Hosted by Phil Keoghan, it featured eleven teams of two, each with a pre-existing relationship, competing in a race around the world in order to win US$1,000,000.
Starting in Los Angeles, racers traveled through Chile, Argentina, Germany, France, the Seychelles, Malaysia, Singapore, and China before returning to the United States and finishing in San Francisco.
[1] Brothers Dan and Jordan Pious were the winners of this season, while cowboy brothers Jet McCoy and Cord McCoy finished in second place, and models Brent Horne and Caite Upton finished in third place.
The sixteenth season spanned 40,000 miles (64,000 km) across five continents and nine countries, including a first-time visit to the Seychelles.
[9] Notable cast members included Big Brother 11 HouseGuests Jordan Lloyd and Jeff Schroeder, professional bull rider Cord McCoy, and Cleveland Indians third-base coach Steve Smith.
The first five eliminated teams were sequestered at a villa in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, to await the finale.
CBS posted short videos on its website after each episode to show the eliminated teams interacting at the villa.
[24] Michael Hewitt of the Orange County Register wrote that "stupidity and luck ruled, and the game-changing plays came via two lethal U-Turns.
[28] Conversely, Luke Dwyer of TV Fanatic called this season a blast, praised the locations and tasks, and said that it "was one of the more entertaining in recent memory and Dan and Jordan's victory was well deserved.