The Amazing Race 7

The Amazing Race 7 is the seventh 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 to win US$1,000,000. This season visited five continents and ten countries and traveled over 40,000 miles (64,000 km) during twelve legs. Starting in Long Beach, racers traveled through Peru, Chile, Argentina, South Africa, Botswana, India, Turkey, England, and Jamaica before returning to the United States, traveling through Puerto Rico, and finishing in Miami-Fort Lauderdale. A new twist introduced in this season includes an expansion of the non-elimination leg penalty where teams also were stripped of possessions excluding their passports and the clothes that they were wearing. The season premiered on CBS on March 1, 2005, and concluded on May 10, 2005.
Married couple Uchenna and Joyce Agu were the winners of this season, while engaged couple Rob Mariano and Amber Brkich (of Survivor fame) finished in second place, and dating couple Ron Young Jr. and Kelly McCorkle finished in third place.
The Amazing Race 7 took place over 29 days and traveled nearly 40,000 miles (64,000 km). Filming began on November 20, 2004, and finished on December 19, 2004. The teams raced through ten countries, five of which were not previously visited on the series: Peru, Chile, Botswana, Turkey, and Jamaica. Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory in the Caribbean, was also visited for the first time.
This was the first edition of The Amazing Race to not circumnavigate the world by traveling continuously either west or east while crossing each meridian. Once teams traveled as far east as India, they returned to the United States by traveling westward through Europe and the Caribbean.
In this season, a change was made to the non-elimination leg penalty. In addition to being stripped of all their money and receiving no allowance for the next leg, teams were forced to surrender all of their possessions, except for their passports and the clothes they were wearing, for the remainder of the season. They were also no longer allowed to beg for money prior to the start of the next leg. The racers could receive or buy clothing or toiletries from the other teams.
Host Phil Keoghan greeted teams at the check-in mat midway through the eighth leg to hand them their next clue, marking the first time on The Amazing Race that teams stepped on the check in mat only to be handed their next clue, or to have their next clue handed to them by Keoghan.
Controversy surrounded the final leg of the season when Rob & Amber and Uchenna & Joyce arrived at the airport in San Juan. They were both sold tickets for a flight leaving later than one whose gate was about to close. While Rob & Amber managed to get on this earlier departing flight, Uchenna & Joyce were shown through the gate as the boarding corridor between the gate and airplane began to shut. After a commercial break, the boarding corridor reopened to the gate to pick up Uchenna & Joyce. No explanation was given as to why the gate reopened, which has led to widespread speculation about intervention by the production staff. In the "Revisiting the Race" special feature on the season 7 DVD, Uchenna, Rob, and Phil Keoghan denied the accusations of intervention by the production crew. Uchenna described his experience of finding the same airline agent at the gate who had previously informed him that there was no earlier available flight. Rob described Uchenna running around frantically trying to get onto the flight, which the final edited version of the show did not portray. Phil cited the fact that the decision to reopen the door rested solely with the pilot, and that intervention by the production crew would have resulted in someone leaking such information out.
Joyce Agu (credited as Joyce Robinson) previously appeared on Star Trek: The Next Generation in a recurring role as Ensign Gates. Ron Young was a former Apache helicopter pilot who was shot down in Iraq and held as a prisoner of war for 22 days, and Kelly McCorkle was a former Miss South Carolina. Brian Thomas Smith previously competed on Christmas Fear Factor. Amber Brkich originally competed on Survivor: The Australian Outback and Rob Mariano competed on Survivor: Marquesas. Both also competed on Survivor: All-Stars, where they got engaged at the live finale.
Rob & Amber and Uchenna & Joyce were selected for The Amazing Race: All-Stars.
On May 25, 2005, CBS aired Rob & Amber's wedding at Atlantis Paradise Island in Nassau, The Bahamas, a trip they won during the season, during a special entitled Rob and Amber Get Married. After competing on The Amazing Race, Rob later competed on Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, Survivor: Redemption Island, and served as a non-playing mentor on Survivor: Island of the Idols. Rob & Amber also both returned to compete on Survivor: Winners at War. On May 23, 2016, Rob also appeared on a Survivor-themed primetime special of The Price Is Right. In 2024, Rob competed on Deal or No Deal Island. Later in the year, Rob competed on the third season of The Traitors.
The following teams are listed with their placements in each leg. Placements are listed in finishing order.
The Amazing Race 7 received mostly positive reviews. Andy Dehnart called this season satisfying by the end. In 2016, this season was ranked 4th out of the first 27 seasons by the Rob Has a Podcast Amazing Race correspondents. Kareem Gantt of Screen Rant wrote that it was "a season in which The Amazing Race was firing on all cylinders." In 2021, Jane Andrews of Gossip Cop ranked this season as the show's 6th best season. Val Barone of TheThings ranked this season as the show's best season. In 2022, Jason Shomer of Collider ranked this season among the show's top seven seasons. Conversely, Linda Holmes of Television Without Pity wrote that it was an "incredibly ungenerous, pinched, unpleasant season" due to it turning "into such a bitchy, moralizing, self-righteous morass, and it's not Rob and Amber who made that happen. It's primarily Lynn and Alex, with help from Meredith and Gretchen, Ron and Kelly, and -- unfortunately -- Uchenna and Joyce." In 2024, Rhenn Taguiam of Game Rant ranked this season ninth.
The DVD boxed set for season 7 was released on December 20, 2005. Lynn & Alex, Brian & Greg, Rob & Amber, and Uchenna & Joyce did commentary on four episodes.
In September 2005, The Amazing Race 7 won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program, the third consecutive award for the television series. Although seasons 5 and 6 were also eligible, producers chose season 7 since it was the most recent installment of the show.