'The Amazing Race' To Feature All Dating Duos This Season

LOS ANGELES (CBS) - CBS announced the 11 teams racing around the globe for the $1 million dollar prize with a twist this season. 

For the first time ever, the 10-time Emmy Award Winning series, "The Amazing Race" will feature all dating duos with existing couples and singles set up on blind dates. Six are preexisting couples and five duos who will meet for the very first time at the starting line when they are set up on the most extreme blind date ever.

“Usually we have people who know each other really well. In this particular case, we have five blind dates and six regular dates,” said Bertram van Munster, Co-Creator and Executive Producer of "The Amazing Race". “Going on a blind date to a restaurant is one thing, but going on a blind date around the world is like rolling the dice in a big way.”

The preexisting dating teams traveling around the world include New Kids on the Block member Jonathan Knight and his partner Harley Rodriguez, and Olympic medalists Aly Dudek and Steven Langton. Dudek won bronze at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics in short track speed skating and Langton won two bronze medals at the 2014 Sochi Olympics in bobsledding. Those being set up on the blind dates of a lifetime include a Navy physician and a registered nurse and two lawyers.

Meet the new team here:

The couple’s relationships will be tested right from the starting line as they navigate a muddy obstacle course before jetting off to Tokyo, Japan. The course will continue through Bangkok, Namibia, Monaco, and more, spanning five continents, eight countries and more than 35,000 miles.

The dating teams will also have an opportunity throughout the race to win the all-new “Date Night” reward. This allows one lucky couple to enjoy a one-on-one romantic activity, such as a steamy evening at a hot springs resort in Nagano, Japan, or star-gazing at the Bavarian Public Observatory in Munich, Germany.

"The Amazing Race" premieres with a special 90-minute episode on Wednesday, Feb 25th (9:30 - 11:00PM, ET/PT), following the premiere of "Survivor" at 8pm ET/PT. The Race will then move to its regular time period on Friday, Feb. 27th at 8pm ET/PT.