Should ‘Amazing Race’ Form New Rules Against Alliances After Season 32 Winners?

Spoiler Alert: The ending of Season 32, Episode 12, “Now It’s About Winning” is discussed below.

Season 32 of “The Amazing Race” came to a close on Wednesday night, and fans who have been routinely upset by the teams that have managed to win in recent years are once again disappointed after the Backpacking Boyfriends, James Wallington and Will Jardell, managed to cross the finish line and win $1 million over their fellow finalists and former alliance partners, Riley and Maddison McKibben and Hung Nguyen and Chee Lee.

While some fans were excited to see the pair cross the finish line first and to witness Will’s spontaneous marriage proposal to James after they were declared the winners, others took to social media in droves to trash the pair’s win, citing their behavior throughout the season, specifically the alliance they helped broker, and some even mused that the show could be rigged in the favor of certain teams.

Some took to social media to express that while the gameplay the two used—using moves like U-Turns and Yields to get their enemies out—was perfectly legal by game rules, the alliance they formed and the way they used it not only rubbed them the wrong way but made for a season that wasn’t as enjoyable to watch.

As such, some fans are pitching that the show makes a change when it is able to resume filming for Season 33 and beyond (which has been suspended indefinitely due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic), forcing teams to stop relying on others for help leave alliances in the past.

This isn’t the first time fans expressed discontent over the show’s results, with many also calling out Team Big Brother’s win at the end of Season 30, because Cody Nickson and Jessica Graf did not evenly distribute their Roadblock tasks during the season, with Jessica only completing three. At the time, fans called for the show to reinstate a former rule that Roadblock tasks be distributed as evenly as possible throughout the race. While the show never formally announced that the rule was in effect, teams have generally kept things evenly split since, with the exception of Janelle and Britney in season 31, who placed in 8th but had a 5/2 split on their roadblocks.

Fans were also upset about the results in Season 29, after Brooke Camhi and Scott Flannery won despite Brooke complaining about not being able to do several tasks throughout her season. It was noted that there had been an equal distribution between them though when it came to the Roadblocks, but fans were still annoyed that someone who didn’t seem to want to be competing was awarded a $1 Million prize.

Production on the show is still suspended until further notice, meaning a premiere date for the 33rd season remains up in the air, as the episodes were halted from filming in March.