Reality Rumors

The Amazing Race twelfth-season contestants wed on Wednesday at the Ventura, CA County Clerk and Recorder’s Office in front of 20 friends and family members, the Ventura County Star reported Thursday.

“Who would ever have thought we would do [The Amazing Race]?” Hendrickson told the Star. “And a year ago, who would ever have thought we would do this?”

The couple currently resides in Thousand Oaks, CA but are in the process of relocating to Oahu, HI — where Lewis is vicar at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Kailua, the Star reported. Hendrickson and Lewis have been together for 11 years.

CBS has announced The Amazing Race’s thirteenth season will premiere Sunday, September 28 at 8PM ET/PT.

The Amazing Race’s thirteenth season will air as part of CBS’ Sunday night lineup, where it will be preceded by 60 Minutes in the 7PM ET/PT time slot and followed by Cold Case at 9PM ET/PT. In addition, CBS announced The Unit will move to the Sundays at 10PM ET/PT time slot this fall.

Casting for The Amazing Race’s thirteenth installment commenced last fall and the show filmed its finale in the Portland, OR area in mid May — around the same time CBS announced it would be part of the network’s Fall 2008 primetime programming lineup.

CBS renewed The Amazing Race for a thirteenth edition last December while the long-running reality series was in the midst of airing it’s twelfth-season, which for the first time in three years did not premiere as part of the network’s initial fall schedule launch and was instead slated as midseason programming.

In addition to The Amazing Race’s thirteenth-season debut, CBS announced Survivor: Gabon — the long-running reality show’s seventeenth installment — will premiere Thursday, September 18 at 8PM ET/PT.

As it has for the last seven years, Survivor’s premiere will mark the debut of CBS’ new fall schedule. The rest of the network’s schedule won’t begin premiering until Monday, September 22, the official start of the 2008-2009 television season.

“Newly Dating Couple” Rachel Rosales and TK Erwin were revealed to be The Amazing Race’s twelfth-season winners during the show’s finale on CBS.

“I can’t even believe it… I’m really speechless,” TK told host Phil Keoghan after he crossed the Finish Line with Rachel. “None of this even seems real. It’s kind of freaking me out.”

Rachel, a 23-year-old florist and business owner, and TK, a 22-year-old substitute teacher — both of whom reside in Huntington Beach, CA — were the first team to reach the race’s Finish Line in Anchorage, AK and claim the $1 million grand prize.

“This whole things was such a crazy roller coaster with so many ups and downs,” said TK. “To do it with Rachel, I think our relationship has only grown through this whole thing. And for that, that’s more important than any of this for me.”

“Father/Daughter” team Ronald and Christina Hsu finished second.

“He knows this is a dream for me to be on this amazing adventure,” said Christina, a 26-year-old political analyst from Washington DC, about her father. “To run it with him, there’s no one else in this whole entire world I would run this race with except for my dad. I’m just so happy to be here with him right now.”

“I feel real grateful that even though I didn’t come up with first place,” added Ron, a 58-year-old vice-president of sales from Tacoma, WA. “I come up with the first place in my daughter’s heart. The fact that I changed for the better… I had the elation of bonding with Christina for the entire race, and that was just joy that I cannot express. I am a new man!”

“Grandfather/Grandson” Donald Jerousek and Nicolas Fulks were the third and final team to reach the Finish Line, with Phil informing Don — a retired 68-year-old from Elkhorn, WI — that he was officially the oldest person to ever make it to the Finish Line in The Amazing Race history.

“I always said that I could do this competition, but now I had a chance to prove it,” said Don. “The thing that made me the happiest was that I could go all the way to every leg.”

“Aside from winning, my main goal was to just come here and be on the mat and race around the world and have a great time with my grandfather,” said Nick, a 23-year-old pilot who is originally from Chicago, IL. “I got everything I wanted from it and more.”

In the end it was TK and Rachel who were the first to the Finish Line, where Phil and the previously eliminated teams were waiting.

“My feelings for TK are very real. He’s my best friend, he’s my rock and he’s just my favorite person,” said Rachel. “And I got to do this with him!”

Jennifer Parker and Nathan Hagstrom opted to take public transportation instead of a taxi, a decision that contributed to them becoming the eighth team eliminated from The Amazing Race during last night’s broadcast on CBS.

“I really don’t know what Nate and I are going to do,” said Jen following her team’s ouster. “We just really have to see what the future holds for us… I think that we killed our relationship on the way. We weren’t strong enough to heal and finish the race. We just frickin’ killed ourselves during it Nate!”

“I know Jen,” replied a somber Nathan.

We didn’t even focus on our relationship,” she continued. “All we cared about was the race!”

“Darn it!” said an emotional Nathan through tears.

Nathan and Jen completed the “Earth” Detour task and left for the Pit Stop.

“I don’t want to get eliminated. I don’t want to get eliminated,” said Jen.

It didn’t matter how many times she said it, as Nathan and Jen were the last team to reach the Pit Stop and thus were booted from the competition.

“We did the best we could and we fought a lot,” said Nathan as he stood on the mat with Jen. “It was tough on us. We definitely wanted to win more than anything — more than anything we wanted to win.”

“Nate and I have learned a lot about each other and our relationship,” added Jen. “It’s been a really big growing experience for us.”

