The Amazing Race 6


The Amazing Race 6 was the sixth installment of the American reality television series The Amazing Race. It premiered on November 16, 2004, and concluded on February 8, 2005. Season 6 featured 11 teams of two people, each with a pre-existing relationship, racing around the world.
Engaged couple Freddy Holliday and Kendra Bentley were the winners of this season.
A DVD for this season was released on April 24, 2012, via Amazon.com's CreateSpace program.

Production

Development and filming

In May 2004, CBS ordered the sixth installment of the show, despite the fact that The Amazing Race 5 had not yet aired. Early renewal was likely due to the success of the changes made in Season 5. CBS also delayed the airing of Season 6 until late in the fall and moved it out of its proposed Saturday time-slot, to create a "cool down" period between races, in the hopes that this would help continue the newfound ratings success.
The Amazing Race 6 spanned a total of over ten countries on four continents. The 30 days of filming began on August 13, 2004, and finished on September 12, 2004. The Race made its first trip to seven countries: Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Hungary, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, and Senegal.
This season was the first in which team members had to complete an equal number of Roadblock tasks. No team member was permitted to complete more than six Roadblocks on the entire Race. Throughout the season, Phil Keoghan verbally stated this rule when introducing each leg's Roadblock. While the rule has remained in all subsequent seasons, Keoghan eventually stopped reciting it in each episode.
A task in the second leg of the Race marked the first time teams were required to work with each other. The ten teams had to split themselves into two groups of five, each of which had to row a Viking boat across a fjord to a marked dock with a clue box.
During the fifth leg, one of the show's most controversial moments occurred at the Pit Stop when Jonathan, angry at his wife Victoria for picking up his bag during a footrace to the mat, shoved her. He was modestly rebuked at the mat by Phil Keoghan who saw Jonathan berating his wife but hadn't witnessed the shove.
The sixth leg was originally planned as two separate legs with the first part being a non-elimination point. These planned legs were combined into one after producers realized that begging was prohibited in Hungary.
This season featured a visit to Sri Lanka, where filming occurred just a few weeks before the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. The episodes aired after the earthquake had devastated the island nation and all of the sights and locations the teams had visited. A special message was inserted at the beginning of the episodes featuring Sri Lanka, dedicating them to the victims and to those helping the recovery.
Post-show interviews suggested that Kris & Jon were less than a minute behind winning team Freddy & Kendra before they were held back by a train at a railway crossing. At , Bolo suggested that Kris & Jon were only 30–40 seconds behind Freddy & Kendra to the finish. At RealityReel, Kristy said that "Right after Freddy & Kendra started running, literally within 30 seconds or a minute later the train came, and Kris & Jon arrived. Otherwise, it would have come down to a neck-to-neck race." This would be the show's second closest finish ever, after Season 2.

Cast

Applications for The Amazing Race 6 were due on April 13, 2004. Semi-finalist interviews were held in May 2004 and final casting interviews were selected at Los Angeles in June 2004.
This season's cast included married professional wrestlers, dating actors, Jewish high school buddies, engaged models, and a team of married entrepreneurs. Don & Mary Jean were chosen for the Race after an open casting call in San Diego. Early Show hosts Harry Smith and Dave Price ran the first leg of the Race with the actual teams, as part of a special segment on their morning show.
After the Race:
This is one of the three seasons that was not represented in The Amazing Race: All-Stars, although Kris & Jon were considered.
Jonathan & Victoria appeared on a Dr. Phil special to try to improve their marriage. Jonathan & Victoria then competed on Battle of the Network Reality Stars. Later, in a celebrity version of Fear Factor, Victoria attacked contestant Jon "Jonny Fairplay" Dalton, and Jonathan attacked host Joe Rogan resulting in their expulsion from the show. Aaron competed on the twelfth season of Food Network Star but was eliminated on the second episode. Victoria had a cameo appearance on Whose Line is it Anyway?. Rebecca Cardon was in the reality show Kill Reality, had a part in an ultra-low-budget short named Nice Pants, and appeared on the Bravo reality series Work Out.

