The Amazing Race 23


The Amazing Race 23 is the twenty-third installment of the American reality television show The Amazing Race. It featured eleven teams of two people, each with a pre-existing relationship, in a race around the world for a grand prize.
The season premiered on September 29, 2013, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS, with the two-hour season finale airing on December 8, 2013.
Dating couple Jason Case and Amy Diaz were the winners of this season of The Amazing Race.

Production

Development and filming

The season was renewed on March 27, 2013 for the 2013–14 TV season. A revised opening credits sequence and on screen clue information graphics were developed for this season with an updated map using 3D blue marble layout.
The season spanned through four continents and nine countries, including Chile, Norway, and the United Arab Emirates. The Double Express Pass, introduced in the previous season, returned – in which the first team to arrive at the Pit Stop on the first leg received two Express Passes, one for themselves and one to give to any other team.

Cast

Applications for The Amazing Race 23 were closed on April 26, 2013.
The cast includes former Houston Texans players Chester Pitts and Ephraim Salaam, the wives of baseball players Chris Getz of the Kansas City Royals and David DeJesus of the Tampa Bay Rays, a pair of LA Kings Ice Crew maintenance workers, former Miss Rhode Island USA beauty queen Amy Diaz, former Minor League Baseball player and sports agent Tim Sweeney with former Lingerie Football player Marie Mazzocchi, and a pair of theater performers from the stage comedy The Queen of Bingo. Married emergency room doctors Travis and Nicole Jasper have also appeared on the docudrama series Untold Stories of the E.R.

Future appearances

While the season was still airing, Tim & Marie and Leo & Jamal were invited for The Amazing Race: All-Stars. The former turned down the invitation, but the latter participated. Leo & Jamal also returned for a third time on The Amazing Race 31.
On May 25, 2016, Leo & Jamal appeared on an Amazing Race-themed The Price is Right primetime special.

Results

The following teams participated in the Race, each listed along with their placements in each leg and relationships as identified by the program. Note that this table is not necessarily reflective of all content broadcast on television, owing to the inclusion or exclusion of some data. Placements are listed in finishing order:
  1. Nicole & Travis initially arrived 1st, but were issued a 30-minute penalty for taking a taxi to the Pit Stop when the clue stated that teams had to go on foot. Tim & Marie checked in during their penalty time, dropping Nicole & Travis to 2nd.
  2. Leo & Jamal initially arrived 1st, but could not check in because they did not fully pay their cab fare. Chester & Ephraim checked in while they went back to settle their cab fare, dropping Leo & Jamal to 2nd.
  3. Chester & Ephraim encountered several air travel delays and did not arrive in Lisbon until many hours after all other teams had checked-in at the Pit Stop. While still in the Lisbon Airport, Phil met with them to inform them of their elimination.
  4. Tim & Marie used their Express Pass to bypass the Detour in Leg 5.
  5. Jason & Amy attempted to do the Fast Forward in Leg 6, but due to high wind speeds the task was deemed unsafe until conditions improved. As a result, no team claimed the Fast Forward.
  6. Nicole & Travis used the Express Pass given to them by Tim & Marie to bypass the Detour on Leg 8.
  7. Leo & Jamal started Leg 9 in last place alongside Ally & Ashley because they overslept and missed their departure time.

    Episode title quotes

Episode titles are often taken from quotes made by the racers.
  1. "We're Not in Oklahoma No More" – Tim
  2. "Zip It, Bingo" – Marie
  3. "King Arthur Style" – Jason
  4. "Beards in the Wind" – Brandon
  5. "Get Our Groove On" – Adam
  6. "Choir Boy at Heart" – Leo & Jamal
  7. "Speed Dating Is the Worst" – Ashley
  8. "One Hot Camel" – Ashley
  9. "Part Like the Red Sea" – Ashley
  10. "Cobra in My Teeth" – Tim
  11. "Amazing Crazy Race" – Jamal

    Prizes

The prize for each leg is awarded to the first place team for that leg. Trips are sponsored by Travelocity.

Leg 1 (United States → Chile)

