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‘The Amazing Race 33’ Gave Us Mediterranean Dazzle
Not even COVID-19 could stop the hit CBS reality show from helping new Racers savor international travel
When the thirty-third installment of The Amazing Race (U.S. version) began filming in late-February of 2020, much of the world still engaged in wishful thinking that COVID-19 might subside into a trickle, rather than becoming a global pandemic.
Sadly, they were wrong.
After six days’ worth of filming in England and Scotland, The Amazing Race 33 was abruptly forced to halt its production. Teams were flown back home to the United States, and nine additionally-planned legs of the race throughout Sweden, Austria, Nepal, Vietnam, and Thailand had to be scrapped.
According to executive producer Bertram van Munster, CBS and the creative team didn’t think the pandemic would become as widespread as it did when they began shooting. Otherwise, he says, they never would have left the U.S. to begin with.
Furthermore, van Munster explored diverting the race to parts of South America once COVID cases began to rise throughout Asia. But, ultimately, they realized that continuing to film the season that year was going to become unsustainable.
