‘Amazing Race' host Phil Keoghan reveals the most ‘physically insane thing' he's ever done

New York Post

26-05-2025

Phil Keoghan's one amazing race!
The New Zealand native is no stranger to traveling the world, especially while hosting 37 seasons of 'The Amazing Race.' Keoghan, 57, himself has had quite the adventure around the globe — with one in particular being the craziest.
'I did retrace a 1928 Tour de France on an original 1928 Tour de France bicycle that weighed twice as much as a modern bike and had no gears,' he exclusively told The Post at a fundraiser for the Widows, Orphans & Disabled Firefighter's Fund put on by the Television Academy Foundation last Sunday.
9 Phil Keoghan attends the 2025 Emmys Pickleball Slam presented by the Television Academy Foundation at The Calabasas Pickleball Club on Sunday, May 18, 2025, in Calabasas, Calif.
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9 Phil Keoghan talks to Alexandra Bellusci of the New York Post.
'I road 33 hundred miles in 26 days completely circumnavigating France. That was probably one of the more physically insane things that I have ever done.'
Along with the physically grueling challenge of a 1928 Tour de France, the television personality revealed the places that rank highest as his favorites.
9 'The Amazing Race' host Phil Keoghan kicks off his cross country bike ride on March 28, 2009 in Santa Monica, California.
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9 Phil Keoghan hosts 'The Amazing Race.'
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'I love going home to New Zealand because I'm originally from there,' Keoghan shared. 'I love going anywhere new. Someplace I haven't been before. I've been back to India — goodness knows how many times. Literally 20 something times. I love Italy because I love food and the culture. What's not to love about travel in general? South America is awesome. I love Buenos Aires, it's an incredible city. I just love traveling.'
One place in particular he's looking to cross off the bucket list is a very chilly continent.
'I've got to get to Antarctica,' confessed Keoghan. 'I really, really do. I really, really want to get there. A lot of people talk about the Drake's Passage that you have to get through if you take a ship. If you go from New Zealand, it's a seven-hour flight or something like that, but I think the Drake's Passage would be a good one to tick off the bucket list.'
9 Host Phil Keoghan greets the racers at the first Pit Stop in Fort Christian, St. Thomas U.S. Virgin Islands.
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9 'The Amazing Race.'
CBS via Getty Images
And when it comes to travel tips and tricks, the connoisseur has it covered.
'I say you've got to really plan for things going wrong. Getting stuck on a plane, and you've got to fill in time,' Keoghan told The Post.
'So take a good book,' he continued. 'Or make sure you take a camera, definitely a good one to have. Eye mask, earplugs. A layer to keep warm. It can get very cold in airports if you're delayed and stuck in an airport. But the most important thing would be just take something that can keep you occupied and just chill.'
9 Phil Keoghan on 'Amazing Race.'
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Keoghan has hosted 'The Amazing Race' since the CBS reality television competition show's debut in 2001. The TV vet has seen people from all walks of life take home the $1 million dollar prize after competing on a 23,800-mile race around the globe.
'I have to say, if you look at all the winners on 'Amazing Race' they are all so vastly different,' he said. 'There's not a blueprint and that's one of the reasons the show works.'
Keoghan called the show 'unpredictable' and said the winners are 'varied and vast.'
'We really pride ourselves on having a really diverse cast in terms of really representing all of America, regardless of who people vote for, what their ethnic background is, who they chose to love, where they chose to live,' he told The Post. 'Whatever it is, we try to, as much as possible, show the audience all of America.'
9 Emmy winning host Phil Keoghan hosting 'The Amazing Race.'
CBS via Getty Images
Keoghan noted, 'We've been doing that from day one. Because of that diversity, you're going to get people who think differently, act differently, compete differently, and I think that's one of the strengths of the show.'
In 2023, the Emmy winner shared some casting secrets while speaking with The Post.
'I think the No. 1 thing is don't try to be like any other team that's ever been on 'Amazing Race' for a start. There will never be another globetrotting team,' Keoghan stated at the time. 'There will never be another set of cowboys … Every team that we've ever had on 'Amazing Race,' we try to cast because they're unique and they're different, and there's so much of that in America.'
9 Phil Keoghan hosting 'The Amazing Race.'
CBS
'So my advice to anybody is just be yourself. And be enthusiastic,' he reinforced. 'And trust me, if you stick out like a sore thumb for whatever reason, and we see it's real, then you've got a good shot.'
'But there really is no magic formula because if you look at the difference between the teams and all the different teams that we have — what was that song on Sesame Street? 'One of these things is not like the other.' If you look at every single team, they're just so different. They're tall, short, black, white, old, young, married, not married, siblings, best friends. The dynamics are also different, and that's why the show works, I think.'