This year’s race will test the five teams both physically and emotionally, pushing them to their absolute limits. But with their feet on the ground and their eyes wide open, the rewards will be immense and the memories unforgettable. Only one team can emerge victorious as they battle to be the first to reach the finish line and claim the £20,000 prize in Race Across the World on BBC One.
They’ll have to navigate their way from the bustling streets of Italy – one of the world’s most visited destinations – to one of its most remote, the windswept Mongolian steppe. With smartphones, internet access and bank cards left behind, they are armed with nothing but the cash equivalent of flying the route.
This year’s teams include childhood best friends from Liverpool, Jo (19, College Student) and Kush (19, gap-year student). They are the youngest duo in the race, fresh out of school and with a real taste for independence. Meanwhile, inseparable siblings Katie (21, Account Manager) and Harrison (23, Finance Assistant) from Manchester may do everything together, but they could not be more different when it comes to the race.
Then there are Junior Doctor Molly (23) and her father, Andrew (54, Geography Teacher), from Northern Ireland, who have always been close. Still, as Molly prepares to start her medical career, she wants to prove to her dad that she’s more capable than he gives her credit for. Also, a Doctor, Puja (31) and her cousin, Roshni (32), a software engineer from London, have spent their twenties building successful careers and putting wanderlust on hold.
And finally, the Unlikely duo of Mark (66, retired architect) from London and Margo (59, hypnotherapist) from Liverpool have spent the last 40 years with a typically fractious relationship with in-laws. But after recently putting their differences aside in pursuit of a shared goal – caring for a loved one – they’ve developed a fondness for each other’s company.
Jo and Kush
Q: Why did you want to take part in the series?
Kush: We were both at a sort of standstill in deciding what to do with our futures. So, when the opportunity came up, we thought it would be a fantastic experience and something we could look back on and learn from.
Jo: We had just finished sixth form, got our A-Levels, and the opportunity to travel with the race before we went to university made it even more exciting for us.
Q: Have you got a strategy going into the race?
Jo: We have discussed a few little things. For example, if we want to get a member of the public’s attention, my role will be to get their attention first, and then Kush will get the information.
Kush: I think that being young, we will kind of hopefully be brushed over like we don’t have the experience, and then we can secretly work in silence and take over.
Q: Have you picked up any tips from previous series?
Jo: I see a lot of people bring whiteboards, and they draw a picture of a bus or draw a picture of a train, and then work out how to say it in their language. So, we’ve got a whiteboard and some pens to help us with that.
Kush: One tip I learned, which was like what Jo was saying, is to bring a map folder. Equipment-wise, it has been helpful to see what all the other contestants brought.
Q: How have you prepared for the trip?
Kush: I’ve done some travelling on my own, so I’ve been reflecting on what worked for me and what didn’t work. I spent three months backpacking in Thailand, but I think that backpack may be a little lighter. I also spoke to my Nan as she’s been travelling a lot, so I tried to get some of her insights and advice for new places.
Jo: Because it’s my first time backpacking, I’ve been using other people’s experiences to my advantage and listening to their dos and don’ts. I’m listening a lot to Kush.
Q: Jo, how are you feeling about travelling in this way?
Jo: Excited, honestly. I’m down for getting into the nitty-gritty and having those hard experiences, because I know the good experiences are going to be the best ever.
Kush – having travelled like this before, are you happy travelling with a backpack?
Kush: Absolutely, but even though I have gone out and done it before and been somewhere where I don’t know the language, I feel way more stressed than Jo does. He is very chilled.
Q: How competitive are you both? Are you in it to win it?
Jo: Absolutely, but we also do want to enjoy where we are!
Kush: I agree. I’m personally less bothered about the winning and here more for the experience. It’s such a niche thing that not many people in the world will ever be able to do.
Q: What do you think your strengths and weaknesses are?
Jo: I think our strength would be our ease in speaking to strangers. We don’t have any issues with approaching people or asking people for advice, so I think that will definitely benefit us.
Kush: We’re also not very fussy. We’re not the kind of people who are like chicken nuggets and chips, so I think we will be fine with daily hostels, not showering for a few days, and eating local street food. So, I think one of our strengths is that we can handle discomfort well. Weakness-wise, I think that personally, I know I’m going to get very anxious and stressed out a lot, and I know that’s going to make things difficult for me, and probably Jo.
