I’m excited for a new season of The Amazing Race. Today, CBS announced the 11 new teams for the 21st installment of the race—and it looks like a great mix of personalities and for the most part really strong teams! Check out the list below and let us know who you’ll be rooting for. The new season begins on this year’s most packed premiere night (and my birthday!) Sunday, September 30 at 8pm.

CBS ANNOUNCES THE CAST FOR THE 21ST INSTALLMENT OF THE EIGHT-TIME EMMY AWARD-WINNING SERIES “THE AMAZING RACE”

 

This Season’s Cast Includes a Heavy Metal Rocker, a Double Amputee Professional Snowboarder, a World Champion Lumberjack, “The Fabulous Beekman Boys” and Chippendales Dancers

In a Series First, This Season’s Teams Have the Opportunity to Win the Largest Grand Prize Ever, $2 Million Dollars

 

Click Here to Meet the Cast

 
CHEAT TWEET: The #AmazingRace returns 9/30 w/ Chippendales dancers, a heavy metal rocker, a double amputee, & the biggest twist ever http://bit.ly/TtFnpM
 

CBS announced today the 11 teams that will travel the world on a global adventure for the new season of THE AMAZING RACE, premiering Sunday, Sept. 30 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.  Emmy Award nominee Phil Keoghan is the host.

THE AMAZING RACE has won the Emmy Award for “Outstanding Reality-Competition Program” eight times in the past nine years. 

This season, which marks the 21^st race around the world for the series, will introduce a new twist to the game that will raise the stakes for the entire season. If the Team that wins the first leg of the season can outrace the other 10 Teams and win the final leg of the Race, they will double their money and win a $2 million grand prize instead of $1 million.

Teams will travel through three continents, nine countries and cover more than 25,000 miles, where they’ll be faced with a 10-story rappel in Los Angeles, frying an egg on their heads in Indonesia, working as “rat collectors” in Bangladesh and revisiting one of the Race’s most infamous Roadblocks in the Netherlands in this season’s “Switchback.”

This season’s cast includes a pair of Chippendales dancers, married monster truckers, a world champion lumberjack, a double amputee professional snowboarder and Josh Kilmer-Purcell and Brent Ridge (“The Fabulous Beekman Boys”).

 

Following are the 11 teams, listed 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: St. Louis, Mo.
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: Las Vegas, Nev.
Current occupation: Motivational Speaker/Snowboarder
(Amy is a double amputee)

Name: Daniel Gale
Age: 36
Hometown: Crested Butte, Colo.
Current occupation: Executive Director

Connection: Dating On and Off

 

THE AMAZING RACE sends 11 teams on a trek around the world.  Each Team is comprised of two people who have a pre-existing relationship with one another.  At every destination, each Team competes in a series of challenges — some mental and some physical — and when the tasks have been completed, they learn their next destination.  Teams who are farthest behind will gradually be eliminated as the contest progresses, with the first team to arrive at the final destination winning at least $1 million.

Jerry Bruckheimer, Bertram van Munster, Jonathan Littman, Elise Doganieri and Mark Vertullo are the executive producers for Jerry Bruckheimer Television and Earthview Inc. in association with ABC Studios and Amazing Race Productions.  THE AMAZING RACE was created by Bertram van Munster and Elise Doganieri.