to add:
• In Dubai, competitors will be presented with a chilling Detour: They have to take snow from an indoor ski area and build a snowman outside in the scorching Middle East heat. “The quality of the snow changes instantly the moment you bring it out,” chuckles van Munster. “And the snowman can’t be a little one—it has to be five-, six-foot-high snowman with eyes and a real carrot in his nose.”
• In another first for the show, one of Race’s most infamous Roadblocks is revisited. “It is so crazy and difficult to do, and it was so amazing the last time we did it,” says van Munster. “And it’s just as crazy and amazing this time.”
• Although this Race takes place over a relatively brisk 21 days, van Munster insists that it won’t be any easier. “Very often in the middle of the series, [the contestants] get kind of cozy with each other and there could be a little bit of a lull,” he notes. “In this race, there is no lull. There is pedal-to-the-metal competition. They’re constantly overtaking each other. Every time we stand at the finish line we were blown away who gets eliminated and who stays in.”
• Among the contestants to watch:
-Herbert and Nathaniel from the Harlem Globetrotters. (“Great sense of humor.”)
-Justin and his best friend Zev, who has Asperger’s Syndrome. (“The things Zev says are so right on the money and they come from left field… You’re gonna love that team.”)
-Professional poker players Maria and Tiffany. (“They are incredibly shrewd. They are tough as nails… They’d do anything to win. They blew me away.”)
-Keri and her aggressive lawyer-fiance Lance. (“He’s so combustible. He whacked a piece of wood so hard, he opened his hand.”)
• Van Munster adds that he prefers to feature fresh contestants rather than familiar faces on Race. “I was never fond of ‘All-Stars’ and stuff like that,” he explains. “A cast like this is proof that to have new people is always a good idea, because every time we find new characters, new stories, new energy, new karma, you name it.”