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For the 29th season of The Amazing Race, I’ve learned that casting producers have been searching for some single people who will be paired with random strangers, but not as blind dates.

Five of the 11 teams on TAR 26 were blind date couples created by the producers; the rest of the cast were pre-existing couples. Amazing Race is currently casting for couples who know each other, so this may be another season that has some teams of people with pre-existing relationships, and some teams formed to create drama.

The show’s official casting web site says:

“We are looking for TEAMS of TWO – all types of relationships (does NOT have to be a dating couple) AND SINGLES (ready for the blind date of a lifetime!)”

But some in the casting process were told explicitly they were not being cast for “the blind date of a lifetime,” but instead would be matched with a non-romantic partner.

For example, and I’m making these up, a grandmother might be paired with a college student, or a lesbian with a straight man.

Finals casting is scheduled for March, and of course, a cast is always in flux until it’s locked. The composition of the cast may change, and it’s possible they will abandon this particular type of pairing, or double-down on it. Either way, it’s again shifting from The Amazing Race‘s original concept of casting teams of people who already had some kind of relationship.

I’m told that the show took preliminary cast to network executives last week, and the show will be filmed in July.