The Amazing Race Season 39 Cast: Meet All 13 Teams
Season Coverage · CAST PREVIEW
The Amazing Race Season 39 Cast at a Glance
The Amazing Race Season 39 cast includes 13 teams representing siblings, parents and children, married couples, lifelong friends, professional athletes, and a grandfather-grandson pairing.
The starting line is almost here.
The Amazing Race returns September 30 with 13 new teams, a Vancouver starting line and one of the most intriguing strategic twists the Race has introduced in years.
For the first time, all 13 teams begin with an Express Pass.
Each team will eventually have the ability to bypass a task — but the advantage comes with a deadline. The pass must be used by the end of Leg 6.
That means Season 39 begins with more than a new cast.
It begins with 13 strategic decisions waiting to be made.
CBS says the season will send racers across five continents, nine countries, 13 cities and more than 25,000 miles, with destinations and challenges including Morocco, Laos and the Race's first visit to Albania.
Before anyone leaves Vancouver, however, the most important variable remains the same:
the teams themselves.
Here’s the Season 39 field — and Around the Route’s preseason read on the strengths, questions and dynamics that could shape each team’s race.
ABOUT THE PRESEASON READ: Around the Route's preseason classifications are based on publicly available information before the Race begins.
“Contender” identifies teams whose backgrounds suggest multiple potentially transferable Race strengths.
“Dark Horse” identifies teams with intriguing strengths that may outperform expectations.
“Wild Card” identifies teams whose Race potential is especially difficult to project before Leg 1.
Ali Krieger & Joanna Lohman
PRO ATHLETES · MOMS
Ali Krieger, 42 · Joanna Lohman, 44
Montclair, New Jersey / Silver Spring, Maryland
Photo: Courtesy of CBS/Paramount
Krieger and Lohman enter the Race with one of the strongest competitive résumés in the field. CBS identifies both as professional athletes; Krieger is a two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion and Olympian, while Lohman also played professional soccer and represented the U.S. Women's National Team.
THE ROUTE READ
Athletic conditioning should not be the question here.
The more interesting test will be how elite-sport instincts translate into an environment where speed alone is rarely enough.
The Race rewards competitors who can shift quickly between physical performance and information management. A team can dominate a task and lose the advantage ten minutes later by misreading a clue, taking the wrong transportation or becoming too confident in a decision.
WHAT WE'RE WATCHING:
How quickly two elite competitors adapt when the challenge becomes navigation rather than athleticism.
PRESEASON READ: CONTENDER
Ann-Marie Tejcek & Riley Tejcek
MOTHER & DAUGHTER
Ann-Marie, 56 · Healthcare Executive
Riley, 29 · Marine Officer
Carmel, Indiana / San Diego, California
Photo: Courtesy of CBS/Paramount
CBS identifies Ann-Marie and Riley as a mother-daughter team, with backgrounds in healthcare leadership and the military.
THE ROUTE READ
This pairing immediately raises an interesting question about leadership.
Both backgrounds suggest experience operating under pressure, but the Race has a way of changing who needs to lead from one moment to the next.
A strong parent-child team often succeeds when experience and decisiveness coexist with enough flexibility for roles to reverse.
WHAT WE'RE WATCHING:
Whether leadership shifts naturally between them when the route demands different strengths.
PRESEASON READ: DARK HORSE
Anuar Tager & Andrea Tager Ballesca
FATHER & DAUGHTER
Anuar, 58 · Developer
Andrea, 25 · Medical Student
Houston, Texas
Photo: Courtesy of CBS/Paramount
Anuar and Andrea are the season's second father-daughter pairing. CBS lists Anuar as a developer and Andrea as a medical student.
THE ROUTE READ
The age difference could be an advantage rather than a liability.
Different generations often process unfamiliar environments differently. One racer may be quicker physically while the other recognizes patterns, remains patient or sees risk differently.
The key will be whether those differences become complementary or turn into hesitation when decisions have to be made quickly.
WHAT WE'RE WATCHING:
Decision-making when their instincts point in different directions.
PRESEASON READ: WILD CARD
Cody Langlois & Jaime Tribo
SIBLINGS
Cody, 35 · Civil Engineer
Jaime, 33 · Dietitian
Los Angeles, California / Tinley Park, Illinois
Photo: Courtesy of CBS/Paramount
CBS identifies Cody and Jaime as siblings, with careers in civil engineering and dietetics.
THE ROUTE READ
Sibling teams often arrive with something difficult to manufacture: familiarity.
They already know how the other thinks, reacts and gets frustrated.
