HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Beauty queens, home shopping hosts and a pair of Ivy League a capella singers highlight The Amazing Race‘s season 17 cast, announced Wednesday by CBS.
The new cast also features a birth mother/daughter team who were recently reunited after the mother gave her newborn daughter up for adoption over 20 years ago.
This season’s cast will travel over 32,000 miles, covering four continents and 30 cities, with first-time visits to Bangladesh, Ghana and the Arctic Circle. Additionally, for the first time in the show’s history, the team that finishes first in the premiere episode will be awarded a surprise, game-changing advantage.
The Amazing Race premieres Sept. 26 at 8:30 p.m. PST with a special 90-minute episode.
Here’s a look at The Amazing Race season 17 cast:
Team 1 – Relationship: Home Shopping Hosts
Brook Roberts
Age: 27
Hometown: San Diego, Calif.
Occupation: Home Shopping Host, Miss Oregon 2004
Claire Champlin
Age: 30
Hometown: Reno, Nev.
Occupation: Home Shopping Host
Team 2 – Relationship: Dating
Nick DeCarlo
Age: 26
Hometown: Henderson, Nev.
Occupation: Bartender
Vicki Casciola
Age: 26
Hometown: Henderson, Nev.
Occupation: Hair Stylist
Team 3 – Relationship: Best Friends
Ron Kellum
Age: 45
Hometown: Los Angeles, Calif.
Occupation: Director/Choreographer
Tony Stovall
Age: 42
Hometown: Tucson, Ariz.
Occupation: Doctoral Student (University of Arizona)
Team 4 – Father/Son
Michael Wu
Age: 58
Hometown: Sugar Land, Texas
Occupation: Software Consultant and Content Creator
Kevin Wu
Age: 20
Hometown: Sugar Land, Texas
Occupation: Student/Internet Entertainer
Team 5 – Relationship: Newly Dating
Chad Waltrip
Age: 26
Hometown: Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Occupation: Operations Manager
Stephanie Smith
Age: 23
Hometown: Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Occupation: Hair Stylist
Team 6 – Relationship: Doctors/Friends
Nat Strand
Age: 31
Hometown: Scottsdale, Ariz.
Occupation: Doctor
Kat Chang
Age: 35
Hometown: Santa Monica, Calif.
Occupation: Doctor
Team 7 – Relationship: Father/Daughter
Gary Ervin
Age: 53
Hometown: Morganfield, Ky.
Occupation: Entrepreneur
Mallory Ervin
Age: 24
Hometown: Lexington, Ky.
Occupation: Miss Kentucky 2009
Team 8 – Relationship: Ivy League A Cappella Singers
Connor Diemand-Yauman
Age: 22
Hometown: Chesterland, Ohio
Occupation: Student (Princeton)
Jonathan Schwartz
Age: 22
Hometown: Cranford, N.J.
Occupation: Student (Princeton)
Team 9 – Relationship: Dating
Jill Haney
Age: 27
Hometown: Marina Del Ray, Calif.
Occupation: Hair Stylist
Thomas Wolfard
Age: 30
Hometown: Marina Del Ray, Calif.
Occupation: Ad Sales Director
Team 10 – Relationship: Birth Mother/Daughter
Andie DeKroon
Age: 43
Hometown: Atlanta, Ga.
Occupation: Stay-at-Home Mom
Jenna Sykes
Age: 21
Hometown: Athens, Ga.
Occupation: Student (University of Georgia)
Team 11 – Relationship: Beach Volleyball Partners
Katie Seamon
Age: 23
Hometown: Rahway, N.J.
Occupation: Beach Volleyball Player
Rachel Johnston
Age: 24
Hometown: Moorestown, N.J
Occupation: Beach Volleyball Player
Relationship: Beach Volleyball Partners
