The Amazing Race 10 is the tenth season of the American reality competition show The Amazing Race. Hosted by Phil Keoghan, it featured twelve teams of two, each with a pre-existing relationship, competing in a race around the world in order to win US$1,000,000. This season visited four continents and thirteen countries and traveled over 40000 mi. Starting in Seattle, racers traveled through China, Mongolia, Vietnam, India, Kuwait, Mauritius, Madagascar, Finland, Ukraine, Morocco, Spain, and France before returning to the United States and finishing in the Hudson Valley. New twists introduced in this season include a mid-leg elimination; the Intersection, where two teams had to join up for a task; and a new non-elimination penalty, where the team who finished last in the previous leg had to finish first in the subsequent leg or else incur a 30-minute penalty. The season premiered on CBS on September 17, 2006, and concluded on December 10, 2006. Professional models Tyler Denk and James Branaman were the winners of this season, while dating couple Rob Diaz and Kimberly Chabolla finished in second place, and single mothers Lyn Turk and Karlyn Harris finished in third place.

Production

Development and filming

Filming for this season began on May 27, 2006 at Gas Works Park in Seattle. On June 9, teams were spotted at Kuwait International Airport asking for directions to the Kuwait Towers. On June 12, the show was in Mauritius. On June 16, tasks were performed at Ylöjärvi and in the Helsinki Olympic Stadium. Filming concluded on June 24. The Amazing Race 10 spanned 40000 mi and covered four continents and thirteen countries. Among them were six that were new to the series: Mongolia, Kuwait, Mauritius, Madagascar, Finland, and Ukraine. It was also the first season to circumnavigate the globe in a generally westward fashion, crossing the Pacific Ocean on the first leg and crossing the Atlantic on the final leg. The Amazing Race 10 saw the show's first double elimination in a single leg, when one team was eliminated halfway through the leg and another at the end. It also introduced a new obstacle, the Intersection, which required two teams to work together until otherwise instructed. The Intersection was also shown in conjunction with a Fast Forward, allowing both teams working together to receive the benefit of the Fast Forward. Additionally, the penalty for coming in last on a non-elimination leg was changed. Instead of being stripped of their money and possessions, the last place team was "marked for elimination". This meant that the marked team suffered a 30-minute penalty at the next Pit Stop unless they were first to check in. During the leg in Ukraine, host Phil Keoghan was detained at the airport for traveling to the country with a New Zealand passport and without a Ukrainian visa, which he had been informed prior to filming wasn't needed. He was released the next day after a worker from the American embassy processed a visa for him. After being released, Keoghan arrived at the Pit Stop ten minutes before the lead team arrived.

Cast

The cast of The Amazing Race 10 was increased to twelve teams for the first time since season 4. It included best friends, a couple, college cheerleaders, boyfriends, brothers, a Paralympian with a prosthetic leg, recovering drug addicts, beauty pageant queens, and a pair of single mothers. While Peter & Sarah were portrayed as a newly dating couple, to the extent that Sarah seemingly broke up with Peter during their elimination in Kuwait, Sarah Reinertsen revealed that they were only friends whose "dating" was non-existent and created to give them an interesting storyline, although she did say that her displeasure over Peter's cold and hectoring behavior on the show was genuine. Dustin & Kandice and David & Mary were selected to race in The Amazing Race: All-Stars. David & Mary also appeared on The View where they received gifts from the show, including vacations, a Ford Explorer, and a new house. In 2021, Tom Rock and Terry Cosentino competed on Ellen's Game of Games.

Results

The following teams are listed with their placements in each leg. Placements are listed in finishing order.

Race summary

Leg 1 (United States → China)

Leg 2 (China → Mongolia)

Leg 3 (Mongolia → Vietnam)

Leg 4 (Vietnam)

Leg 5 (Vietnam → India)

Leg 6 (India → Kuwait)

Leg 7 (Kuwait → Mauritius)

Leg 8 (Mauritius → Madagascar)

Leg 9 (Madagascar → Finland → Ukraine)

Leg 10 (Ukraine → Morocco)

Leg 11 (Morocco → Spain)

Leg 12 (Spain → France → United States)

Reception

Critical response

The Amazing Race 10 received mixed reviews. Linda Holmes of Television Without Pity was critical of this season's boot order, but said, "So was the season disappointing? It was not." Eric Goldman of IGN called it a solid season. Heather Havrilesky of Salon wrote that "after so much shared struggle and heartbreak, we find that we can hardly remember a single detail from our time with these strangers." In 2016, this season was ranked 14th out of the first 27 seasons by the Rob Has a Podcast Amazing Race correspondents. In 2021, Val Barone of TheThings ranked this season as the show's 5th best season. In 2024, Rhenn Taguiam of Game Rant ranked this season tenth.

Ratings

Awards

Season 10 won the 2007 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program. This was the series' fifth consecutive win in that category, having won every year since the category was first introduced in 2003.