Phil Keoghan, host of competition series The Amazing Race, has opened up about the ins and outs of his job.
The 57-year-old New Zealand media personality recently chatted with TV Insider, answering fans’ burning questions about the show.
On the long-running program, teams of two are shown as they race around the world, competing in physical and mental challenges that highlight aspects of a location’s culture, history, or economy.
Teams travel by various means, including airplanes and bicycles.
In the interview, Keoghan said viewers regularly ask him: ‘What are you doing while the teams are racing around the world?’
Phil Keoghan, host of competition series The Amazing Race, has opened up about the ins and outs of his job; pictured June 14
The 57-year-old New Zealand media personality recently chatted with TV Insider, answering fans’ burning questions about the show
He explained, ‘It’s as if people forget that I am literally going everywhere they go, but just slightly ahead of them.’
The host added: ‘For some reason, they just think I’m like going to the pool, drinking a piña colada or something and then, hey, I get a call and am like, ‘Yeah, oh you want me to come to the pit stop now? Yeah, I’ll be there in a second.’ No!’
Giving his audience a glimpse at his life behind-the-scenes, Phil continued, ‘I am literally trying to stay ahead of the teams.
‘Sometimes very challenging. Twelve shows in roughly 21 days – do the math. So I am taking whatever means of transportation I can get into to try and beat the teams to the mat.’
Keoghan also described an instance in which he barely made it on time.
The star admitted in the times when he nearly missed the mat meetup, it means he ‘somehow missed the boat’ or ‘didn’t get the car.’
He shared, ‘First time it ever happened was in Season 4. I literally was running into the mat while a team was running to the mat.’
And the longtime anchor said about the situation: ‘It happens. [If] you ever see me huffing and puffing when I say, ‘You’re team number 1,’ chances are I was actually running to get there ahead of the team.’
In the interview, Keoghan said viewers regularly ask him: ‘What are you doing while the teams are racing around the world?’
On the long-running program, teams of two are shown as they race around the world, competing in physical and mental challenges that highlight aspects of a location’s culture, history, or economy
Teams travel by various means, including airplanes and bicycles
The latest season follows 13 teams as they trot around the world throughout 21 days.
Across 12 episodes Keoghan follows the same travel itinerary as the competitors.
Sharing his advice for staying energized through multiple time zones, Phil said, ‘We’re traveling through so many different time zones, you can’t really get into a rhythm, so my advice there is: If you can sleep, sleep.
‘You get very, very good at sleeping anywhere, any time, any place.’
The Amazing Race wrapped its 36th season on CBS in May and season 37 is currently filming.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk