{"id":616960,"date":"2026-05-01T09:21:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T09:21:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/616960\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T09:21:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T09:21:10","slug":"phil-keoghan-says-hacks-star-asked-to-be-on-amazing-race-during-crossover-episode","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/616960\/","title":{"rendered":"Phil Keoghan says \u2018Hacks\u2019 star asked to be on \u2018Amazing Race\u2019 during crossover episode"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kaitlin Olson<\/a> asked Phil Keoghan to be on \u201cThe Amazing Race\u201d when they filmed the \u201cHacks\u201d<\/a> crossover episode that aired Thursday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cKaitlin, who plays [Jean Smart\u2019s] daughter, she had expressed some interest in going,\u201d Keoghan told Page Six in an exclusive interview. \u201cAnd I started talking through it all with her.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Keoghan, 58, said the \u201cIt\u2019s Always Sunny in Philadelphia\u201d actress backtracked once she heard \u201cwhat\u2019s really involved\u201d in appearing on the CBS reality show<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Phil Keoghan exclusively told Page Six that Kaitlin Olson asked him to be on \u201cThe Amazing Race\u201d when they filmed the \u201cHacks\u201d crossover episode. Courtesy of HBO Max and photographed by Kenny Laubbacher<\/p>\n

But Olson (seen above with Jean Smart during the episode) backtracked about going on the CBS reality show when she heard \u201cwhat\u2019s really involved,\u201d Keoghan told us. HBO MAX<\/p>\n

And Olson wasn\u2019t the only person on the \u201cHacks\u201d set who inquired about going on \u201cAmazing Race.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLots of people expressed an interest, even like crew and everything,\u201d Keoghan told us. \u201cAnd that is always a good sign.\u201d<\/p>\n

He continued, \u201cI do get celebrities approach me and say that they want to be on \u2018Amazing Race.\u2019 And then I start to go through the logistics of what that is. Then once they hear a little bit more about what\u2019s involved, they go, \u2018Oh, really?\u2019 You shoot 12 shows in 21 days?’\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m like like, \u2018Yeah, there\u2019s no there\u2019s no trailer. It\u2019s not a lot of pampering,’\u201d Keoghan added.<\/p>\n

Keoghan also revealed that multiple crew members expressed interest in going on \u201cAmazing Race\u201d (Olson and Smart are pictured above in a scene from the crossover episode). HBO MAX<\/p>\n

\u201cLots of people expressed an interest, even like crew and everything,\u201d Keoghan told us (Smart is pictured above during the episode). HBO MAX<\/p>\n

The new episode of \u201cHacks\u201d features Deborah (Smart) and DJ (Olson) competing on a celebrity version of \u201cThe Amazing Race\u201d against \u201cProperty Brothers\u201d Drew and Jonathan Scott and influencer Trisha Paytas and her partner.<\/p>\n

Keoghan makes a cameo \u2014 first to kick off the race at the starting line, and then to eliminate Deborah and DJ after they come in last place on the first leg. <\/p>\n

The Emmy Award-winning host told us the idea for the crossover event came from \u201cHacks\u201d creators Paul W. Downs, Lucia Aniello and Jen Statsky, who are all superfans of \u201cThe Amazing Race.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Emmy Award-winning host also said that the \u201cHacks\u201d creators came up with the idea for the crossover episode (Smart and Carl-Clemons Hopkins Jr. are seen above). HBO MAX<\/p>\n

Keoghan (seen above on \u201cThe Amazing Race\u201d) said creator and star Paul W. Downs \u201cwas very keen on making it happen.\u201d CBS via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cThe producers of \u2018Amazing Race\u2019 and \u2018Hacks\u2019 were at the same event, and that\u2019s where the discussion was first had,\u201d Keoghan explained. \u201cThe idea was floated out there, and then conversations started to happen. Paul was very, very keen on making it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keoghan said when producers sent him the script, he gave them notes to make sure the \u201cHacks\u201d episode was faithful to \u201cThe Amazing Race.’\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI realized there were some things that I wouldn\u2019t say. So I was a bit hesitant in the beginning to be like, \u2018Do you mind if I change this?\u2019 But they opened it up to being a collaboration. So I tentatively, with respect, [told them] \u2018Could we change that?\u2019 And they were like, \u2018Oh, please!’\u201d<\/p>\n

Keoghan (pictured above at the CBSFEST 2026-2027: Fall Schedule Announcement) also confirmed that the \u201cHacks\u201d producers let him edit the script for the episode. CBS via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Keoghan added that his favorite part of shooting the episode was getting to work with Smart (Olson, who plays Smart\u2019s daughter in \u201cHacks,\u201d is seen above at DIsney\u2019s Emmy Season Toast to TV event). Getty Images<\/p>\n

But the \u201cbest part\u201d for Keoghan was getting to interact with Smart, 74, when the cameras stopped rolling.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce we got a take done of any of the scenes that I was in, Jean would just start to riff,\u201d he told us. \u201cAnd I used to do improv theater. So I suddenly found myself just going back and forth with her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keoghan added, \u201cAnd it was a real thrill to just be in this surreal moment of having fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fifth and final season of \u201cHacks\u201d airs new episodes on Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO Max.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kaitlin Olson asked Phil Keoghan to be on \u201cThe Amazing Race\u201d when they filmed the \u201cHacks\u201d crossover episode…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":616961,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[236,88,186,5657,5658,604,57833,92,24812],"class_list":["post-616960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-exclusive","tag-reality-show","tag-reality-stars","tag-reality-tv","tag-the-amazing-race","tag-tv","tag-virtual-reali-tea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=616960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616960\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/616961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=616960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=616960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=616960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}