I'll always remember season 17 of CBS' The Amazing Race as the one with Kevin Wu, aka KevJumba, and his dad Michael. I was rooting for them, but after a solid, respectable run, they were eliminated in St. Petersburg. With TeamJumba gone, my attention turned to Nat and Kat, aka Nat Strand and Kat Chang, the doctors.
These two were solid contenders all the way, and on last night's season finale, they finished the race first, becoming the show's very first all-female winning team. And dammit, that was a relief: 'The Amazing Race' recap: Hollywood Ending.
They played it smart, cool, and always hung in there even in the worst challenges. (At one point, poor Kat -- a vegetarian -- had to eat a sheep's head.) And by the end, Brook and Claire had annoyed me enough that I didn't want them to win (but I thank Claire for the watermelon to the face). And I definitely didn't want Thomas and Jill to win. So congratulations to Nat and Kat!
The end of the season finale also gave us a glimpse of next season, The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business, which will bring back fan favorite teams from previous seasons: 'The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business' has fan-favorite teams for 18th season. We sort of already knew this.
But what I found interesting was that the promo for next season included shots of Kevin and Michael. Could they be back? There were some early rumors they'd be competing next season, but those were soon dispelled. They're not any of the early cast lists that have been circulating. But there was Team Jumba in the video. So what's up?
UPDATE: Here's video of Nat and Kat appearing on CBS' The Early Show to claim the gigantic check for their $1,000,000 prize: First All-Female Team Wins "The Amazing Race."