UPDATE: |Race Across the World 2025 teams, filming locations, route and full list of contestants News

Ten new contestants will be taking on three nations to win the cash prize

BBC’s Race Across the World has returned for its fifth series as the latest group of ten contestants battle it out to take home the grand prize.

The fifth series of the BBC One competition programme follows five pairs as they travel more than 14,000km across Asia, including in China, Nepal and India, while trying to keep under the budget of around £1,000 per person.

In a bid to make it to the final destination first and win £20,000 each team won’t have any access to their phones, social media or bank cards.

With brothers Brian and Melvyn revealing that they “nearly walked out” after seeing their accommodation – which was a bare room with boards to sleep on – this series is set to be another gruelling experience.

When does Race Across the World start?

The first episode airs on Wednesday April 23 on BBC One and iPlayer at 9pm. Every following episode will be available to watch at the same time and place every Wednesday.

Who are the teams?

Gaz and Yin

The former married couple are joining forces as they take on their biggest challenge yet. Yin lost her partner, Chris, in September last year and has been staying with Gaz during her grieving period.

When asked why she wanted to participate in this series, Yin replied: “I think it came from me. I saw the advert, and in that moment thought, you know what? I really want to do that. 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.”

She admitted: “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 traveling. We talked a lot about traveling and so when this came along I thought why not, something inside me made me fill out the application form.”

Elizabeth and Letitia

After living in different countries for almost a decade, the sisters are keen to work together and tackle any difficulties. Speaking of their time living apart and why they chose to participate together, Elizabeth said: “I think we both love travelling but we’ve never actually travelled together.

“So this is definitely a reason for us to do something that we both love but do it together, and also bond as well. There’s been quite a bit of time that we’ve been apart from each other when I lived abroad.”

However, Letitia opened up about the one thing that could annoy her in the partnership as she shared: “Her trying to push me to do things when she knows that I don’t want to do it. She assumes i want to do it, she assumes things, she loves to control situations.”

Fin and Sioned

The youngest of this year’s contestants, the Welsh couple have participated due to wanting to put their relationship to the ultimate test.

Speaking about why they signed up, Sioned said: “I wanted to travel anyway, so it’s a great start for that, but along with discovering more about myself and Fin, just strengthening that bond in a very real and authentic way. We’ve not really been together just the two of us before so this is something where we will have to rely and depend on each other, we don’t have another choice. A lot about self-discovery I think as well as seeing more of the world in the process.

Fin added: “It’s a way to see if me and her can be together basically, if it can work forever. A challenge to see if it will make or break us.”

Brian and Melvyn

The two brothers haven’t spent much time together since their childhood, and are looking forward to reconnecting and have fun together.

When asked if they think they could win, Brian shared: “We are winners by nature. We’re very competitive. We’ll be disappointed if we don’t come first”.

Melvyn added: “We’ll be disappointed if we don’t win it, but we’ll be even more disappointed if we don’t make it to the end” before adding that this offers a “brand new experience” for the siblings.

Caroline and Tom

Mother and son duo are keen to see how their different life experiences will help them in the challenge, with Tom having travelled frequently and Caroline who has never had the opportunity.

Caroline shared: “I saw the South American series and absolutely knew that that was the programme I wanted to do with Thomas. 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.”

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.”

What is this year’s route for Race Across the World?

The Great Wall of China is the starting point of this year’s epic race. Five teams must navigate three of Asia’s most diverse nations, China, Nepal and India, in a race of over 14,000km to reach the finish line, Kanniyakumari, the southernmost tip of India.

The teams will begin in the city of Beijing, China, to then make their way through various terrains and rural places before reaching the Himalayas in Nepal.