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The Amazing Race host has been married for decades. Who is his wife?
By Rebekah Kuschmider — Written on Aug 02, 2020
Unfortunately, the insanely popular reality series, The Amazing Race had to put their 32nd season on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic. The new season will now begin airing sometime later this year, however, no official date has been set yet.
But, fans are certainly still ready to see the contestants take on a new set of global challenges! Once again, host Phil Keoghan will be guiding the teams across the world where they will have to succeed at their assigned tasks in order to find out where their next destination will be.
Keoghan is a New Zealand born TV host who rose to prominence thanks to his love of extreme challenges. He is an avid cycler and has hosted numerous shows, podcasts and written books about living an adventurous life.
He was even considered as the host for Survivor when it was initially cast. Jeff Probst got the gig, but producers were so impressed that they offered The Amazing Race hosting duties to Keoghan.
And if fans are missing their usual dose of the popular host, they can still currently check him out on his new CBS reality series, Tough As Nails.
But one thing Keoghan doesn’t talk much about is his personal life. He has been married to his wife Louise Rodrigues Keoghan for decades - the two moved to LA together when they were about 23 and Keoghan is now 53.
They have a daughter together and co-produce many of the projects Keoghan hosts, including his new show.. She clearly shares his love of living on the dangerous side. They even renewed their vows together underwater while feeding sharks.
Who is Phil Keoghan's wife, Louise Rodrigues Keoghan?
Keoghan has had a love for adventure his whole life.
Keoghan started performing in his native New Zealand when he was 19 on a children's show called Spot On. He got his appreciation for adventure while filming underwater.
He and a dive partner got separated while exploring a shipwreck and he experienced what he later realized was a panic attack. Shaken but undeterred, he decided to complete the dive the next day. From that moment, he started to make a point of taking on the biggest challenges he could imagine.
By 2004, the two of them were co-producers on the show No Opportunity Wasted where he and co-host Bruce Kirby helped individuals face their fears or accomplish big goals.
Rodrigues is a very successful producer.
Rodrigues is an award-winning director and producer in her own right. According to TCM, she has produced the TV specials, Paparazzi and The Making of a Child Star, in addition to co-creating No Opportunity Wasted with her husband.
She doesn't have a big social media presence, but she does have a Twitter account where she promotes Keoghan's work and draws attention to environmental causes.
She promotes environmental causes.
Phil and Louise Keoghan collaborated on many projects together.
The pair also collaborated on a project in 2016 about the Tour de France called Le Ride. They read a book about the first English speaking pair to compete in the legendary cycling race and wanted to dive deeper into the story.
Keoghan had said in an interview, “My wife and I, my producing partner and I, found this book about the first English speaking team to ride in the Tour de France. As cycling fans, we couldn’t quite believe that this story hadn’t really been told apart from this limited edition book, and it seemed sad to us that more people didn’t know the story. So we started talking about maybe how this would be a good subject for a film, but we really did not anticipate that it would end up being as big a challenge as it ended up being.”
The project had him riding the old course for the race, which is about 1000 miles longer than the modern course. To make matters even more challenging, he was using the kind of equipment available in 1928. Rodrigues co-produced the project.
Phil and Louise Keoghan have a daughter.
The couple has a daughter together, a teenager named Elle. Her life has been pretty private, but having parents in show business has some unexpected benefits for her.
In a 2016 interview, Keoghan talked about doing makeup for himself, and for her, saying, “When I travel on the road, I have to do my own [makeup] all the time, pretty much. It’s just me, a camera man and a sound guy. No assistant, no wardrobe, no makeup, no producer, no writer. I’m so comfortable with my sexuality that I don’t mind saying that I have done my daughter’s make-up for her prom and when we went to the Emmys and when we went to the Grammys. And I gotta say my make-up job looks pretty good.”
Phil Keoghan has a new reality show.
The famous host's new reality series, Tough As Nails, follows hardworking people who are taking on real-life challenges at job sites around the country.
In a recent interview about the new show, Keoghan said, “The root of the idea comes from my working-class family. Growing up in the Caribbean, my dad worked in agriculture and my mom was a music teacher, so I got to travel a lot. I got to see a lot of very resourceful people who worked very closely connected to the physical environment. Even though my parents are highly educated, my family history is very working class.”
He went on to explain about his grandfather, saying, “He was a really bright kid and just never got a chance at a higher education, but he became this amazing mechanic and then an era mechanic in World War II. I was so enamored by his skills and what he could do and what my other grandfather, who was a carpenter, could do. I realized that while education is incredibly powerful and an important part of getting ahead, education can come in many different forms.”
He had actually first pitched the idea for the series 10 years ago, but said that there couldn't be a better time than now to do it, because, “there’s never been a time when we’ve appreciated essential workers more than we do right now.”
Keoghan explained, “The decision to make the show came before the pandemic. I just always felt that there was something different about this because it wasn’t just about the person who was super ripped and tanned and ready for the cover of a magazine. This was more about the person who wore the calluses on their hands as a badge of honor, who was flawed rather than flawless, who wore work boots instead of workout shoes.”
He also assured fans that The Amazing Race will still be returning sometime this fall. But, in the meantime, you can catch Tough As Nails airing on Wednesday Nights on CBS.
Rebekah Kuschmider has been writing about celebrities, pop culture, entertainment, and politics since 2010. Her work has been seen at Ravishly, Babble, Scary Mommy, The Mid, Redbook online, and The Broad Side. She is the creator of the blog Stay at Home Pundit and she is a cohost of the weekly podcast The More Perfect Union.
Editor's Note: This article was originally posted in April 2019 and was updated with the latest information.