Everything We Know About The New Season Of Race Across the World

The sixth season of Race Across the World is airing on BBC tonight (2 April), featuring a brand-new set of contestants. Five pairs of adventurers race more than 12,000km across Europe and Asia, with no phones and very little money (the budget works out to roughly £26 a day), speeding between checkpoints to finally reach their destination. 

Race Across the World Season 6: The Lowdown

How Does Race Across the World Work?

So how hard can this race really be? Well, each pair is given the monetary equivalent of a one-way plane ticket to their final destination, which they must use to travel by land or sea. This money can be spent on food, accommodation and travel, but as they complete their race the contestants can also work to earn more money. Each pair of contestants has a producer and camera operator that follows them, alongside medical support that follows an hour behind. 

The pairs get a 36-hour rest at each checkpoint, although the last team to reach each checkpoint may get eliminated. At the beginning of the race the teams are given a world map, a GPS device to help find the checkpoints and a local travel guide, who will also provide them with job adverts. The first team to reach the final checkpoint wins £20,000. The journey cuts through eight countries: Italy, Greece, Türkiye, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia. This season, the team starts off in Sicily, with the aim to finish in Northern Mongolia. Perhaps the race is not so simple after all. 

Season 6: Who Are The Contestants?

As always, there are five pairs of contestants this season. 

BBC/Studio Lambert

Kush and Jo

Kush and Jo and the youngest competitors this season, both 19 and freshly out of school. The pair hail from Liverpool and are excited to travel the world before heading off to university. Kush told the BBC: ‘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.’

Molly and Andrew

Molly (23) and Andrew (54) are a father and daughter from Northern Ireland. As a junior doctor, Molly wants to prove what she is capable of to her father, and what better way to do that than racing 12,000km across the world? ‘We keep calling it a joke gone too far,’ said Molly to the BBC. When describing the three home comforts he will struggle to live without, Andrew said: ‘My wife, the dog and just home, I think.’

BBC/Studio Lambert

Katie and Harrison

The second pair taking on the cross-continent challenge are brother and sister duo Katie (21) and Harrison (23), from Manchester. Discussing their preparation for the trip, Harrison said: ‘I plan so much – everything about my life is planned out. Although this experience is about planning, it’s very much one leg at a time or one journey at a time, so I’ve not really wanted to plan too much. It’s just so different to what my normal life is. You can’t learn every language, can you?’ Katie, on the other hand, explained that: ‘I got a lash lift, and I got my hair done, so haven’t prepared basically.’ 

BBC/Studio Lambert

Puja and Roshni

Cousins Puja (31) and Roshni (32) will also be competing. The doctor and software engineer have spent their 20s focusing on their careers, and have decided to go on Race Across the World to indulge in their long-brewing wanderlust. Having spent their childhoods together, the race is also a chance to spend quality time together, Roshni explained. ‘We lived a street away and over the years, because as you do as adults, you kind of grow apart, you don’t see each other as much and you don’t do the same things you used to. This was an opportunity to spend a bit more time together before life goes on.’

Mark and Margo

The most unlikely pairing on the show are Mark (66) and Margo (59). For 40 years they have begrudgingly maintained a relationship as in-laws, but they have recently bonded over caring for a loved one. Margo explained their choice to apply to the show: ‘I just 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.’

Where To Watch

Race Across the World starts tonight (2 April) at 8pm on BBC1 and iPlayer, and airs every Thursday at the same time. You can alsos stream the show on iPlayer.