Earth Live With Phil Keoghan for Nat Geo

Phil Keoghan has seen the world for 29 seasons as host of The Amazing Race. But the New Zealander had never seen the world the way he did on last week’s two-hour National Geographic special Earth Live, a video extravaganza which captured wildlife around the globe, from Africa to Alaska, from bats in Mexico to bull sharks in Fiji.

Keoghan, co-host of Earth Live, was in New York, not hanging out with langur monkeys in India or camera-stalking hyenas in Ethiopia.

The live broadcast crossed “to six continents, 25 different locations, 50 different cameras,” Keoghan said. “These great wildlife cinematographers have cameras (Canon ME20s) that shoot in such ultra-low light, they turn night into day.” That meant seeing reclusive big cats like the ocelots of Brazil’s Pantanal in their natural habitat, or waiting with lions in the Maasai Mara in Kenya as they prepared to hunt.

The special was broadcast live on Nat Geo Mundo in 171 countries and 45 languages, and also featured zoologist and naturalist Chris Packham in the studio with Keoghan and co-host Jane Lynch and checked in with ocean explorer Dr Robert Ballard, deep in the Pacific off California during one of his Nautilus expeditions.

Next up for Keoghan is a follow-up to Aerial New Zealand, a panoramic look at his home country, which he produced for the Smithsonian Channel. The new programme, airing 6 August, is a travel show in which Keoghan interacts with New Zealanders, including a garden visit with his father.

Although he’s busy, Keoghan, 50, is nowhere near ready to say goodbye to The Amazing Race.

In a world so troubled politically, The Amazing Race also fills an important role, Christchurch-born Keoghan believes.

“Our theme has always been what’s right with the world, what fun you can have if you get out there. With so much divisiveness, that makes us more relevant now than ever.”

Original article by Gail Pennington, St Louis Post-Dispatch, July 7, 2017.