The Bafta-winning series Race Across the World is returning to BBC One and BBC iPlayer for a fifth series.
The series has previously been dubbed the “best show on TV” by fans.
Viewers will watch pairs as they navigate their way across countries with a limited amount of money and resources, each trying to reach the same endpoint while stopping at various checkpoints along the way.
This year’s race is set to begin at The Great Wall of China, where contestants will then navigate three of Asia’s most diverse nations: China, Nepal and India.
After a race of over 14,000km, the finish line for the contestants will be Kanniyakumari – the southernmost tip of India.
The team who arrives there first will win a cash prize of £20,000.
The contestants will race across the distances without smartphones or bank cards, having only the amount of cash that equals the cost of flying the route.
Last year’s winners were best friends Alfie, 20, and Owen, 21, as they beat their fellow contestants to the final point in Lombok, Indonesia, after racing 15,000km from Japan.
This year’s line-up includes:
Yin and Gaz
The unlikely duo of a previously married couple-turned-friends are this year’s first pairing. They plan to use their unique dynamic and combined skills to race to the finish line.
“I wouldn’t probably do this with anyone other than Yin,” Gaz said. “I know that sounds weird, because we’re not together, we’re not husband and wife, but we’re still best mates.”
Yin and Gaz have been separated for three years, however, when Yin’s new partner suddenly passed away, Gaz was there to support her.
Elizabeth and Letitia
The two sisters have spent nearly a decade apart due to living in different countries.
Elizabeth describes herself as extroverted, while Letitia considers herself as introverted. They say they are looking forward to spending quality time together again.
“I think I signed up for this mostly for the challenge,” Letitia said. “I just wanted to push myself to finish something, to accomplish something big.”
“I think on this race, it’s a good opportunity to grow as a person. I always strive to push myself to grow and see where my strengths lie or just to know myself. Doing it with my sister will be fun. I don’t know if I could do it with anyone else.”
Elizabeth spoke of wanting to travel more. She said: “I haven’t been free in my travelling, it’s mainly been for a purpose, maybe to visit someone for a wedding.”
Fin and Sioned
This Welsh couple are the youngest in the series with both being just 18 years old. They both said they are excited to swap their small-town life in Wales for an adventure.
“We’re very competitive with each other,” Fin admitted. “But I feel like as a team, we are also very competitive. But there’s also a part of us that doesn’t want to just go straight and not see anything and just win, you’ve got to experience it as well.”
Sioned added: “I want to say we’re in it to win it because we are, but we’re not going to let that stop us from enjoying the whole experience of it.”
Brian and Melvyn
Melvyn thought, after watching season one, that he too could take on the challenge of the race, deciding that his brother would be the perfect contestant to join him.
Brian added: “I watched the first series and thought this will be fun, exciting, and an adventure with an opportunity for us both to meet up because we don’t meet up that regularly at home, and spend a bit of quality time with each other, as we used to do when we were kids.”
Caroline and Tom
Whilst her son has travelled, Caroline has never had the opportunity to. She said that after watching the South American series, she “absolutely knew that that was the programme [she] wanted to do with Thomas.”
“I’ve never applied for anything like this before, I’ve never done anything like this, I’ve never done anything out of my comfort zone or ever arranged any travel, and I just knew it was made for me and the perfect person was Thomas. Thomas felt the same. We were made for it, or the programme was made for us.”
Thomas said his reasoning was “exactly the same as mum […] the fact that I get to travel and see the world, and do it with her is just perfect.”
