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Several viewers complained about The Amazing Race 32 because of the Mine Five alliance that dominated the season. TAR executive producer and creator Elise Doganieri admitted she didn’t “love” the idea of the teams waiting to share answers with others and noted they might introduce a rule preventing the pairs from working together unless “challenge-specific.” 

'The Amazing Race' celebrates traveling an amazing 1 million miles around the world when the 32nd Race kicks off from the legendary Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on the season premiere. Pictured L-R: DeAngelo Williams, Gary Barnidge, Kaylynn Williams, Frank Eaves, Haley Williams, Victoria Newland, Hung Nguyen, Michelle Newland, Chee Lee, Will Jardell, Nathan Worthington, Maddison McKibbin, Aparna Dhinakaran, Leo Brown, Alana Folsom, Eswar Dhinakaran, and LaVonne Idlette
‘The Amazing Race’ celebrates traveling an amazing 1 million miles around the world when the 32nd Race kicks off from the legendary Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on the season premiere. Pictured L-R: DeAngelo Williams, Gary Barnidge, Kaylynn Williams, Frank Eaves, Haley Williams, Victoria Newland, Hung Nguyen, Michelle Newland, Chee Lee, Will Jardell, Nathan Worthington, Maddison McKibbin, Aparna Dhinakaran, Leo Brown, Alana Folsom, Eswar Dhinakaran, and LaVonne Idlette | Robert Voets

Many fans felt the Mine Five alliance ruined ‘The Amazing Race 32’

During the second leg at the Nemocón Salt Mine, the first five teams to sign up for a departure time created an alliance to stay at the top and named themselves the Mine Five.

It consisted of boyfriends Will and James, siblings Eswar and Aparna, former NFL stars DeAngelo and Gary, married parents Hung and Chee, and volleyball players Riley and Maddison.

The alliance helped each other with every task they could, most notably a challenge in which the teams had to rappel face-first down a building and memorize flashing letters. The player then had to unscramble the letters to form a German word that would advance them to the next portion.

After Hung correctly identified it, she waited and told her entire alliance, minus the siblings, the answer, which many fans found annoying and boring to watch.

‘The Amazing Race’ executive producer ‘did not love’ teams sharing answers

In an interview with Reality Blurred, TAR executive producer and creator Elise Doganieri admitted she appreciates when teams work together from time to time but noted she doesn’t want the players to share answers blatantly.

The executive producer pointed out the strategy allowed the alliance to eliminate the other teams throughout the competition systematically. Additionally, she noted the method resulted in the group “shortcutting their way through challenges.”

As a result of how the alliances shaped TAR32, Doganieri stated she believes they will incorporate a rule moving forward to prevent sharing answers during detours and roadblocks.

Additionally, the executive producer explained the challenges aren’t intended as group activities, although she recognizes that many fans enjoy pairs teaming up to work against another team.

Rules might be introduced to prevent major alliances from dominating seasons

Doganieri also noted that Leg 6 could have had a “little bit of a different outcome” if pairs had not stayed after the rappeling challenge and told other teams the answer.

She explained her crew puts “months and months of research development, scouting, challenge decisions being made” and admitted it’s “a little frustrating” when a team shares answers because it could have changed the end result if one of the Mine Five allies couldn’t figure it out.

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‘The Amazing Race 32’: Why Some Fans Believe the Mine Five Alliance Is ‘Ruining’ the Season

When it comes to creating a rule to prevent the same situation from occurring in a future season, the executive producer explained they wouldn’t completely ban working with other teams because certain challenges might call for it.

Instead, they would likely not allow the pairs to share information with another team after completing a task explicitly. The Amazing Race 32 is available to stream on the CBS app.

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