Production on CBS show 'Amazing Race' suspended due to coronavirus

(Reuters) - Production of a new season of CBS's global competition series "The Amazing Race" has been temporarily suspended as a precaution over concerns about coronavirus, the network and producers said on Friday.

© Reuters/Mike Blake FILE PHOTO: Phil Keoghan poses with his Outstanding Reality-Competition Program award for the CBS show "The Amazing Race" at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles

"The Amazing Race" is a reality television show hosted by New Zealander Phil Keoghan in which two-person teams travel around the world and compete in various challenges.

Three episodes of the show's 33rd season had already been filmed. No contestants or anyone on the production staff have contracted the coronavirus, a CBS spokesperson said via e-mail.

"Due to increased concerns and uncertainty regarding the coronavirus around the world, CBS and the producers of 'The Amazing Race' have taken the precautionary measure of temporarily suspending production on the 33rd season of the series," the spokesperson said.

CBS is owned by ViacomCBS Inc.

"Amazing Race" is among the first television shows to have production disrupted due to coronavirus. A planned three-week shoot in Italy for Tom Cruise’s new "Mission: Impossible" film has been postponed due to the outbreak, Paramount Pictures said earlier this month.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by David Gregorio)