LOS ANGELES — An ex-NFL player and his estranged wife, a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader and her actor brother, recent divorcees, a pair of Southern belles and fraternity brothers are among the 11 two-person teams hurrying for the finish line — and the $1 million grand prize — on the upcoming 13th edition of CBS’s “The Amazing Race.”
“I love the fraternity brothers because they’re so young and such a contrasting team,” host Phil Keoghan recently told The Associated Press. “One takes his time to think things out. The other one loves to rush and go at a million miles an hour. There’s definitely tension between the two of them while they’re making decisions during the race.”
Another team competing is geeky best friends Mark Yturralde, 41, and Bill Hahler, 42. The Comic-Con treasurer and student-aid administrator from San Diego have been pals for more than 20 years and have auditioned for “The Amazing Race” since the long-running reality series’ third season.
The superhero and gaming aficionados said they left their toys at home during the race.
“I think it was the longest I ever went without wearing a logo on my T-shirt. If you see me on the street, I’m usually wearing a Superman, Bizarro or Batman T-shirt on a constant basis, but we had to utilize more multiuse clothing for ‘The Amazing Race.’ ”
Married beekeepers Anita, 63, and Arthur Jones, 61, from Eugene, Ore., are the oldest — and perhaps most colorful — team on this season of “The Amazing Race.”
Among the self-described hippies’ mottos: “Don’t worry, be hippie” and “The hokey pokey is what it’s all about.”
Before the race, the Joneses worked out in hopes of keeping up with the other teams.
“We have an emerging farm, so we do a lot of work out there, splitting wood and taking care of the horses. We’re pretty physical, so we thought, ‘Hey, we can be in there with everybody else. It’ll be fun.’ ”
Starting at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the 13th season of the Emmy-winning reality competition (premiering Sept. 28) will follow the teams as they travel more than 30,000 miles in 23 days to countries such as Brazil, Bolivia, Russia, India and Kazakhstan.
It’s the first time the series has visited the landlocked country lampooned by Sacha Baron Cohen in “Borat.”
“We shot most of that episode in the capital,” said executive producer Bertram van Munster. “People were a little afraid we were going to pull a ‘Borat’ on them. I told them we weren’t doing ‘Borat,’ but what happened there is very, very funny.”
