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The BBC’s Bafta-winning series Race Across the World has returned to screens after a year-long hiatus, with fans already declaring the show “the best programme on TV” after just one installment.
In the opening episode, five pairs of contestants set off from the Great Wall of China to embark on a mammoth 14,000km journey to Kanyakumari – the southernmost tip of India.
Contestants racing across Asia without smartphones or bank cards for a chance to win the show’s £20,000 cash prize include Welsh couple Fin, 18, and Sioned, 19, who are the series’ youngest ever competitors.
They’re joined by a mother-son duo, Caroline and Tom, sisters Elizabeth and Letitia, brothers Brian and Melvyn, and the show’s first separated couple, Yinz and Gaz, who detail the demise of their relationship as cameras roll.
Each couple is tasked with making the journey from the Great Wall of China to Kanyakumari travelling only by land or sea, with a sparse £1,000 budget – the average cost of a flight to the same destination. This breaks down to just £22 per day for the teams to make their moves towards the finish line.
Upon the show’s return, social media was flooded by comments from fans hailing Race Across the World “undoubtedly the best programme on TV”.
“Race across the world time!” one person celebrated. “Taps into my competitive side as well feeding my love of travel! Some of the best tv!” Meanwhile another fan declared: “Real TV is back.”
Fin and Sioned, who’ve been preparing for the show by hiking in Wales, quickly became a fan favourite couple after they started to crave a chinese takeaway on the show’s opening episode.
“Can’t wait for the crispy beef. The sweet and sour sauce,” they enthused as they headed towards a food market for lunch.
However, their reality was slightly different to their expectations when Sioned walked over to one stand and was confronted by a sheep’s carcass: “Oh, look at the head,” she said in surprise.
“Fin and Sioned are the literally the cutest,” one viewer gushed of the childhood sweethearts.
“These two. Fin & Sioned. Bless them. Oh to be young again,” another viewer added, alongside screenshots of the couple sleeping in beds opposite each other during their journey.
The couple finished second in the first section of the race and had been in first place until Fin’s sugar levels dropped due to his type one diabetes.
“It’s going to be a challenge doing the race,” Fin admitted in footage filmed ahead of their arrival in China.
“It’s making sure we plan ahead, I think. I literally inject you now,” Sioned interjected. “Yeah to be fair, you’ve injected me in my bottom,” Fin joked back. “Many times.”
Race Across the World airs on BBC One and is on iPlayer now
English (US) ·