well for Tom & Terry. Because of that similarity, I can’t help but think they won’t make it far, but I really have no way of knowing.

So I’ll say that Tyler & James, Peter & Sarah, and Rob & Kimberly make it to the end with Peter & Sarah winning it all. I’m only 1 for 2 in this department (I predicted the Linzes’ win in season 8 but totally bombed last season by picking Joseph & Monica), so don’t place too much confidence in my complete guess. Tune in this fall for the tenth season, and don’t forget that it will now air on Sunday nights at 8 p.m. EST on CBS. See you then!