Everything we know about Race Across The World 2025 including cast and route

Metro

23-04-2025

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Tonight Race Across The World returns to our screens, here are the details you need to know about the fifth season.
The fifth series of the Bafta-award winning show will kick off on Wednesday night and see five teams trek across Asia with the aim of winning £20,000.
They'll be hoping to follow in the footsteps of season four winners Alfie and Owen, who were the first to make it through the 15,000km across Eastern Asia and win the cash prize last year.
This time around, the teams will be navigating across China, Nepal and India in a race of over 14,000km to reach the finish line, Kanniyakumari, the southernmost tip of India.
Of course, they'll have no bank cards or smartphones to help them along the way, and will be pushed to their absolute limits.
Let's find out who is taking on the challenge…
Best friends Gaz and Yin are planning on using their unique, dynamic and combined skills to win as they embark on journeys of self-discovery throughout the race.
When asked about why they wanted to take part in the series, Yin explained: 'The last year has been quite a personal journey for me. Gaz and I, although we used to be married, we've been separated for about three years. And then when we split up, I found another partner, but he passed away suddenly in September.
'The last year has been tough, but one of the things that Chris gave me was a real sense of adventure, and he really liked travelling. We talked a lot about travelling and so when this came along I thought why not, something inside me made me fill out the application form.'
Yin was living in Gaz's under-the-stairs cupboard at the time as he was looking after her during her grieving period, and suggested the idea of Race Across The World to him.
She added: 'He was like yeah, whatever. He probably just said it more to amuse me, because he obviously knew what I was going through at that moment. But before we knew it, he'd filled out the application and the journey had begun!'
The pair, who share a daughter together, are hoping to look back on Race Across The World as a cherished memory, with Gaz saying: 'We'll always look back on it as we've done it together, as best friends, it's so unique and will be such a wonderful story.
'It's not lost on us that we're very lucky. It's a memory that will stay with us forever.'
Sisters Elizabeth and Letitia, an extrovert and an introvert, are ready to spend some quality time together after nearly a decade of living in different countries.
They're planning on relying on the kindness of strangers to get them through the journey, and think their differences will actually help them move forward.
When asked what their biggest challenges may be, Elizabeth said: 'I think maybe just pushing each other. I feel like we've both been quite resilient individually. But we're working as a team now and it's pushing each other to keep on going.
'Being with each other 24-7 as well. Maybe deciding together on things. Like thinking about which choice is the best thing out of both of our choices. And which one do we decide on when we're indecisive, both of us. That might be a bit challenging.'
She added: 'This is such a once in a lifetime opportunity. Anything that we get out of this experience, I'll be so grateful for. But I think just exploring the world and really pushing ourselves to the best of our ability. Sometimes I think we play it too safe, so pushing ourselves to the best of our ability whilst also staying present, exploring the world and having fun.'
Letitia is also hoping to 'step out of reality and the everyday mundane life' on this once-in-a-lifetime trip.
'Just experiencing the world, experiencing something new, being present and challenging ourselves as well,' she went on, when asked what she was hoping to get out of the experience.
Young couple Fin and Sioned are swapping their small-town life in Wales for an adventure across the world.
'It's a way to see if me and her can be together basically, if it can work together. A challenge to see if it will make or break us,' Fin admitted.
Though they don't have a strategy, they've been preparing with hikes and living without their phones, and are going into the competition 'very competitive'.
Sioned added: 'We're good together because anything that Fin can't do, I can, and vice versa.'
When asked why they're taking part, she went on: 'More self-discovery. We've been together a long, long time, and it's been very samey for the past four and a half years.'
'We've never had a proper challenge. This will push us and we have a lot of learning to do,' Fin added.
Brothers Brian and Melvyn are hoping to have the chance to reconnect and have fun together, like they did as children.
They're seeing the trip as an excuse to get together for some quality time and 'relive some of our old adventures' from their childhood and teenage days.
