Drew and Jonathan Scott Competed on 'The Amazing Race' — on HBO Max's 'Hacks'
The final season of Hacks included a cameo from HGTV's Property Brothers.
Photo courtesy of HBO Max
Drew (left) and Jonathan, who play themselves participating in a celebrity edition of the long-standing travel competition, tell Phil Keoghan, who also plays himself, that if they win, they're going to donate their money to "the Alzheimer’s Association."
HGTV fans who are also Hacks fans stopped in their tracks when Drew and Jonathan Scott made an appearance during Season 5 of the Emmy award-winning HBO Max series.
The series, starring Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder, follows Deborah Vance (Smart), a legendary stand-up comedian fighting to stay relevant and reluctantly forming a bond with comedy writer Ava Daniels (Einbinder), who shows up on Deborah's doorstep in a last-ditch effort not to completely hit rock bottom after a bad joke almost gets her fired.
The episode, called "D'Amazing Race," is the final season's fifth episode and aired on April 30, 2026. Deborah, now preparing for a "comeback show" at Madison Square Garden (which everyone keeps calling "MSG"), gets dragged into fulfilling a promise for her hot-headed daughter, DJ (Kaitlin Olson), to participate on The Amazing Race. Deborah and anyone who is a longtime Hacks fan knows ths will only end in disaster or a "psychotic break," but Deborah figures, knowing her daughter, she'll get a chance to plug her MSG show and be home in less than a week — though she's pretty disappointed to hear the winning celebrity team always donates their money to charity.
And that's what makes Drew and Jonathan's cameo all the funnier. While Deborah desperately tries to keep DJ in check to preserve their (but mainly her) public image while the real-life crew of The Amazing Race — complete with a cameo from host and executive producer Phil Keoghan — follows them from the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to the streets of Mexico, the Scott brothers serve as celebrity good citizens playing a fair game, with dreams to donate the winning prize money to "the Alzheimer’s Association," they tell Phil.
Hacks creators Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, Jen Statsky and director Jeff Rosenberg borrowed not only Phil to bring the crossover to life, but creator and executive producer Elise Doganieri, as well as other members of the production crew, set pieces and even the iconic theme song, they told Variety.
Photo courtesy of HBO Max
The Amazing Race production team helped Hacks get every detail right, from the camera angles all the way down to the proper way to rip open a Pit Stop clue.
In one of the most truly painful-to-watch moments in either show's history, DJ declines practicing for the notoriously difficult Amazing Race dance challenge, a recurring source of frustration for dozens of real-life players, after the Property Brothers and other players whizz through the challenge, leaving the mother-daughter duo scrambling in last place. Also, they're in full clown makeup and costumes.
Drew and Jonathan's many real-life philanthropy efforts include a partnership with Habitat for Humanity and a brand partnership with One Tree Planted. In addition, Drew serves on the board for the Environmental Media Association, and Jonathan serves as education advocate and co-authored The Climate Reality Project's Knowledge Is Power special report with Al Gore (yes, really!).
Even if you've never watched a single episode of Hacks, if you don't mind a few spoilers, this could be the episode that hooks you on the show. HGTV fans will not only love seeing their favorite twins playing fictionalized versions of themselves, but they'll also love a plot involving a precious set of salt-shakers and a vintage dealer and getting glimpses of the midcentury modern meets exaggerated Vegas opulence set design.
If Drew and Jonathan really compete on The Amazing Race, you'll be the first to know. In the meantime, watch their Hacks appearance streaming on HBO Max.
