Hosted by Phil Keoghan, it featured twelve teams of two, each with a pre-existing relationship, competing in a race around the world to win US$1,000,000.

This season visited four continents and thirteen countries and traveled over 40,000 miles (64,000 km) during twelve legs.

Starting in Seattle, racers traveled through China, Mongolia, Vietnam, India, Kuwait, Mauritius, Madagascar, Finland, Ukraine, Morocco, Spain, and France before returning to the United States and finishing in the Hudson Valley.

Professional models Tyler Denk and James Branaman were the winners of this season, while dating couple Rob Diaz and Kimberly Chabolla finished in second place, and single mothers Lyn Turk and Karlyn Harris finished in third place.

[4] During the leg in Ukraine, host Phil Keoghan was detained at the airport for traveling to the country with a New Zealand passport and without a Ukrainian visa, which he had been informed prior to filming wasn't needed.

It included best friends, a couple, college cheerleaders, boyfriends, brothers, a Paralympian with a prosthetic leg, recovering drug addicts, beauty pageant queens, and a pair of single mothers.

[7] David & Mary also appeared on The View where they received gifts from the show, including vacations, a Ford Explorer, and a new house.

[13] Heather Havrilesky of Salon wrote that "after so much shared struggle and heartbreak, we find that we can hardly remember a single detail from our time with these strangers.