'The Amazing Race' Season 26 Cast Revealed

By Virnelli Mercader, Christian Post Contributor Thursday, January 22, 2015

After Maya Dejong and Amy Warren—also known as "The Candy Girls"—won season 25 of "The Amazing Race" and took home the $1 million grand prize, the show is gearing up for a brand new season as the Emmy winning reality series is going to play matchmaker on Season 26.

The new season will feature a new twist—six of the pairs competing in the race are already in established relationships, while the other five are "blind dates" who will meet for the very first time at the race's starting line.

"Usually we have people who know each other really well. In this particular case, we have five blind dates and six regular dates," said Bertram van Munster, "The Amazing Race" co-creator and executive producer. "Going on a blind date to a restaurant is one thing, but going on a blind date around the world is like rolling the dice in a big way."

The teams will also have the opportunity throughout the race to win the new "Date Night" reward, which allows one couple to enjoy a romantic activity like a night at a hot springs resort in Nagano, Japan, or star-gazing at the Bavarian Public Observatory in Munich, Germany.

Here are the competitors in "The Amazing Race" season 26:

Pre-existing Dating Couples:

Aly Dudek and Steven Langton- Both Dudek and Langton are Olympic athletes. Dudek won the bronze at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics in short track speed skating while Langton won two bronze medals at the 2014 Sochi Olympics in bobsledding.

Harley Rodriguez and Jonathan Knight- Rodriguez is a group fitness trainer while Knight is a member of New Kids on the Block.

Jeff Magee and Lyda Grawn- Magee is an airline pilot while Grawn works as a flight attendant.

C.J. Harris and Lebya Simpson- Harris is an I.T. technician while Simpson works as a medical support assistant.

Matt Cucolo and Ashley Gordon- both are working as hairstylists in Scarsdale, N.Y.

Rochelle Nevedal and Michael Dombrowski- Nevedal is a contract engineer, while Dombrowski is a pro wrestling promoter.

Blind Date Competitors:

Hayley Keel- Keel is a registered nurse from Florida.

Blair Townsend- works as a Navy physician.

Jackie Ibarra- is a professional dancer from Las Vegas, Nevada.

Jeffrey Weldon- works as an account executive and is from Tampa, Florida

Laura Pierson- a talent booker from L.A.

Tyler Adams- a mobile app developer from Santa Monica, California

Jenny Wu- a blogger and lawyer from L.A.

Jelani Roy- a lawyer from New York

Bergen Olsen- a human resources project manager from California

Kurt Jordan Belcher- a pageant consultant from Kentucky

"The Amazing Race" kicks off with a 90-minute premiere on Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 9:30 p.m. ET before moving to its regularly-scheduled timeslot on Friday, Feb. 27 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.