[Marc]

Among the contestants are the stars of a reality series, married monster truck drivers, a double amputee, a heavy metal rocker and a pair of Chippendales dancers.

Competitors include Josh Kilmer-Purcell and Brent Ridge, stars of the cable reality show The Fabulous Beekman Boys; professional dancers Jaymes Vaughan and James Davis; professinoal monster truck drivers Rob French and Kelley Carrington-French; James LoMenzo, a former member of the bands White Lion and Megadeth; and double amputee Amy Purdy, a motivational speaker and snowboarder.

CBS also revealed a new twist that gives the teams a chance to double their winnings. If the team that wins the first leg of the season also can outrace the other 10 teams and win the final leg of the race, they will win a $2 million grand prize instead of the usual $1 million.

The 11 teams will travel through three continents, nine countries and cover more than 25,000 miles. Challenges will include rappelling 10 stories in Los Angeles, frying an egg on their heads in Indonesia, working as "rat collectors" in Bangladesh and revisiting one of the show's most infamous roadblocks in the Netherlands in this season’s “Switchback.”

The Teams are:

Spoiler:

The season 21 teams are (in no particular order):

Name: Natalie Anderson
Age: 26
Hometown: Edgewater, N.J.
Current occupation: Physical Therapy Student

Name: Nadiya Anderson
Age: 26
Hometown: Edgewater, N.J.
Current occupation: Project Coordinator at Bridge2Peace

Connection: Twin Sisters

*****

Name: Josh Kilmer-Purcell
Age: 43
Hometown: Sharon Springs, N.Y.
Current occupation: Goat Farmer/Advertising Executive/Author

Name: Brent Ridge
Age: 38
Hometown: Sharon Springs, N.Y.
Current occupation: Chief Executive Officer of Beekman 1802

Connection: Goat Farmers/Life Partners

*****

Name: Rob French
Age: 46
Hometown: Boston, Ga.
Current occupation: Professional Monster Truck Driver

Name: Kelley Carrington-French
Age: 50
Hometown: Boston, Ga.
Current occupation: Professional Monster Truck Driver

Connection: Married Monster Truckers

*****

Name: Trey Wier
Age: 23
Hometown: Austin, Texas
Current occupation: Land Consultant/Former College Athlete

Name: Alexis “Lexi” Beerman
Age: 22
Hometown: Dripping Springs, Texas
Current occupation: Clothing Designer

Connection: Dating

*****

Name: James LoMenzo
Age: 53
Hometown: Burbank, Calif.
Current occupation: Professional Musician/
Former Band Member of White Lion and Megadeth

Name: Mark “Abba” Abbattista
Age: 45
Hometown: Denver, Colo.
Current occupation: Entertainment Lawyer

Connection: Friends

*****

Name: Abbie Ginsberg
Age: 31
Hometown: Encinitas, Calif.
Current occupation: Dance Instructor/Choreographer

Name: Ryan Danz
Age: 35
Hometown: San Diego, Calif.
Current occupation: Financial Service Company Owner

Connection: Dating Divorcees

*****

Name: Jaymes Vaughan
Age: 30
Hometown: Las Vegas, Nev.
Current occupation: Chippendales MC

Name: James Davis
Age: 27
Hometown: Las Vegas, Nev.
Current occupation: Chippendales Dancer

Connection: Chippendales Dancers/Best Friends

*****

Name: Rob Scheer
Age: 52
Hometown: Ketchikan, Alaska
Current occupation: Lumberjack and Entrepreneur

Name: Sheila Castle
Age: 44
Hometown: Pigeon Forge, Tenn.
Current occupation: Retail Manager

Connection: Engaged

*****

Name: Caitlin King
Age: 24
Hometown: Atlanta, Ga.
Current occupation: Special Ed Teacher

Name: Brittany Fletcher
Age: 25
Hometown: Chicago, Ill.
Current occupation: Medical Device Sales

Connection: Best Friends

*****

Name: Gary Wojnar
Age: 52
Hometown: Livonia, Mich.
Current occupation: Substitute Teacher

Name: Will Chiola
Age: 53
Hometown: Dearborn Heights, Mich.
Current occupation: Substitute Teacher

Connection: Best Friends/Substitute Teachers

*****

Name: Amy Purdy
Age: 32
Hometown: Summit County, Colo.
Current occupation: Motivational Speaker/Snowboarder
(Amy is a double amputee)

Name: Daniel Gale
Age: 36
Hometown: Summit County, Colo.
Current occupation: Executive Director

Connection: Dating On and Off

Youtube video

I'm very excited!

[Marc]

What could the revisted challenge be?

The hay bales? The log sawing? (would be a bit unfair)

[Marc]

won an emmy last night

[Benjamin]

Was just talking about this show.

[Marc]

Bloody love it, I don't know what I prefer most TAR or Survivor

[Bluerang1]

So I thought it started on Sunday and I was avoiding this thread ^^

[BBfanUSA]

Hey if CBS has a doubleheader. It'll start at 7:30 automatically. CBS was tired of pissing off people. This'll hopefully affect Golf as well

[rk3388]

I wish brenchel were on again the cast looks ok but no pair really stands out to me

[Marc]

I'm always a massive supporter of the underdogs

[Bluerang1]

Originally Posted by rk3388

I wish brenchel were on again the cast looks ok but no pair really stands out to me

[Marc]

Abbie and Ryan disloyal greedy buggers

[BBfanUSA]

I hate the Chippendales. **** should've been eliminated first.

[DrunkerThanMoses]

I might follow this, Ive been watching a few seasons the past year and I dont mind the show so will try this season.

[starry]

Originally Posted by Marc

Bloody love it, I don't know what I prefer most TAR or Survivor

I definitely like far more series of The Amazing Race, but this was a lacklustre start to say the least. Recycled tasks which weren't that hard, the only suspense was finding some abacus woman at the end. Few of the teams made any impression on me and very few are probably likeable. The rapid editing was like a lot of hustle and bustle signifying very little as not much really happened. The locations were not really that memorable either.

[DrunkerThanMoses]

Originally Posted by starry

I definitely like far more series of The Amazing Race, but this was a lacklustre start to say the least. Recycled tasks which weren't that hard, the only suspense was finding some abacus woman at the end. Few of the teams made any impression on me and very few are probably likeable. The rapid editing was like a lot of hustle and bustle signifying very little as not much really happened. The locations were not really that memorable either.

I found watching seasons the first episode of most seasons are all over the place, the editing get better when there are less teams

[Macie Lightfoot]

Natalie and Nadiya <3333333333 other than them it looks like a **** season.

[Munchkins]

Ashamed to say i have never watched Amazing Race OR Survivor
considering ive seen every series of bb us, its shameful..

But because there has been that many seasons of Amazing Race & Survivor, its daunting to suddenly jump into a random season :P

[lostalex]

i'm loving the sri lanka girls.

[lostalex]

Originally Posted by Munchkins

Ashamed to say i have never watched Amazing Race OR Survivor
considering ive seen every series of bb us, its shameful..

But because there has been that many seasons of Amazing Race & Survivor, its daunting to suddenly jump into a random season :P

omg, i'm sooo jealous, you have so many good seasons to watch of TAR and Survivor. Especially Survivor, if you like BBUSA, you will LOVE Survivor.

[Marc]

Munchkins, start watching some of these shows now and don't comment in here until you have

[lostalex]

funniest line of the first ep, the Chippendales saying "we're not strippers, we play instruments"

[Munchkins]

What season of Survivor & TAR should be my first?

[Marc]

The first

[starry]

Survivor 20
Amazing Race 3

[Marc]

No no no you cant enjoy s20 without not watching the seasons before