Over 25 years, The Amazing Race has takesn teams — and viewers — to hundreds of cities across 98 countries. But the Emmy-winning series will showcase there’s still much of the world left to explore when it kicks off its 39th season on Wednesday, Sept. 30. One prominent example is when the show will creep ever closer to the country-century mark by visiting a new nation this fall: Albania.“I had never been there myself personally, and I’ve been to 145 countries, I think, in my life. It’s absolutely fascinating,” host Phil Keoghan tells Parade in an exclusive interview. “The one the things I love about writing the scripts is being able to do the research and digging into fascinating facts about different places. And I had no idea that they had over 150 to 200,000 underground bunkers that were set up for the for the Cold War. Thank God none were ever used because of a nuclear explosion But I found that absolutely fascinating, how they’ve been repurposed some into museums and cafes.”Indeed, as Keoghan reveals, the remaining teams will actually head into one of those deactivated bunkers, seeing if they can navigate their own possible fallout to avoid losing out on the million-dollar prize.
?SIGN UP for Parade’s Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox ? “Every time you go to a new country, there’s a freshness to it,” he says. “We haven’t dealt with the food that’s there, the dancing that’s there, the culture that’s there, the humor of the people and the human spirit of that place. Where we had the where we had the Pit Stop, there was there’s a square in the main city, and they’ve got stones from all over the country, spread out over this massive area about the size of maybe four football fields. You get this beautiful mosaic of stone, and that was that’s sort of like ground central in in the city. I really enjoyed it.”While Keoghan was tittilated by both he and the race getting to visit a new country, it was a return to the familiar that stuck with him the most. Last year, after the end of Season 38, he teased to Parade that the upcoming race would feature “a special episode I took particular interest in ended with a special personal moment in my life.” And now we know what that special episode is — and why it rang so exclusively.“Well, I’m from New Zealand,” Keoghan says. “I was born in Lincoln, which is just outside Christchurch, New Zealand, in the South Island. Christchurch is the biggest city in the South Island of New Zealand. And if you remember back in 2011, there was a terrible earthquake, and it took the lives of about 151 people. Some of those people were people that I worked with when I first started my career in New Zealand at Television New Zealand and on Gloucester Street in Christchurch. And the CTV Building the which was the broadcast center that collapsed and there were unfortunately there were people that were killed in that building. And I immediately flew home and and I filed a report for CBS News and talked about what people could do to help. “And I made a promise to the leaders in the city that one day I would come back with Amazing Race if it was still on, and I would show off the new city. I would show the city as a rebuilt city, as a reborn city. Because 80% of the buildings were decimated, or redlined, or earmarked for for demolition. And I’m pleased to say, Season 39, I got to go back and and scout the city and to work with Tourism New Zealand and the tourism team at Canterbury at Christchurch, which is supporting tourism in the area.”Related: Phil Keoghan Breaks Down ‘The Amazing Race 39’s Newest Twist — And What’s Returning Next (Exclusive)The Amazing Race 39 will mark the show’s first time in New Zealand since Season 22 all the way back in 2013. But its return couldn’t come at a better — and more trafic — time for Keoghan.“On a personal level, it was a special time because my dad was in hospital at the time and very sick,” he reveals. “And where I was staying in the hotel was about a mile away from the hospital. So while we were scouting, every night I would go walk. It was quite cold then. I would walk to the hospital, spend some time with my dad, and then come back. So I was there for about a week, and so it was very special to have those that time with him.”Phil’s late father, John Keoghan, was an avid agricultural scientist and conservationist. He had a clear passion for his son’s work, making a cameo in Tough as Nails, which Phil hosted and co-created. He also made his on-screen debut back in 2008, appearing as a Pit Stop greeter when the show previously visited Tauranga in Season 13. John passed away on Nov. 15, 2025 at the age of 83.“When we came back on the actual shoot, people don’t realize how quickly we shoot the show,” Keoghan recounts. “We arrived at midnight, and we left before we left at about 4:00 the next afternoon. So I was literally only on the ground in Christchurch from early in the morning until 4:00, and then we went to the airport and flew out. ““But my dad came to the Pit Stop, which was right next to where the hospital was in in the botanical gardens,” he continues. “And he mustered all his strength to come down to be there with me. It was near a special place, a place that held special meaning for me and my family. The last time we were there together as a family was 50 years ago; we took family photos. And my dad turned up, and and all the crew that remembered him from Season 13 were remembering him, and we all took photos. And that was the last time I saw my dad. That was it.”With a brand-new country to visit, and a heartwarming homecoming for one of the most venerated hosts in reality TV, there will be plenty to keep us emotionally invested to every clue that gets opened this fall. The Amazing Race 39 kicks off with a two-episode premiere on Wednesday, Sept. 30 and Thursday, Oct. 1 at 8:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., respectively, on CBS.
Related: Meet ‘The Amazing Race 39’ Cast—And Find Out the First Game-Changing Twist
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