The Amazing Race Season 25 CBS is Over With ‘The Candy Girls’ Amy DeJong and Maya Warren Winning; But the Cast & Race for Season 26 is Already Underway

The CBS hit show The Amazing Race just finished the twenty-fifth installment of the reality television series. The Amazing Race which featured eleven teams of two in a race around the world was concluded on December 19 with 'The Candy Girls' Amy DeJong and Maya Warren winning $1 million grand prize. On crowning them, host Phil Keoghan, according to Reality TV World, said: "Amy and Maya. Eight countries, 20 cities and more than 26,000 miles, you have won the one million dollars and are the official winners of The Amazing Race!" Amy DeJong and Maya Warren are both Ph.D. (Food Science, specializing in the study of confectionery products) students and lab mates at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

The twenty-sixth installment of the longest-running reality TV show is currently already in post-production, and according to CBS, will premiere on February 25 at its new Wednesday 9:30 pm time slot. In the next season, the teams will consist only of eleven dating couples, with five of the teams meeting for the first time in a blind date during the race itself. Keoghan in the studio preview describes it as "a special season of The Amazing Race" and says "for the first time ever, five teams will meet right here on the starting line for the most extreme blind dates ever." Co-creator and executive producer Bertram van Munster teased: "Going on a blind date to a restaurant is one thing, but going on a blind date around the world is like rolling the dice in a big way."

Reality Fan Forum has already leaked some documentation for The Amazing Race 26 timeline. For one, the site reports that Leg 1 of the race which will be from Los Angeles, USA, to Tokyo, Japan, filmed November 12-14, will air on February 25. For another, the concluding Leg 12 which was from Trujillo, Peru, to Dallas, USA, was filmed on December 6, and it may likely broadcast on the show's season 26 finale. The CBS has already announced the names of the participants to The Amazing Race 26. The six dating couples are: Aly Dudek and Steven Langton; Harley Rodriguez and Jonathan Knight; Jeff Magee and Lyda Grawn; C.J. Harris and Lebya Simpson; Matt Cucolo and Ashley Gordon; and, Rochelle Nevedal and Michael Dombrowski. The blind dates contestants are: Hayley Keel, Blair Townsend, Jackie Ibarra, Jeffrey Weldon, Laura Pierson, Tyler Adam, Jenny Wu, Jelani Roy, Bergen Olsen, and Kurt Jordan Belcher.