halfway around the world?

Well, it's actually even more difficult to get to Christchurch than, say, Auckland, because Auckland is a stop-off, direct stop-off point for a lot of flights from around the world.

You fly directly into Auckland, and then you have to make, a lot of times you have to make that extra hop down to Christchurch, and that can be very expensive, moving upwards of 100 people in a production when you're on the ground only for less than 24 hours shooting, and there's sort of high stakes and a lot of money involved.

But we managed to figure it out and working with the amazing team with Tourism Christchurch NZ and then also Air New Zealand helping us with getting our equipment and everything on board to get us into Christchurch directly.

And if it wasn't for the cooperation of people here in Christchurch, we wouldn't have been able to make it happen.

But I'm pleased to say it was a beautiful day when we were here.

The city was showing off and And we got to showcase Christchurch in the best possible way.

How much of the show is about the contest itself, the race, versus showcasing what they go through and walk past?

How big a logistical exercise is it to get a show of your size, budget, et cetera, halfway around the world?

Well, it's actually even more difficult to get to Christchurch than, say, Auckland, because Auckland is a stop-off, direct stop-off point for a lot of flights from around the world.

You fly directly into Auckland, and then you have to make, a lot of times you have to make that extra hop down to Christchurch, and that can be very expensive, moving upwards of 100 people in a production when you're on the ground only for less than 24 hours shooting, and there's sort of high stakes and a lot of money involved.

But we managed to figure it out and working with the amazing team with Tourism Christchurch NZ and then also Air New Zealand helping us with getting our equipment and everything on board to get us into Christchurch directly.

And if it wasn't for the cooperation of people here in Christchurch, we wouldn't have been able to make it happen.

But I'm pleased to say it was a beautiful day when we were here.

The city was showing off and And we got to showcase Christchurch in the best possible way.

How much of the show is about the contest itself, the race, versus showcasing what they go through and walk past?

Travel is transformative, but Phil tells us how a scuba diving trip when he was 19 years old changed his life.

I started diving, really snorkeling at a very early age, growing up on the island of Antigua.

And it was just a natural thing to do there just because there's so many beautiful beaches, 365 beaches on the island of Antigua.

And I just fell in love with the idea that I could be in the water and see things.

the marine life and the coral and the colors and the warmth of the water.

And as soon as I was able, I got myself scuba qualified and started diving.

And that was, to me, I think it's the closest thing that I can think of to what it must be like going into space, where you're just weightless and you're in another world.

The team

Talking about this season, what do you think makes this season, this cast different from previous seasons? Was there something specific that stuck out while you were filming?

Very strong women, I would say, is the biggest difference.

Not that we haven't had strong women before, but we made a really concerted effort to bring in the strong women that were applying.

So professional athletes with Ellie and Joanna, a mother-daughter team.

Riley was on the US Olympic bobsled team.

Two women who are very good friends, one a teacher and the other forensic scientist.

Um, so yeah, I, I, I, you know, as a, as the father, father of a daughter, uh, I feel like there's been a big shift in the way women are represented in, in, in the way that they compete in the last 25 years has changed a lot.

And why was Albania exciting for you?