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The Amazing Race 29: Meet the Cast — of Complete Strangers

Details on the latest twist

joyce-eng.jpg
Joyce Eng

The Amazing Race 29 cast includes a butcher, an Army drill sergeant, a pro snowboarder, a K-9 police officer, a Wall Street banker and a Wall Street analyst -- but they don't know one another. In fact, nobody in the cast knows one another.

That's right. The Amazing Race is throwing out its "pre-existing relationship" prerequisite and has lined up 22 total strangers for the first time this season. Racers will be paired up at the starting line after completing a challenge to determine the order for picking a teammate, before racing around the world.

"For years, The Amazing Race fans have suggested we line up complete strangers and match them up at the starting line to see what would happen," host Phil Keoghan said in a statement. "These newbie racers begin with no pre-existing relationships or emotional baggage, and the excitement of traveling around the world to complete dozens of gut-busting, mind-blowing challenges quickly ignites tension."
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The 10-time Emmy-winning series had previously toyed with strangers racing (racing strangers?) together during Season 26's blind date experiment, but only five of those 11 teams were compromised of folks who just met at the start of the race.

The Amazing Race 29 cast

The Amazing Race 29 cast

Monty Brinton, CBS


"The Amazing Race, in scope, is the biggest reality show ever created. It brings people from all walks of life together on a global scale, and traditionally sends teams with established relationships on an adrenaline-packed, exotic adventure," co-creator and executive producer Bertram van Munster said in a statement. "However, this season, we are excited to pair complete strangers and see how they handle the pressure of traveling the world with something they just met."

Season 29 will cover nine countries, 17 cities and 36,000 miles. Stops include Panama City (the first destination), Tanzania, Norway and Greece.

Meet the new racers below. The Amazing Race 29 premieres on a new night and time, Thursday, March 30 at 10/9c on CBS.

(Full disclosure: TVGuide.com is owned by CBS.)