The Amazing Race: Who won the show in 2023? Details explored

The Amazing Race is a popular reality TV competition series that first aired in 2001. Since then, due to its success, spinoffs in countries such as Canada, China, France, Norway, and the Philippines have added to its popularity. The Emmy Award-winning show for Outstanding Reality Competition is back with a new season.

The show focuses on participants having an adventure in different countries where they have to complete intense challenges, navigate in a foreign environment, and take part in physical and mental tasks to win the grand prize at the end. In teams of two, the contestants compete to be crowned as the champion in the finale.

The 2023, season 35 official synopsis reads as follows:

"The Amazing Race 35 is the thirty-fifth season of the American reality competition show The Amazing Race. Hosted by Phil Keoghan, it featured thirteen teams of two, each with a pre-existing relationship, competing in a race around the world to win US$1,000,000."

After the thirty-fifth season premiered on September 27, 2023, a total of twelve episodes were released. The Amazing Race season 35 finale revealed the winner out of the three final teams: Rob and Corey McArthur, Joel Strasser and Garrett Smith, and Greg and John Franklin.

In the end, the Franklin brothers, Greg and John, were announced as The Amazing Race season 35 champions and received the grand prize of $1 million.

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The Amazing Race season 35 winners were Greg & John Franklin

Greg and John Franklin aged 25 and 27, respectively, are two brothers who reside in New York City. They are originally from New York City and have a passion for traveling the world while exploring new places. In the finale, viewers saw them struggling during the last task of physical acrobatics but were able to successfully cross the finish line in Seattle.

The Amazing Race season 35 finale episode 12, titled A Sunset, Seattle Scramble, was released on December 12, 2023. The episode is described as:

"The final three teams travel to Seattle, where they must complete three challenges in a scramble leg; the team that successfully completes the challenges and arrives first wins the $1 million prize."

In a conversation with Parade on December 14, 2023, the CBS show winners further disclosed how they had to push each other during the glassblowing challenge. John Franklin, who is a product manager, mentioned that his brother Greg was repeatedly telling him not to lose hope till the end. John shared:

"Gregory was really telling me, "There's still hope. We know we have that mental ability for a final challenge. We've seen the race. We know what's going to happen." And I think that really helped us get through."

When the Franklin brothers were asked about how they thought of applying and auditioning for the show, John revealed his girlfriend was the reason why. Initially, John got interested in reality TV through her and watched four to five seasons of The Amazing Race before getting "Gregory on board."

At the end of the interview, the winners hinted at returning for the iconic series if they were offered to become participants in an "all-winners" season.

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To see Greg and John's journey on the show, stream season 35 on Hulu, Apple TV, and CBS. The upcoming season 36 is set to release on Wednesday, March 13, 2024, exclusively on CBS.