Given the breakout popularity of The Traitors, it now seems every buzzy reality star’s long-term goal involves going to Scotland. All season on Big Brother, fans have speculated about Dee and Rick Devens and whether they’ll be hanging out with Alan Cumming next season. I get it. I want to see them in the turret too, but a new fan-led campaign focused on another show is starting to get even louder.
Many fans of reality television including myself want to see Dee and Devens on our screens again, but more specifically, a lot of fans want to see them work together. Enter The Amazing Race. The third member of CBS’ reality trifecta after Survivor and Big Brother has a long history of casting reality stars and did a season entirely composed of Big Brother players. Recently, some fans pointed out that the two would be really fun to watch race around the world together, and since then, it’s been a lot of fans vigorously nodding their heads in agreement.
It turns out CBS is potentially interested too. After numerous fans posted the suggestion on social media, the official Amazing Race account responded with the eyeballs emoji, which is at minimum a sign that production is aware of the fan campaign and at least sees the appeal of casting the two together. And how could they not?
Devens and Dee were both major characters on Survivor 50, which gave the beloved reality competition show its best ratings since Winners At War more than five years ago. This summer, the two have been on Big Brother, which has helped the show attract its best ratings since 2021. During a time in which every long-running show seems to be losing viewers, to see two trend reversals like that is a huge deal. Throw in the fan campaign, and it feels like CBS would be crazy not to at least consider bringing the two back.
The thing that makes this so appealing is the specific relationship dynamic between Dee and Devens. The two obviously get along great and worked together for the entire season until her upsetting elimination with four people left, but it’s not exactly like their rapport was always perfect. The two snipe at each other on a pretty regular basis, and they’re each not afraid to call the other one out when they’re frustrated about something going on. Those interactions would be a ton of fun to watch on Race, as the stress is through the roof. Plus, it’s a blast to watch the two compete in challenges. They both love trying to complete stupid tasks and bring very different strengths and weaknesses to the table.
I would love to see this happen and would absolutely tune in for it. Win or lose, I also think it would be great for Dee and Devens’ personal brands. With an appearance on The Challenge, a Survivor win and this extremely memorable run on Big Brother, Dee has already emerged as the biggest crossover star of Survivor’s so-called New Era. A Race appearance would be a great next step, especially since she may be locked into a CBS-specific contract as part of her BB run.
Devens doesn’t have quite the same pedigree yet, but with a really memorable run on Survivor 50 and this Big Brother season, which is either going to result in third place or a win, he’s emerging as one of the most popular recent reality stars. I know he has family considerations to deal with, but an appearance on Amazing Race could be exactly what he needs to fully get pushed to that top echelon.
Fingers crossed CBS makes this happen, and we get to watch the two have fun again next year.