Jo: My weakness will probably be my appetite if I’m honest.
Katie and Harrison
Why did you want to take part in the series?
Harrison: It was an opportunity to travel that I wouldn’t have allowed myself to do. I would have just gone down the standard life path of work, university, continuing to work, and buying a house. I would never have allowed myself to go out there, travel, and take that time off from being responsible.
Katie: I think I’m the same as I was a bit apprehensive at first and it was Harrison that gave me the push. I have always wanted to travel, but I didn’t see an opportunity to do so in the future. So, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and a perfect time to do it.
Q: What roles do you think you’ll take on in the race?
Harrison: I’m on money control, and then Katie’s on snack control, because I’ll eat them all. If we’ve got a long bus journey, I will eat them all within the first half an hour, so Katie’s going to ration them for me because I don’t have any control over that. Social interaction, I think we’ll probably share.
Katie: I think we’ll probably share social interaction, but maybe led more by me at the start, and then you’ll come into your own. But you will definitely be on the budget.
Q: What do you think your biggest challenge might be during the trip?
Katie: Mine definitely would be the lack of alone time. I’m super independent, and I just love being alone and having time to myself. So, I think that might get me.
Harrison: I think mine will be hunger, or not even hunger, but just wanting to eat. I think boredom as well on the journeys. Normally, you have your phone to fill time, so what do you do?
Q: How do you feel about travelling without a phone or credit cards?
Harrison: We feel okay about not having our phones. I haven’t missed the actual content on my phone, but it’s just not having it there to pick up. It’s an automatic reflex, and if I think of something, I’ll just go and Google it, but I can’t.
Katie: It will become annoying, especially with tickets and stuff, just wanting to tap or buy a ticket quickly. I think that’ll be quite tedious and become annoying.
Q: Name the top three home comforts you’ll struggle to live without.
Harrison: A cup of tea, my phone and biscuits. Custard creams are my favourite, but offer me any, I won’t say no.
Katie: Mine would probably be scrolling on TikTok, my bedroom, where I’m by myself, and maybe being in my car and singing to music.
Q: What’s the one reason you chose to do this challenge together?
Katie: I couldn’t do it with anyone else. I think we’ll just have such a good time, and I think I wouldn’t enjoy it with anyone else as much as I would with Harrison.
Q: What do the rest of your family make of you doing this trip together?
Harrison: They’re very pleased and proud that we’re going off to do it together. I think you probably don’t see most kids with that close bond able to go and do this, so they’re happy with that.
Katie: It was Mum’s idea, so she’s very happy. They’re just really proud and excited for us.
Race Across the World (series six) – Meet the teams
Molly and Andrew
Q: Why did you want to take part in the series?
Molly: We keep calling it a joke gone too far. We were sitting watching it on TV one night when the option to apply came up, and every time we watch it, we say we would love to do it. The next day, the ad popped up on Daddy’s Facebook, so we put in an application, thinking nothing of it, and it’s been a whirlwind since then.
Andrew: I am living a dream here. This is what I’ve always wanted to do but never had the willingness to, nor the money or the circumstances. I’ve always wanted to go backpacking. I have a wife who would very much not want to do it – it would be her ultimate nightmare to have a backpack on. But I’ve always wanted to do it, and so to do it with my daughter, I am absolutely delighted.
Q: Have you got a strategy going into the race?
Molly: Enjoy every second, and what we get out of it is what we get out of it.
Andrew: We’re thinking about it all the time, but there is so much unknown. You don’t know where you’re going; you don’t know what to pack – all those kinds of things. So, I guess strategy hasn’t been a part that we have really thought about. We just want to experience the culture and see things. We haven’t spoken about winning; it’s about the experiences, but the competitive nature is there within us, which will come out when it has to.
Molly: For us, winning would be second to doing it. We’re competitive by nature, and we will give it 100% no matter what. If that means coming last or first, we will just do our best. We haven’t travelled like this before. We don’t speak the same languages, so we’re maybe on the back foot compared to the other couples.
Q: Can you tell me three home comforts that you’ll struggle to live without?
Molly: I love hair dryers. I enjoy a shower, drying my hair, and going to the tap for clean water, without having to go to a shop and buy it. I will miss the communication between friends as well. I love the gossip, so if I can get TMZ on the TV, that will be going on.
