User Reviews

I'm basing this review on season 2, which I just started watching. In spite of a weak-sounding show title, they've done a great job of creating real-life stakes that matter and heart-wrenching moments that make you want to keep coming back. We quickly found ourselves pulling for every team, not wanting anyone to drop out. But they can't all win... This is a perfect blend of family entertainment and reality TV. And it makes you love family more without ever being preachy. Kudos to BYUtv.

I love watching this! It's family friendly and bring so much inspiration! Be prepared for tears and feeling all warm inside!

I don't normally watch reality tv and all the lame drama, but this shows rises above it all. It makes me laugh and cry. It is something we can watch and enjoy as a family. The contestants are so real and vulnerable as they search for and meet family. Love it!

When I first started watching this show, I didn't expect it to be so emotional for the contestants or how touching it was to watch as they discover family. Once I got started I wanted to see another season without hesitation. This is an inspiring show.

Wholesome in every way, and a must-watch for the entire family. Four teams of 2 people - Red, Green, Blue and Black - have their DNA tested and it is used to find family members they have not met or have been estranged from for some reason. All of the teams have compelling back-stories, and every team's search is unique. Each of the first 9 episodes in the 10-episode season is spent traveling to meet these relatives. The teams are given a designated amount of time for travel, without smartphones or GPS, but plenty of good-old-fashioned paper maps. The team with the best time wins the week, while the team who goes over their allotted time the most receives a strike for that week. Once a team has accumulated 3 strikes, they must leave the race. After the teams reach their destination each week, the they must complete a "challenge," and are then given their relative's address. Then be ready with the tissues. The face-to-face meetings are often quite emotional, but in the end they grow family connections that help them complete their personal stories. Never a dull moment, and full of compassion and grace, this show delivers...EVERY. SINGLE. WEEK. During the last episode, the remaining teams with fewer than 3 strikes compete in a series of final challenges, and the winning team receives a prize of $50K. In the end though, they are all winners with the new family they find, and with the relationships they build with the other teams in a shared experience. Dan Debnath is an excellent host, and draws on the teams' emotional experiences each week as he recaps at the end of every episode, awarding wins and strikes as they video-chat together. We started watching during the first season, and look forward to every new season as they air. We are hooked, and each season is better than the last. Give this one a go - you will not be disappointed!

We binged the first couple of seasons after stumbling across this show one evening. Since then, we have waited impatiently for the next season to start, and mourned its passing ten weeks later. Four teams, two people each, submit their DNA and then allow professional genealogists to identify and locate relatives the members of the team have never met. At the start of the race, team members surrender their smart phones and other GPS devices. They are given paper maps to work with in stead. Naturally, each team is sent to a different address where one of their relatives lives. Along they way they must overcome a challenge (same activity for each team), and prove they have arrived in the correct city before they can receive the exact address of their relative each trip is given an allotted time, and the team this overshoots that time the most gets a strike. Three strikes and the team is out. That's the bones, and it would probably be interesting just for that. Where the real allure comes in is the life stories and raw emotion each of these meetings brings out. I have a favorite team every season, but never once have I rooted against a team. I've not done the show justice, but hopefully I have sparked enough interest that you'll watch just one episode.

If so, DO start with the first episode of any season- whatever you do, don't start with the final episode you will miss most of the best parts.

I have loved watching all of the relative race seasons, however this season's finale was a disappointment in my opinion. Letting one team destroy the hard work of another team is just not in the spirit of fair play. Kindly, Gwen Chapo

This show is awesome. It brings families together and is such an inspiration. It's something you can enjoy all together with no obscenities, no sexual situations, and a friendly competition! Genealogical Amazing Race!

Love this show! Love watching the contestants find family they have never met. Heart warming to watch adopted children or children who were taken from their biological parents find them again. Can't wait for the next season

We've watched all 4 seasons of relative race and each one gets better! Great family friendly TV show, one that we can't wait to watch each week! So inspiring and fun!

Forget the challenges, they are just a backdrop for the connections that are found. This is the best show on television. With each contestant you get so invested in their story and root for them to find what they are looking for. I can't be more grateful for this show. Uplifting when tv is so negative. High lighting what it means to be human. That we live to connect with one another, rely on one another, and care for one another. People are more good than bad and this show brings that to the forefront. Thank you for making this! Stop what you are doing and watch season 12. Grab a box of tissues and prep for endless happy tears!

Not only do I consider this to be one of the best shows on tv, I want to see it continue to see it bring smiles, tears, love and reunions in the future.

The race part is good but some the challenges are stupid. Overall the race part needs more excitement. The family stories are mostly great. The seasons are too short though. On a personal side finding out one of your teams are related to you makes it a lot more fun to watch. Season 4 finale was great. Can't wait for season 5 to start.

Relative Race is fantastic. Each week brings laughs and poignant moments. Keep up the good work!

This is my favorite show to watch! I love seeing the contestants meet new family, and the game/race part of the show is awesome too! I highly recommend this show!

Love to watch this show each week. I wish it was on year round. Great to see the compositions added with the amazing reunions/ first time meeting family members.

I've watched this show from the beginning. It keeps getting better each season. If you haven't watched it, you should! It's Amazing race meets Ancestry DNA!!

We are long-time fans and have been watching since Season One. A great blend of competition and family connections. Season One felt more like Amazing Race but each season has been all about connecting teams with family. I think in recent years, the emphasis has shifted to helping individuals find their missing biological roots. It is tender, exciting and very satisfying!

We look forward to each new season. It's fun to get to know the teams and to see them connect with family they've long desired to meet. The show switches up the challenges and other aspects each season, which keeps it interesting for teams and viewers alike. It's high energy, fast paced, and the 10 episodes always go by quickly.

My 11 year old son and my 49 year old twin sister "sit" with me in 2 different states (California and Missouri) to watch each week. This is the only show my sister watches!

This is a great family show. We love watching the contestants meet there family. The production quality is superb.

The race part of the show needs revamping. The selfie should be changed from a sign to a specific location within the city where they will receive a map showing the location of the challenge and of the relatives home, but with no road names and certain roads black out hey they are not allowed to use. The contestants should should not be able to ask for directions only ask to be shown on the map where their present location is on the map. The challenges should be more family or genealogy related.

What a great show! I've been a fan since I discovered it during season 2. I love watching the family connections made. I have rejoiced when with all the mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers (and not to mention the countless cousins and wonderful grandparents) that the contestants meet along the way. The Game element adds a bit of friendly competition. You'll be rooting for them all by the end of the first episode. The host, Dan, keeps it all flowing together. The evening video check-ins are so fun to watch--unless your favorite is sent home with too many strikes! I look forward to each new season, the staff are so creative with the daily games. And, just when you think they've outdone themselves yet again, just hold on, the next episode is on! So get your popcorn ready, keep your box of Kleenex handy, and sit close to those you hold dear. It is a delightful, rivoting, emotional, and refreshing roller coaster ride with a beautiful family waiting behind the next door.

Relative race is such a heartwarming family show! We look forward to watching every week as a family!

I don't often watch reality shows--if at all--but this is one I never miss. Being a genealogy buff, I love watching how families are found and instant bonds are created with long-lost cousins, aunts, uncles--and sometimes birth parents and siblings. I keep tissues near because every week I am moved to tears by the family discovery. The show gets better each year as the teams also bond with each other. It's not as much of a competition as it is a coming together in love, hope, friendship, and acceptance. I can't wait for the next season!