Yahoo Lifestyle CBS Announces 'Survivor' and 'Amazing Race' Showdown Coming to 'Raid the Cage' (Exclusive)
Survivor and The Amazing Race have been two of CBS' longest-running series, reality stalwarts that anchor the genre in general. Over the past couple of decades, there have been opportunities for crossover. Some former castaways have applied their island hustle around the world to great success (see: Boston Rob and Amber Mariano). Racers have gotten split from their partners, showing they can navigate the roadblocks the survival series throws at them (see: Mike White and Natalie Anderson). There was even an entire "Reality Showdown" season of The Amazing Race, which brought a handful of Survivor pairs onto the course to see how they would fare.
Parade can exclusively reveal the latest showdown between the two veteran series will happen on an episode of the CBS game show Raid the Cage. In its second season, the show, hosted by Damon Wayans Jr. and Jeannie Mai, has teams of two entering the titular giant cage to collect as many prizes as possible. Ordinarily featuring civilians as contestants, the Feb. 12 episode will make an exception, bringing on two pairs of reality stars–both former and upcoming!
Related: Damon Wayans Jr. Talks Expanding His Family Dynasty with Raid the Cage
On one side is a pair who went from competitors on the island to teammates off it. Noelle Lambert and Ryan Medrano played together on Survivor 43, both seen as two of the biggest physical threats of their season. They were taken out one right after the other, with Ryan finishing in ninth place and Noelle finishing in eighth. Once the two were voted out, they began to connect more, particularly around being part of the disabled community.
Through their bonding, Noelle talked with Ryan about her experience in the Paralympics. After losing her left leg in a moped accident in 2016, she competed as a track and field athlete in the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, setting a new American record in the 100m T63 event. She helped open the door for Ryan, who grew up with mild cerebral palsy, to train for and enter his first Paralympics this past summer in Paris. And he hit the ground running–quite literally–winning the silver medal in the men's 100-meter T38 event.
Related: Survivor Alum Ryan Medrano Wins Silver Medal at Paralympics
Noelle and Ryan's competition won't be in a pair of alumni, but future reality stars. Scott and Lori Thompson are one of a staggering 14 teams competing on the upcoming season of The Amazing Race 37, set to premiere on March 5. The physician's assistant and stay-at-home mom are married parents of eight sons, hoping to bring home the million-dollar prize for their family of ten. Interestingly, this means that the couple will actually make their on-screen debut on Raid the Cage, despite assumingly filming it after their time globetrotting.
Will Noelle and Ryan prove to work better together than they did against each other? Will Scott and Lori start their CBS career off with a bang by taking home the first of hopefully two wins? We'll have to see who prevails when this special episode of Raid the Cage airs on Wednesday, Feb. 12 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.
