Jill and her brother F.T. were originally applied for Season 1. Later, her brother was killed in 9/11, and John Vito and Jill race in remembrance of him during Season 3. After the race, they hosted a show that promoted Singapore tourism.
When describing the pit stop for each leg, Phil's voice-over originally said "the last team to check in here *will* be eliminated" for most legs, but would say "the last team to check in here *may* be eliminated" on non-elimination legs. This took away the suspense, as the audience knew based on the voice-over whether the leg was a non-elimination. Phil now says "the last team to check in here may be eliminated" on every leg to avoid spoiling whether that leg is a non-elimination leg.
Aaron (Season 3) accidentally stumbled upon one of the Pit Stops of Season 6 while backpacking in Europe.
Fans, critics, and racers were lukewarm over the format changes implemented in Family edition of The Amazing Race. The main issues were the lack of international travel and watered down challenges tailored to families. The expanded cast also made it more difficult to develop individual story lines. Entertainment Weekly commented that "Half the fun of The Amazing Race has always been watching the inter and intra-couple bickering that goes with being chronologically late and lost in a foreign land. Seeing parents yell at their children in exotic New Jersey? Not so fun". USA Today shared similar opinions, adding that "the idea of being trapped in the back seat for a forced cross-country family drive comes closer to a nightmare relived than a dream come true." Racers were also disappointed that they did not have a chance to travel to more exotic locations; in one episode Marion Paolo commented "Why are we going to Phoenix, Arizona for? I want to go to New Zealand!", a statement that also summed up the general opinion of the season. In hindsight, the production team has admitted that the concept of a Family Edition "looked good on paper" but failed in execution, since child racers limited foreign travel for that season. Creators Bert Van Munster and Jonathan Littman doubt that the family format will be revived in the future.
John Keoghan, Phil Keoghan's father, was the local greeter at the Te Puke Pit Stop in New Zealand in Season 13.