The Amazing Race Asia 1 is the first season of The Amazing Race Asia, a reality television game show based on the American series The Amazing Race. Hosted by Allan Wu, it featured ten teams of two, each with a pre-existing relationship, in a race around Asia and the Pacific Rim to win US$100,000. This season visited two continents and eight countries and travelled over 39000 km during twelve legs. Starting in Kuala Lumpur, teams travelled through Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, India, the United Arab Emirates, before returning to Malaysia and finished in Kuching. Applications were accepted through 31 March 2006. The season began on 9 November 2006 on AXN Asia and the season finale aired on 1 February 2007. Malaysian workers Zabrina Fernandez and Joe Jer Tee were the winners of this season becoming the first all-female team to win in the history of the Amazing Race franchise and were also the first winners to win only the final leg, while Hong Kong dating expats Sandy Sydney and Francesca Von Etzdorf finished in second place and Malaysian dating couple Andrew Tan and Syeon Park finished in third place.

Production

Development and filming

In October 2005, Buena Vista International Television-Asia Pacific and Sony Pictures Television International's AXN Asia announced that it had earned the right to produce the first localized production of The Amazing Race. AXN Asia, which airs the original American series, had received many written requests for an Asian production from local viewers. The season visited two continents and eight countries over a distance of more than 39,000 km, including the first time visit for an Amazing Race franchise to Indonesia, which had not been visited in the original version at the time of air (the nation would later be visited in the 19th season, in 2011).

Marketing

The first season of the show was supported by the following regional sponsors: Sony Electronics Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd, AirAsia, Caltex, MSN, Nokia, and Bintan Lagoon Resort. Ford was a local sponsor, while the series was also supported by Tourism Malaysia. The sponsors played a major role in the series by providing prizes and integrating their products into various tasks. In addition, AirAsia was the sole airline used by racers, while Bintan Lagoon Resort was the sequester location for eliminated teams. To introduce the new series to an Asian audience, a promotional tour visited Seoul, Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, and Delhi prior to the series premiere.

Casting

In July 2006, Singaporean television personality Allan Wu was introduced as the host of The Amazing Race Asia. Ricky Ow, General Manager of SPE Networks Asia described Wu as "a big fan of The Amazing Race" and felt that "his good looks and natural charisma will offer a different appeal from the US version." Over 1000 teams across Asia applied for the series, with registration accepted through 31 March 2006. Ultimately, ten teams were selected to participate in the race; the cast included expatriates in Thailand and Hong Kong and Indian models. Host Allan Wu commented that "the producers definitely took the time and did their homework to select the most diverse, entertaining, and controversial batch of contestants for our first season."

Broadcasting

An additional episode, subtitled "Memories" was a post-show interview special that aired one week after the season finale.

Cast

The cast consisted of a few local media representatives or their relatives. Zabrina Fernandez is a Ntv7 and Channel V television producer, as well as the sister of Malaysian film director Joshua Fernandez and Hitz.FM DJ JJ Fernandez. Aubrey Miles is a filipina actress who acted in local movies such as Prosti, Xerex, Sanib, A Beautiful Life and Gagamboy; she is also the co-host of noontime show Masayang Tanghali Bayan. Sahil Shroff is an Indian model. Prashant Raj Sachdev is an Indian actor who starred in the Bollywood movie Aag; he was also the runner-up of Mr. India 2004. Melody is a Singaporean TV and movie actress, having starred in local movies such as Street Angels and The Teenage Textbook Movie; she also played a supporting character in long-running drama Love Blossoms and its sequel, Love Blossoms II. This season consists of five non-Asians; Andy, Francesca, Howard and Laura are from the United Kingdom, having separate representatives in Asian countries (as Andy & Laura representing Thailand), and Sandy is from New Zealand, is representing Hong Kong.

Future appearances

In 2010, Aubrey Miles appeared in Survivor Philippines: Celebrity Showdown, the Philippine version of Survivor. In 2014, Melody Chen appeared on Leg 9 of The Amazing Race 25 as a Pit Stop greeter in Singapore. In 2016, Zabrina & Joe Jer appeared as the Pit Stop greeters for the third leg of The Amazing Race Asia 5 in their home country of Malaysia. In 2017, Sahran, seven months after being elected mayor of Haslemere, appeared on the British cooking programme Come Dine with Me. In 2021, Sahil Shroff competed on Bigg Boss 15, the Indian version of Big Brother.

Results

The following teams participated in the season, with their relationships at the time of filming. Placements are listed in finishing order:

Race summary

Leg 1 (Malaysia)

Leg 2 (Malaysia → Indonesia)

Leg 3 (Indonesia)

Leg 4 (Indonesia → Australia)

Leg 5 (Australia → New Zealand)

Leg 6 (New Zealand)

Leg 7 (New Zealand → Singapore → Thailand)

Leg 8 (Thailand)

Leg 9 (Thailand → India)

Leg 10 (India → United Arab Emirates)

Leg 11 (United Arab Emirates)

Leg 12 (United Arab Emirates → Malaysia)