‘The Amazing Race’ Contestants Have to Lie to Their Friends While Filming the Show

Being on The Amazing Race is no doubt an exciting, once-in-a-lifetime experience for many people. However, no matter how happy they are to be filming the show, contestants are expected to keep it a secret for some time. In fact, they are encouraged to lie to their loved ones about it.

‘The Amazing Race’ contestants cannot say they were on the show until it is aired

A thrilling part of watching The Amazing Race is watching all the events unfold. As a result, every contestant has to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) that controls what they can share with people around them and when they can share that information.

According to People, contestants can tell people like their families and employers that they are participating on The Amazing Race. However, there is a lot that they cannot share after filming. 

“Contestants have been very good about adhering to it. For over 20 years, they have never said anything!” co-creator Bertram van Munster shared. “If anyone asks where they’ve been for the three weeks, the creativity lies in their hands to come up with an excuse!”

There is a lot of money on the line if anyone breaks an NDA. According to TARFlies, CBS could sue them for $10 million.

Crew members do not tell contestants which countries they will travel to

Contestants can’t share much information with their loved ones to prevent spoilers. For the sake of creating a good show, the crew also hides some information from contestants.

For example, contestants do not know which countries they will travel to until it is disclosed during the race. Yet, fans might notice that some countries the contestants visit require visas, which can take a while to obtain. To deal with this issue, production will give contestants a list of countries they should get visas for before filming, but ultimately they will only go to a few of those countries during the race. 

Losing teams do not go home until filming is done

While watching the show, it can seem as if any team that gets eliminated will simply go home. However, this is not actually the case.

According to TARFlies, losing teams are usually taken to another city, where they can relax and wait out the rest of the show before reuniting on-camera with everyone else for the finale. This location, which varies depending on the season, is known as “Sequesterville” by fans.

“Very often we send them to Lisbon, to Portugal or Costa Rica. So they have a good time … It’s not bad at all to sit by the pool with your friends,” co-creator Elise Doganieri told People.

TARFlies noted that production usually tries to keep the location of “Sequesterville” a secret because they do not want fans to visit and find out who has been eliminated. Still, sometimes it is hard to keep this information from being leaked.

While being in “Sequesterville,” eliminated contestants also cannot contact their loved ones at home. This is, again, to prevent spoilers.