Before The Amazing Race was sidelined because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Phil Keoghan logged some 200,000 miles a year as the host of the show.
But with William Shatner‘s historic blast-off this morning, ABC Audio asked the multiple Emmy winner if he’d follow in Shatner’s footsteps for a new kind of travel.
“Like, in a heartbeat,” Keoghan said. “I was like, ‘Man, I wish I could be there!'”
Keoghan then noted that he “could see a future season of Amazing Race” featuring contestants making a similar journey. Imitating himself as the show’s narrator, he added, laughing, “Teams must now make their way into space…with William Shatner at the helm!”
The host said of the historic trip, “I’m really happy for him. What a full circle, right?… [He] starts off pretending to go to space and then ends, you know, he’s 90 years old, and he really does go to space! Captain Kirk, beam me up!”
Keoghan’s new hit series, Tough as Nails, is now in its third season, and airs tonight on CBS. The show, which highlights the hard work of everyday heroes, is running as the U.S. is facing a supply crisis, due in part to a lack of such people Keoghan calls the “backbone” of the country.
“Yes, you’re absolutely right,” he says of the serendipitous timing of the new season.
The show excels at “opening people’s eyes up…[pulling] back the curtain a wee bit…to see some of the things that maybe we take for granted,” Keoghan explains.
He adds, “And this is the time to acknowledge those people who have helped us get through the pandemic and who make the country function, quite frankly, because without them, things would just stop functioning.”
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