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Season 38.
The first season to stock the entire field with Big Brother veterans — a cross-franchise concept the format had never run at full scale.
A rhythm worth tracking.
A historic franchise crossover. Thirteen teams of two, each built around at least one former US Big Brother houseguest, left Hoorn, the Netherlands, the birthplace of the Big Brother format, into a 7,500-mile route through the Czech Republic, Hungary, Croatia, Romania, Greece, Italy, and France before a final leg to New York City. The toolkit returns the Express Pass, Hazard, and a pre-starting-line task, and adds a U-Turn penalty for a non-elimination survivor, the season's one genuinely new mechanic.
The #37 slot.
Slot #37 of 38 in the The Amazing Race Editor's Canon. The seasons on either side show what I ranked it against.
4 moments, no spoilers.
- Casting · the crossover field
Thirteen teams of two, each built around at least one former US Big Brother houseguest. Promoted as a historic franchise crossover — watch how race instincts meet house instincts.
- Route · the Hoorn start
The season opens in Hoorn, the Netherlands, the birthplace of the Big Brother format — a starting line chosen to frame the crossover concept.
- Format · the new U-Turn penalty
A U-Turn penalty carried by a team that survived a non-elimination leg — the genuinely new mechanic this season, the first such tweak since Season 33.
- Route · the European arc
Hoorn through the Czech Republic, Hungary, Croatia, Romania, Greece, Italy, and France before a final leg back to a New York City finish.