Broadcaster Anita Rani and her father Bal have made a flying start on Celebrity Race Across The World, becoming the first team to reach the initial checkpoint with a commanding lead of over 23 hours.
The BBC spin-off's third series, which premiered on Thursday night, sees four celebrity duos embark on a challenging 3,670-mile journey across Central America, stripped of modern conveniences like phones and internet access.
The BBC Radio 4 Women’s Hour presenter and her father significantly outpaced their rivals, including Derry Girls actor Dylan Llewellyn and his mother Jackie, presenter and DJ Tyler West with his partner, actor and singer Molly Rainford, and broadcaster Roman Kemp alongside his sister, singer-songwriter Harleymoon.
Arriving at the first checkpoint in Flores, Guatemala, a surprised Anita Rani remarked: "Can’t quite believe it."
“What we did right was we are very decisive, we were quick to make a decision and stick to it.
“Can’t get complacent but my god, on the first leg to be first, feels so good.”
Starting out on the Caribbean island of Isla Mujeres, Mexico’s easternmost point, the six contestants handed in their phones and credit cards received their travel kit which consists of a GPS, a map, and their budget of £950 per person, which they received in cash.
The four teams must make their way through five checkpoints in a race to the finish line on the Guajira Peninsula, the northernmost region of South America.
Anita and Bal were the first to make it out of Mexico and travelled through Belize before visiting the Jaguar Temple, an ancient Mayan ruin.
Anita said: “My dad has given everything to make sure me and my brother had every opportunity. So he’s never been able to fulfil any of his dreams and that really saddens me.
“I want my dad to finally, in his life, have an opportunity to just experience some magic.”
The remaining teams travelled to Guatemala through Mexico with the Kemp siblings arriving after five days of travelling which included working on a horse training ground.
Roman said: “Anita is a machine. I do think we have done some things quite well because we’ve come second.
Harleymoon added: “Its so much harder than I thought it was going to be.”
An hour and a half later, Tyler and Molly arrived after taking a route which they admitted was not the fastest, however, involved working on a chilli farm and seeing different parts of Mexico.
Tyler said: “Do you know what I am proud of, in that leg, we actually experienced Mexico.”
Molly added: “I feel like we have absolutely, like, thrown ourselves in at the deep end. Way out of our comfort zone and I feel like we are enjoying it.”
Coming in last place were Dylan and Jackie who said they expected the result after taking a more relaxed approach compared to the others, however, were surprised to see they were not too far off the remaining teams, adding that it has made them more motivated to do better.
Celebrity Race Across The World Series Three returns on BBC One on Thursday November 13 at 8pm.
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