Predicting a few arguments along the way, the pair admitted they've never spent this long together before.
Melvyn said: 'Not only have we not spent this amount of time together as adults, we've never spent this much time away from our partners either. I've been married 44 years, Brian's been married 38 years, so that's a big wrench for us.'
They added they'll be disappointed if they don't win as they're both very competitive and 'winners by nature'.
Melvyn went on: 'We're both very controlling, we think. We organise our lives. We like to be in control of what we do. We both need to be in control of where we're going, what we're doing. So that might cause a bit of a problem.
'All we have promised each other is if we make a bad decision, then we go with it. We're not going to get on at one another because we'll have discussed it anyway. We go with it and then we get out of it.
'We're here to enjoy and do our best and were going to feed off the experience and learn from it.'
He added that he doesn't want to 'let anybody down' or embarrass their families, while Brian said: 'We're really going to grasp it. We're extremely grateful. We never thought we'd have a cat in hell's chance. It's still quite unreal and surreal now.'
Mother-son duo Caroline and Tom are coming from very different backgrounds when it comes to travelling.
Tom has travelled, whereas Caroline never had the opportunity. Now, she wants to prove she's more than 'just mum' while Tom wants her to see the world through his eyes.
'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,' she said.
Tom added: 'Exactly the same as mum, I love travelling – I never thought I'd travel with my mum, but the fact that i get to travel and see the world, and do it with her is just perfect.'
Though they're not looking forward to the lack of sleep, food, comforts and hygiene, Caroline hopes their love for each other means they'll be encouraging each other throughout the journey.
When asked what surprising thing viewers will learn, Caroline replied: 'I would like to prove that age doesn't mean you're getting older and slower necessarily, and that you can still have the same opportunities and still grab them.
'I can still go travelling, even though I'm 60 and maybe a grandmother's age, but I'm still capable and can go out with a rucksack, I can keep up. I can do things, I can want to have the adventure just as much.'
She added that she hopes to get 'treasured memories' out of the experience, adding: 'For me, family is the most important thing. I don't think money could buy this experience. I think this will stand Thomas in good stead and I'll be incredibly lucky to be able to watch him go through life and think maybe this has helped set him up and I was part of it.'
The starting point of this year's epic race is none other than the Great Wall of China.
Five teams will have to navigate three of Asia's most diverse nations across the series.
The countries included will range from China to Nepal and India.
All in all, the teams will race more than 14,000km to reach the finish line.
The final ending point will be in the stunning Kanniyakumari, the southernmost tip of India.
Racing across vast distances, the contestants will not be allowed to have any smartphones or bank cards.
They are armed only with cash equating to the cost of flying the route, however, only one duo can claim victory over the others and win the cash prize of £20,000.
The 2024 winners of the show were best friends Alfie and Owen. The 21-year-old duo from Hertfordshire pipped mother and daughter Eugenie and Isabel to the post by mere minutes after zapping through Asia to the finish line in Lombok.
In third came brother and sister Betty and James and 24 hours later came couple Stephen and Viv.
Alfie told Metro that their journey was tough, but they are now reaping the rewards and £20,000 prize money.
'After we won, we spent some time with the other contestants and to be honest, we just chilled out and got some sleep. The night of the final, I ate three tuna steaks so I went all in.'
Scott Mills and his husband, Sam Vaughan, won the celebrity version after a trip of a lifetime through South America.
The pair were crowned champions after reaching the final checkpoint in Frutillar in Southern Chile after taking a speedboat James Bond-style in the nail-biting episode. More Trending
Kola Bokinni and cousin Mary Ellen were runners-up with Jeff Brazier and son Freddy taking third place, and heart radio host Kelly Brook and husband Jeremy Parisi finishing last.
Race Across The World airs on Wednesday, April 23 at 9pm, with new episodes airing weekly.
The nine episodes will run into June before we find out which pair are crowned winners of season five.
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Race Across The World starts on Wednesday, April 23, on BBC One and iPlayer.
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