The WORST episodes of The Amazing Race

#1 - One Million Cookies

Season 38 - Episode 12 - Aired 12/10/2025

The final three teams race through New York City where they rappel down the Empire State Building and one host Phil Keoghan crowns one team the winners.

#2 - 25 Days, 50 Cities, and More than 600 Consecutive Hours as a Family...

Season 8 - Episode 12 - Aired 12/13/2005

The teams set off from their Pit Stop in eastern Montana and receive a clue telling them to fly to Montreal, Canada and then find the basement of the C.D.P. Capital Building in Montreal’s underground city.

#3 - You Look Ridiculous

Season 8 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/8/2005

One family watches as one of their own takes an uncontrollable spin in a car during one of the challenges. Also, racers must leave their fear of heights on the ground as teams endure the flight of a lifetime filled with gravity-defying activities. Meanwhile, the rivalry between two families escalates into a high-speed food fight.

#4 - The Amazing Race Is Back!

Season 35 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/27/2023

The season begins at the iconic Hollywood Sign, celebrating the famous landmark’s 100th anniversary. For the first time, a former team surprises racers as judges at the first Roadblock, where one team member must traverse a perilous tightrope stretched from one rooftop to another at the historic Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, before heading to their first location, Thailand.

#5 - We're Finding Our Pot of Gold

Season 35 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/6/2023

Teams travel to Dublin, Ireland, where they must complete four challenges in the penultimate leg, including swimming in the Irish Sea, dancing with the legendary Riverdance troupe, scoring a point with the hurling team, and reciting quotes from a famed Irish novelist.

#6 - A Sunset, Seattle Scramble

Season 35 - Episode 12 - Aired 12/13/2023

The final three teams travel to Seattle, where they must complete three challenges in the first ever scramble leg. The challenges are inspired by Seattle’s art scene and include swinging from a high trapeze, glassblowing, and being a roadie for a grunge band. The team that successfully completes these challenges and arrives first will win the $1 million prize.

#7 - The Longest Minute of Your Life

Season 36 - Episode 10 - Aired 5/15/2024

In the penultimate leg, the final 4 teams compete for the chance to make the final 3, with one racer receiving the surprise of a lifetime after their elimination. Then, in the final leg, the remaining 3 teams get schooled in American history, and after 8 countries, 14 cities, and 11,711 miles, one team is crowned the winners.

#8 - Two Worlds Colliding

Season 38 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/25/2025

The 13 Big Brother based teams kick off the season in Amsterdam, where they face classic game pieces and unexpected twists right off the bat.

#9 - What Would Houdini Do?

Season 38 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/15/2025

Racers travel to illusionist Harry Houdini’s birthplace, Budapest, Hungary, where a puzzling Fast Forward puts one team to the test, while a horse drawn carriage has teams racing against the clock.

#10 - Cry and Rally

Season 38 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/8/2025

Racers travel to Kutná Hora, Czech Republic, where a new alliance takes control of the “Driver’s Seat” when the first team to arrive at the Roadblock must assign how many bottles of beer each team has to fill, and a self-drive causes stress and anxiety for teams.

#11 - It Feels Like Falling the Whole Time

Season 38 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/5/2025

Teams skydive through the clouds of Romania and one team is forced to play catch up after struggling during a sheep herding challenge.

#12 - Oh Egg, Where Art Thou

Season 38 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/12/2025

In Bucharest, two teams strategically use their Express Pass, eager to gain an advantage, while navigational frustration reaches a boiling point for another team.

#13 - I'm Not a Big Fan of Olives

Season 38 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/19/2025

After a surprising live double U-Turn, Phil sends the teams off to race through Athens, Greece.

#14 - Mom's Gonna Have the Willies

Season 38 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/1/2025

Teams depart for Prague, Czech Republic, where they encounter a Roadblock requiring them to walk across a narrow plank hundreds of feet above ground at the city’s tallest landmark, the Žižkov Television Tower, to retrieve their next clue.

#15 - He's a Few Ticks Away from Having a Heart Attack!

