The Amazing Race 15 is the fifteenth 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 three continents and nine countries and traveled over 25000 mi. Starting in Los Angeles, racers traveled through Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia, the United Arab Emirates, the Netherlands, Sweden, Estonia, and the Czech Republic before returning to the United States and finishing in Las Vegas. New twists introduced in this season include the starting line task and elimination and the Switchback, a recreation of a notable task from a previous season. The season premiered on CBS on Sunday, September 27, 2009, with a two-hour premiere, and the finale aired on December 6, 2009. Dating couple Meghan Rickey and Cheyne Whitney were the winners of this season, while brothers Sam and Dan McMillen finished in second place, and married couple Brian Kleinschmidt and Ericka Dunlap finished in third place.

Production

Development and filming

CBS aired the fifteenth season during the start of the 2009–2010 television season. Teams were spotted at Los Angeles International Airport on July 18, 2009. Filming lasted for 21 days and concluded on August 7, 2009, in Las Vegas. This season, teams traveled 25000 mi, visiting eight countries, including first-time visits to Estonia and the Czech Republic. This season introduced two new twists: a Starting Line Task and a Switchback. The Starting Line Task forced teams to complete a challenge before receiving the clue to their first international destination. The Switchback allowed teams to face one of the series' most memorable or iconic challenges from previous seasons. The Switchback that debuted on Leg 8 revisited the infamous Roadblock in Sweden from season 6, in which one team member had to sort through hay bales to find their next clue. This was the second season since season 10 to feature a surprise elimination at a location other than a Pit Stop, which occurred at the Starting Line. Eric and Lisa Paskel were eliminated at the starting line when they were the last team to locate the required Shinagawa license plate amongst 1,000 Japanese license plates. They revealed in a post-show interview that they voluntarily left instead of spending the duration of the race at the Elimination Station. Consequently, they had no further involvement in the show, were absent from the finish line in the final episode, and had no knowledge of the outcome of the season before the season finale actually aired. Wayne Newton appeared in the season finale. Teams were instructed to find him in a suite at the MGM Grand Las Vegas, where he then gave them the location of the finish line.

Casting

Casting calls were held as host Phil Keoghan cycled across the United States during the months of April and early May 2009 to support the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, during which Keoghan made stops to help with those casting sessions.

Cast

Some of the more prominent members of the cast included professional poker players Maria Ho and Tiffany Michelle, Miss America 2004 Ericka Dunlap, Harlem Globetrotters Herbert "Flight Time" Lang and Nathaniel "Big Easy" Lofton, and country singer-songwriter Canaan Smith. Zev & Justin and Flight Time & Big Easy raced again in The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business. Flight Time & Big Easy were also chosen to compete in the second All-Stars edition. In 2010, Flight Time & Big Easy each competed on Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? Tiffany Michelle later competed on season 3 of Food Network's Worst Cooks in America. Brian Kleinschmidt appeared on season 7 of ABC's Shark Tank to secure funding for a potty training product called "EZPeeZ", but was unable to secure a deal. On May 25, 2016, Flight Time & Big Easy appeared on an Amazing Race-themed primetime special of The Price Is Right. In 2019, Maria Ho appeared as an imposter on To Tell the Truth. In 2020, Brian hosted the HGTV show 100 Day Dream Home with his wife Mika. Flight Time & Big Easy also appeared on 100 Day Dream Home in 2021. In 2021, Brian competed on the HGTV show Rock the Block.

Results

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

Race summary

Leg 1 (United States → Japan)

Leg 2 (Japan → Vietnam)

Leg 3 (Vietnam)

Leg 4 (Vietnam → Cambodia)

Leg 5 (Cambodia → United Arab Emirates)

Leg 6 (United Arab Emirates)

Leg 7 (United Arab Emirates → Netherlands)

Leg 8 (Netherlands → Sweden)

Leg 9 (Sweden → Estonia)

Leg 10 (Estonia → Czech Republic)

Leg 11 (Czech Republic)

Leg 12 (Czech Republic → United States)

Elimination Station

After elimination, five of the first six teams were sequestered at a villa in Phú Quốc, Vietnam to await the finale. The exception was Eric & Lisa, who chose to leave the show upon their elimination. CBS posted short videos on its website after each episode aired in the Pacific Time Zone to show the eliminated teams interacting at the villa.

Reception

Critical response

The Amazing Race 15 received mixed reviews. Jessica Shaw of Entertainment Weekly wrote "It wasn't the best race, but it wasn't the worst. I'm neither happy about the outcome nor angry. I guess all in all, it was pretty neat." Michael Hewitt of the Orange County Register wrote that the episodes during the mid-season were underwhelming but they picked up by the end of the season. In 2016, this season was ranked 18th 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 7th best season. In 2024, Rhenn Taguiam of Game Rant ranked this season 19th out of 36.

Ratings

U.S. Nielsen ratings

Canadian ratings

Awards

In 2010, The Amazing Race 15 was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Reality Program during the 21st GLAAD Media Awards.