Just like that, all is right with the world again. As the Celebrity Traitors draws to a close, Race Across the World has stepped into fill the gap – featuring more celebrities, but this time engaging in some hardcore backpacking, rather than wearing cloaks and backstabbing each other.
The format rarely varies. Once again, four teams will be travelling across a cross section of the globe, on a tiny budget (around £950 this time, we’re told), with the aim of getting over the finishing line first. On the menu this time? A globe-trotting trip from Isla Mujeres in Mexico, all the way to Colombia.
This time around, our batch of contestants are all pretty showbiz-focussed; no athletes here. There’s Dylan Llewellyn (aka, Mr Derry Girls and Big Boys) and his mum Jackie – neither of whom seem to be interested in the, you know, ‘race’ part of the race, and more interested in taking it slow. They call themselves Team Tortoise; as Llewellyn says, “they do their thing, we do our thing.”
There’s Roman Kemp and sister Harleymoon, the kids of Spandau Ballet star Martin. “If we don’t win, our dad will kill us,” Harleymoon says jokingly at one point. There’s couple Tyler West and Molly Rainford, neither of whom seem that street-smart (“Babe, what’s a peninsula?” Rainford calls to her boyfriend at the start). And rounding things out is presenter Anita Rani and her dad Bal.
Straight away, a skill gap presents itself between the steely Rani family, and, um, everybody else. Quicker than you can say, ‘Donde esta el barco’, Anita and Bal are off on a boat towards the mainland, leaving the others to frantically run around and ask passers-by for directions in rusty Spanish.
As Anita gets the pair from boat to bus to Mayan ruin, her energy flags not one jot; she’s a force to be reckoned with. Plus, the ever-cheerful Bal is a strong contender for Dad of the Year. Unsurprisingly, they finish the first episode miles ahead of everybody else.
But as any influencer will tell you, travel is not about the destination, it’s about the journey. This being a show about finding the joy and meaning in travel, there are also some heartfelt to-camera bits.
We learn that Bal had aspirations to travel the world as a young man, but gave that up for his parents’ sake. We learn about Roman Kemp’s severe anxiety, and the fact that King and Stephens haven’t exactly had much experience of the real world.
“I feel like this is the first time I’ve done a job that could be considered normal,” King says, while picking habanero chillies in a Mexican field. Um… not sure that qualifies.
As you might expect, there aren’t any egos here, which is a nice change. Instead, the joy lies in watching people struggle, fail, succeed and learn to appreciate life a little bit more. It’s not reinventing the wheel by any means, but when a show is this wholesome, they don’t need to. Just sit back and soak it all in.
Streaming now on BBC One and iPlayer