The Amazing Race’s twelfth-season finale broadcast will air Sunday, January 20 at 8PM ET/PT on CBS.

Kynt Cothron and Vyxsin Fiala were able to overcome the Speed Bump penalty they incurred during the previous leg, however the “Dating Goths” incorrectly utilized a U-Turn when they encountered it, ultimately causing them to become the seventh team eliminated from The Amazing Race.

“Kynt and I have gotten to enjoy and appreciate what is unique and beautiful about so many different cultures,” added Vyxsin. “Though The Amazing Race is over for us, I know in my heart-of-hearts that as long as Kynt is in my life, the adventure will never end.”

Nathan and Jen were the fourth team to reach the Pit Stop, eliminating Kynt and Vyxsin. However they apparently took some solace in the fact that host Phil Keoghan called them “the most fashionable couple ever on The Amazing Race.”

“We won something here!” answered Kynt. “As exotic as we may look on the surface, we’re still just a couple of goth kids from Louisville, KY.”

The Amazing Race 12’s next episode will air Sunday, January 6 at 8PM ET/PT on CBS.

Shana Wall and Jennifer McCall made an ill-fated wrong turn and couldn’t stop bickering long enough to correct it in a timely manner, causing the friends from Los Angeles, CA to become the fifth team eliminated from The Amazing .

“I know we have differences about right and wrong, but it doesn’t matter to me,” said Jennifer following her teams’ ouster. “Shana and I are always going to be friends. This experience will never leave us. We’ll always have that.”

This race means so much to me,” said Jennifer. “I’m just so disappointed and so hurt that we got eliminated.”

“We’re both really sad. We come from a comfortable life where we get manicures and pedicures and facials,” added Shana. “Then you come here and all of that goes out the window. I’m just amazed about what we accomplished.”

The Amazing Race 12’s next episode will air Sunday, December 9 at 8PM ET/PT on CBS.

CBS has revealed the identities of the 11 teams who will be competing on The Amazing Race’s twelfth season when it premieres on Sunday, November 4 at 8PM ET/PT.

Each of the members of the 11 teams competing have a pre-existing relationship with one another. Four teams consist of family members, five teams are couples who are romantically involved, and three teams are friends.

In addition, three of the teams consist of women that will be trying to become The Amazing Race’s first-ever female team winners.

According to The Amazing Race executive producer Jonathan Littman, the show’s twelfth edition — which was filmed this past summer — will run two episodes shorter and drop the course’s non-elimination Pit Stops in an effort to “create more excitement.” Non-elimination Pit Stops had been part of The Amazing Race since the reality competition series first premiered in Fall 2001.

CBS had renewed The Amazing Race for a twelfth edition in May, but announced the five-time Emmy-Award winning reality competition series wouldn’t be part of its initial 2007-2008 primetime programming lineup and would instead air as midseason programming. This fall marked the first time in three years that The Amazing Race did not premiere as part of the network’s initial fall schedule launch.

The 11 teams competing on The Amazing Race 12 — as well as their CBS-supplied profile information — are:

“Father/Daughter” Ronald and Christina Hsu

“Dating Goths” Kynt Cothron and Vyxsin Fiala

“Dating Couple” Lorena Segura and Jason Widener

“Brother/Sister” Azaria and Hendekea Azene

“Married Ministers” Kate Lewis and Patrick Henderson

“Friends” Shana Hall and Jennifer McCal

“Grandfather/Grandson” Donald Jerousek and Nicolas Fulks

“Dating Couple” Jennifer Parker and Nathan Hagstrom

“Newly Dating Couple” Rachel Rosales and TK Erwin

“Sisters” Marianna and Julia Ruiz

“Best Friends” Ari Bonas and Staella Gianakakos

CBS has officially renewed The Amazing Race the four-time Emmy Award-winning show, which will not air until midseason. 

In addition CBS also announce the new series Kid Nation.

 KID NATION is a reality-based series in which 40 kids will have 40 days to build a new world - in a ghost town that died in the 19th Century. These kids, ages 8-15, will spend more than a month without their parents or modern comforts in Bonanza City, N.M., attempting to do what their forefathers could not - build a town that works. They will cook their own meals, clean their own outhouses, haul their own water and even run their own businesses - including the old town saloon (root beer only). They’ll also create a real government - four kid leaders who will guide the group through their adventure, pass laws and set bedtimes. Through it all, they’ll cope with regular childhood emotions and situations: homesickness, peer pressure and the urge to break every rule they’ve ever known. At the end of each episode, all 40 kids will gather at an old fashioned Town Hall meeting where they will debate the issues facing Bonanza City. They’ll show wisdom beyond their years and the unflinching candor that only kids can exhibit. There are no eliminations on KID NATION - you only go home if you want to. And in every Town Hall meeting, kids may raise their hands and leave. Will they stick it out? In the end, will these kids prove to adults everywhere (and their own parents!) that they have the vision to build a better world than the pioneers who came before them? And just as importantly, will they come together as a cohesive unit, or will they abandon all responsibility and succumb to the childhood temptations that lead to round-the-clock chaos? KID NATION is produced by Emmy Award winner Tom Forman (”Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”) for Tom Forman Prods. and Good TV, Inc.