In an exclusive interview, Phil Keoghan shares insights on the future of The Amazing Race, discussing Emmy nominations and the exciting inclusion of Big Brother contestants in the upcoming season.
Phil Keoghan Discusses the Future of The Amazing Race
Welcome to Reality Derby, Gold Derby’s weekly deep dive into all things reality TV, hosted by senior editors Marcus James Dixon and Denton Davidson. Watch the latest episode above.
“We’ve Gotta Get to Outer Space”
Phil Keoghan makes that declaration near the end of our interview about The Amazing Race‘s current Emmy nominations and the upcoming season filled with Big Brother contestants. “I have not had the honor of connecting with [founder of Virgin Galactic] Richard Branson, but I did come up with the concept that maybe he invites us up for tea, and he’s in orbit,” the host and producer explains. “Hopefully he has milk and honey up there, and we could have some weightless Twinings with Sir Richard Branson. Wouldn’t that be a nice clue to open? You do a few orbits around the earth, look back down on our beautiful blue marble, and then drop back down for brunch.”
Emmy Nominations and Recognition
Season 37 of The Amazing Race nabbed six nominations this year for series, casting, cinematography, directing, picture editing, and sound mixing. That brings the globe-trotting show to a whopping 103 bids overall. Fifteen of those translated into wins, including a record 10 for Best Competition Program.
The Emmy nominations are “incredibly rewarding,” Keoghan tells us, “especially to still be part of the zeitgeist after 24 years. It’s an incredibly difficult show to produce. It hasn’t gotten any easier over the years. If anything, it’s gotten harder. We’re constantly striving to do our best. We have incredible people working on the team. So, it’s validation of the hard work.” He adds, “The fact that we’ve gone over the 100 mark is pretty awesome.”
Looking Ahead to Season 38
Looking ahead to Season 38, which will premiere on CBS with 90-minute episodes on Sept. 25, Keoghan teases, “What we know about the contestants of Big Brother is that they’re used to playing a lot of mind games. And I also love when people have come from another show, and they’re maybe a little bit cocky about their abilities — that always lends for some interesting scenarios. Race is quite different in the sense that you’re not playing as many mind games with people, because you’re separated a lot more, whereas in the house these competitors are used to going head to head.”
Fan Suggestions and New Ideas
The producers “get a lot of ideas” from the fans about what they’d like to see on the show, including the Big Brother concept. However, not every suggestion is a good one. “Someone came up with an idea, which I’d like to squash right away, which was, ‘Hey, Phil, why don’t you get all the teams that get eliminated first and bring all of them onto the show?'” He readily admits, “First of all, yes, it would be exciting. But think about this for a second. The worst drivers, the worst to do challenges, the slowest people on the race … you want to put them together and reward the slowest racers? It’s going to take us twice as long to shoot! So, let’s kill that idea.”
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Contestants and Casting Dynamics
As for the Big Brother contestants, “They’re savvy. They’re winners, some of them. They’re used to competing. And they come in with a tremendous amount of confidence.” CBS’ big three competition programs — The Amazing Race, Big Brother, and Survivor — have “quite different audiences,” Keoghan reveals. “There is some overlap. But if you think about the three genres, they’re quite distinct and quite different. So, this crossover, it’ll be an experiment. We’ll see how people react to it.”
Friends and gamers Carson McCalley and Jack Dodge won the $1 million prize for Season 37, and the host considers them to be worthy representatives of the series because “they came in with joy and this sense of wonder and wanderlust and enthusiasm.” He continues, “They are one of those teams that you want to watch, because they’re always having fun. They’re really respectful to each other.”
At the other end of the spectrum, Jonathan and Ana Towns were villainous figures who were constantly fighting on the race. “You also want to have a bit of an adversary,” notes Keoghan. “You want to throw in a few sh-t-stirrers, basically. Life is like that. Not everybody, not everything is a bunch of roses. Sometimes people stir things up, and that’s a good thing. The casting is key for us, and you want that mix. Over the years, we’ve really prided ourselves on that. I mean, casting is another Emmy nomination that we got this year.”
Conclusion
Also in this week’s episode, we dive into Season 37 being the “season of surprises,” with new elements including the Fork in the Road, the Driver’s Seat, and the Valet Roulette. And Keoghan reveals where he keeps all 10 of his Emmy trophies for producing The Amazing Race.
