NORWAY – A man who summered in North Norway growing up will be teaming up to try to win $1 million, starting tonight on reality TV.

Reichen “Rick” Lehmkuhl, 28, and his partner, Chip Arndt, 35, will follow clues and race around the world, competing against 11 other two-person teams on “The Amazing Race,” premiering at 8 p.m. Thursday, May 29, on CBS.

Lehmkuhl’s mother, Ann Tetrault, said she hasn’t got a clue how her son and his partner did, or most of the places they traveled to.

She and Lehmkuhl’s stepfather, Raymond Tetreault, who have been coming to their North Norway home for the summer since the 1980s, had to sign a $10 million secrecy contract with CBS, a requirement for the contestants and their families.

The show was taped in January and February.

When she first saw them after the taping ended, “They both looked very tired and said they couldn’t tell us anything.”

One thing Lehmkuhl did say, she said: “He has never appreciated the United States as much as he does now.”

“The Amazing Race,” in its 90-minute premiere, presents the latest batch of teams as they start on what is billed as a grueling, 13-week competition.

Tetrault said she likes this reality show because the teams, for the most part, win on their mental skills and physical abilities alone, and not by forming alliances to force other teams to be eliminated.

A team is generally eliminated if it is the last to arrive at the specified location pointed out by the clues.

Living in Beverly Hills, Calif., Lehmkuhl and Arndt were recruited to be on the show because of their connections with Hollywood people, Tetrault said.

Reichen is a pilot who teaches flight school in Los Angeles and graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy. Arndt is an entrepreneur.

The show features unusual pairings in the two-person teams, and the fact that the two men are married to each other might be one reason they were selected, Tetrault said. While the men had an elaborate marriage ceremony, Tetrault said, California does not recognize the marriage.

Other teams appearing in the latest adventure include two NFL wives/moms, two air traffic controllers, two friends who are models, and a couple who have been dating for 12 years and say they are virgins.