Since The Amazing Race began in 2001, hundreds of hopefuls have signed up for the chance to win the show’s grand prize of $1 million. Winning an amount that large can easily change a contestant’s life and each year, more and more teams join Race with the goal to win it all.
The show’s 35th season began Sep. 27 and there are more competitors than ever. 13 teams of two will take on the globetrotting challenge this year and will travel to Thailand, Germany, Japan, Ireland, Slovenia, Vietnam, and more. Season 35 will take a page out of Survivor 45‘s book and air 90-minute episodes every week.
Not only is this season’s pool of contestants the largest ever, but the diverse cast includes California School for the Deaf, Riverside coach Rob and his son, Corey. The father-son duo hope to represent the Deaf community on the show and Corey, a hearing child of two deaf parents, hopes to “show the world, you know, deaf people can raise their children and have a really intimate relationship with them.”
Rob is the latest Deaf contestant on the show but he’s actually not the first Deaf person to compete on The Amazing Race.
Luke Adams was the first deaf competitor on The Amazing Race
Luke Adams was the show’s first deaf competitor and competed alongside his mother, Margie. The mother-son duo competed on the show’s 14th season in 2009; in a 2010 “Deaf Person of the Year” profile from DeafPeople.com, Luke and his mother reportedly auditioned once before their season and were initially rejected as contestants. When they tried a second time, they were successful and joined the show.
When the show began, other contestants underestimated the pair but Luke and Margie proved themselves as competitors to watch when they won the first leg. Margie was in incredible physical shape while Luke’s analytical mind helped the team make it all the way to the finals. The two would likely have won their season if not for a roadblock Luke struggled with during the final leg. Instead, the mother-son duo finished in a respectable third place.
Despite finishing in third, Luke and Margie didn’t end their race that season. The two would return to The Amazing Race for two more seasons, competing in both Unfinished Business and All-Stars. Unfortunately, the results were more or less the same for the pair; they’d start the season strong and then a roadblock would prove insurmountable. Luke and Margie finished in eighth place in those seasons.
You can watch The Amazing Race 35 at 9:30pm ET/PT on CBS.