I don't know whatever it is georgiapeach is basing her speculation on (or the specifics), but I've been involved with TAR as a viewer from the beginning, and I think the circumstantial evidence supports her speculation.
We've seen no evidence of an application period for TAR 18; at the time, the application period for TAR 11 was not the normal, and it became apparent soon thereafter that TAR 11 application period that something was afoot, especially from the Racer community. In addition, there are some programming factors that points towards the speculation as having some weight. These include: the impending 10th anniversary of TAR's filming its first season (February 2011), the fact that CBS had a 10th anniversary edition for Survivor, the unusual solicitation of ideas, feedback etc, from Jerry Bruckheimer *whose company rarely does thinks like this), the fact that Phil recently raised a discussion of a celebrity format at this particular time, and I'm sure I'm not remembering all of them at the moment. But there's an old expression -- "Where there's smoke, there's fire," and mein Gott, there's been a lot of smoke lately. So to me the circumstances plus the fact that we know from observation and experience that peorgiapeach has her sources and her means of getting information about the production side of the Race, I trust GP's judgment about what is going on. I'd just wish there was something concrete about TAR 18 to come out of CBS, Jerry Bruckheimer, or World Race Productions, to alleviate the anxiety level about the spring.