Premieres: September 20
Airs: Tuesdays, 8pm
Network: NBC
Featuring Bob Harper, Anna Kournikova, Dolvett Quince
Hosted By Alison Sweeney
What to Expect: Look for a shake-up in the trainer ranks. Jillian Michaels has moved on to other personal and professional ventures, making room for comely tennis star Anna Kournikova and Dolvett Quince to join the team as new trainers. Executive producer Todd Lubin told New York Magazine that the new season will also be “getting slightly away from just the tape measure, and getting into overall well-being and health.”
What’s also going to happen is that, for the first time in the show’s history, contestants will be grouped by age. On the player’s side there will be three teams of five divided by age: the youngest players, all under 30; the middle players, ages 30-49; and the older players, ages 50 and over. Contestants in Season 12 range from ages 24-65. In the premiere, host Alison Sweeney tells the teams that they will make their first decision — who their trainer will be — in the order in which they finish the first challenge. Once each team chooses its trainer, “The Battle of the Ages” begins.