Airdate: September 29, 2013
For the first Roadblock of the Race, one team member had to direct their taxi to follow their partner, who was paragliding from Alto Hospicio down to Playa Brava or Huayquique Beach. Once team members reunited on the beach, the glide master would give them their next clue.
For the second Roadblock, the team member that paraglided in the previous Roadblock had to collect five fish from any of three boats by reaching them on a rowboat and deliver them to a fishmonger to receive a postcard depicting their first Pit Stop. The three fishing boats each had a limited number of fish, so if a boat ran out of fish, racers would have to find one of the other boats to get the remaining fish.
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Airdate: October 6, 2013
In this leg's Detour, teams faced a choice between Brining or Mining. Both Detour options required teams to bike to the salt mine in the Tarapacá salt flats. In Brining, teams had to carry bags of salt and dump them into a pool in order to reach neutral buoyancy. Once they were floating on the surface well enough to read the local newspaper, a salt miner would give teams their next clue. In Mining, the teams had to use pick axes and sledgehammers to open halite boulders until they found one that contained their next clue.
In the Roadblock, one team member had to take on the role of a lustrabota, a Chilean shoeshiner, on Paseo Ahumada. After shining a customer's shoes, the racer had to properly put everything they got at their lustrabota station into the cart and transport it back to the storage depot at Merced 738 to receive their next clue.
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Airdate: October 13, 2013
The Detour on this leg was a choice between Tiles or Miles. In Tiles, teams had to correctly assemble a life-size puzzle using porcelain tiles to receive their next clue. In Miles, teams had to first retrieve a giant-sized compass at the Jerónimos Monastery and then use it to map out the distance traveled by Ferdinand Magellan on his famed voyage on the large compass rose at Padrão dos Descobrimentos by connecting Seville, the Canary Islands, the Cape Verde Islands, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Solis, the Strait of Magellan, Puka-Puka, San Pablo Island, the Mariana Islands, and the Philippines. Once teams were within 500 nautical miles of the correct answer of 16,500 nautical miles, a Magellan impersonator would give them their next clue.
In the Roadblock, one team member had to put on a suit of armor and then use a ballista to fire an arrow through a shield away. Once successful, the knight would retrieve their shield which had their next clue on the back.
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Airdate: October 20, 2013
The Detour on this leg was a choice between Hang Your Heads or Hammer of the Cods. In Hang Your Heads, teams had to string together six bundles of ten fish heads each. They then had to take them, by wheelbarrow, to a fish drying rack and place them on a marked rod. Once finished, the fish foreman would give teams their next clue. In Hammer of the Cods, teams had to collect 15 pairs of cod from a high fish drying rack and transport them to a manufacturing area to smash the cod into fish jerky, making sure to remove the bones. Once teams produced of fish jerky, they would receive their next clue.
In the leg's Roadblock, one team member had to put on a wetsuit and jump off the Henningsvær Bridge and swing on the end of a rope. When they are ready, they had to unclip, splash down into the Arctic Ocean, and swim to a buoy that held their next clue. Then they swim back to their partner who was waiting in the RIB which would take the team back to the shore.
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Airdate: October 27, 2013
For this leg's Detour, teams chose between Pose or Polka. In Pose, teams had to dress like Neptune and pose like his statute at the fountain in front of Gdańsk Town Hall in order to attract donations from passers-by until they collected 75 zł to receive their next clue from a sculptor. In Polka, teams had to dress in traditional Polish costume then learn and perform a polka dance routine to the satisfaction of their dance instructor to receive their next clue. After completing either Detour, teams had to keep wearing their costumes for the remainder of the leg.
For the Roadblock, one team member had to search among 12 addresses in the long, 6,000 person occupancy falowiec in Przymorze and taste a traditional Polish pastry known as pączki in each apartment. Once they found the apartment serving rose hip jam-filled pączki, they would receive their next clue. Additionally, teams would be penalized if they were rude guests.
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Airdate: November 3, 2013
In this leg's Detour, teams chose between Light Brigade or Masquerade. In Light Brigade, teams dressed up as court servants and had to assemble an elaborate crystal chandelier. If teams assembled it to the satisfaction of the chamberlain, he'd hand over their next clue. However, if they don't get it on their first try, the chamberlain would destroy the chandelier, forcing them to start over. In Masquerade, teams had to wear elaborately colored masks before joining a Viennese ball to search amongst waltzing couples for the pair wearing masks identical to their own, but teams had to pay attention as the masks had minute differences. Once teams found the right dancers, the hostess would give them their next clue.
To win the Fast Forward, one team had to head to the Donauturm, Vienna's tallest structure, to perform a bungee jump back down to the ground. However, in the event of unfavorable weather, teams were informed that the task would not be available until optimal conditions returned so they could complete the task safely.
For the Roadblock, one team member had to learn how to sing Franz Schubert's "Die Forelle" and then perform with the Vienna Boys' Choir with the correct German pronunciation and musicality to receive their next clue from the choir master.
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Airdate: November 10, 2013
The Detour was a choice between Sort It Out or Sew It Up. In Sort It Out, teams had to search through several types of dates to prepare an elaborate display tray that matched an example to receive their next clue. In Sew It Up, teams had to put together a traditional fishing net to the satisfaction of the fishing boat captain to receive their next clue.