That can save enormous amounts of time — or make old habits surface under pressure.
Cody's engineering background also makes route-oriented and spatial challenges particularly interesting to watch.
WHAT WE'RE WATCHING:
Whether sibling familiarity becomes efficient shorthand or unnecessary friction.
PRESEASON READ: DARK HORSE
Conner Wilson & Garrett McGuire
CHILDHOOD FRIENDS
Conner, 27 · Media Producer
Garrett, 27 · Engineer
Loomis, California / Rocklin, California
Photo: Courtesy of CBS/Paramount
Conner and Garrett have known each other since childhood and bring media-production and engineering backgrounds to the Race.
THE ROUTE READ
Long-term friendship gives them a potentially valuable baseline: they don't need the Race to teach them who the other person is.
Their professional backgrounds are also intriguing.
Engineering can reward systematic thinking; media production often demands adaptability when conditions change quickly.
Those are useful tendencies in a competition built around incomplete information.
WHAT WE'RE WATCHING:
Whether their different problem-solving styles complement one another when plans collapse.
PRESEASON READ: DARK HORSE
Dafina & Saran Dunmore
SISTERS · BEST FRIENDS
Dafina, 52 · Bond Analyst / DJ
Saran, 51 · Personal Trainer / Founder, Kids Leading Kids
Chicago, Illinois
Photo: Courtesy of CBS/Paramount
CBS describes Dafina and Saran as both sisters and best friends. Their professional backgrounds span finance, music, fitness and youth leadership.
THE ROUTE READ
There is a lot of range here.
Analytical thinking, physical preparation, leadership and decades of relationship history all potentially matter.
The strongest asset may simply be emotional familiarity. Long-term teams often know when their partner needs encouragement — and when they need space.
WHAT WE'RE WATCHING:
How quickly they reset after mistakes.
PRESEASON READ: CONTENDER
Daisha Wilks & Dalton Hamby
DATING
Daisha, 28 · Videographer
Dalton, 27 · Videographer
Flat Rock, Alabama / Jacksonville, Alabama
Photo: Courtesy of CBS/Paramount
Daisha and Dalton are dating and both work as videographers.
THE ROUTE READ
A shared profession suggests they may already have experience collaborating creatively and solving problems together.
The Race will test a different version of that partnership.
It removes control.
There are no retakes, ideal conditions or opportunities to reset the environment. The route keeps moving whether a team is ready or not.
WHAT WE'RE WATCHING:
How they respond when a shared plan stops working.
PRESEASON READ: WILD CARD
Doug & Dylan Matter
GRANDFATHER & GRANDSON
Doug, 73 · Retired Fire Chief
Dylan, 19 · College Student
San Diego, California
Photo: Courtesy of CBS/Paramount
At 73 and 19, Doug and Dylan bring the season's largest age gap between teammates. CBS identifies Doug as a retired fire chief and Dylan as a college student.
THE ROUTE READ
Their age difference will inevitably attract attention, but treating this pairing only as an age story would miss the more interesting competitive question.
Doug's career suggests decades of leadership and decision-making under pressure. Dylan may provide speed, recovery and a different relationship with technology and unfamiliar information.
The question is whether they can turn two very different life stages into one operating system.
WHAT WE'RE WATCHING:
Role specialization — particularly who leads which kinds of decisions.
PRESEASON READ: DARK HORSE
Erin Taylor & Javi Vintimilla
MARRIED
Erin, 28 · Head of Human Resources
Javi, 30 · Pilot
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Photo: Courtesy of CBS/Paramount
Erin and Javi are married; CBS lists Erin as a human-resources executive and Javi as a pilot.
THE ROUTE READ
The pilot background jumps off the page for obvious reasons, but not because flying airplanes automatically translates to Racing.
What may translate is situational awareness, procedural thinking and comfort making decisions while conditions change.
Human-resources leadership brings a very different but potentially complementary skill: managing people, communication and conflict.
WHAT WE'RE WATCHING:
Whether communication becomes their competitive advantage.
PRESEASON READ: CONTENDER
Jody Rebhun & Jenn Naso
BEST FRIENDS · MOMS
Jody, 44 · History Teacher
Jenn, 44 · Forensic Scientist
Branford, Connecticut / Larchmont, New York
Photo: Courtesy of CBS/Paramount
CBS identifies Jody and Jenn as best friends and moms, with careers in education and forensic science.
THE ROUTE READ
This may be one of the more intellectually interesting combinations in the cast.
