The Amazing Race Seychelles episode hits TV screens on CBS
The Amazing Race TV show filmed in Seychelles earlier this year was aired in the US last week where it reached a viewership of over 14 million and came in number one in its time slot.
The episode of the Amazing Race filmed in Seychelles showcased the islands of Mahé, La Digue, St Pierre and Praslin, as it followed the contestants racing from the islands from breath-taking helicopter angles of view.
It featured the contesting teams on La Digue faced with a choice to either load a huge bunch of coconuts onto an oxcart at L’Union Estate and transport them to La Digue Jetty or use a banana to lure a giant tortoise along a ‘race course’ on the front lawn of L’Union Estate, after which they had to carry a large bunch of bananas to a fruit stand by the La Digue Jetty.
While this challenge was being filmed, it was discovered that some of the teams did not deliver the exact number of coconuts as instructed and thus they had to steer their stubborn ox all the way back to L’Union Estate to retrieve the one missing coconut.
After successfully delivering either the coconuts or the bananas, the teams had to take a one-hour schooner ride to the island of St Pierre. There, they had to free-dive and retrieve a bottle containing a map to their next destination – a beach on Praslin Island.
They then had to swim ashore to the beach on Praslin, where they were greeted by a Seychellois and Phil Keoghan, the host of the show.
The production of this show involved 60 foreign crew members and over 40 Seychellois.
The local production company iMage Production of Praslin oversaw the preparation, production and the crews for the three islands – Mahé, Praslin and La Digue. The setting up took over two months to complete for a one-day shoot and all went smoothly.
The Seychelles episode was filled with great racing drama, lots of humour and the incredible beauty of Seychelles. It was considered a great success.
The director of Tourism Marketing, Alain St Ange, who worked alongside Paul Turcotte of the iMage Productions for this production in Seychelles, said that the tourism board is thankful that the beauty of our islands continues to attract film producers to our shores.
“Hitting the TV screens in densely populated markets with breathtaking scenes will help us get the name Seychelles more known and make our islands more visible,” he said.
Many positive comments have already been received from viewers in the USA and in Singapore.