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Phil Keoghan
PhilProfile
The Amazing Race host
(2001-present)
Born Philip John Keoghan
May 31, 1967 (1967-05-31) (age 56)
Lincoln, New Zealand
Education St Andrew's College
Occupation Presenter, producer
Years active 1990–present
Spouse Louise Rodrigues

Philip John "Phil" Keoghan is a New Zealand born television presenter and producer. Phil has presented every series of The Amazing Race from 2001 to the present day.

The Amazing Race[]

Phil Keoghan has presented every series of The Amazing Race since its debut in 2001. Phil is seen at the very end of every leg of the race and checks in teams at the Pit Stop. Phil is almost always accompanied by a local of the country or city in which the pit stop is situated. As the teams arrive he will inform them of their position, sometimes having to penalize a team for rule breaking, and will eliminate last place teams. His regular speech is, "Team members, you are team number x". If however the team comes in last, Phil will tell teams, "Team members, you are the last team to arrive. I'm sorry to tell you that you have been eliminated from the Race". On the occasion where a team arrives last in a non elimination leg Phil will instead say, "I'm happy to tell you that this is the xth of x pre determined non elimination legs and you are still in the race".

In a 2002 interview, he admitted that his pay for a single episode of The Amazing Race is more than an entire year on Spot On, another television show that Phil had previously worked on.

Early Life[]

Born in the town of Lincoln, New Zealand, Keoghan spent a considerable part of his childhood in Antigua and Canada. Phil attended St Andrew's College, Christchurch during his high school years.

According to his book, No Opportunity Wasted, Keoghan set out to live his life to the fullest by accomplishing exotic goals and taking risks after a near-death experience at the age of 19

Career[]

While completing a TV cameraman apprenticeship, he successfully auditioned for New Zealand children's show Spot On at age 19. After a series of further presenter work on television in New Zealand television, including as a reporter on That's Fairly Interesting, he set off to further his career abroad. Before joining The Amazing Race, he was considered as a host for Survivor USA, but was unsuccessful partly due to his nationality. For his hosting of The Amazing Race, Keoghan was nominated for the 2009 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program in the second year of the award's creation but lost to Jeff Probst of Survivor.

Aside from presenting The Amazing Race, Phil's credits have included being host of shows such as Adventure Quest, Go For It, Surprise, Surprise and the 2003 Miss World Competition, being the co-creator of shows The Human Edge, Phil Keoghan's Crazy Adventures and Keoghan's Heroes and being a reporter for Fox After Breakfast in 1996.

Keoghan has hosted over 1,000 different programme episodes.

In June 2010, it was announced that Keoghan would host and produce a new reality series about the VELUX 5 Oceans Race.

Phil told TMZ in 2010 that during the 10th season of the The Amazing Race he was detained in Ukraine for two days until the ambassador of the USA in Ukraine worked all night to free him

Personal Life[]

Since the near-death experience he had as a 19 year old, Phil has broken a world bungee jumping record, gone diving in the world's longest underwater caves, eaten a meal on top of an erupting volcano, and renewed his vows underwater. He was a guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show, where he shared with Oprah his list of things he wants to do before he dies. The focus of many of his shows is helping others live their lives to the fullest.

From March 28 to May 9, 2009, Keoghan performed a "Ride Across America", in partnership with several organizations including GNC to raise money for Multiple sclerosis research. Keoghan and others biked 3,500 miles from Los Angeles to New York City, averaging 100 miles per day and stopped in 39 cities en route during which Keoghan attended events and participated in casting selections for the 15th cycle of The Amazing Race. The ride culminated a day before the finale of the 14th season of The Amazing Race. The event raised $500,000, with over $400,000 coming from in-store donations during the ride.

Keoghan currently lives with his wife, Louise Rodrigues and their daughter, Elle, in Los Angeles. They also have a home in Matarangi, on the Coromandel Peninsula, New Zealand - one of Keoghan's two favourite places in New Zealand. The other is Westport, where his ancestors come from.

Dr. John Keoghan, Phil's father, is an agricultural scientist involved with conservation in New Zealand. He appeared alongside Phil as a Pit Stop greeter during the 13th Season of The Amazing Race when the racers stopped in New Zealand.

His brother, Andrew Keoghan, was a television reporter on Television New Zealand's One News and is a successful jazz singer.

His sister, Ruth Keoghan Cooper, is an MBA graduate of Sydney's Macquarie University. She specialises in coaching, training and development programmes for professional women who wish to combine successful careers with motherhood.

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