The Amazing Race: Has social media popularity already decided the winner?

This season of The Amazing Race is gunning to be the most exciting and social season of the 27 previous seasons.

Being dubbed the #OffTheGrid season, with a cast full of social media influencers, it is out to prove just how much the digital age has changed the way people are connected. Phil Keoghan told The Hollywood Reporter, “It’s like a giant social experiment.”

The season premiere was doubly different in that, not only is the audience familiar with the teams already from their various social platforms, but also in that they began the race from their homes, setting out in search of the Monument to the Revolution in Mexico City, Mexico.

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As the teams converged in Mexico City, they were tasked with detours that included either building a tort (or bull) out of fireworks and lighting it ablaze or picking out the fake mariachi band member out of 100 mariachi players.

The first detours had most of the teams fairly evenly matched, but it was clear from social media that there was an overwhelming favorite to win the whole thing already running well out front: Team Tyler and Korey.

The YouTube sensation duo, Tyler Oakley and Korey Kuhl, ended up finishing second for the episode, behind other Twitter favorites, The Dancers, Dana Borriello and Matt Steffanina. The pair impressed even themselves by how well they built their firecracker bull. At one point you saw Oakley stand back and with admiration of their craftiness say, “It looks pretty good!”

Twitter was awash with fans of the show and fans of Tyler and Korey, so much so that #TeamTylerAndKorey began trending only halfway through the episode.

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https://twitter.com/mylovelyyoutube/status/698327630945329152

I think it is safe to say @koreykuhl and @tyleroakley will win The Amazing Race !! Hopefully I didn't spoil it ! #AmazingRace

— Katlyn (@kedenfield15) February 13, 2016

OMG @tyleroakley@koreykuhl CAME IN 2nd PLACE!!😍😍❤️❤️ #TeamTylerAndKorey @AmazingRace_CBS

— .M (@hailey71marie) February 13, 2016

https://twitter.com/sarah_madisonn/status/698323236132532224
If their strong performance and clear fan strength is any indication of things to come, it looks like it will be Oakley and Kuhl’s game to lose.

Coming in last in the premiere episode (but not being eliminated as it was a non-elimination leg) was the father-daughter team of Scott and Blair Fowler. Daughter Blair is a YouTube sensation, having started posting fashion and beauty videos at the young age of 14 and amassing almost 1.5 million subscribers. The two hit major roadblocks when Scott struggled to finish the last detour.

It will be interesting to see if Oakely and Kuhl can stay as calm, cool and collected as the game continues — and the stakes get higher!

Who is your favorite to win The Amazing Race so far this year?

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