Results

The following teams participated in the Race, each listed along with their placements in each leg and relationships as identified by the program. Note that this table is not necessarily reflective of all content broadcast on television, owing to the inclusion or exclusion of some data. Placements are listed in finishing order:
  1. Freddy & Kendra initially arrived 6th, but they were issued a 30-minute penalty for taking an extra clue after the Viking ship task, which stated to take only one clue from the clue box per team. Adam & Rebecca and Don & Mary Jean checked-in during their penalty time, dropping them to 8th. But due to Don & Mary Jean's retroactive penalty, Freddy & Kendra moved up to 7th place.
  2. Don & Mary Jean had arrived in 7th place in Leg 2, but they mistakenly drove the car that belonged to Adam & Rebecca. They left in 8th place at the beginning of Leg 3 after they were issued a 30-minute penalty since this put Adam & Rebecca at a disadvantage. Because of this, Freddy & Kendra now departed in 7th place. The departure position is reflected in the Results table.
  3. Lena & Kristy failed to complete the Roadblock in Leg 3. After over 8 hours of searching and two hours since all others teams had checked-in at the Pit Stop, Phil came out to the Roadblock location to inform them of their elimination.
  4. Leg 6 was a combined double-length leg, with two Detours and two Roadblocks, shown over two episodes. The placements listed in the first column reflect the order teams arrived at the Net Klub Internet Kafé, the leg's halfway point. The leg's Fast Forward was offered after the halfway mark, and thus permitted Lori & Bolo to skip only the second set of challenges.
  5. Adam & Rebecca initially arrived 2nd, but were not allowed to check in as they had not completed the additional task of swimming the length of the pool just before the Pit Stop. As they swam the length of the pool, Hayden & Aaron and Freddy & Kendra checked-in, dropping Adam & Rebecca to 4th place.
  6. Hayden & Aaron initially arrived 3rd, just ahead of Adam & Rebecca, but were issued a 4-hour penalty for quitting the Roadblock. Rebecca almost had to quit the Roadblock because the last gondola down the mountain was about to leave; however, Rebecca was able to find and open her lock on time to finish the Roadblock. Adam & Rebecca checked in during the penalty time, thereby dropping Hayden & Aaron to last place, which resulted in their elimination. At the Pit Stop, however, Aaron proposed to Hayden, who accepted.

    Episode title quotes

Episode titles are often taken from quotes made by the racers.
  1. "The Game's Afoot" – Gus
  2. "I'm Not His Wife, He Doesn't Need to Scream At Me" – Meredith
  3. "Counting Bears Is Not Rocket Science" – Don
  4. "What If It Isn't Sanitary" – Kendra
  5. "Quit Following Us" – Jonathan
  6. "They Should Probably Have Some Counseling" – Kris
  7. "Phil Is A Choo-Choo Charlie" – Kristy
  8. "One of You, I'm Gonna Break in Half" – Freddy
  9. "Tell My Mom I Love Her" – Adam
  10. "Are There Instructions on Donkey Handling?" – Rebecca
  11. "It Always Comes Down to Details" – Kris
  12. "You Deal With This Before I Hyperventilate" – Hayden
  13. "4 Continents, 24 Cities, 40,000 Miles" – Phil Keoghan
;Notes:

Prizes

Individual prizes were awarded to the first team to complete each leg:

Leg 1 (United States → Iceland)

Airdate: November 16, 2004
The first Detour of the Race was a choice between Ice Climb or Ice Search. In Ice Climb, teams traveled to the Hótel Skaftafell and used special gear to climb the face of a steep ice wall to reach their next clue at the top. In Ice Search, teams had to travel to a nearby glacial lagoon to use a boat and, accompanied by a pilot, search the lagoon, scattered with thousands of icebergs, for an orange buoy containing their next clue.
;Additional task
;Note
  1. There were three available flights scheduled to arrive within 5 minutes of each other, but some of these arrival times was changed due to weather conditions.