Andrew: My wife, the dog and just home, I think.
Q: If there’s one thing that you hope this race will change about either you as a person or your relationship, what would it be?
Andrew: I wouldn’t want it to change anything. I know her ins and outs, and I know her intricacies, and I know what kind of makes her think. Before leaving, my wife was saying you know ‘make sure Molly…’ and I know Molly, I know how she operates. So, I would like to just confirm what we already know. She’s at a stage of her life now where she’s becoming a young adult, and I would see my job as kind of finished. It’s a different relationship now, and that’s what this is about: to change from that daddy-daughter relationship and form more of an equal partnership.
Q: Is there anything surprising that viewers will learn about you?
Molly: Personally, I think that one, teachers have lives outside of school. I’ve always laughed when people go, ‘Oh my goodness, there’s Mr Clifford at the cinema.’ Like, yes, he is a human, and he does have children. I would also love for people to realise that medics and doctors are not insular, and they can be interesting and normal. They can also be stupid. We are very good at a very niche thing, and I’m very happy to be the one who asks stupid questions and wants to learn. It doesn’t have to be always medical; medics have other hobbies.
Andrew: Where we are from is quite rural, so everyone will be shocked when they find out we are doing this. What I want to convey is that, no matter who you are, there are experiences out there for everybody. I’ve been a geography teacher all my life, but I love the outdoors, people, and seeing and experiencing things. So, I want people to know that I’m not just that person they see in school.
Q: What’s the most annoying habit of each other’s that you’re going to struggle with?
Andrew: Snoring. Molly breathes heavily.
Molly: Daddy’s just utter boyness. He is a boy who’s lived with girls his entire life, and he still doesn’t understand that we like to wash our hair and put on make-up. He’s just such a boy.
Q: How do you feel about being in Italy and where the race might take you next?
Molly: We were just discussing where we could go if we ended up going north, south, east or west, and figuring out where that would take us. First, we need to know how you get off the island.
Andrew: I was furiously going through my head, asking, is there a bridge? Is there a train bridge? Wherever the race takes us, we will explore it and enjoy it. I love a good travel programme that really showcases the world. Not everybody can afford to travel; not everyone has the money to do it, so to be able to do this, I am just living a dream.
Puja and Roshni
Q: Why did you want to take part in the series?
Puja: I’ve been a massive fan of the show for years, since the first season came out. When I applied, I was in a career block, and I decided that if I were hitting a career block, I would do something I had wanted to do for a very long time, so I applied for the race. That was the predominant reason I just wanted to do something for myself, for my personal life, to create a memory that would last the rest of my life.
Q: Have you picked up any tips from previous series?
Roshni: We made a checklist!
Puja: We made this checklist of things we would do anytime there is a change in our situation, like when we get off a train or leave a hotel. The first one is, do we both have our passports, money and map, and then we both have to locate them. The second is to check the local time and then set our watches accordingly. The third one is snacks; make sure we have enough snacks.
Q: Have you ever backpacked like this before, or done something similar?
Puja: I’ve only done it twice. Nothing like this has ever happened before, but something maybe 10% similar. Carrying a backpack and walking around with your things, I’ve done that before, and I have been planning on the go and not had a prescribed itinerary, which was actually really nice. So, I’ve done something similar, but we had phones available, we knew where we were, and we could plan the next journey. I’ve never been in a situation where you can’t do that.
Roshni: The closest thing I’ve done is Cuba, where you have homestays, and then you don’t necessarily know where you’re going next, but you kind of just talk to the locals and figure it out from there. And you have no internet there, so you have to get around.
Q: How are you feeling about travelling that way? Without your phones, does it feel quite daunting, or are you looking forward to it?
Roshni: I think we’re looking forward to it. You know, our lives revolve around the phone, but it is weird. It’s like one of our limbs has been taken away from us. You use it for everything.
Puja: You rely on your phone so much. We’re trying to fill the gap in the day with card games, and I tried to meditate. We’re trying to do things that don’t involve screens, and, as difficult as it is, it’s also been quite fun.
Roshni: We’re getting creative.
Q: How competitive are you both? Are you in it to win it, or is taking part more important?
Puja: I’ve suddenly become very competitive, which I never even knew existed. After seeing the surroundings we’re in, I really want to just enjoy myself and immerse myself in the environment, so that’s a high priority. I initially thought Rosh was more competitive, but I think that the roles have switched.