Season 4 - Episode 12 - Aired 8/14/2003

At the Pit Stop in Australia, the teams receive a clue telling them to drive 80 miles to Australian woolshed. There, they'll receive further instructions on how to receive their next clue. They're given only $1 for this leg of the race. David and Jeff reflect at the beginning of the race reflect on how their being analytical gives them an edge, while Kelly and Jon note that they've been saving up money. When the teams arrive at the woolshed, they find that it does not open until 6 A.M and therefore, they're all going to be grouped together. Once the woolshed opens, they all race in and find that they each have to search through a giant pile of wool for the clue. Kelly and Jon are the first to find the clue, which directs them to the airport. They have to fly 1,000 miles to Cairnes. Chip and Reichen find the clue second and David and Jeff, despite having some difficulties at first, soon find the clue buried in some wool they had already looked through. The teams all catch a 7:45 flight

#16 - This Is Where It Ends (2)

Season 18 - Episode 12 - Aired 5/8/2011

#17 - Having a Baby's Gotta Be Easier Than This

Season 14 - Episode 10 - Aired 4/26/2009

In an Olympic-themed task in Beijing, Teams swim the same distance that Michael Phelps swam in the 400 meter individual medley, and two Teams continue to hold a grudge against each other.

#18 - Cheaters Never Win --- And They Cheated!

Season 4 - Episode 1 - Aired 5/29/2003

The fourth season premieres, again with twelve teams, this time beginning in LA's Dodger Stadium. The teams rush off and drive to the LAX airport, trying to land seats on one of three airlines. Swiss Air and Lufthansa both depart at the same time; however Swiss Air is scheduled to arrive in Milan a good forty minutes earlier. KLM leaves about an hour later, and will carry the remaining teams. Steve and Josh, apparently wanting to take advantage of a possible alliance with Steve and Dave (the air traffic controllers), buy tickets for them, costing Monica/Sheree and Chip/Reichen their seats on the Swiss Air flight, and their place in line. This leads to accusations of cheatings, as referenced in the episode title. Teams arrive in Milan and must search for their first clue, which was to find charter bus tickets hidden in various spots within the Galleria Victoria, a pedestrian mall. There are three available slot times for bus departures: 2 AM, 4 AM, and 6 AM. Teams are taken to the Dolom

#19 - Phil Is a Choo-Choo Charlie

Season 6 - Episode 7 - Aired 12/28/2004

A holiday clip show reviews the season so far and gives viewers a look at never before seen footage, including material that builds on previous scenes and completely new material.

#20 - This Game Is About Minutes

Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired 3/27/2002

The teams travel to Namibia where they climb sand dunes and slide down them as a task. Shola and Doyin face problems of driving standard in the desert and eventually get stuck. Wil and Tara accuse Gary and Dave of speeding and even call them cheaters and Gary tells them that "[They're] going down!". A feud on the horizon? Oswald and Danny maintain their position in first place as they capture a rather easy fast forward which sends them directly to the pit stop. Shola and Doyin can not overcome their problems in the desert and end up skipping most of their tasks and just head directly to the pit stop where they are eliminated. Blake and Paige spark controversy with Mary and Peach as in a race to the finish, the brother and sister team cut across the trees to finish minutes before the two sisters.

#21 - Bees Are Much Calmer Than All This!

Season 13 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/28/2008

Eleven teams start at the Los Angeles Coliseum and travel to Salvador, Brazil.

#22 - Colossal Showdown

Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/3/2001

The teams start off at the Chateau Les Baux in Paris, France. The first task is to find a man in a red hat, standing under a miniature Arc de Triomphe.

#23 - Now It's About Winning

Season 32 - Episode 12 - Aired 12/16/2020

With the $1 million prize on the line, the final 3 teams travel to New Orleans where, after visiting 11 countries, 17 cities, and travelling more than 33,000 miles, one team will be crowned the winners.

#24 - The World is Waiting: Go!

Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 3/11/2002

The second group of the Amazing Race contestants are off on the first leg of a journey across the world. The first place they must travel to is Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where the teams rappel down the face of a 590 foot mountain and others search for the woman that inspired the song "The Girl from Ipaneema". Problems arise between two of the teams when Tara & Wil claim to have been at the Hotel (where they were to get reservations) before the rest of the teams arrived. Blake and Wil have it out about this, even to the point of Wil bragging up his travelling skills. Peggy and Claire, the oldest contestants in the race are sure they will get eliminated but in a mad rush to the finish, they get to the pit stop minutes before mother and daughter pair, Deidre and Hillary, while separated couple Tara and Wil place first. After being eliminated, the team feels the race has definitely improved their relationship and has brought them closer together after Hillary had spent most of her life living

#25 - Divide and Conquer

Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/19/2001

The teams start out in Songwe Village, Zambia. When the times depart from the pit stop they must find the Songwe Museum in the village without any signs to indicate where it is located.