Why was The Amazing Race cancelled? CBS isn't the network that dropped the axe
The Amazing Race really was pulled from a 2026 schedule, just not the one most people are checking.
The American version is on CBS right now. Season 39, hosted as always by Phil Keoghan, premiered on September 30 and airs Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m., straight after Survivor 51. CBS renewed both shows in January, and the season opener drew 2.83 million viewers.
The one that vanished is The Amazing Race Australia, hosted by former rugby league player Beau Ryan on Network 10. Its 2026 season was called off with filming only weeks away.
What happened in Australia
The decision came fast, and it reversed a promise the network had made two months earlier:
- November 2025 — at Paramount Australia's upfront presentation at Dreamworld, the network sold the show to advertisers as part of its 2026 lineup. Tamara Simoneau, its vice president of content, counted it among its "returning comfort shows."
- January 2026 — casting was underway, and filming was penciled in for early March.
- January 29, 2026 — a network spokesperson confirmed the season would not air.
- January 30, 2026 — Ryan addressed it on Triple M's breakfast show, which he co-hosts.
The official explanation came in a short statement. It mentioned travel and "several factors," and it didn't name a single concrete problem that had stopped the show.
The series "will not be a part of our 2026 program schedule," a Network 10 spokesperson said, citing "several factors, including travel logistics."
An unnamed TV insider told Now To Love that stopping a show partway through casting is "almost unheard of."
Cancelled, or 'rested'?
The network's own word was "rested." Ryan says that's accurate, and that the problem was the calendar.
"The Amazing Race is coming back in 2027," Ryan said on Triple M. "We just don't know when we're going to film it."
His account is about time, not money. The shoot had been set for the start of March, and he pointed out that the show "takes six to 12 months to plan and prepare for." A later shoot means a later edit, and a later edit no longer fit the 2026 schedule. The new season is expected to be the fourth celebrity edition, in which famous contestants race with someone close to them for an A$100,000 charity prize. It would be the Australian franchise's 10th season.
A race around the world is planned a year out. Once filming slipped from March, there was no version of 2026 it could still air in.
What it wasn't
Nothing on the record points to the usual reasons a reality show gets dropped:
- The ratings — the 2025 celebrity edition, won by actors Stephen and Bernard Curry, was up 7% on the year before, according to Now To Love.
- The host — Network 10 says Ryan stays with the network, and he has hosted every season since its 2019 revival.
- The American show — CBS's version is on the air, with no changes announced.
The Australian version has been off the air before. Seven Network launched it in 2011 with Grant Bowler as host, ran three seasons and didn't renew it after The Amazing Race Australia v New Zealand in 2014. It sat dormant for five years until Network 10 brought it back in 2019.
Former contestants are taking the pause lightly. Steph Tisdell, who raced on the 2025 season with her brother Ben, joked about it to New Idea: "They said we can never do better than Steph, we've peaked, it's over."
For the record: Network 10 and CBS have the same owner. "Paramount made the decision that we won't air it this year," Ryan said.
Previously we wrote: Nigella Lawson explains why she'll never apologize for eating on The Great British Baking Show