'Amazing Race' Host Phil Keoghan Shares Finale Secrets

There’s going to be a showdown in the Second City. On the season 29 finale of The Amazing Race, the remaining three teams — Tara Carr and Joey Covino, Brooke Camhi and Scott Flanary and London Kaye and Logan Bauer — head to Chicago, where they compete in challenges featuring the city’s well-known buildings, food and sports teams. Check out a sneak peek in the clip above.

“It’s everything cliché and wonderful that you could like about Chicago,” host Phil Keoghan teases to Us. “Think of architecture, food, sports, trains, streets and Chicagoans at their very best.” (Rappelling down the Willis Tower while eating deep dish pizza, perhaps?)

With filming taking place just before the Cubs won the World Series last fall, says Keoghan, “There was a fever in town and we really picked up on that great Chicago energy. The city was really showing off.”

And the competitors really showed up. Though New Zealand native Keoghan admits army officer Carr, 38, and police sergeant Covino, 46, “certainly look like the top team,” he says attorney Camhi, 36, and recruiting manager Flanary, 34, “should not be ruled out.” After a season of arguments, tears and one major meltdown over a metal ladle, “They’ve found a way through humor and encouragement to do really well,” says Keoghan. “To me, they’re the most improved team.”

Their allies, artist Kaye, 27, and orthopedic device representative Bauer, 27, have also steadily gotten better throughout the CBS hit’s 29th season, says Keoghan: “They haven’t necessarily been out in front leading the charge, but they’ve been consistent. And anybody who finds themselves into the final three, you have to take your hat off because it’s difficult.”

As for the final leg — wrapping up at Chicago’s Wrigley Field — “It’s a great finish,” says Keoghan. “We had a big showdown. A lot of times it comes down to who handles pressure the best.”

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The longtime host admits he often finds himself rooting for certain teams. “I definitely have favorites,” he tells Us. “I might not actually want to hang out with somebody and have a beer with them, but on the show, I see them as a really good team. And, conversely, there are other people I would love to go have a beer with when I get back to the States, but I also see that maybe they’re not doing a lot to drive the story on the show.”

The finale of The Amazing Race airs on CBS on Thursday, June 1, at 10 p.m. ET.

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