Q: So, what do you think your strengths and weaknesses are?
Roshni: Puja is quite organised, she likes keeping track of everything and is also full of positivity.
Puja: Roshni asks lots of questions, which will also come in handy. Rosh is also very good with finances, keeping track of budgets, so I think she’ll be great at managing the budget day-to-day. I think I’m quite good with the organisational side of things, and planning things out, or thinking about routes. I think that’s where our strengths and weaknesses lie. I’m not good with money whatsoever. I will get hungry, spend 20 pounds on a pizza, and forget there’s a budget, but Rosh will be good with that.
Race Across the World (series six) – Meet the teams
Mark and Margo
Q: Why did you want to take part in the series?
Mark: Because Margo asked me to, that’s the reason why – it was Margo’s idea! It’s always appealed to me the idea of going to exotic places, meeting interesting people and going somewhere that you would never go by yourself.
Margo: Someone told me about the series, and I watched it and went, ‘That’s got me written all over it’ I love impulsive, crazy things and adventure. I said, ‘I’m going to do that’, and the first person who came to mind was Mark. It seemed like a good time in our lives. We’ve been through this experience with losing my big sister and him losing his wife. It seemed like a celebratory thing that we could do together. This was a new journey that could be exciting and like a renewal.
Q: What are you imagining your biggest challenges might be during the trip? Lack of sleep, hunger, comfort?
Margo: Hunger for me.
Mark: For me, I think it’s going to be a lack of sleep.
Margo: I think we can both be very quiet sometimes, and I think after the long days, we will be quiet. One thing about Mark is that he has a negative view of himself and how he comes across, and he doesn’t see that. I wasn’t aware of that before I started this process, but already I’ve seen that’s not him – you’re not like that, you are actually good fun. You communicate well with people; you get on with people and people like you. You engage with them.
Mark: I don’t see myself like that, but over the next two months, I’m hoping that I can explore myself and come to terms with myself better.
Margo: I’m not intending to be any quieter, but I will try on buses. I’ve been practising talking more quietly, because I’ve always had a loud voice, and it can be quite booming or quite jarring. We’re going to be on transport or in hostels, so I think we need to adapt to the cultural vocal levels. I’m not going to dim the light, but dim my volume.
Q: Would you say that you cope well during a crisis?
Mark: No, not really. I can flap around a little bit.
Margo: I think I am good at keeping calm. When my sister was ill, I really saw that in very extreme circumstances, I could be very calm and levelheaded. I can get irritated, but I’m also quite excitable.
Q: How do you feel about travelling without a mobile phone or credit cards?
Mark: Brilliant. At our age, mobile phones are not a crutch like they are for the younger generation. I can spend the whole day not using my phone, so it’s not a problem. We’re from a generation that, when we went on holiday, we just took a map with us. We didn’t have Google to tell us to turn left or right. You had to make your own choices and decisions. I’m also very much a cash person; I like cash.
Margo: I use my mobile phone lots of the time, but I think it’s an amazing opportunity. I was one of the last ones amongst my friends to get a mobile phone, but I took to it like a duck to water.
Q: What’s the most unusual thing you’ve bought with you?
Mark: An umbrella. My friend has also crocheted some worms. They’re little springy worms, and I have one, Margo has one, and my son, who has gone to Japan for a year, has one. We’ve got one each, so they all connect us.
Margo: I don’t know if it’s unusual, but I bought a sequin skirt.
Q: What are the three home comforts that you’re going to struggle to live without?
Mark: Cycling, playing football on a Friday evening with my mates, and of course, my son and cats!
Margo: I’m going to miss my dog Bailey, my family, especially the lovely Ed, and my mum, who is 95, and my partner in mischief.
Q: Have you brought anything with you of Julia’s?
Mark: I’ve got Julia’s celebration of life with me as well. I take that everywhere with me.
Margo: I’ve brought a cashmere hoodie she gave me, and so that will be a cosy luxury reminding me of her. I will also have her voice in my head, constantly laughing at how ridiculous this caper is.
Who can keep calm in a crisis? Who’ll be handling the budget? And who will triumph against the odds? Watch Race Across the World series six on BBC One and iPlayer from Thursday 2 April.
Follow Us