‘Amazing Race’ Season 33 Update: Phil Keoghan Urges People To ‘Bring That Line Down’

After becoming one of the first productions to halt filming in the wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic, things still aren’t looking up for Season 33 of “The Amazing Race” to resume filming. Now, longtime host Phil Keoghan has urged fans and others to do everything they can to bring the transmission rates of the virus down.

In an interview with EW Live to promote his new series “Tough as Nails,” Keoghan discussed the “TAR” production schedule, which has been on hiatus with CBS since February when the show was pulled because of the ongoing pandemic. At the time, the worst concentrations of cases had been in Wuhan, China and Rome, Italy, but it has since spread worldwide, and in some places, shows no signs of slowing down. As a result, Keoghan revealed that the series would remain on hiatus for the time being.

“People have asked me when we’re going to be back shooting ‘Amazing Race,’” he said. “And all I can say is, ‘As soon as that curve goes down.’ That line that we see—which is so depressing right now—unfortunately, is an indication of not shooting/shooting. I mean, that’s all there is to it.”

He also urged fans and others to do their part to help the show return, encouraging them to work together to bring the transmission rates of the deadly virus down.

“We’ve got to bring that line down, and that is going to happen by all of us collectively working together to bring it down. And the only way it’s going to come down is if we stop the transmission,” he said. “And I don’t need to talk to you about how it’s transmitted. But, yeah, this is going to be a collective effort where everybody’s going to have to say, ‘Okay, I take responsibility, and it’s not just about me, it’s about the whole.’ And we can bring that number down and bring that curve down, and we’ll go out and we’ll shoot more ‘Amazing Races.’”

One of the countries that has been having a hard time bringing the number of cases down has been the United States, which is where the cast for Season 33 originated from. As of press time, the country has surpassed 3 million cases of the virus and more than 132,000 deaths, with cases surging in several states, including Florida, Texas, Arizona and California. As a result of the continuing surge in cases, Americans have been banned from traveling abroad to countries that are part of the European Union, as well as other areas, which could also make it more difficult for the show to return to production, as European countries often make up several legs of a season. Of the show's prior seasons, 11 have seen teams got to France, nine have been to Germany and eight have been to Italy and the Netherlands alone. Other popular EU nations that have been visited more than a couple of times have included Austria, Poland, Spain and Sweden.

While it may be a while though before fans learn about what would happen with Season 33, they will at least finally get to see what unfolded during Season 32 of the show this Fall, after it filmed back in 2018. After a summer premiere date was pushed back, the show is officially slated to air on CBS soon, though an exact premiere date has not yet been announced.

Among the destinations visited during that season were Paris, France; Berlin, Germany; Asuncion, Paraguay; Almaty Kazakhstan; Siem Reap, Cambodia; Manila, The Philippines; Bogota, Colombia; Manaus, Brazil; Hyderabad, India and Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.