Celebrity Race Across The World fans saw Scott Mills and his husband Sam Vaughan storm to victory in a dramatic dash up a volcano as the second epic series of the BBC show drew to a close.
Although the other teams might have been disappointed not to grab first place in the incredibly close finale, which left just 39 minutes between the lead and last teams setting off on the final leg, they discovered it was all about the journey rather than the destination during their five-week adventure.
Each of the contestants learned something about themselves – and each other – along the route from the Amazon to the Andes, and here they share how travel broadened their horizons.
Winners – Scott Mills and Sam Vaughan
They were the surprise winners having been underdogs through much of the race, but BBC Radio 2 DJ Scott Mills and his husband Sam Vaughan pulled a last-minute victory out of their backpacks just months before their wedding.
Vaughan said: “I like to know what we are doing and when. I like to have a rough skeleton of what our week or days will look like, but you haven’t got that control on The Race. I’ve learned that I don’t need to know everything. I can go with the wind and not worry about every minor detail – about where we’re going to be, what we’re going to do. I’ve let go a little bit, have relaxed and just gone with it.”
Mills added: “I’ve surprised myself because I never go out of my comfort zone and I’ve dealt with it all right.”
The couple also said that it was a perfect preparation for married life, as Mills explained: “It’s made us even closer and it proves that we can get through anything together. Some people say that you don’t really know if a partner is going to work until you go on holiday. I’ve had friends that have gone on holiday with somebody that they absolutely think is the one, and it goes so wrong. This the ultimate version of that, because it’s not a holiday, but a shared experience. I truly believe that Sam is the person that I should be with, and Race has shown me that.”
Runners up – Kola Bokinni and Mary Ellen
Despite having lagged behind on early legs of the race and being down to the lowest budget at the start of the final, Ted Lasso star Kola Bokinni and his cousin Mary Ellen made a huge comeback to finish a close second.
Asked what she’d learned about herself, Mary Ellen said: “Self-belief. I tend to give up on situations just before I finish them because I’m scared of failure. I think Race Across The World pushed me at every hurdle.”
Bokinni shared: “One thing I’ve learned from this process is that life isn’t that serious. Some people take it too seriously, and sometimes you need look around, count your blessings and lighten up a little bit. When things are bad, learn to laugh at them.”
Mary Ellen agreed: “We’ve been in situations where we don’t have any money or we don’t have a map and we have chosen laughter over tears. It’s delirious.”
During the race, Bokinni opened up about his tough last few years caring for his dad who had dementia, and died six months before the series filmed.
He said: “I can now pick up the phone and call Mary at any time. It doesn’t even matter if it’s three in the morning, and that is because of the race. Now I feel like I can probably say anything to Mary, and it doesn’t matter, because we went through this experience together. There’s a ‘Call me only before 7pm friend’, or there’s a friend you can call at 3am who comes and gets you straight away. That’s what’s changed.”
The actor continued: “I ended up getting a lot off my chest that I probably wouldn’t have. I probably would have kept it to myself. In terms of healing, I have healed as much as I could have. You don’t really get over things that happen to you in life but you learn to deal with them. Going through this experience and getting away from everything has helped me to disconnect from the world.”
Third place – Jeff and Freddy Brazier
Father and son Jeff and Freddy Brazier were fan favourites throughout the series as they worked out how to navigate their relationship to give Freddy more independence and help Jeff have more fun.
It looked as though they would be the winners throughout the series, but the pair decided to enjoy the final leg, including visiting a spa, and traffic delays eventually put them out of the running.
But Jeff said he’d realised winning wasn’t the most important thing: “I wasn’t surprised that Freddy and I got on well. I wasn’t surprised that I could mentally deal with long bus journeys. We’d have moments of being quite good at it and would also have moments of getting it wrong. I was surprised, on reflection, while watching it back by seeing how supportive I try and be for Fred. I’m very sensitive around what I feel is quite fragile. It’s the unremarkable stuff, that seems to really matter most. I like the way that I take myself out of it at times and leave the space for him to work stuff out. That is really important and I’m glad to see that I, for the most part, did a good job.”
He added: “Winning doesn’t matter. Stop feeling like you’ve got something to prove. You really haven’t. It’s a wonderful thing to give someone the space to grow. That is probably the biggest thing and what seems to resonate with a lot of people, because of the volume of messages that I’ve had, is that they respect the fact that there were so many moments and occasions where I stepped back and just allowed Freddy to emerge.
“I compliment him and I’m always trying to gee him up. That is what people equate to good parenting. I’m not a perfect parent, but I am proud of how supportive I am.
“For Freddy to be responsible, make decisions and grow in confidence, I’m proud of him for that.”
Freddy added: “I’ve learnt a few things this race. I’m getting more comfortable in myself and it’s ok to show vulnerability more. I also learnt that me and dad are a pretty good team. I knew dad was competitive, but wow, he’s competitive.”
Fourth place – Kelly Brook and Jeremy Parisi
Kelly Brook and her husband Jeremy Parisi clashed at points over her love of luxury and his keenness to save money, but the pair seem to have emerged from the race stronger than ever.
Brook had admitted she wanted to do the series to inject some excitement back into their lives and while competitive Parisi might not have won, they are happy with how they made decisions together.
Parisi said: “I need to be more relaxed in some situations. I need to take my time. I want to know everything that I’m about to do. I love to have a schedule, but I do need to be more relaxed.”
Brook agreed: “That’s Jeremy’s biggest struggle. He’s 10 steps ahead of everyone else. He will race ahead. Sometimes it’s important to have a more measured approach…He’s a realist, I’m an optimist.”
Talking about what she would take away from the experience, Brook said: “I think my life lesson is that actually I’m really, really patient. I’ve gone into this having lived a very comfortable lifestyle. I am quite happy with how I’ve handled most things. I’ve achieved my life now by hustling, talking, asking and not taking no for an answer. I am like that – I will try and blag things. I will try and convince people to do things my way. I will do all those things and that’s how you get on in life. I’ve also learned that I can be really boring!”
Celebrity Race Across The World seasons one and two are available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