    Leg 2 (Iceland → Norway)

Airdate: November 23, 2004
For the first Roadblock of the Race, one team member had to climb to the top of the ski jump, then ride a zipline to the bottom to receive the next clue.
The Detour was a choice between Endurance or Accuracy. In Endurance, teams had to roller ski down a course to receive their next clue. In Accuracy, teams had to successfully complete three traditional Viking games. First, they had to throw sticks to knock over a circle of eight logs called kubbs before knocking over the king in the center. After knocking over the king, one team member had to throw an axe into a tree trunk target and make it stick. The other team member then had to shoot an arrow into a target away to get their next clue.
;Additional task
Airdate: November 30, 2004
The Detour was a choice between Count It or Build It. In Count It, teams had to count the number of pots, pans, and stuffed animals in three large bins. If teams gave the correct number to the supervisor, he would give them their next clue. In Build It, teams had to properly assemble a desk using all of the provided parts and an instruction manual to receive their next clue.
For this Roadblock, one team member had to unroll through 270 hay bales to find one of 20 hay bales with their next clue. This task was later revisited in Season 15 as a Switchback.
;Additional tasks
Airdate: December 7, 2004
The Detour was a choice between Stack 'Em Up or Pull 'Em Up. In Stack 'Em Up, teams had to stack enough fish to properly cover a drying table. Once the table was properly covered, the fisherwoman would hand them their next clue. In Pull 'Em Up, teams traveled on fishing boats and used traditional fishing gear to catch four fish. When they brought four fishes to a bounty man on the shore, he would give them their next clue.
For this Roadblock, one team member had to use the traditional tools provided to harvest enough salt from the bed of Lac Rose to fill a basket to receive their next clue.
;Additional task
Airdate: December 14, 2004
The Detour was a choice between Beer or Brats. In Beer, teams traveled to the Brauhaus Spandau bar, where each team member had to search the tables at the crowded bar for five coasters bearing his or her teams' name and picture. They then had to trade two full steins of beer to the patron in exchange for each coaster. Once both team members collected five of their coasters, they would receive their next clue. In Brats, teams traveled to Zitadelle where they had to use a hand-operated sausage-maker to create one rope of five bratwursts in order to receive their next clue.
In this Roadblock, one team member had to climb to the top of Teufelsberg and complete a soap box derby course in 37 seconds or less to receive the next clue.
;Additional tasks
Airdates: December 21, 2004 & January 4, 2005
In the first Roadblock of the leg, one team member was strapped into a "hot rocket bungee" and launched in the air. After returning to the ground, the jump master gave them their next clue.
The leg's first Detour was a choice between Catapult Crash or Cannonball Run. In Catapult Crash, teams had to use a catapult to hurl a watermelon onto a wooden target to retrieve the clue hidden within. In Cannonball Run, teams had to push a cannon up a hill to the castle courtyard, then carry 55 cannonballs and stack them into a pyramid next to the cannon to receive their next clue.
The first Fast Forward offered in the Race required one team to travel to Budavári Labirintus. There, they had to descend through a cavernous labyrinth, where they would discover that they had to partake in the legend of vampires by drinking a goblet of pig's blood, recalling when Transylvania was part of Hungary, to win the Fast Forward and travel directly to the Pit Stop.
The second Detour for the leg was a choice between Swim or Paddle. In Swim, teams made their way to an Olympic-sized swimming pool and participated in a game of water polo. Working together, they had to score a goal against a top Hungarian water polo player to receive the next clue. In Paddle, teams inflated a raft with a hand pump and paddled across the Danube River to a flag on the other side in order to receive their next clue.
In the leg's second Roadblock, one team member had to eat a bowl of a traditional Hungarian spicy soup to receive their next clue.
;Additional tasks
Airdate: January 11, 2005
For this Fast Forward, one team had to locate a harbor in Ajaccio and don old-style diving suits, weighing more than each, to walk across the ocean floor to a lobster trap and retrieve the Fast Forward award in it.
