The Amazing Race 23

The Amazing Race 23 is the twenty-third season of the American reality competition show The Amazing Race. Hosted by Phil Keoghan, it featured eleven teams of two, each with a pre-existing relationship, competing in a race around the world in order to win US$1,000,000. This season visited four continents and nine countries and traveled over 35,000 miles (56,000 km). Starting in Santa Clarita, California, racers traveled through Chile, Portugal, Norway, Poland, Austria, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, and Japan before returning to the United States and finishing in Juneau. The season premiered on CBS on September 29, 2013, and the two-hour season finale aired on December 8, 2013.
Dating couple Jason Case and Amy Diaz were the winners of this season, while exes Tim Sweeney and Marie Mazzocchi finished in second place, and married doctors Travis and Nicole Jasper finished in third place.
The season was renewed on March 27, 2013. A revised opening credits sequence and on-screen clue graphics were developed for this season along with an updated map using 3D blue marble layout.
Filming for this season began on June 9, 2013, with teams spotted checking into a Pit Stop in Iquique, Chile, the next day. On June 19, the show filmed in Gdańsk, Poland, with news reporting of an American production at Neptune's Fountain. The season spanned 35,000 miles (56,000 km) across four continents and nine countries. The Double Express Pass, introduced in the previous season, returned, where 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.
The cast included 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 Los Angeles Kings Ice Crew maintenance workers, former Miss Rhode Island USA beauty queen Amy Diaz, former Minor League Baseball player Tim Sweeney and 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.
While the season was still airing, Tim & Marie and Leo & Jamal were invited to appear on The Amazing Race: All-Stars. The former declined the invitation, but the latter participated. Leo & Jamal also returned for a third time on The Amazing Race: Reality Showdown.
On May 25, 2016, Leo & Jamal appeared on an Amazing Race-themed primetime special of The Price Is Right. In 2022, Leo also competed on the first season of The Challenge: USA. In 2023, Ephraim Salaam competed on Raid the Cage.
The following teams are listed with their placements in each leg. Placements are listed in finishing order.
The Amazing Race 23 received mixed reviews. Daniel Fienberg of HitFix wrote that it "was an average-to-slightly-below-average 'Amazing Race' season. There were some memorable moments and a few likable people, even if they were eliminated way too earlier. There’s a version of this season in which Chester & Ephraim and Brandon & Adam make it way, way further and the season ends up much more enjoyable. But there were some good locations and I personally got a kick out of all of the travel wackiness in the first handful of episodes." Michael Hewitt of the Orange County Register called it "one of its least-ambitious seasons". In 2016, this season was ranked 15th out of the first 27 seasons by the Rob Has a Podcast Amazing Race correspondents. Kareem Gantt of Screen Rant wrote that "Season 23 had a great cast and went to some truly stunning places in countries such as Chile and Indonesia. Season 23 proved that you can't judge a season just by its cover." In 2023, Rhenn Taguiam of Game Rant ranked this season as the twelfth-best season. In 2024, Taguiam's ranking was updated with this season ranked 15th out of 36.
Canadian broadcaster CTV also airs The Amazing Race on Sundays. Episodes air at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, Central and Pacific (9:00 p.m. Mountain and Atlantic) 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.