‘It makes for great TV, but the travel this year was next level’: Beau Ryan is back for The Amazing Race

The Amazing Race is back again for its eighth season, and fifth in its current Beau Ryan-hosting iteration at Ten. It’s also the second Celebrity Edition, following last year’s series, in which viewers were treated to a world-first three-way tie.

But that was last season. This year, Ian Thorpe, Natalie Bassingthwaighte, Matildas’ Chloe Logarzo and Emily Gielnik, and Pete Helliar will be trapsing around the globe for your viewing pleasure.

Beau Ryan tells Mumbrella that his hosting role takes on a different dimension during the celebrity editions of the Amazing Race.

“I know quite a few of them personally,” he says of this season’s contestants. “That’s the biggest difference, I’ve got history with a few of them, I’ve worked with them, some of them are my friends, so that makes you in your feelings a little bit more when teams get eliminated — when good things happen or bad things happen — having that personal connection with them is the biggest difference.”

Ryan was impressed with how the celebrities threw themselves into the challenge, “how hard they go and how much they dig deep for charity” – not that he’s been taking it easy himself.

Ryan started filming this series straight off the back of Top Gear Australia, which also saw him travel through various countries in pursuit of great TV, while 2024 has also seen him host the return of Gladiators, which filmed late last year and aired in January.

“Yeah, it’s been a crazy 12 months”, Ryan admits, “especially from Top Gear, which was a long time away, and then to The Amazing Race [which] was obviously a long time away as well.”

The idea of bouncing between countries seems like a privilege, especially seeing Ryan’s second season on the show saw an enviable schedule that included visits to India, Brazil and Europe axed when COVID hit – with filming restricted to Australia.

“COVID was very tricky,” Ryan recalls. “I did a quarantine before I started, then I was in quarantine once I got COVID during the show – so that was very testing.

“To have borders open now and countries easy to get in and out of, it’s been refreshing. It’s wonderful to go to some countries and continents this year that a lot of the people and teams haven’t been to; some of my favorite places on the planet, especially South Africa and Africa. It was an awesome feeling getting back to the way the world should be.”

Ryan says Africa in particular is always an “eye-opening” experience.

“Not only, obviously, the animals and the safaris, but the different types of people and cultures you interact with is incredible.

“The people are so gorgeous. They’re so beautiful and they’re really, really down to earth and you feel this sense of gratitude when you get there. They’re so happy, and they’re always smiling. So it was wonderful for our teams to see that.”

Ryan has been to the continent a few times, and was happy with its prominent placing this year.

“To showcase Africa and the best parts of Africa and the people was a real big plus for this season.”

There was a lot more continent-hopping this season, too.

“I mean, usually, we change countries literally every three, four days and sometimes at the end of each week – that’s part of the show, but we’ve never changed continents so many times.”

Shooting started in South America before moving to Africa, through to South Africa, then back to South America, then to Asia.

“There was a lot of long haul flights this year where it’s sometimes a day or two in transit, which – when the teams are quite jet lagged and missing home, it really does affect them  – and it makes for great TV, but the travel this year was next level.”

Being an old hand, Ryan recommends keeping your body clock similar to where it will be in the final few weeks of travel.

“That might mean the first couple of weeks in South America and Africa, I might be up at 4am, but by the time I get to the end of the race and the last two to three weeks, I’m sort of in sync.”

At least, that’s the plan.

“Jet lag is one thing that you can have a plan for, but it all goes out the window when you get to that country, and it’s the same when you come home.

“You can swim in the ocean or try not to eat, or eat at certain times, but at the end of the day, your body will wake up when it wants to.”

Watch the first two episodes of The Amazing Race: Celebrity Edition on 10 Play. 

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Nathan Jolly

Nathan Jolly is the Features Editor at Mumbrella. He joined the team in July, 2023.

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topics Beau Ryan Chloe Logarzo Emily Gielnik Ian Thorpe Natalie Bassingthwaighte Pete Helliar The Amazing Race

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