For most of the 653 contestants who have rushed from continent to continent, completing some of the most bonkers tasks the production crew could dream up ("There are tasks we come up with

For most of the 653 contestants who have rushed from continent to continent, completing some of the most bonkers tasks the production crew could dream up ("There are tasks we come up with and realize they're impossible to do," says Doganieri of the many scraped challenges), their casting was every bit as stressful. 

Tammy Jih (winner, season 14): My brother Victor and I were both lawyers and we'd taken a pretty straight and narrow path through life and I was looking for an adventure. A friend of mine from law school was working in casting. She recommended that we apply. Her first suggestion was Survivor, but I know myself well enough to know that I couldn't cut it on that show. On Amazing Race, if you lose, the worst thing that's happened is you've traveled around the world. Survivor, like, you're eating bugs. 

Nat Strand (winner, season 17): [Fellow doctor] Kat and I were together at a wedding in Mexico and we were talking about Amazing Race and I said to Kat, "We should do this." And Kat said, "Well, actually, someone approached me a couple of years ago." I contacted that person who gave me someone else's number and they said, "Why don't you send in your application?" And Kat and I were actually rejected. They said, "We think you could win, but you might not be that fun to watch." 

It really felt like Kat and I were meant to be on The Amazing Race so I called the person back and she said, "If you guys show up on your own dime, I'll try to get you in front of Phil and Bertram." Our first challenge was actually getting out of the reject pile.