Why Did 4 ‘Amazing Race’ Teams Leave At Once?

connie and sam amazing race 33
Nick Davis

The Amazing Race occasionally has teams who quit. At most this has resulted in two teams exiting the game in a single episode. Never before in the history of the race have four teams exited the game all at the same time. That’s exactly what happened in the most recent episode of Season 33.

After the 19-month long pit stop taken due to the outbreak of COVID-19 throughout the world, the race finally resumed. However, four teams were absent. Anthony & Spencer, Caro & Ray, Isaiah & Taylor, and Connie & Sam. It’s understandable that some teams weren’t able to return after such a long absence and such a life-changing year and a half through the pandemic. But why specifically were those 4 teams unable to return? The answers are as surprising as they are varied.

Anthony & Spencer

Anthony & Spencer were frontrunners for their brief time on Season 33. They consistently did well throughout the 3 legs and finished first in leg 1. They very likely could have made it all the way to the end had they stuck around. But, unfortunately, Anthony had other things going on. In a recent interview, he explained that he had recently been promoted in his job when the season was set to resume. He couldn’t take the time off work at such a critical time to compete in the race. However, both Anthony and Spencer have expressed interest in running a future season of the race.

The Amazing Race via YouTube

Caro & Ray

The Love Island duo were solid middle-of-the-pack racers. They never particularly stood out and had multiple emotional moments just in their 3 legs, but they also never came too close to elimination. This means they had solid potential to do well in the race if they pulled it together throughout the season. Alas, in July of 2020, Caro announced on her YouTube channel that she and Ray have broken up. They have yet to announce the official reason for why they chose not to race again, but it’s safe to assume that the break-up is why.

Isaiah & Taylor

The viral dancing duo were not particularly strong racers. They struggled throughout the 3 legs and neared last place multiple times. That’s no reason to get discouraged, however, plenty of Amazing Race teams struggled at the start and pulled it together to run a great race by the end. Isaiah and Taylor did fly out to Switzerland to resume the race along with the other teams, but a tragic death in the family resulted in them dropping out at the last second to be with Taylor’s family. Rest in peace to Taylor’s brother Montrell.

isaiah and taylor amazing race 33 instagram

Connie & Sam

Connie & Sam had proven themselves to be solid racers, if not a little lacking in cultural knowledge, during their 3 legs. The pair revealed after this recent episode that they wanted to return to the race when it resumed. But, a surprise pregnancy at the beginning of 2021 stopped any chance of that. Sam was 7 months pregnant when the race resumed this year. There was absolutely no chance of her racing in that condition. The two have had the child since then, so congratulations to them.

Stay tuned for more exciting updates on Season 33 of The Amazing Race. 

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