Quitters Are Uncommon on 'The Amazing Race,' but Not Unheard of

Season 33 of The Amazing Race might be the most historic yet. Not only because it’s the first season filmed during a pandemic, or because it’s the first season to take a hiatus and later return, but also because several pairs chose to leave. While this season is definitely unique, it’s not the first time that contestants have quit the race.

While Season 33 is making history, many fans are wondering how many people have quit in the past. This year might be the first time multiple duos quit in one season, but it’s definitely not the first time that people have quit The Amazing Race. Here’s everyone who’s quit the series.

The first pair of contestants to ever quit was Marshall and Lance in Season 5 of The Amazing Race. While quitting is always a bummer, this case is particularly sad because it was due to an injury.

Brothers Marshall and Lance were already far behind, but when Marshall had a knee injury early in the race, Lance made the executive decision to call it quits during the race’s sixth leg.

After Marshall and Lance, The Amazing Race continued on without any quitters for ten seasons. Professional poker players Maria and Tiffany were the only all-female team on their season, and that was to their detriment during a physically demanding detour. They decided to quit the task, and in doing so, quit the race by finishing last.

Father and son cancer survivors Dave & Connor were the next team to drop out of the race. Dave tore his Achilles tendon earlier in the race, so during the fifth leg, they made the decision to go right to the pit stop. There, they asked to be eliminated so that Dave could get surgery on his excruciating injury. However, the pair came back to compete again in Season 23.

The most recent season of The Amazing Race, Season 32, evidently saw the most recent quitters as well. However, this situation was unique in that some teams formed an alliance in Season 32, which NFL players DeAngelo and Gary were a part of.

However, in the penultimate leg, their former allies shared the answer to a memory task with one another. So DeAngelo and Gary, now furious, decided to just take a penalty for not finishing, effectively quitting the race.

Another notable situation that didn’t directly result in elimination was when Nick and Vicki, a dating team from Season 17 of The Amazing Race, decided to quit a task. Nick’s temper and impatience paired with Vicki’s asthma made them a difficult team to watch as they stumbled through the race.

But when Vicki tried to push through a challenging roadblock, Nick opted to just nap and quit. They took a 6-hour penalty, which put them far enough to come in last, but it was a non-elimination round, so they lucked out. However, they were far enough behind in the next leg to (fairly) get eliminated and booted from the race.

While four pairs have officially quit The Amazing Race throughout the series’s previous 32 seasons, Season 33 will see more people quit than ever before due to the long hiatus and new COVID-19 developments. Who quits in this season and why? That’s still to be seen.

Tune into new episodes of The Amazing Race every Wednesday at 9 p.m. EST on CBS.