The Amazing Race 15

Production

The fifteenth season of the reality competition series aired on CBS as the 2009–2010 television season began. Production started when teams were seen at Los Angeles International Airport on July 18, 2009. The racers traveled through the Dutch province of Groningen on July 30, and a leg was filmed in Tallinn, Estonia, on August 3. The entire shoot lasted 21 days and ended on August 7 in Las Vegas.

The teams covered 25,000 miles across eight countries, with Estonia and the Czech Republic appearing for the first time in the show’s history. Two new game elements were introduced: a Starting Line Task and a Switchback. The Starting Line Task required teams to finish a challenge before they could get the clue directing them to their first international destination. The Switchback let teams take on one of the most memorable or iconic challenges from earlier seasons; the first Switchback, used in Leg 8, brought back the difficult Roadblock from season 6 in Sweden, where one team member had to search through hay bales to find their next clue.

For only the second time since season 10, a surprise elimination occurred somewhere other than a Pit Stop, happening right at the Starting Line. Eric and Lisa Paskel were the last team to find the required Shinagawa license plate among 1,000 Japanese license plates and were eliminated. They later said in an interview that they chose to leave voluntarily rather than stay at the Elimination Station. As a result, they had no further role in the show, were not present at the finish line in the final episode, and did not know the season’s outcome until the finale aired.

Casting

Wayne Newton appeared in the season finale; the teams had to locate him in a suite at the MGM Grand Las Vegas, and he then gave them the finish line’s location. Casting sessions were held while host Phil Keoghan bicycled across the United States in April and early May 2009 to raise money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, making stops to assist with those auditions.

Results

The following teams are listed with their placements in each leg. Placements are listed in finishing order. A dagger indicates elimination; a double-dagger indicates last to arrive at a Pit Stop in a non-elimination leg, requiring a Speed Bump task in the following leg; a symbol indicates the team won the Fast Forward. Gary & Matt placed 7th, 1st, 3rd, 4th, 4th, 5th, 4th.

Maria & Tiffany placed 7th, 6th, 8th, 6th, 2nd. Mika & Canaan placed 10th, 8th, 7th, 7th, 7th. Lance & Keri placed 3rd, 4th, 9th, 6th.

Zev & Justin placed 2nd, 5th, 8th. Marcy & Ron placed 4th, 9th. Garrett & Jessica placed 8th. Eric & Lisa were eliminated at the starting line.

Race summary

Episode 1, titled "They Thought Godzilla Was Walking Down the Street," aired on September 27, 2009. The prize was a trip for two to Aspen and Vail, Colorado, which went to Meghan & Cheyne.

The team eliminated was Eric & Lisa. The leg began at the Los Angeles River in California, under the Sixth Street Viaduct, which served as both the starting line and the elimination point. From there, teams traveled to Tokyo, Japan, visiting the Tokyo Tower Studios, the Shibuya Scramble Crossing, and the Konnō Hachimangū Shrine.

Development and filming

At the start, teams had to dig through a pile of 1,000 license plates to find one of eleven Japanese plates from Shinagawa. Once found, they handed it to Phil in exchange for tickets on one of two flights to Tokyo. The first six teams to locate a plate got seats on an American Airlines flight that departed thirty minutes earlier than the United Airlines flight carrying the other five teams. The last team still searching for a plate—Eric & Lisa—was eliminated right there at the starting line.

After arriving in Tokyo, teams made their way to the base of the Tokyo Tower. The first Roadblock of the season required one racer per team to take part in a Japanese-style game show called Sushi Roulette. Once all teams had gathered, the host spun a wheel holding eleven plates of sushi. Two of those plates were "wasabi bombs"—temaki-style sushi packed with hot wasabi.

If a racer got a wasabi bomb, they had two minutes to eat it and receive their next clue. If they couldn't finish it in time, they had to spin again and keep trying until they got a new wasabi bomb and succeeded. Racers who landed on plain sushi had to eat it but then continue spinning until they hit a wasabi bomb.

Following the Roadblock, each team received a colored flag. They then had to lead a group of twenty Japanese tourists, all wearing visors that matched the flag's color, through the famous Shibuya scramble crossing to the Pit Stop at the Konnō Hachimangū Shrine. Teams were not allowed to check in unless all twenty members of their group were present. If even one tourist was missing, the team had to go back and find them before they could check in.

Elimination Station

Five of the first six teams to be eliminated were sent to a villa in Phú Quốc, Vietnam, where they stayed until the finale. The one team that didn’t go was Eric & Lisa, who decided to leave the show right after their elimination.

CBS posted short videos on its website after each episode aired in the Pacific Time Zone, showing the eliminated teams hanging out at the villa. The first leg was a non-elimination leg, so nobody was sent to the villa, and no video was posted. Eric & Lisa were eliminated at the Starting Line and were the first team out, but they never went to the Elimination Station.

After the second leg, Garrett & Jessica became the second team eliminated and the first to arrive at the villa. They were both upset, especially since they had been in second place earlier in the leg before getting knocked out.

Garrett thought Maria & Tiffany or Mika & Canaan might be the next to go, but both he and Jessica agreed that any team could be eliminated because of the animal challenges from the previous leg. Garrett noticed Jessica was really down after being eliminated, and he had planned to propose to her at the Finish Line. Instead, he proposed on the beach, she said yes, and her mood improved a lot.

After the third leg, Marcy & Ron were the third team eliminated and the second sent to the villa. Ron told Garrett & Jessica that the competition had gotten more intense among the remaining racers. The eliminated teams did a Vietnamese martial arts exercise and then went to a fancy restaurant called Việt Xưa. They had different predictions for the next elimination: Marcy thought Flight Time & Big Easy would be next, while Garrett, Jessica, and Ron each picked Meghan & Cheyne, Sam & Dan, and Mika & Canaan, respectively.

Did You Know?

• Zev Glassenberg is the show's first autistic contestant, having been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome.
• In 2020, Brian Kleinschmidt hosted the HGTV show 100 Day Dream Home with his wife Mika.
• Flight Time & Big Easy appeared on an Amazing Race-themed primetime special of The Price Is Right on May 25, 2016.