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'The Amazing Race' Season 31: Release date, cast and everything else you need to know

The Race is back with a new season on April 17 on CBS and is all set for its first-ever reality TV showdown.

‘The Amazing Race’ is back with yet another exciting season of teams-of-two dashing between international checkpoints to win the much sought-after $1 million prize. Created by Elise Doganieri and Bertram van Munster, the gripping, fast-paced show will be returning with its 31st season in less than ten days.

Here is all you need to know about the latest season:

Release Date: A race worth a million dollar mile? 

The Emmy-wining TV show is all set to air April 17, Wednesday, on CBS Television Network, which is over a month earlier than its initial premiere date of May 27. With this move, the broadcast network will push LeBron James’ 'Million Dollar Mile' from its Wednesday slot to Saturdays from May 4 onwards.

Over the seasons, 'The American Race' has been shuffled around in various primetime time-slots, and has landed in the 9:00-10:00 PM (ET/PT) time-slot for Season 31. 'Million Dollar Mile' will air in the 8:00-9:00 PM slot Saturdays, moving 'Ransom' to 9:00-10:00 PM. A rebroadcast of 'NCIS' will air Wednesday, April 10, to fill in the 9:00-10:00 PM slot.

Cast: 'Big Brother' and 'Survivor' players join in for a first-ever reality showdown

With Phil Keoghan returning as host, this season of 'The Amazon Race' will see a first-time reality TV showdown, featuring 11 teams with Racers from previous seasons of 'The Amazing Race', Castaways from 'Survivor' and Houseguests from 'Big Brother.' The teams, hence, have much more than just a cash prize at stake this season -- bragging rights to their respective television shows. These are the teams racing this time around:

Tyler Oakley and Korey Kuhl
American YouTuber Tyler Oakley (31) and his friend Korey Kuhl (33) will also be part of the race this year, after they first featured on the show's 28th season. They are from Los Angeles and San Francisco respectively. 

Janelle Pierzina and Britney Haynes
This team of two comprises friends Janelle Pierzina (38) and Britney Haynes (30) from Lakeville, Minnesota and Tulsa, Oklahoma. Janelle was a part of Big Brother 6, Big Brother All-Stars and Big Brother 14, while Britney was seen on Big Brother 12 and Big Brother 14.

Art Velez and John James "JJ" Carrell
Friends from Temecula and San Marcos, California, Art Velez (49) and John James Carrell (49) previously appeared on season 20 of 'The Amazing Race'.

Teams Chris Hammons and Bret Labelle, Rupert and Laura Boneham, and Corinne Kaplan and Eliza Orlins from 'Survivor' will also feature on 'The Amazing Race' this season. Nicole Franzel and Victor Arroyo will join from 'Big Brother'. Other teams joining from previous seasons of the Race include Colin Guinn and Christie Woods, Becca Droz and Floyd Pierce, Leo Temory and Jamal Zadran. Sisters Rachel Reilly and Elissa Slater, who have been part of both 'Survivor' as well as 'The Amazing Race', will also be part of season 31. 

Plot: In the Race since 2001

'The Amazing Race' has had viewers on the edge of their seats through the course of its 25,000 mile journey every season, for 18 years now. The show started off in 2001 as a bet between Elise Doganieri and Bertram van Munster, with latter challenging the former to come up with a TV show concept in less than five minutes. Doganieri suggested the idea of a race around the world, and the two built on and refined the concept and sold it to CBS. Teams on the show begin the race from a city in the US, before taking off to checkpoints all over the world, before racing back to finish in the US. Various tasks await the teams along the way, and those that arrive last at each checkpoint are eliminated. 

If you loved ‘The Amazing Race’, you may also like:

Survivor,

American Ninja Warrior

Wipeout

Big Brother