In the Roadblock, one team member would drop from the top of the Yas Viceroy Hotel Abu Dhabi before rappelling down to the ground. Then they got into a Le Mans Prototype racecar and rode along on a lap of the Yas Marina Circuit. While in the car, racers had to look amongst signs on the track with drivers' names and lap times logged in the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix for the circuit record of set by Sebastian Vettel. Once they told the pit crew chief the correct time and driver, he would give them their next clue. If incorrect, they would have to make another lap around the track until they got the correct name and time.
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Airdate: November 17, 2013
This leg's Detour was a choice between Wedding Guests or Beauty Contest. In Wedding Guests, teams had to prepare machbūs, a traditional Emirati dish for wedding guests. After gathering and cutting up all the necessary ingredients, teams had to put it into a large pot and then serve the finished dish to a wedding party to receive their next clue. In Beauty Contest, teams had find a camel that met a set of breed guidelines and then dress it up for an upcoming camel show. If the judges were pleased with their camel selection, they would award the teams their next clue.
The Speed Bump required Nicky & Kim to swim across a wave pool, with a high wave crashing down upon them once every 90 seconds. When they made it up the ladder on the other side of the pool, without being pushed off, they could continue racing.
For the Roadblock, one team member had to ride down the largest man-made river rapids in the world and collect three flags each colored red, green, and black to receive their next clue.
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Airdate: November 24, 2013
The Detour was a choice between For the Elephants or For the Birds. In For the Elephants, teams visited Simpang Dago Market where they had to pick up eight watermelons, two bunches of bananas, one dozen sweet potatoes, and five stalks of sugar cane before heading to Bandung Zoo. Once there, they transported the food on one of the provided hand trolleys to the elephant enclosure where they fed the elephants and received their next clue. In For The Birds, teams picked up two matching Peach-faced Lovebirds from Kios Pak Dedi at Sukahaji Market and then took them to a bird song grand prix at the Sumber Sari Arena. After entering the birds into the competition, teams would have to get their birds to sing. Once they've been scored, the judge would award them their next clue.
This leg's Roadblock required one team member to properly assemble an angklung, a traditional Indonesian musical instrument made of tubes of bamboo. Once they assembled the stand correctly, put all eight notes in order, and could play a complete octave, one of the students would hand them their next clue.
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Airdate: December 1, 2013
In this leg's Roadblock, one team member picked up 60 eggs from a foodstand and then took an 8-minute moped taxi ride into the Kawah Domas crater of Tangkuban Perahu to use one of the volcanic hot springs to boil the eggs. After returning to the stand with the cooked eggs, the egg man would slice each of them open to see if they were hard-boiled. Once they had a dozen hard-boiled eggs, teams would receive their next clue.
The leg's Detour was a choice between Paint Your Partner or Turn Over a New Leaf. In Paint Your Partner, teams went to the Gracia Spa Graha Ciater, where they had to make each other up in traditional Javanese bridal makeup without a mirror. Once the beautician was satisfied with their work, he would give teams their next clue. In Turn Over a New Leaf, teams traveled to a tea plantation in Ciater and dressed in the traditional uniform of the tea harvesters. Then they had to search the tea plantation for a pair of clipping shears hidden in the tea plants which they could trade to the local tea plantation worker for their next clue.
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Airdate: December 8, 2013
In this leg's Detour, teams chose between Knock It Down or Call It Up. In Knock It Down, teams had to pick up four pins from outside the Tokyo Media City studios and then participate in a human bowling game show, with team members alternating slides down an incline on an inner tube into a set of pins. Once teams scored a strike, the game show host would give them their next clue. In Call It Up, one racer had to put on a swimsuit and a goldfish-shaped swimming cap, jump into an art installation of one Tokyo's obsolete phone booths filled with water and goldfish, dial a provided telephone number, and then listen to the provided message: "Welcome to Tokyo. Wasabi taberu." They then had to tell the message to their partner, who had to run over and relay the message to a judge. If teams were correct, they received their next clue.
The Speed Bump required Leo & Jamal to join a group of zookeepers in an escaped rhinoceros drill and help capture a "rhino" before they could continue racing.
In the Roadblock, one racer had to put together a "robot" using a set of cardboard pipes, with only a miniature model as a guide to the satisfaction of the engineer to receive their next clue.
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Airdate: December 8, 2013
In the final Roadblock of the Race, one team member rode in a bush plane in a supply drop exercise. Flying at at least above the ground, they had to drop a bag of flour onto a target on the ground to receive their next clue from their pilot.
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U.S. Nielsen ratings

Canadian broadcaster CTV also airs The Amazing Race on Sundays. Episodes air at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, Central and Pacific with one exception: Episode nine aired two hours earlier than its normal start time due to CTV's broadcast of the 2013 American Music Awards.
#AirdateEpisodeViewers
Rank
1September 29, 2013"We're Not in Oklahoma No More"2.3776
2October 6, 2013"Zip It, Bingo"2.0436
3October 13, 2013"King Arthur Style"1.73410
4October 20, 2013"Beards in the Wind"1.9886
5October 27, 2013"Get Our Groove On"2.2982
6November 3, 2013"Choir Boy at Heart"2.1663
7November 10, 2013"Speed Dating Is the Worst"1.9476
8November 17, 2013"One Hot Camel"2.4072
9November 24, 2013"Part Like the Red Sea"1.65522
10December 1, 2013"Cobra in My Teeth"2.5084
11December 8, 2013"Amazing Crazy Race"2.6442