Amazing Race: Which Teams Returned After They Stopped Filming?

During The Amazing Race 33, for the first time in the show’s history, production had to stop due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially, producers expected the hiatus to last for just a few weeks. However, the pandemic caused production for the show to be halted for over a year. When production returned, not all Amazing Race teams competing before the shutdown were able to return.

Before the Covid-19 shutdown, nine teams remained in the race. Fans of the fast-paced series assumed that most (if not all) of the teams would return to compete after production was able to resume. That’s why fans were surprised to discover that only five of the nine teams actually returned to compete in the season. The five teams that did come back after the Covid-19 shutdown were married educators Akbar Cook and Sheridan “Sheri” Cook, twins Lulu and Lala Gonzalez, flight attendants Raquel Moore and Cayla Platt, best friends Ryan Ferguson and Dusty Harris, and married internet personalities, Kim and Penn Holderness.

Due to the fact that only five of the remaining teams returned, a few familiar The Amazing Race faces were brought back to compete. The two previously eliminated teams that returned to compete were father-daughter duo Arun and Natalia Kumar and singing police officers Michael Norwood and Armonde “Moe” Badger. This brings the total number of returning teams up to seven. All came back strong, ready to try for a million dollars.

After halting production in 2020, filming for The Amazing Race 33 resumed over a year and a half later, in September 2021, and concluded in October of the same year. The production team needed a new strategy in order to ensure that the cast and crew were as safe as possible while the cameras were rolling. Even though production had to rearrange their travel for The Amazing Race season, they were able to continue filming by traveling to places where COVID-19 was less prevalent. Viewers can watch how everything played out after the shutdown during the Wednesday, January 19 episode of The Amazing Race 33. So far, the series has filmed scenes in London, England, and Glasgow, Scotland.

Despite taking a very long break, it seems like The Amazing Race 33 was able to pick up with filming right where it left off before the shutdown. With many more episodes to go, viewers will just have to tune in every Wednesday to find out who will take home the 1 million dollar Amazing Race grand prize as champions. With so many strong teams competing in the race, any outcome is possible, and it will be fun to see who comes out on top.

The Amazing Race 33 airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. EST on CBS.

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