Teaching history involves context, memory and communication. Forensic science involves observation, evidence and disciplined interpretation.
The Race repeatedly punishes teams for overlooking small pieces of information.
That makes attention to detail potentially significant.
WHAT WE'RE WATCHING:
Clue reading, observation and information discipline.
PRESEASON READ: DARK HORSE
Katie & Charlotte Schultz
SISTERS
Katie, 26 · Esthetician
Charlotte, 20 · Esthetician
Murray, Kentucky
Photo: Courtesy of CBS/Paramount
Katie and Charlotte are sisters from Kentucky and both work as estheticians.
THE ROUTE READ
Their shared profession and sibling relationship suggest substantial familiarity.
But familiarity does not automatically equal efficient Race communication.
The most successful sibling teams are often those capable of making quick corrections without turning every disagreement into a larger argument.
WHAT WE'RE WATCHING:
How quickly they move past frustration.
PRESEASON READ: WILD CARD
Michelle & Matthew Patterson
MARRIED PARENTS
Michelle, 31 · Auto Body Shop Owner / Real Estate Agent
Matthew, 36 · Business Operations Director
Rutherford, New Jersey
Photo: Courtesy of CBS/Paramount
CBS lists Michelle and Matthew as married parents. Michelle owns an auto-body shop and works in real estate; Matthew works in business operations.
THE ROUTE READ
There is a practical, operational quality to this pairing on paper.
Running businesses and managing operations often means solving problems without having perfect information — which sounds surprisingly familiar to the Race.
But the clock changes everything.
A good decision made too slowly can still become a bad Race decision.
WHAT WE'RE WATCHING:
Their balance between careful decision-making and speed.
PRESEASON READ: CONTENDER
Zach & Nate Johnson
BROTHERS
Zach, 30 · Car Salesman / Co-Founder of Pipley
Nate, 27 · Director of Sales
Dallas, Texas
Photo: Courtesy of CBS/Paramount
Zach and Nate are brothers from Dallas with professional backgrounds in sales and business.
THE ROUTE READ
Sales backgrounds can reward confidence, improvisation and comfort interacting with strangers.
That last quality can be particularly valuable on the Race.
Teams constantly need information from taxi drivers, station employees, local residents and one another.
The potential danger is confidence becoming certainty before the available information justifies it.
WHAT WE'RE WATCHING:
Whether confidence helps them move quickly without pushing them into preventable mistakes.
PRESEASON READ: DARK HORSE
13 EXPRESS PASSES CHANGE THE OPENING GAME
There is another reason these 13 teams are difficult to evaluate before the premiere.
They will all begin with an advantage.
Season 39 introduces 13 Express Passes — one for every team — and each must be played by the end of Leg 6.
Normally, possessing an Express Pass creates separation between one team and the rest of the field.
This time, possession isn't the differentiator.
Timing is.
Do you use it early to protect yourself from a bad task?
Save it for a potentially decisive leg?
Spend it when you're already ahead to preserve position?
Or hold it too long and discover that the moment you were saving it for never arrives?
The Race hasn't even started, and every team already has a strategic decision to make.
That is exactly the kind of decision Around the Route will be tracking.
WHAT WE'RE WATCHING BEFORE THE PREMIERE
It's too early for definitive rankings.
Nobody has navigated a leg.
Nobody has faced a Detour.
Nobody has stood at the back of a pack wondering whether the next decision might send them home.
But the cast already gives us several compelling competitive questions:
Can elite athleticism become elite Race management?
Which parent-child team adapts roles most effectively?
Can experience offset raw speed?
Which teams communicate best after making mistakes?
And who understands when their Express Pass is worth more than simply finishing a difficult task?
Those questions become real September 30.
And once the Race begins, Around the Route will follow not only where the teams finish —
but why they finished there.
THE ROUTE AHEAD
Season 39 begins with a special two-night premiere:
Wednesday, September 30 — 9:30–11:00 PM ET/PT
Thursday, October 1 — 9:30–11:00 PM ET/PT
The Race then continues in its regular Wednesday time period beginning October 7.
CBS says the route begins in Vancouver and stretches across five continents, nine countries and more than 25,000 miles.
Thirteen teams.
Thirteen Express Passes.
One route.
And plenty of decisions waiting to be analyzed.
The Race is almost here.
FOLLOW SEASON 39 WITH AROUND THE ROUTE
Around the Route will follow The Amazing Race Season 39 with team rankings, strategy analysis, episode recaps, route breakdowns and more throughout the Race.
EXPLORE SEASON 39 COVERAGE →
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