The Detour was a choice between Climb Up or Fly Behind. In Climb Up, teams had to use a mechanical ascender to climb a rock wall. Once at the top, they received a medal from a French legionnaire on the terrace, and proceeded to rappel down to receive their next clue. In Fly Behind, teams had to choose a Zodiac boat and, with one member directing the pilot and the other trailing behind on a raft, search among 25 buoys for one of 12 with a clue attached.
For this Roadblock, one team member had to stomp of grapes with their feet in order to squeeze enough juice to fill five wine bottles. They then had to drink a glass of grape juice to receive the next clue.
;Additional tasks
Airdate: January 18, 2005
The Detour was a choice between Raise the Roof or Mud the Hut. In Raise the Roof, teams assisted a group of locals carrying a roof two-thirds of a mile and placed it on top of a house. Once the roof was on, one team member would then place a jug on the roof to receive their next clue. In Mud the Hut, teams had to use a plaster made of dirt, water, and straw to cover an entire wall of a traditional Ethiopian house to receive their next clue.
For this Roadblock, one team member had to enter the 850-year-old church to receive a pendant from the head priest. There, the racer had to search among hundreds of worshipers standing outside for one with a matching pendant, which could be traded for their next clue.
;Additional tasks
Airdate: January 25, 2005
The Detour was a choice of Tree Trunks or Elephant Trunks. In Tree Trunks, teams traveled by tuk-tuk to a coconut plantation. Once there, each person had to climb to the top of a tree to retrieve a jug filled with tree sap, which each person had to pour into a container to receive the next clue. In Elephant Trunks, teams traveled by tuk-tuk to an elephant polo field, where each team member had to ride an elephant down the length of the field, hitting a polo ball around a large pole and scoring a goal in order to receive their next clue.
For this Roadblock, one team member had to ascend more than 1,000 steps to the top of Lion Rock. Once at the top, from a vantage point above the ground, the racer had to use a pair of binoculars to look through the jungle for a flag near the pool at the Hotel Sigiriya. Once they located the hotel, teams would then proceed to the hotel and swam the length of the pool before checking in at the Pit Stop.
;Additional tasks
Airdate: February 1, 2005
For this Roadblock, one team member had to wash a window on the exterior of the HuaXia Bank Tower, 40 stories above the ground, to reveal a hidden message. Once the team member could read the message, they had to lower themselves to the ground and repeat the message to the supervisor, who would hand them their next clue.
The Detour was a choice of Bricks or Ice. In Bricks, teams had to use a traditional device to transport 300 clay bricks off a barge while balancing on a narrow wooden plank. From there, they had to stack the bricks on a wooden pallet to receive their clue. In Ice, teams had to load two blocks of ice onto the back of flatbed tricycles and deliver them to a fish market four blocks away. Once there, they would have to break them into smaller pieces and place them into a tub to receive the next clue.
;Additional tasks
Airdate: February 8, 2005
The Detour was a choice between Spray or Scroll. In Spray, teams traveled to a car factory, put on uniforms, and spray painted the shell of a Chinese-made car to receive the next clue. In Scroll, teams traveled to a textile factory and searched through 10 bolts of fabric with a light table. When they found and cut out the two Chinese characters stamped within 2 of the 10 bolts, they received the next clue.
In this Roadblock, one team member had to search among 3,000 padlocks for the one which would unlock the padlock using a provided key for the next clue. Teams have to complete the Roadblock before the last gondola's departure time at 7:00 p.m..
;Additional tasks
Airdate: February 8, 2005
The last Detour of the Race was a choice of Outfits or Out-riggers. In Outfits, teams traveled to a tropical clothing distributor and searched racks filled with 165,000 Aloha shirts for the match of a provided mannequin to receive their next clue. In Out-riggers, teams had to drive to a canoe club and, with the help of a provided assistant, paddle an outrigger canoe down a course to receive their next clue.
For the final Roadblock of the Race, one team member have to tandem skydive with an instructor from, landing on a sandbar in Kaneohe Bay, to get their next clue from there.
;Additional tasks